Your resume is an instrument to help you obtain interview for internships, co-op experiences, and full-time position. It should be a summary of your educational and professional qualifications that will inform a prospective employer about your education, work experience, professional qualificiations and relevant skills.
Follow these basic tips to create a strong resume that will help you grab the attention of your potential employers:
1. Use bullet points, not paragraphs; in general, each bullet point should be at least five words and no more than three lines long.
2. Résumés for undergraduate students should not exceed one side of one page in length; résumés for graduate students can be two pages long, if needed. If you are using a two-page résumé, be sure to fill the second page to at least 75 percent.
3. When printing your résumé, use high-quality white or off-white paper.
4. Choose a standard font (e.g., Times New Roman, Arial) for your résumé and use it throughout.
5. Explain any acronyms you use in your résumé the first time you mention them, unless the acronym is widely known (e.g., NASA).
6. Look over your résumé several times, and have at least one other person look over it as well.
7. Make sure that your spelling and grammar are perfect, and that your writing style is consistent.
8. Text size should be 10–12-point; your name and headings can be larger.
9. Be cautious about overuse of italics and boldface, and be consistent—if you use boldface type for one previous job title, do so for all previous job titles.
10. Avoid the use of trite or clichéd résumé phrases (e.g., "self-starter", "team player", etc.). Try to be more original with your choice of words, using action words whenever possible.
11. Have several peers/mentors/faculty/recruiters provide feedback and suggestions for the improvement of your résumé. This document should be consistenly updated and improved throughout the year.
Check out the Engineering Career Resources website for suggested layouts and sample resumes!
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