Building

Louay Eldada

Your
Resume

Introductory Thoughts
Before getting started, lets take a minute to think about the raison dtre of the
resume.
The resume
- is an easy-to-locate source of your contact information
- informs about your professional or educational goals
- informs about your past education and work experience
- informs about your special accomplishments
- informs about any special skills you may have
The goal of the resume is to give a prospective employer or school as much
information as possible about yourself in as little time as possible. For that
reason, the resume
- is concise and easy to read
- follows a standard format
The above needs define the various sections of your resume:
- Name and contact information
- Objective
- Education
- Internships
- Work experience
- Additional information
- Skills
- Languages
- Publications
- Honors and Awards
- Anything else: extracurricular activities, hobbies
Except for the name and contact information, each section will be clearly
identified by its title. At this point in your life, you may not yet have information
to enter in all categories. If you do not have anything worthwhile to mention,
you do not list that section.
There is some flexibility with respect to the order in which the sections may
appear on your resume. However, the contact information will always be at the
top, followed by the objective. Normally, this will be followed by your education
and then your work experience, or vice-versa. The general rule to follow: the
more important the information to the reader, the earlier it will appear.

Master Resume vs. Custom Resume

When you first start preparing your resume, you start by writing a Master
Resume. It includes all the information about yourself that might possibly be of
importance, divided into the proper sections. You will save this Master in a
separate file and keep updating it as you gain more skills, through work
experience or education.
Based on this master, you will then produce a customized resume for each
application. This resume will be tailored to showcase the parts of your
background that are most relevant for the position (work, volunteering, college
application) for which you are applying. As a student, your resume generally
should be no longer than one page.
A resume you are sending out always should be
- tailored to its specific purpose
- easy to read
- showcasing your qualifications well, including evidence
- creative, yet professional
Your resume is never written in stone. It is more like a work endlessly in progress
sort of like the Winchester house during Ms. Winchesters lifetime. Not
updating and tailoring your resume for each recipient will come back to haunt
you one day!

Short Step-by-Step Planning Guide:

1. Fill out the brainstorming worksheet
2. Read some sample resumes to get ideas for formatting, presentation, and
wording
3. Write a master resume (use the template)
4. Analyze the purpose of the customized resume you are about to write (fill out
worksheet)
5. In a file separate from your Master Resume, produce the customized version
of the resume
[ Once you have a master resume, for each subsequent resume you need to
send, start by updating the master and then start with step 4.]
Examples of resumes:
http://ucs.yalecollege.yale.edu/sites/default/files/StudentResumeSamples.pdf

https://www.google.com/search?
q=high+school+student+resume+examples&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=RXI
_U_iPK6-02AWkuoDwCg&ved=0CCUQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643

Brainstorming Worksheet
Write down all of the information below; use a separate sheet if necessary - or
even better: copy into a word file and do it on a computer.
High School/s
Name:
City/State:
Dates attended or graduation date [actual or expected]:
College classes taken
College name:
City/State:
Titles of class(es):
Dates attended:
[repeat for each college/class]
Online classes taken
Program name:
City/State:
Titles of class(es):
Dates attended:
[repeat for each college]
Other classes outside of school (e.g. Chinese school, art classes, etc.)
Name of school:
Type of classes:
Dates attended:
Any special certificates [government-sponsored tests, recognized level-testing,
etc.]:
[repeat for each school]
Paid jobs
Name of position:
Name of employer:
Location of work (town and state):
[Exact] dates worked there:
[Complete contact information of supervisor and company address]:
Work you did there:
Skills used:
Problems solved and how:
[repeat for each job]

Internship positions
Name of position:
Paid or unpaid?
Name of organization:
Name of supervising professor/name position of supervisor:
Location of work (town and state):
Dates worked there:
Complete contact information of supervisor and company address:
Work you did there:
Skills used:
Problems solved and how:
[repeat for each position]
Volunteer work
Name of position:
Name of organization:
Location of work (town and state):
Dates worked there:
Number hours per occurrence and frequency (e.g.: 3 hours/week):
Complete contact information of supervisor and company address:
Work you did there:
Skills used:
Problems solved and how:
[repeat for each position]
School projects
Title of project:
Date [completed, or entire period if it includes long-term scientific research]:
Subject area:
Learning / discoveries derived from project:
Any special recognition [e.g. science fair prizes, publications, etc.]:
[repeat for each project]
Summer programs
Name of program:
Location ([college], Town, State):
Dates attended:
Summary of program:
Learning derived (topic-specific as well as life experience):
[repeat for each program]

Skills
Computer programs:
Level of mastery for each (proficient, working knowledge, basic knowledge):
Programming languages:
Level of mastery for each:
Languages other than English spoken:
Level of mastery for each:
(see below for ways of expressing language levels)

Certifications (e.g. CPR, First Aid, Lifeguarding):

Other Skills:
Ways of expressing skill levels for languages:
Almost nothing: currently learning, presently studying, basic grounding
Very little: basic, some, beginner,
Can read, communicate, but with lots of mistakes and limited vocabulary: intermediate, basic
working knowledge, moderately fluent, limited proficiency,
You can talk OK, but not read/write: conversational
You can read it OK, but cant say much: good understanding of written language
Can function quite well, but with occasional mistakes: good working knowledge, reasonable
working knowledge, advanced, good command
Can function very well (hardly any mistakes, rarely dont know a word) in the language:
proficient, fluent, near native, excellent, very good command
You are as good as people your age living in a country where the language is spoken:
native, native speaker standard, bilingual [bilingual generally means that you have been raised in both
cultures, i.e. your English also needs to be at a native level]
You want to make it a point that you can read and write and speak: add written and spoken
behind level

Honors and awards

Academic:
Athletic:
Music:
Other arts:
Volunteering:
Other:
Extracurriculars
Sports:
Arts:
Other hobbies and interests:
[do NOT list facebook, computer games, and youtube here, unless you are
applying for a position where this would be a necessary experience]

Customizing Worksheet
1) List the required skills as found in the job ad:

2) Circle any skills you do have

(If a major required skill or more than one minor required skill are missing, it
might be a waste of time to apply to this position!)
3) List any desired skills listed in the job ad:

4) Circle the desired skills you have

5) List any skills/experiences you have that you feel will be helpful in this
position:

6) List the character traits that you believe would be desirable for this position:

7) Circle the character traits that you believe you have

8) Write the Summary Statement based on the information above
9) Customize your Experience descriptions to make sure you include information
that is of interest to your reader and that shows that you have a background in
skills that are important for the position for which you are applying.

Template
[Your name]
[City/State/(zip optional) where you live]
[Your phone number]
[Your e-mail address this may be under or on the same line as your phone number]
[A link to your LinkedIn page, if you have one]
JOB OBJECTIVE
(This should include the job title of the position for which you are applying, or the functional area in
which you want to work. State what you wish to accomplish in this position, and possibly how it fits
in with you bigger plans especially if they include things that may be of interest to the employer.)

SUMMARY STATEMENT
(This is like a mini-commercial about yourself: in a few words, talk about the experience and skills
you have in areas that are relevant to the position for which you are applying. Talk both about hard
skills (things you have learned, such as a programming language) and soft skills (personality
traits). Make sure you address skills that were given as required/desired in the job listing.)

EDUCATION (& TRAINING)

[Name of school]
Expected graduation date: 20..
[Relevant classes you have taken outside of high school]
[Date taken]
[Relevant in-house training you received at previous jobs]
[Dates]
WORK EXPERIENCE
[Position] (in bold letters)
[Name of employer]
[Dates you worked there]
[If relevant and not obvious, include a short description of what the company
does]
(Describe what you did there. Use action words in the past tense. Focus especially on areas of
experience relevant to the job for which you are applying. Include accomplishments: did you solve
any specific issues for the company? How?)

[Repeat for each employer you have had.]

(You may include unpaid positions (volunteer work) that were just like a paid job, but do not include
typical short volunteering opportunities, unless they are REALLY relevant to the job for which you are
applying.)

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
[Name of organization]
[Dates you volunteered]
(Only include experiences where you spent a considerable amount of time, volunteering on a regular
basis, OR that are very relevant to the position for which you are applying.)

ADDITIONAL SKILLS
(If listing skills in just one area, give a specific title, e.g.: Language Skills, Computer Skills, etc.)
(List anything of interest: computer skills, languages other than English and your level of knowledge,
specialized equipment relevant to the position that you have experience operating, etc.)

ACADEMIC HONORS
PUBLICATIONS

PERSONAL INTERESTS
(Drop anything that is not important in your life and not interesting to the reader. List in the
following order:
- Interests of particular interest to the employer because they resulted in useful skills
- Interests in which you have achieved a high level of performance
- Unusually interesting activities and/or activities that are especially important to you.)

Details Section by Section

Above is the basic template for a resume. The bolded, all-caps parts are titles of
sections that you should use pretty much in that wording. If you have nothing to
put in one of the categories, you do not list it at all. Below, you will find more
details on how to present each section and some examples.
Contact Information
This contains:
- your name
- the city where you live (the street address is no longer customary)
- your phone number
- your e-mail address
- a link to your LinkedIn profile (if you have one)
It is common to center the information in the page and to write your name in
bold letters and slightly larger font.
Example:

Joe Sample
Anytown, CA 99999
(123) 456-7890
joe.sample1291@gmail.com
()
A note about your e-mail address:
Your address this should sound professional (read: boring). The goal is not to
make a statement, be weird, cute, funny, angry, etc. Examples of e-mail
addresses that are fun to have, but should be reserved for your friends and not
given to prospective employers or colleges:
smoothlikebutteronamuffin@...
theworldismad@...
worldisok@...
creative_anachronist@...
broadway-gal@...
Better choices may be:
john.sample@...

jsample@...
j.sample@...
sample.j@...
sample.john@...
If all versions of your name are taken with one provider, try another provider,
but try to stick to common providers like gmail, hotmail, yahoo, etc. If you still
have a problem to find an available address, you can also add a number to your
name, but avoid making it something that looks like your year of birth. Also
avoid having an address that consists entirely of numbers, random (to the
reader) letters, or an address that is clearly a name, but a different name from
the one under which you are applying.
Objective
The objective is very short, typically one sentence, and lets the reader know
your main goal. It should be tailored specifically to the reason for which you are
submitting your resume and should include the name of the position/degree
your are seeking.
Examples:
If part of a college application:
(...)

Objective:
To earn a degreee in Psychology at Boston College.
(...)
If part of a job application:
(...)

Objective:

To obtain a part-time sales position with Hollister.

(...)
A bit more powerful:
(...)

Objective:
To obtain a marketing position with Strayer University where I can utilize my
software and writing skills and make a positive contribution to the companys
internet presence.
(...)

It is optional to include an objective in your resume. Whether you do so or not is

partly determined about whether or not you are including a cover letter with
your application. It is very important to include an objective if you cannot
include a cover letter. It may be redundant if the information is included in your
cover letter and you can be reasonably confident that anyone reading your
resume will also be reading the cover letter. This would be the case if you
already know who will be reading the application and are sending the
application to them directly.
Summary Statement
Again, this section is optional and it may or may not make sense for a student
resume. If you have above average applicable experience (in comparison to
your educational level and/or work experience), it would make sense to point
that out here. If not, just leave the section out.
If you do write a summary statement, follow sequence:
- State years/months of relevant experience and/or point out
training/certificates.
- List job specific skills, highlighting skills that make you unique or are
particularly relevant
- Point out personal qualities that might be relevant or desired.
Example:
(...)
Summary Statement
I am PSIA level I certified and over the past three years, I have been teaching
ski school at a major ski resort every school vacation, instructing students
from beginners to advanced levels. Based on my personal experience in
competitive racing, I was able put the value of techniques in perspective and
got younger students excited about classes by including playful race training
at all ability levels. I have conducted workshops for colleagues on the topic. I
am a high energy and outgoing person and connect well with customers at of
all ages.
(...)
Education
List the high school(s) and college(s) you have attended, as well as serious
online courses you have completed. You may also include special summer
programs you have attended, unless you will list them under experience. Include
your GPA if it is at least 3.00/4.00. Include your actual or expected graduation
date for high school. Make sure to specify that the graduation date is expected if
you have not graduated yet. List dates of attendance if you did not earn a
degree and dont expect to earn one any time soon.

If you only have one academic honor to list, you may include it right in this
section. If the list is longer, you may report honors in a separate section, under a
dedicated header.
Examples:
(...)

Education:
Stuyvesant High School, New York
expected graduation: 6/2015
GPA: 4.13
Deans List
COSMOS Summer Program - UC Davis
Biotechnology
summer 2014
Austin Community College
Introduction to Speech Communication
summer 2014
United States History I
fall
2014
Brigham Young University Online
Principles of Accounting
spring 2014
(...)
Experience
In this section you list prior positions you have held. These include work
experience and internships, as well as long-term volunteer work. In the case of
the student resume, when you may have little or no work experience, you may
also include special summer programs you have attended, unless you listed
them under education, and major school projects in an area of importance to
your application. List experiences chronologically, starting with the most recent
position.
For work/volunteer experience, give the title of the position in bold, followed by
the name of the organization, the location where you did the work (town and
state), and dates of employment. For projects, give the title of the project in
bold, followed by the school and subject, and date.

If necessary, you may include a very short description of the company for which
you worked. If you worked for a known company or everything one needs to
know is clear from the name of the company, this is not necessary. It may be
helpful if the description adds relevant information about your experience in a
certain area.
Always use action words in your description and focus on achievements, i.e.
problems solved.
Write in the past tense and incomplete sentences (no subject).
Action Word List:
http://ucs.yalecollege.yale.edu/sites/default/files/Resume_Action_Verbs.pdf

Examples:
(...)
Camp Counselor
Camp Cedar Hill, Waltham, MA
6/2012-8/2012
Group leader for campers age 8-10. Maintained a safe environment, enforced safe
behavior, and kept group spirits high, also during outdoor activities on rainy days.
Upon finding that students frequently showed up in clothing that was not practical
for camp activities, provided parents not only with written guidelines for clothing,
but also reasons for the guidelines. Brought campers onboard through group
theme days that would naturally lead to appropriate wear, in addition to
fostering group spirit.
(...)
(...)
Volunteer (Homework Helper)
Boys and Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley, San Jose, CA
6/2011-present
Worked with groups of 3rd grade students every Wednesday after school.
Answered student questions, maintained quiet working environment, and
ensured that students worked productively. Introduced achievement charts
to encourage students to complete all assignments efficiently. Charts were
introduced at the entire site after they proved successful in applicants group.
(...)
(...)
Research Project: Spread of the Common Cold in the School
Environment

AP Biology Class, Anderson High School, Austin, TX

2014
Researched the spread of common cold at the school. Took swabs of various
high-traffic areas of school (bathrooms, doorknobs, cafeteria tables and
condiment dispensers) and analyzed strains. Analyzed strains of germs of
students who recently contracted the common cold and compared with germ
strains found at school during the three days immediately preceding
symptoms. Found a strong correlation between germs found on door handles
and students who fell ill. Won 1st place at Regional Science Fair and 3rd place
at State Science Fair for project.
(...)
If you have absolutely nothing to say, you may omit this section, but, needless
to say, this will not help your chances of getting the job / being admitted to the
college!
Additional Information
This section is a catch-all for all your other special skills, such as computer skills,
language skills, certifications, and also includes information about
extracurricular activities and memberships in clubs and organizations that do
not fit anywhere else. These may include participation in sports, band, yearbook,
etc. However, you should filter this information when customizing your resume.
In this order, focus on
- activities that relate to your objective
- certifications (e.g. First Aid/CPR, Lifeguarding, etc.)
- leadership roles
- special achievements
Remember to include information about the extent of your skill. When
customizing, always omit information that is of no interest to the person
receiving your resume. If applicable, you may include special courses taken that
relate to your objective and are not part of the general core body of a high
school education.
If your additional information is limited to one area, or if one category is of
particular importance to the position you are seeking, you may use a specific
[additional] header for those skills.
If you have published in journals or books, you may include this information
here, or under a separate header. Choose a separate header if you have several
interesting publications or you want to draw special attention to the publication.
For example: If you already had some scientific research published in a
recognized professional journal and are applying for a position in that field:
make it a separate header. If your English teacher made you submit a poem
about your favorite food item that got printed somewhere and you are applying
for an engineering position, mention it under additional information header or omit it entirely.

Your honors and awards can also be a sub-section under this header. Limit your
listing to major academic awards and high achievements in competitions only.
Focus on areas of importance to your reader by listing those honors that relate
to your objective first.
Example:
(...)
Additional Information
Computer Skills:
Microsoft Office (proficient)
Java (basic skills)
Foreign Languages:
Chinese (fully bilingual, written and spoken)
Spanish (fluent)
Japanese (basic working knowledge)
Korean (basic oral communication skills)
Certifications:
Basic Lifeguarding - Red Cross; includes CPR/AED (current)
Waterfront Lifeguarding - Red Cross (current)
Academic Honors:
Trustees Award (9th, 10th, 11th grade)
Departmental Award: AP Chemistry
First Place, State Science Fair
Publications:
Rare Early Egyptian Islamic Coins and Weights: The Awad Collection. Journal
of the American Research Center in Egypt Vol. 18 (2010): 51-56
School Clubs - Leadership Positions:
President, National Spanish Honor Society (senior year)
President, Robotics Club (senior year)
Vice President, Robotics Club (junior year)
Extracurricular Activities/Hobbies:
Snow skiing, photography, badminton
References:
References need not be included in your resume, and you may actually want to
wait divulging that information until after an interview. Stating References
available upon request. at the bottom of the resume is entirely sufficient, and
even that is optional. This gives you the opportunity to possibly change your
mind on whom to ask to recommend you, based on the information you believe
is being sought after an interview, or the personality type of the interviewer who
will talk to your referee. You also want to limit on how often your referees may
be contacted by only providing references when you have a good chance of
being offered a position and you still want that position. And regardless of the

approach you chose or the situation: NEVER give out someones name and
contact information before making sure that they are willing to be contacted.
More on the Master Resume and the Customized Resume
For your master resume, brainstorm to come up with as complete as possible a
list of your skills and experiences as you can. Try to include anything and
everything that you learned (and that not everyone had to do) and every place
where you ever worked or volunteered. In the special case of the student
resume, you may even include major school projects that relate to the position
for which you apply as experience and mention elective classes you took in
school with additional information (but do not include your basic English, Social
Science, STEM, and PE classes). Remember to list languages, and classes you
took outside of school.
For your extracurricular activities, start with 9th grade only, but do focus on
activities that began well before high school and that you are still pursuing.
You will NEVER send this long list of hodge-podge information to anyone. Your
parents may still have typed up a resume, made a bunch of photocopies, and
sent the same general information to everyone. Those times are over!
Employers and colleges only want to read the information which is interesting to
them - but in those areas they want to see interesting details.
You may want to include the name and contact information (e-mail and phone)
of your supervisor and the full address of the place where you worked in your
master resume. You will not include this information in a resume that you send
out, but it is easier for you to find the information, should you need it years
down the road, if you record it in your master resume when it is fresh on your
mind. Also, write down exact dates of when you worked in a place in your
master resume. On resumes you send out, only include month/year. As you get
older and spend more time at positions, it may be better even to only give years
(first-last).

Customizing
As a student, when applying for work/college, your resume should ideally fit on
one page: omitting everything that is not of interest to your objective from
additional information should be enough to accomplish that. If not, sticking to
actual work experience in the experience section should do the trick, even if you
wind up listing pertinent projects and volunteer positions in less detail in
additional information.
As you prepare your resume for a specific position, begin by taking a step back
and asking yourself the following questions:
1) What skills do I need for this position?
2) What have I DONE that shows that I possess those skills?

Once you answer these two questions, preferably by creating a table with those
columns, it will be clear what you need to include in your resume for that
particular application. You are now ready to start customizing.
Remember that you have some flexibility on the section in which you put certain
types of information and some flexibility to the order in which you list your
sections. Consider the fact that the experience section probably gets the most
attention. Dont bury important things in additional information, and dont
clutter the experience-section with items that dont necessarily belong there
(i.e. work experience) and that are of no interest to your reader.
Make sure your resume is easy to read and attractive! Use bold, all caps,
italics, and font size to improve legibility. Use plain fonts and do NOT mix fonts!!!
Follow a clear, consistent way of aligning information. Your resume should be
optically attractive and all information should be easy to find where the reader
expects it. That means establishing and consistently following a pattern on
where and how you put section titles, subtitles, dates, etc. Important
experiences and skills should be jumping at the reader, and not be buried in
clutter where they will be missed. Use summary statements, and the limited
flexibility you have to put information in one section or another or to create
additional headings to accomplish this.

GOOD LUCK
on your application