Resumes

First, add your contact information at the top of the page

Your name should be large (e.g. 14 pt font or larger)

Your contact information should include your email address, phone number, city and state (street address is not needed), and a personalized link to your LinkedIn profile.

To personalize your LinkedIn profile link, click on ‘Edit Public Profile & URL’ in the top right corner of your profile page. Edit your custom URL to your name.

Next, as a current student, your education section should be listed at the top under your contact information.

Information that should be included: 

• Institution name, city, and state
• School or college, including study abroad institutions and graduate schools, where relevant
• Date of graduation (month and year)
• Major, if known
• GPA, if above a 3.0 or if required by an employer

Other optional information:

• Relevant coursework: You can share up to 5 classes that are relevant to the position to which you are applying. This is a great way to tailor your resume to a specific position and to show content knowledge that may not be reflected in your major or elsewhere on your resume.  
• Academic honors or awards: e.g. Dean’s list (with dates) or other academic recognition can be included here
• High school can be included if space permits through sophomore year unless there is a compelling reason to keep it there (e.g. for networking purposes). 

For most students, your experience section(s) will come after Education. An exception would be if the position description calls for key technical skills.

Key tips:

• Keep in mind that your experience is not just your paid experience. It can include jobs, internships, research, volunteer work, leadership, or campus involvement. You can choose how you title your experience section(s). Some ideas include: Relevant Experience, Volunteer Experience, Leadership & Involvement. 
• Since you want your most relevant experience closer to the top of your resume, consider how you want to represent your various experiences. What experiences are most relevant in terms of skills gained and content learned to the positions to which you are now applying? 
• Within each section, list your experiences in reverse chronological order by end date. 

Following are some additional sections you may include on your resume:

Objective or Summary: For most students, this is unnecessary and simply takes up space. However, if you are looking to enter a field in which you have very limited experience, it can be helpful to include a short objective that articulates what you are seeking and can show that you are applying to a role with intent and purpose. 

Skills/Interests: It is strongly encouraged to include a section on skills such as computer skills, languages, laboratory skills. For most students, this section will appear at the bottom of your resume, but for students interested in science and technology, see specific tips here. Personal interests such as hobbies can be included if space permits.

• When applying for a creative position, such as a graphic designer, web designer, or creative manager, it can be appropriate to have a creative resume designed in a program like Adobe InDesign.
• While a creative resume can include graphics and colors, it should still look professional and be easy to read. 
• It’s a good idea to have a traditional version of your resume along with the creative one. Applicant Tracking Systems cannot always pull information from graphics or heavily designed resumes, so use a traditional resume when applying for a position online and save your creative resume to be emailed directly or to give to someone in-person.

• When applying to positions in the federal government, it is appropriate to submit a federal resume. Federal resumes are generally 2-5 pages in length and include more required information, including U.S. citizenship status, veteran’s status, the address and contact information for prior employers and supervisors, and specific USAJobs.gov job identification number.
• As the large majority of federal jobs are posted on USAJobs.gov, we recommend using the website’s resume builder for a step-by-step guide to craft your federal resume.

• List the number of hours worked during clinicals.
• List any non-clinical work or volunteer experiences you have had. This shows the recruiter that you are well rounded.
• It is critical to keep your Nursing resume to 1 page only.
• Additionally, if you have worked with any data entry system such as EPIC, list it under the skills section.

• Prioritize key technical skills, such as laboratory (e.g. PCR, gel electrophoresis, western blot, etc.) and statistical analysis software (e.g. R, SPSS, STATA, etc.), in the top half of the resume. This is especially important if the position description explicitly calls for them.
• Include a research experience section that outlines any on- or off-campus research you have been involved with. Be sure to include relevant achievements in the bullet statements.
• If applicable, include a publications section following the citation style most commonly used in that field of research.

• For teaching in the public schools, create a Licensure and Certifications section, just below your Education section. The title and contents of this section depend on the norms for the state in which you are seeking work. For Massachusetts, include your SEI Endorsement; your 51A Mandated Reporter Training; your MTEL results (if you have passed all of them, you do not need to list each one); and any other endorsements or certifications you have achieved. 
• Create a category for Teaching and Related Experience, or break it up between two categories, such as Practicum Experience and Other Teaching Experience.
• Emphasize experiences with children with special needs; with English Language Learners; communicating with parents; using technology in the classroom, including remote teaching; using assessments to modify your teaching and improve student learning; and/or developing curriculum.
• Emphasize positive outcomes for your students - e.g. “collaborated with teachers to design and teach math units with an emphasis on encouraging students to build a strong foundation, explore the topics, and enjoy math.”
• View sample resume one and sample resume two.

• Prioritize key technical skills, such as programming languages (e.g. Python, C++, JavaScript, etc.) and analytical software (e.g. SQL, Spark, Hadoop, etc.), in the top half of the resume. This is especially important if the position description explicitly calls for them.
• Include a projects section that outlines any personal or group projects you have been involved with to develop your coding skills. Be sure to include relevant achievements in the bullet statements.
• If applicable, include a link to your GitHub in the contact information section.

• In your heading beneath your name, include any theatre-related professional organization memberships such as SAG and AFTRA.
• For actors, include your physical description—height, weight, hair and eye color, and vocal range. Actors should also include a color 8 x 10 headshot with their resume. Singers should specify their notes.
• Theatre experience should be listed in column format:
  • Column One: Name of play or movie.
  • Column Two: Role you played.
  • Column Three: Name and location of the theatre, the director’s name. You can save space by abbreviating "director" to Dir."