Marquette University Job Search Guide

Writing a Perfect Resume

Skills Summary A skills summary is optional, but can be a productive way to communicate 3-4 subjective strengths/qualities about you to the employer. This section allows you to bring up skills which you believe you possess. It is important that you are able provide evidence of these skills in the rest of your resume, your cover letter, and in your interview. Sample Skills: • Compassionate professional; able to easily develop rapport with patients from diverse backgrounds. • Highly organized; able to work in a fast-paced environment. • Always seeking to expand skills and take on new challenges. • Enjoy speaking before small or large groups; articulate, humorous. • Effective communicator, written and spoken, English and Spanish.

Education List for each degree-conferring institution beyond high school: • Name of the educational institution or specialized training program • Location (city, state) of each institution • Degree or certification obtained • Actual or anticipated graduation date • Major/minor/area of concentration or emphasis • GPA/Major GPA (if proud of it) • Certifications and/or licenses related to career goal • Relevant coursework, projects, and/or thesis (optional)

Study Abroad should also be included in the Education section. Include the name of the educational institution, location, term you studied abroad, and special skills you acquired that are related to your academic experience. Example: MARQUETTE STUDY CENTER, Madrid, Spain, Fall 20xx Study abroad program with a focus on Spanish language and culture. Gained fluency in Spanish. Demonstrated sensitivity to cultural values and differences. Experience This part of your resume may include several sections such as work experience, volunteer experience (internships, community service, and student teaching), campus leadership, and any area in which you may have significant experience, such as publications/ presentations or knowledge. Use headings to market similar experiences together such as: Clinical Experience, Career Related Experience, Publications Experience, Research Experience, and Other Work Experience. Your experience may require multiple categories, especially if you have both related and unrelated experience. Briefly describe for each position: • Job title, organization name, location (city, ST), and dates. List the most recent position first and work backwards. • List your responsibilities for each position using a variety of ACTION WORDS to describe situations and achievements. • Elaborate on accomplishments, additional responsibilities, improvements made on the job, and supervisory duties in bulleted format. • Unless necessary, avoid using articles in descriptions such as “a”, “an”, “the.” • Include scope of responsibility such as: Trained eight student workers • Concretely outline any outstanding results such as: Developed new computerized customer listing using MS Access software to improve output by ten percent • Quantify results as much as possible such as: Increased sales by 5% from previous summer; conducted office study that led to greater clerical efficiency.

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Internship and Job Search Guide x Marquette University x Career Services Center