Employment Planning

Resume Contents

Resumes have only one purpose -- to get you an interview. Make sure your resume
matches the skills and talents the company requires. Also, resumes are used more to screen people out than to screen them in. Make sure you have no spelling or grammatical mistakes. The resume should look clean and easy to read.

Types of Layout
• Functional resumes are used to emphasize specific skills. Skills, experience, or education can be listed first, depending on what gives the best impression.
• Chronological resumes focus on experience. Giving your work and school history emphasizes recent skills and experience. List your most recent jobs first.
• Combinations of the above also are possible. Your experience of the last five years could be listed chronologically, with skills listed separately.

Information Needed
• Your name, address, e-mail, telephone and fax numbers or any other way to get in touch with you.
• Skills specific to the job.
• Your level of education, where attended and your major or area of study.
• Courses taken that are specific to the job.
• Work experience: position, name and location of company in that order, followed by the dates you worked there. Follow this with specific duties and accomplishments of that job. Include any supervisory, budget or managerial experience.
• Distinctions, honors and awards. Your grade-point average if it’s higher than 3.0. If you’ve served an LDS mission, earned your Eagle Scout award or Young Women Recognition Award, include that information here.
• Abilities, talents, strengths or experience not reflected in your work history.

Information Not Needed
• High school information if you are enrolled in a college or have a college degree.
• Hobbies, interests, or personal data i.e. siblings, age, marital status.
• Criminal offences, unless relevant to the job.
• References. List these on a separate sheet of paper.
• Obvious courses (i.e. English, math) or courses basic to your major.
• Desired salary.