BUILDING A Résumé

 
 

Purpose of a Résumé 

An effective résumé is a marketing tool used to show an employer your qualifications and potential to perform. It should be a concise summary of your highlights and achievements describing who you are, what you know, what you have done, and what you can do for an employer. Remember a résumé won’t get you a job, but it can lead to an interview.

Typically employers spend an average of 15-30 seconds per résumé on their initial review, so it’s important to make those seconds count. 

RéSumé Basics 

  • Don’t reinvent the wheel. Please take a look at Neumont’s résumé templates. 

  • Generally limit it to one page; do not have more than two pages.

  • Use white space and a balance of prose and bullets to lead the eye through the document. 

  • Be specific and concise: use bullet points, not complete sentences. Review each bullet and ask yourself: 

    • Does this statement help or harm me? 

    • Would someone understand what this means without any additional explanation? 

  • Omit personal pronouns of “I” and “me”. 

  • Ensure you are using past tense for any experience that is not currently happening, and current tense for anything you are currently engaged in. 

  • Be consistent in layout, headers, fonts, and overall style. 

  • Be honest and professional. 

  • Ensure there are NO spelling or grammatical errors. 

  • Exclude photos, and protected information such as age, race, marital status, etc. 

Résumé Layout 

Each résumé should be unique, but here are some basics: 

Contact Information: 

  • Name: Your name should be at the top of the page and should stand out, however it shouldn't be too big. 

  • Telephone number: Ensure you have a professional sounding voicemail greeting. 

  • Email: Use a professional email address– don’t use your student account. 

  • Hyperlinks: For LinkedIn and GitHub, if applicable. 

  • Skills Summary: As skills are so important, this section should be near the top, or running down either the left or right side of the page. 

    • Your skills and technologies should be reinforced in your projects and technologies used section.

    • Check with Department Chairs or instructors to flesh out these skills and technologies. 

  • Note–a physical address is not necessary. 

Employment SummarY & Enterprise Projects

Add all projects: Capstone, Enterprise, and other key projects. Remember the Student Enrollment Agreement allows you to share the basics of the company and work you are doing. 

Suggested methods for
listing experience: 

You can choose to list the company information or title information first. Below are two examples:

  • Listing the company name first:

    • Larry H. Miller Utah Jazz | Developer | Jan – Mar 2019 | UT

  • Listing your title first:

    • Developer | Larry H. Miller Utah Jazz | Jan – Mar 2019 | UT 

  • Other options:

    • Capstone: Developer, Adaptable Behavior Trees | Neumont Senior Capstone Project | Oct – Dec 2018 | UT OR; 

    • Neumont Senior Capstone Project | Developer, Adaptable Behavior Trees | Oct – Dec 2018| UT 

Major responsibilities/accomplishments:

  • Use action verbs: Begin each description with an action verb, in the correct tense, that describes what you did. 

  • Quantify: Add numbers when appropriate, indicating the amount of money you saved or earned for the company, the number of teammates you worked with, or number of clients you managed, etc. 

  • Add specifics, not vague descriptions: For example, “Developed an IPS/IDS solution in the virtual environment to monitor network traffic, providing an increase of 40% intercepted suspicious activity.” 

Education:

Education should be at the bottom of your résumé and you should not include high school. 

  • You should include your GPA if you have a 3.3 or higher. 

  • Awards can be under education or in a separate section. 

  • Volunteer experience, leadership, and awards. 

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