On Resumes

I am creating a one-page resume for K-State's Public Service Career Fair next week. I am continually updating my Curriculum Vitae (CV), but it's been over three years since I have needed to put together a one-page resume from my eight-page CV. I realize that seems like a lackadaisically long time for an undergraduate student to not have created a one-pager, so I offer this as explanation: I have been working within the government sector for the majority of my undergraduate career, and the government prefers very detailed records of what you have done.

Since it has been over 3 years since I have created a one-page resume, I decided to refer to my collection of notes on resumes. Here are my synthesized notes:

Organization

• Personal Information
• Name (no title), addresses, phone numbers, email, fax addresses, or web site (should show professional skills, not personal data). 
• Objective or Career Interest
• A clear objective tells prospective employers the type of job you want so they may evaluate your resume. 
• Education
• Usually comes first for student resumes as it is a strong asset. After your fist job, it will follow experience. 
• Experience in Chronological Order
• Identifies experience beginning with the most recent events listed first under each heading. Titles and organizations are prominent and duties and accomplishments within these positions are listed beneath.
• Optional Categories
• Be certain your strengths are represented in various categories: Honors/Awards; Leadership Activities; Relevant Skills and Experience; Special Interests; and/or Accomplishments. If one of these areas, i.e Leadership Activities, outweighs Work History as an asset, it may come before that section on your resume. You will lead with your strengths.
• References
• Indicate "References Available Upon Request" at the bottom of resume or refer to references in your cover letter.

The Specifics

Education

• Education usually means postsecondary and can include special seminars, training, certifications, or licensure. Freshmen may include high school and identify those activities/honor/course work relevant to finding internships/summer work. After the freshman year, only state/national/unique recognitions are usually included. Begin with the most recent degree obtained or in progress, and work backwards. 
• List degree/year obtained or expected; names and locations of schools; major, minor, options, if any; and grade point average. Not every school needs to be listed, but if you make reference to activities or honors, include the institution's name. 
• GPA is reviewed, particularly for on-campus interviews. Be sure to separate GPA for each institution, clarify that this is "cumulative GPA for all schools." Include major GPA if it benefits you to do so. Clarify how you reached your total: all department courses, requirements for major, option emphasis, etc. Indicate improvement in GPA "after reentry to K-State; change of major; last three semesters, etc."
• Relevant Course Work, Study Abroad, Language Proficiency may be included in this section
• Percent of college expenses you provided might be identified to show ability to balance time or demonstrate work ethic. Use over 50% as a guide. 

Experience

• Experience may include fulltime paid jobs, academic research projects, internships or coop positions, part-time jobs or volunteer work. List Job Title (if relevant), month/year of employment or experience, name and location of employers and responsibilities you held. 
• Describe each experience using a P-A-R (Problem-Action-Result) formula to review the situation, describing the problem (or overall challenge/responsibility), actions taken to reach the goal, result or accomplishment achieved.
• Use an action verb to start your statement and omit personal pronouns (i.e. "I" or "my").
• Be specific in describing equipment used, duties, languages and purposes of actions.
• Quantify the number of people, products, and profits involved.

Honors

• Honors may include academic awards (scholarships or honor's list), professional awards or recognition, leadership or athletics.

Activities

• Activities might include academic, volunteer, community, professional or living group organizations in which you held office or played a role. You may apply PAR statements to illustrate what you accomplished in the offices/functions you held. Interests or hobbies are options if related to professional goals.

Other Categories

• Other categories you might want to include leadership, internships, computer skills, volunteer work, language proficiencies, research, professional associations, publications, military experience, or accomplishments.