Resume Advice

[packbat]

Ever wondered how to write a resumé? So have I! And now, thanks to three courses, two seminars, three critiques, and a number of long-forgotten websites, I can tell you!

Presenting...

A Brief Summary of the Resumé Advice I Have Received*!

• Length:
  I have been reliably informed that:
  • If you're twenty years out of college, you can make a two page resumes. Otherwise, stick with one. (Also, if you make it two pages, fill the second page. But since you're not twenty years out of college, don't make it two pages.)
  • If you've got a lot of experience, you can have two pages, but try to avoid it.
  • If you're a grad student, you can make it two pages. Undergrads should make it one.
  • Your resume should always be one page.
  
  
• Content:
  Do include:
  • All schools attended, with actual or expected dates of graduation.
  • Relevant coursework.
  • Relevant upper-level-only coursework.
  • Projects.
  • Hobbies.
  • Extracurriculars.
  • Any and all jobs held.
  • Relevant job experience.
  • Skills (regardless of where you earned them).
  • Interests (related or unrelated to job).
  • Objectives/Goals
  • Personal profile.
  • Date resume was written.
  Do not include:
  • High schools, if have any college schoolwork.
  • Community colleges, if have any university schoolwork.
  • Lower-level coursework.
  • Any coursework.
  • Hobbies.
  • Extracurriculars.
  • Irrelevant job experience.
  • Interests.
  • Objectives/Goals.
  • Personal profile.
  • Date resume was written.
  
  
• Formatting:
  Some general and specific guidelines:
  • Be consistent.
  • Put your name, address, phone number, and email address at the top.
  • Put dates in the left-hand column. Any other location is unstandard.
  • Put job titles, etc. in left hand column. Dates are uninteresting, move them right.
  • Don't put dates on right – is too far from text, does not scan well.
  • Put organization first, then job title, then location, then date.
  • Put emphasis (e.g. bold, italic, capitals) on all job titles and section titles.
  • Describe job titles, etc. with bulleted sentence fragments.
  • Describe them with paragraphs instead, if you wish.
  • Never describe them with paragraphs – nobody wants to look at all that text.
  • Describe job responsibilities with paragraphs, describe other things in bullets.
  
  
• Style:
  • Use "action verbs" in the past tense.
  • Write in sentence fragments.
  • Be brief.
  • Elaborate on your interest in the position and on your sterling qualities as an employee. It's shows you're good for the post.
    Example: "Dedicated and enthusiastic engineer interested in computer modeling of dynamic systems." This is good.
  • Don't talk about your interest in the position and your sterling qualities as an employee – it's annoying.
    Example: "Dedicated and enthusiastic engineer interested in computer modeling of dynamic systems." This is horrible.

* A few of these items may or may not be actual advice I have received. My memory is not all that reliable. Also, it's all paraphrased.

So, that's the bulk of the advice I've gotten. Anyone else have suggestions?