Résumés - How To
What is a résumé?
- Summary of Qualifications
- Marketing Tool
Content:
In a résumé, some information is required and some is optional.
What is the minimum required?
- Name and contact information. This may seem obvious, but I’ve seen résumés without a name or without contact info.
- Highest level of education obtained that is related to the position.
- Pertinent experience, described with action words.
- Clean, easy-to-read formatting with no typos.
What is optional? All the other categories (see below). How you categorize and title your experience (e.g. Ministry, Related, Relevant, Pastoral Experience, etc.). How much of your education and experience (paid and volunteer) you include. The length of your résumé (1 or 2 pages) and format of your résumé (chronological, functional, combined).
The determining factor for these optionals? Ask yourself: Does it demonstrate the best of my ability and potential to do this job? This is more than asking whether it is relevant or simply extra information. This is asking you to try and get in the head of the person looking at your résumé. Think about what you are communicating by how you write it (the words you choose, the positioning, are you using language they will understand).
But let’s start with first things first. Begin your résumé-writing by brainstorming all of the following sections and creating a master résumé, from which you can tailor your résumé to the type of work you are looking for. Brainstorming can help you think of activities and thus abilities you have, but when it comes to writing -- Remember, it’s not a biography; it is a summary of your qualifications, a marketing tool to highlight the best and most relevant of your experience and education.
- Name and Contact Info
- This is the "business card" showing how to reach you
- Your home address, phone, e-mail should be listed. If you give your cell phone number, indicate that it is your cell phone, and be sure your voicemail message is professional and gives your first and last name.
- Objective
- A brief statement communicating goal or intention. This is your vision for what you want to accomplish in the job.
- Example: To serve as a youth pastor that reaches, trains, and multiplies followers of Jesus Christ.
- This is optional, but can work to your advantage and set you apart if you write it well.
- Experience
- Where: Employment, volunteer, ministry, hobbies/organizations. In any or all of these places you have gained experience or used skills needed in the workplace.
- Determine appropriate category headings for your experience, such as: Ministry Experience and Work Experience; Relevant Experience, together with Current Employment; or Related Experience and Additional Experience. This allows you to bring to the reader’s attention first the most relevant information to the position.
- What: Routine and specialized accomplishments, tasks, and responsibilities. Think about your transferable skills anduse action verbs.
- List pertinent facts associated with the position you are pursuing. List positive results and quantify when possible.
- Don't include supervisors' name or contact info. They may ask for this on an application, but it is not part of a résumé.
- Education
- Education and ministry experience are the two important factors that any hiring person or search committee screens. If education is your strength, list it first. Otherwise, list your experience first.
- List chronologically, beginning with the most recent.
- Use only college and above. If you attended more than one, you only need list the one from which you received your degree.
- Include seminars and continuing education if they are relevant.
- If applicable, you may list: thesis, minor, projects, honors/awards/offices, GPA (if above 3.0) for new graduates.
- Honors/Awards
- This may appear as a separate category or the same information could be included under other appropriate categories, such as education , experience or volunteer.
- Computer Skills
- List software that you are familiar with. Include your level of proficiency if it will help and if you have room .
- Language Skills
- List languages that you speak, read and/or write. Include your level of proficiency if it will help.
- Interests
- List hobbies and interests, particularly if they are relevant. It may be helpful, too, to show that you are a well-rounded person.
- References
- "Available upon request" (Sometimes committees call references before talking to you -- you want to make the first impression.)
- List on a separate page, so that they are available to give upon request. References may change in relation to the position you are seeking.
- Be sure to check with potential references before listing them.
What are Transferable Skills? These skills are essentially those you can take from workplace to workplace, from church to company, or from the home to the office. For more help, read a brief article and see examples, or review a sample list. Or read an article with steps and tips on how to identify yours. Or take a survey that provides another list of examples.
What are Action Verbs? This actively states your skills, i.e., what you did in your job. Action verbs powerfully convey your abilities to your readers and are the strongest way to write your résumé. View an alphabetical list or a list by category.
Format:
- Decide on chronological or functional? Now that you have the information that will go into your résumé, you can decide on the format that suits it best. If you're writing a chronological résumé, do you want to highlight your experience or your education? Place this information after your objective, if you have one. Then everything is in chronlogical order with most recent first.
- Be concise. Write one page, maximum of two (if you have had more than three jobs or ten years of experience).
- Make your résumé pleasing to the eye in terms of layout and readability. Quality printing on neutral colored paper. Use the same paper for your résumé and cover letter.
- Carefully edit your résumé and have someone, who is as or more careful than yourself, proofread it.
More Resources:
Ministrylist.com. This site will help you build your résumé and provides an example in several different layouts.
PSU's Career Center has a well-written résumé section and several samples.
Jobweb.com provides several samples, including different formats: chronological, functional, combination, and electronic.
The best-selling, job hunting book in the world, What Color is Your Parachute?, has an accompanying website with realistic and practical information and advice on résumé writing.
Christian Career Center. The article "How to Write a Résumé that Gets Results" describes the steps in writing a résumé and provides links to two examples: a functional and chronological résumé.
