What Should Be the Key Ingredients of a Resume?

Contact Information

• Every resume should include a header at the top of the page so the recipient can find your contact information easily. The header should include your name, permanent address, business telephone number and a professional email address.

Objective or Summary

• Depending on your career and needs, the first section of your resume will likely be either an objective or a summary of experience. An objective is a short statement that explains what specific job you want and what outstanding skill you possess that gives you the desire to follow this career path. A summary of experience is a paragraph (or occasionally two paragraphs) in which you summarize your most impressive achievements and explain how you believe the skills you developed as a result make you the best candidate for the job for which you are applying.

Education

• Your education section should include all degrees you hold, the names and locations of the school(s) from which you graduated, your area of study and date(s) of graduation. If you also hold certification, you may want to create a separate certification and training section.

Experience

• Your experience section should include the jobs you have held that are most relevant to the position for which you are applying. Include for each the job title, the company's name and location, and the window of time you were employed there. Each job should also feature a description or list of specific duties for which you were responsible.

Skills

• Depending on the type of resume format you choose as well as your career and personal preference, you can place the skills section near the beginning or at the end of your resume. The list should call attention to any relevant skills you possess that are not explicitly stated elsewhere.

Keywords

• It is common for companies to use computer software to filter resumes before they are considered by a human. These types of software search for key words and phrases to find those resumes deemed to be the best fit according to the job description. Read through the job listing carefully and highlight keywords, or words that appear frequently, then incorporate them into your resume. For example, if the phrase "implementing new budget database" occurs two or more times in the job description and you accomplished something similar at a previous job, use "implemented new database" as one of your duty descriptions.