Your Resume vs. The Competition

BUSINESS RESUME CHECKLIST

FORMATTING • Kept resume to one page in length unless 10+ relevant years of work experience

• Reduced white blank space on resume

• Emphasized major headings using capital letters, underlining, or bold

• Used bullets, bold, italics, underlining, and indenting appropriately

• Proofread resume to make sure it was free of grammatical errors

• Kept spacing and formatting consistent throughout

• Listed dates consistently

• Used appropriate fonts – Times New Roman or Arial

• Used 15 or 16 pt. font for name in heading; 11 or 12 pt. font for the rest of the resume

• Did not include pictures, graphics, logos, borders, or color

• Did not include personal information (age, marital status, children, citizenship, etc.)

• Set margins to approximately 1⁄2 inch or 1 inch on all sides

NAME/ADDRESS • Complete name is on top line of the resume

• Complete mailing address is listed

• Telephone number with area code is included

• FIU email address is listed. Optional: 2nd professional email address is provided

OBJECTIVE (OPTIONAL)

• Targeted to specific job applying for

• Did not use personal pronouns such as “I, me, my, we, our”

• Highlighted key skills or qualifications related to the job

EDUCATION • Listed the complete name of the university, along with the city and state

• Wrote the full name of the degree and major

• Included the month and year of graduation or expected graduation

• Did not list range of dates of attendance, but wrote in month and year of graduation date

• Included GPA if 3.0 or higher for undergraduate degree and/or GPA if 3.5 or higher for master’s degree

• Listed the highest degree first

RELEVANT COURSEWORK (OPTIONAL) • Listed only courses relevant to the job applying for

• Wrote full course names, not course numbers

• Listed Key Projects, if relevant, to highlight transferable skills

EXPERIENCE • Listed company name, city and state, position title, and range of dates of employment

• Listed employment with most recent first by start date

• Began each bullet point with an action verb

• Focused on accomplishments in bullet points

• Quantified/qualified accomplishments when possible

• Listed all relevant paid work, internships, and relevant volunteer work

LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES • Listed campus and/or community activities

• Highlighted leadership positions and described accomplishments using bullet points

• Listed leadership title, organization, location, and dates of participation

• Did not include high school activities as they are no longer relevant

ADDITIONAL CATEGORIES Used Other with subcategories of any or all the following:

• Professional Associations or Affiliations

• Certifications

• Licenses

• Languages (only list languages other than English)

• Computer Skills (list specific computer software knowledge/skills)

• Technical Skills (leaving off outdated or obsolete skills)

• Scholarships

• Honor Societies

• Dean’s List (list semesters when earned)

• Awards

• Research

• Publications

• Presentations

• Military Service (can be listed under Experience)

• Additional Training (list only workshops/seminars/ training that is relevant to position)

• If applicable, listed at the bottom the phrase “Open to Relocation” or “Willing to Relocate”

• Did not include the phrase “References Available Upon Request”