Describing Your Qualifications

A vital step in looking for a job is preparing a resume, a brief presentation of your experience and qualifications that makes an employer want to interview you.

Students often have questions about how to assemble a resume. Here are some answers.

Above all, remember that a resume is not a life history. It is a presentation in outline form of your education, work and other experiences which highlights and describes those aspects which you think best portray your qualifications for employment. It is directed to a specific audience for a specific purpose.

The particular mix of qualifications that an employer prefers will depend on the job being filled. The more you know about what the employer is looking for, the better you can tailor your presentation.

Preparing to write your resume. Start by writing a comprehenseive outline of all the experiences and facts you might want to include in your resume. Keep this outline as a reference while you experiment with a variety of formats and styles and deletions of the information.

Understand what employers are looking for. Identify several prospective employers and gather information-ideally from visiting people at the place of work, or at least from company and vocational literature-about what qualifications that kind of job requires.

Friends can tell you whether they think you have succeeded in communicating your strengths. Advisors can comment on the impression your resume makes and what they can learn about you from it. When you interview career advisors to learn about occupations and gather job hunting advice, ask them to critique your resume. The Harvard Guide to Careers has information and advice on how to write a resume and cover letter. Sample resumes and letters are included to help you get started on designing you own presentation. Pick up a copy in the OCS Reception Room along with the flier on Preparing a Resume. Attend an Introduction to Writing Resumes and Cover Letters meeting which is held once a month. If you would like to see a counselor about planning your job hunt and preparing your resume, make an appointment with the counselor of your choice. If you would like a counselor to review a draft of your resume, come to a Resume Walk-In, Monday-Friday, 1:30-2:30.

Choose the format that best communicates your qualifications. Design your resume for two types of readers: the reviewer who scans your resume to learn your academic degrees, job titles, special experience, or skills; the reviewer who reads your resume for valued information about you and to receive an impression of your competencies and your personal qualities.

Most employers--especially in business-prefer a one page resume. These employers want an effectively organized and concise presentation of the most pertinent information about you. Employers in education, public service, and human services do not seem to have a strong preference, but a concise presentation shows that you appreciate the value of their time. If in doubt about resume length, ask counselors and career advisors.

Remember that a resume is an example of your work. If you claim skill in organization and ability to communicate clearly and concisely, your resume should demonstrate your proficiency in those skills.

You must make judgments about what is most important and allot space accordingly. Descriptions of jobs performed and accomplishments must be brief and listing of activities selective. If you can't fit your resume on one page, put all of the most important information on the first page. Certain information that is included in longer resumes, such as a list of publications or a list of references, may be important to your application. Other attachments may include an annotated transcript, clippings, writing sample, portfolio, and letters of recommendation.

Make purposeful use of capitals, underlining, positioning, and spacing. If you use a typed resume, have it reproduced by photo-offset. Beware of using too small type or reducing a typed resume, as you may also reduce your readership. Use white or ecru paper with matching envelopes and paper for your cover letters. Don't use bright-colored paper-it will overshadow your message and is more likely to land in the waste basket.

Style communicates a message. Staccato phrases or incomplete sentences such as "Designed date collection system. Analysed data and prepared 60-page report" give an efficient, action-oriented impression. For some people, however, the flow of complete sentences is more suitable.

Your resume should be neat, uncrowded, attractive, and easy to read. Accuracy in use of language, information, and spelling is key. Word processing on a computer is the most efficient way to produce your resume as you can try out different formats easily. It is not advisable to print your resume on a dot matrix printer. Laser jet and other types of letter quality printers are available in a variety of places around the University. Check and double check to make sure that there are absolutely no errors.

Content: Your resume will contain your name, address, and telephone number, and information about your education and work experience. Other sections, titles, and arrangements are at your discretion. Education and experience are usually presented in reverse chronological order. Give the most space to the most important experience. If you have several years of experience in your career field, your resume will focus on more specific accomplishments and skills. If you have years of work experience in several fields or are changing fields, a resume organized by skill areas may be more appropriate than a chronological resume.

Name, address and telephone: This is the most important information on the resume. Usually it is centered and in capital letters at the top of the page. If you must give a school address and a home address, place your name at top center and the addresses to the right and left.

Education: If you are a student or have just completed your education, put this section first. List your degrees or degree expected and date, your concentration, subject of senior honors thesis, and electives which are relevant to your employers. Include selected honors if you have received recognition for outstanding academic work. Ph.D. students should list their department, area of interest, relevant electives and selected honors. The dissertation topic may be included if of related interest.

College activities can be listed and described under Education, Experience, Activities, or most briefly under Personal Background depending upon how much emphasis and space you want to give them. If you've had leadership positions, responsibilities for organizing or initiating new programs, financial management or any kind of career-related experiences, be sure it is clearly described. Explain for the non-Harvard reader what the organization is.

Secondary school is usually listed on undergraduate resumes. Space devoted to honors and/or activities should depend on their contribution to the total message.

Work Experience: This section should include all experience, paid and unpaid and extracurricular activities which have given you the opportunity to develop the skills such as computer programming or foreign language fluency, you may want to list in a skills section.

Interests: Save at least one line for a list in series of avocational interests such as "Reading, playing guitar, running, and choral singng." Even a brief list rounds out your presentation and may establish an initial bond of common interest with the reader.

Personal Background: On a one-page resume you have had to leave out a great deal. This section may be used to mention information that you consider important such as: "Having worked every term to help pay college expenses delivering newspapers, washing dishes, bartending, driving a shuttle bus." "Lived in a small town in Ohio until I came to Harvard." "Born and grew up in New York City." (Where you spent your youth may be an important message to the employer.) "Played varsity lacrosse and intramural basketball."

Job Objective: Only if you have a clearly defined employment goal should you write a job objective. Otherwise, the cover letter is the better place to state your job objective. That way, you can tailor it to each job application and highlight and expand on relevant information. Your resume presents your qualifications to employers. Your objective is to attract the attention of the employer so that he will want to interview you