how to write a resume

Hey James,
As several other people have also said, the first step would be to write down any and all experiences and skills you have. These experiences could be as large as having a Master's Degree or as seemingly small as having intermediate skills at the guitar. The importance is in listing skills relevant to the job you are seeking. For instance, a Government Contracting company may not be interested in the fact that you play a musical instrument (this is just an example) but a specialize school may be interested in this skill because they may use it in teaching children. So, it is important, once listing all skills, to derive a resume (or multiple) that are relevant to the specific job you want. That being said, one very good website for creating a resume template is livecareer.com. They eventually will charge for a membership, but initially you can create a resume free of charge. This website is good because you can write something as simple as "Did some college," and it may suggest sentences such as, "Completed 6 credit hours towards a Major in Social and Criminal Justice." (if accurate.) It probably would be a good place to get started because it will help determine relevant information and credibly spice up the information you input into it.

Hi James,
Please be sure to check out the great links provided above for how to structure your resume. I wanted to share a few additional things to consider as someone who reviews resumes and interviews candidates frequently.

I hope this helps as you move forward in school and your career. Best of luck in your future endeavors!

1. 
   

   STAND OUT AT FIRST GLANCE. Keep in mind recruiters and hiring managers see a lot of these across their desk, so do your best to help give them the ability to quickly scan your resume and get a good understanding of your skills and experience. I've found a summary of skills section towards the beginning of your resume is a useful way to do this. Be unique, but not in a way that is unprofessional, hopefully your work and clearly organized resume should speak for itself. Also, in the future, as you build up more experience you will need to keep succinct in your descriptions and wording, in general you want to keep your resume to 1-2 pages max.

   
   


2. 
   

   GET CREDIT FOR YOUR EXPERIENCE. As you write down any experience you have, remember that you are writing these to help someone with no previous understanding of what you have done to now comprehend and appreciate those experiences. Make sure you break down exactly what you were tasked with very clearly, explain important terms. You want to help the reader understand what you did and why it is valuable to get credit for your hard work! This means simple layman's terms, ideally no more than 1-2 sentences per bulleted description of what you have done. Be sure to focus on things that you were responsible for delivering. Even in a group project, you likely had specific tasks, you want to break those out. If anything is quantifiable that helps too, like "As a volunteer for Charity X, I was able to improve the amount of annual files we processed by 25% over the course of my year there." Even if people don't fully comprehend the experience, they can appreciate measurable improvements.

   
   


3. 
   

   BRIDGE THE GAP FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE TO THE JOB YOU WANT. If you are feeling a bit stumped, sometimes it can help to look through the job postings of what you are hoping to apply for, read through their desired qualifications. Some simply may not apply to your experience, but with some creative thought, you may be able to help bridge the gap from your work and school experience with what the employer is looking for. Depending on how much opportunity you have had to build up work experience, you can also apply other aspects of your life including school programs, sports programs, extra curricular experience. Above all though, remember it is on you to help the reader bridge the gap between what you have done and why you would be a viable candidate for the job.

   
   


4. 
   

   GET A LOT OF FEEDBACK. Get at least one other set of eyes on your resume, hopefully a few times as you make improvements. After staring at your screen long enough, it is easy to gloss over errors or sections that might be confusing to someone else. Once you have your first draft ready, ask a family member, friend, or even a teacher to give your resume a read. What they should be looking for is: can they get a high-level grasp of what you have accomplished, at least enough for them to be able to ask questions to learn more. It might help to give them an idea of the requirements an ideal job you hope to apply for. Take that feedback and continue to refine your work; remember, your resume is a "living" document and will need to be updated and improved from feedback but also as your experience changes.

   
   


5. 
   

   NOTICE WHAT EXPERIENCE YOU NEED NEXT. As you look over your resume, receiving feedback from others, and reading job postings, you should think about what job experience would be valuable to add. This should hopefully help guide you to your next type of work experience you seek out. In each job you are applying for, think about how it will not only be your source of income, but your stepping stone to the next important job in your career after that. Not that you want to hop from job to job, but think of each experience being a platform for the next. This hopefully will help you build up a well rounded resume full of experience that immediately would be a huge value for recruiters and hiring managers alike.

   
   

Hi James. I would recommend that you start by simply sitting down and listing all your previous work and school experience. Then you're going to want to brainstorm on what special skills you developed from each of those experiences. Ask a teacher or other trusted adult to review it and provide feedback - you'll want to test whether or not what you've listed give a clear understanding of the unique skills you could provide to a potential employer.

James,

There are a lot of ways to begin a resume, but the best way is to sit down, in a quiet space, and list EVERYTHING that you have accomplished. This can be in regards to work, school, sports, ANYTHING. Once you find a job that you are interested in applying to, you can pick out all of the great things that you have accomplished that are relative to the job that you seek and put them on your resume.

There are many different formats out there, but the resume builder here ~> https://www.workoneindy.org is a great place to start. Good luck and if you need any more help, feel free to reach out.

James,

Our university has a resume guide that might be useful to look at: http://www.career.fsu.edu/content/download/292766/1993855/Writing%20a%20Resume2015.pdf or visit http://career.fsu.edu/Resources/Career-Guides and look for the resume guide. This could help you with applying for colleges, jobs and internships, good luck!

Hi James,

This link can help you a lot. There is the steps to develop a resume, with examples.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Resume

Good work!