CRC Résumé Guide

A résumé is a document that highlights information about you. It is a picture of you and your qualifications. As it is primarily used when seeking employment, it is important that the information highlighted in the résumé be complete, accurate and pertinent to the position that you are seeking. Finally, the résumé that you create should be an expression of who you are, what you know and what you can offer an employer.

Regardless of concentration, background or job objective, the résumé is one of the most important tools in the job search. It is a snapshot of you and your abilities, and is often the first impression that you will make on a potential employer. Therefore, it is crucial that you invest significant time and effort to prepare a thorough and outstanding résumé.

It is important that you keep in mind the purpose of the résumé, which is to get an interview.

By itself, the résumé will not get you a position in a company, but it can get you to the interview stage of the hiring process.

Since the résumé will get you the interview, and the interview will revolve around your background, it is wise to invest a lot of time to make the résumé complete. Additional effort up front will both better your résumé, and make you more conscious of the things you will need to discuss in the interview.

It is very important to understand that you will probably not be present to further explain the content of your résumé to the reader. With this in mind, it is essential that you make the résumé not only complete, but very clear.

There is no right or wrong way to construct a résumé. There is no governing body declaring any standards. Therefore, the content and layout of the résumé are completely up to you. There are, however, more and less effective ways of going about it. At the Career Resource Center, we have done a significant amount of research on résumés and have talked with a number of recruiters, and feel that the "Building Your Résumé" portion of this handout is very effective for most situations.

Once you have started to generate at least a first draft, the staff in the Career Resource Center will be happy to assist you. Do not expect us to write your résumé for you as this defeats the purpose and keeps you from preparing yourself for further stages in the job search process. However, there are a number of books available in the Career Resource Center and in the local libraries on résumé writing.

Both the content and the appearance of the résumé are important. One without the other is generally ineffective. People who focus on the appearance prior to fully developing content usually find that they limit themselves to the confines of the paper, resulting in a less effective résumé. Generally, people find that they produce a higher quality product when they start by focusing on assembling complete content, and work with formatting only after the content is complete.

When starting your résumé, it may be a good idea to simply sit down with a pen and paper to first develop the content. Only use a computer when you feel that you have generated complete and accurate information. This will prevent you from worrying about superficial things such as font sizes and spacing in the early stages of development.

After developing the content of your résumé using pen and paper, go to the online Career Resource Center Résumé Templates to format your résumé. The CRC Résumé Templates have been customized specifically for UB School of Management students. This tool helps you create a professional résumé that is both easy-to-read and attractive to top recruiters.

• CRC Résumé Templates for BS Students
• CRC Résumé Template for MBA Students
• CRC Résumé Template for MS Students

Note: The Career Resource Center requires and recommends that students use these customized résumé templates only, and does not recommend use of any other résumé templates. 

This information focuses on a hard copy paper résumés. 

In today’s job market, 90% of Fortune 500 companies use electronic systems, known as applicant tracking systems (ATS) to review and screen résumés. There are specific tips and advice, especially about formatting, to ensure your résumé can be read by the ATS. Each CRC résumé template was created following the ATS guidelines and will create an ATS-friendly résumé for you. As you make more updates to your résumé you may want to learn more about these specific guidelines on submitting résumés online to applicant tracking systems (ATS). 

Content
It is necessary to include all of the information that an employer would need to contact you. This includes your mailing address (both home and school if applicable), telephone number (home or mobile) and email. It is recommended to use your buffalo.edu email address because it will easily identify you as a UB student.

Format
There are a number of different formats that you can use to present this information. Be sure to make your name stand out either by separating it from the other information, or altering the font type or size. Make sure the mailing and telephone information is easy to locate. This section is usually found at the very top of the résumé.

This section is optional. It is recommended for students who are changing careers or who have at least three years of full-time work experience.

Content
A summary highlights your professional experiences and skills, and shows how you bring value to an organization. It is a reflection of your personal brand and should be a powerful statement of who you are and what you do. Employers should be able to quickly see whether you are a good fit from your summary alone. (Objective statements have become outdated, and should no longer be used.)

If you have at least 3-5 years of full-time work experience, then a Summary, Summary of Skills or Profile section should lead off your résumé. In this section give a brief overview of your relevant experience and showcase your skills or core competencies. Show how you can add value to the company or team.

• Example: Finance professional with 5 years of proven success in financial planning and project management. Highly skilled at increasing company revenue and productivity through detailed cost analysis. Excels in high-pressure situations and possesses excellent budget forecasting and financial reporting skills.  

Typically, a summary is used for those with 3-5 years of experience, but undergraduate and graduate students can still use this framework to develop a summary of their own, using leadership skills, coursework, projects, internships or volunteer work. Additionally, you can also add interests and passions such as wanting to focus your career on social impact. The combination of your in-school experiences and professional interests can still add value to a future employer.

• Example: Business Administration (B.S.) graduate, passionate about talent management and organizational behavior. Motivated leader, having led and presented on multiple team projects. Proficient in a range of skills including Excel, data modeling, market research and human resource strategy development. 

Format
The Summary or Profile section, if included, generally appears directly beneath your name and contact information. Use clear and concise language. Ideally, a summary should be no more than a few sentences or bullets. It could be formatted in many different ways, including a paragraph, a few phrases, bullet statements, general list or keywords. Or you can also use a combination of formats. 

How to Write a Summary
Before you write your summary, start by listing what accomplishments and skills you are most proud of. Next, take a look at the industry you are targeting—what skills and requirements do these employers most frequently ask for? Narrow down your list of skills to include your most impactful selling points, based on what you believe employers are looking for, and showing you are a good fit. Finally, try to incorporate your experience with the keywords you found from employers and job postings (that fit your own skillset) for a strong, impactful statement.

If your summary is too broad (leaving yourself open to multiple industries and positions), this can indicate a lack of career direction or focus. A résumé summary is an intersection of what you want, and what your target industry needs. You want to align your brand with the company brand you are applying to. Another way to write a summary is to think of it as a mini elevator pitch. Again, show how you bring value by stating who you are, what industry or area you work in, and how you performed with tangible results if possible. A summary should not just reiterate exactly what in on your résumé, rather it should be geared towards the employer’s needs as well as your own experiences. 

Content
A new or recent graduate will likely wish to emphasize education. Placing this section near the top of the résumé will help to accomplish that. Be sure to include the following information:

• School – use the official name, i.e. University at Buffalo or University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
• Do not include high school information. Once in college, only college information is necessary
• Degree –
  • Bachelor of Science in Business Administration or BS in Business Administration
  • Bachelor of Science in Accounting or BS in Accounting
  • Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and Management or BS in Information Technology and Management
  • Master of Business Administration or MBA
  • Master of Science in Finance or MS in Finance, etc.
• Degree Date – list the month and year of expected graduation (Do not list dates attended)
• Concentration – (Marketing, Management Information Systems or MIS, Finance, Human Resources or HR, etc.)
• Other Education – If you attended an institution and did not receive a degree, you may include it if it is relevant and beneficial. (For example, a semester abroad at Oxford would likely add value, while a semester at a local community college may not, unless in a desired complementary skill area like MIS or IT) 
• GPA – When presenting your GPA, be sure to indicate that it is on a 4.0 scale. For example, 3.2/4.0 (The reason for this is that a number of schools in the U.S., and many in the U.K. use a 5.0 scale, and while a 3.6 may be impressive on a 4.0 scale, it will not have the same impact when compared to students who are on a 5.0 scale).  Some employers, particularly accounting firms, will screen résumés based on a candidate’s GPA. If you do not include it, a recruiter will assume it is a weak GPA
  • BS students: Include your cumulative grade point average (quality point average) if over a 3.0. If your cumulative GPA is not above a 3.0, it is acceptable to include your management GPA if that is over a 3.0
  • MBA and MS students: Include your cumulative grade point average (quality point average) if over a 3.2
  • Degrees outside U.S.: For any degrees earned outside of the United States and not using a 4.0 scale, we recommend you list your class rank. Do not list your percentile in the class because U.S. employers will not understand or recognize an impressive percentile. For example, indicate that you were ranked fifth in the class or in the top 10% as opposed to a 75 percentile grade
  • If you have specific questions or concerns about listing your GPA then consult with your career advisor

Format
This section is generally the first section beneath the personal information and objective for recent graduates. It may be laid out in a number of ways, but the key considerations are:

• Make the most important information stand out. If you want to "sell" your major or concentration, bold it and/or consider listing it first. However, if you feel that your degree or your school name carries greater influence, alter your format accordingly
• Make it easy to read
• Maintain a consistent format. If you have multiple educational institutions to include make sure they are laid out in the same fashion and list the most recent first

Content
The “experience” section of your résumé is one of the most important. The reader will review this section to see whether you have skills necessary to do the job. Often, candidates focus too much on their job responsibilities and daily tasks rather than on their accomplishments and on the skills used or demonstrated on the job. This is valid, but not necessarily the best method for conveying this information. The CRC has identified five methods that you can use to add effectiveness to your experience content. These methods can be used both separately and in combination for each bullet.

Remember - there is no single right or wrong approach to presenting your experience. You simply should do whatever most positively highlights your strengths and minimizes your weaknesses.

1. Focus on skills

One of the most effective methods of expressing your experience is to focus on the skills that you applied at each place of employment and what you accomplished with them. Be sure to focus on the business aspect of what you did

Tasks are usually job specific. Skills are usually job transferable.

• Guidelines for how to focus on skills:
  • a. Identify the type of job you will be looking for, and think about the skills needed for that job
    • Examples of basic skills include: Communication, evaluation, assessment, problem solving, leadership, teamwork, time management, organization, self starting, marketing, development, money handling, consultation, implementation, training, etc.
  • b. For each job you have had, start by listing all of the tasks that you did - everyday things, projects and whatever comes to mind. Be as complete as possible
  • c. Look at each task that you listed and try to identify the skills you had to employ to be able to accomplish that task. Another way to think about this is to imagine that you are leaving the job, and you need to describe the basic skills needed by a new employee who will be replacing you
    • Always try to demonstrate how your skills can benefit your prospective employer (See Appendix 1)
    • If you want to show that your skill contributed to a specific result, make sure there is a clear relation between both. Illustrate how you used your particular skill to make things happen
  • d. Tailor the skills that you employed in your previous job so they are consistent with skills needed for a job you are looking for
  • e. Eliminate the redundancy across all the different jobs listed. If you have two areas where you have identified communication as one of the skills you used, decide which is the strongest representation of your communication skills, and either alter or eliminate the other reference. We strongly urge you to try and find a different “angle” or “twist” on the reference that could potentially be eliminated

Examples

The experience includes the following:

• Task: Critiquing résumés
• Skills involved: Assessing needs, Evaluating options, Communication, Making recommendations

Poor Example: Task-oriented

Task-oriented statements tend to be less effective on a résumé.

• Critiqued students’ résumés

Skills-oriented statements are much more effective and add considerable value to your résumé. 

• Communicate with students to increase their marketability by offering multiple résumé layout options
• Provided effective job search assistance to students through the thoughtful evaluation of résumés

2. Show the results

You can spotlight your capabilities by selecting and expanding on specific achievements and showing the results of your work where possible. (See Appendix 1)

When you illustrate a specific achievement, make sure it is clear how you accomplished it. Show exactly what you did to make it happen Try to quantify the results. If you increased sales, try to show a percentage or dollar amount increase. Numbers make it easier for the reader to visualize your abilities.

Examples

• Reduced response time to customer inquiries by 50% through creation of a database containing product information
• Increased sales by 36% in the two-year period in the designated area through more targeted prospecting 
• Generated $55,000 in revenues by developing and marketing new territory

Using skills and results-oriented statements are usually the most effective ways to convey an experience. However, students with little experience or non-business experience often find it difficult to identify a sufficient number of work-related skills and results that they achieved in their previous jobs. Those students can also use one of the following recommendations to boost the experience section.

3. Explain the purpose

Some jobs do not require the application of complex skills or in-depth knowledge. Sometimes, it may be difficult to identify the direct impact or results of your work. If this is the case, you may instead want to concentrate on explaining the purpose of particular tasks. Mentioning an important purpose will help to add significance to less complex, seemingly trivial activities.

Examples

• Update the bulletin board on a weekly basis to communicate job openings to over 4,000 students in the School of Management
• Enter job postings accurately into an MS Access database to assist students in finding jobs and internships

4. Add Depth

You can add depth to your statements by showing that you assisted in an important project. A different way to do so is to illustrate that you reported directly to a highly ranked manager. Show that you were the part of something that resulted in a big impact or made a difference

Examples

• Prepare important monthly reports of office telephone and fax activities for the assistant dean to be used in budget projections 
• Coordinate the outgoing mail for the $2 million donation campaign aimed at providing essential nonprofit funding

5. Add Breadth

Conveying volume, complexity or variety of job activities will add breadth to your bullet points. Expand your statements by showing that you dealt with different situations, people or problems

Examples

• Evaluate and edit more than 1,000 résumés of undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students per year.
• Provided customer service to more than 100 shoppers daily by answering questions, locating merchandise and demonstrating products.

Format
Information that is expected for each position is:

• Company Name
• Company Location – City and state only
• Dates worked (Start – Finish)
  • Dates should use either two-digit month and four-digit year format (MM/YYYY) or the month as a word with a four-digit year format (May 2012 - September 2013)
  • Current positions can be indicated by the word current or present (October 2012 - Present) 
• Title - If you had no title or cannot locate the employer to verify your title, it is acceptable to create a realistic title. For example, if the company simply called you an Intern and you primarily performed market research, you can list your title as Market Research Intern 
• Create your bullet points by starting with an action verb and using one of the methods identified above, or a combination of these methods

Approach this section the same way as the experience section. It can be incorporated into the experience section or developed as its own as you see fit.

Content
Activities such as organizations and clubs (both in and outside of school), and sports or civic organizations can be used to show leadership, teamwork, involvement or other relevant and desirable characteristics. Information on outside activities also shows "well-roundedness". This is particularly important for less experienced underclassmen for use in filling out their experience section.

Format
This can be a simple listing, or it can be developed similar to the employment section. At the very least, include the organization, position held and dates of involvement. Expand on them if they will further demonstrate relevant and beneficial characteristics.

Content
As we are all very dependent on technology, it is very important that these skills be included on your résumé so employers understand your capabilities. Consider all of the programs you know how to use and feel would be of value to an employer. Things that are commonly included are:

• General office programs – Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Publisher, etc.
• Specialty Programs – PowerBI, Tableau, Canva, Google Analytics, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Dynamics, AutoCAD, etc.
• Programming Languages – Visual Basic, C++, J, J++, Java, Java Script, SQL, etc.
  

(Note: Avoid version/release numbers and outdated software and equipment unless relevant to the position sought.)

Format
A simple listing is acceptable. Depending on the overall number of inclusions, a separation technique such as “bulleting” may enhance readability. This section can appear virtually anywhere on a résumé. If the position you are seeking is not very technical in nature, or if you do not have many applications to include, this section may be near the bottom of the page. If you are applying for a position that is more technical, this may be listed directly beneath the education section depending on the relevance of your experience.

Content
Any time that you have excelled and have been recognized by your superiors or peers, it shows that you have a high level of achievement, and it is a good idea to include this information on your résumé. Consider any awards that you have received, such as Employee of the Month, Top Sales, Academic Scholarships, Sports Scholarships or Awards, and Civic Recognition (Eagle Scout, Good Neighbor, etc.) Do not include awards that date back a long time unless you feel they are particularly significant to your desired employment.

Format
Awards and honors may be a separate section, or they may be nested in other sections. For example, scholarship information may be included in the education section, and employer recognition could be included in the work experience section. It is common to make these awards stand out by italicizing the information. If you choose to create a separate section for awards and honors, a simple reverse chronological listing is acceptable. Be sure to include the name of the award, the date received, and the organization it was received through.

References Available Upon Request (Do not include)
References are assumed to be available; therefore, it is not necessary to state this. Although it is acceptable to state this on the résumé, you should not include a listing of your references on your résumé. If you begin to run out of space on your résumé, eliminating this statement is one of the easiest ways to make more room.

The best way to handle references is to have them printed on matching bond paper, with the same header as your résumé, and to take them with you to the interview. Only provide them if they are requested, but have them ready.

The general appearance of the employment résumé is very important to your job hunting campaign. Think of the résumé as an extension of you. If it is neat, crisp, and well organized, it will suggest to the employer that you are someone who is careful and concerned about the quality of your work. A sloppy, disorganized résumé, conversely, will create an unfavorable impression with prospective employers and greatly hinder, if not ruin, your employment efforts. It is imperative, therefore, that you be attentive to the general appearance of your résumé document, and that you take the necessary steps to make a favorable impression.

• Use a high quality bond paper (24 lb.) in either white or cream. Avoid trendy paper and dark colors
• Use a clean, simple font and keep the font size between 10 pt. and 12 pt. These are the size recommendations for the most commonly used fonts:
  • Arial 10 pt. - 12 pt.
  • Calibri 11 pt. - 12 pt.
  • Times New Roman 10.5 pt. - 12 pt. 
• Carefully proofread and edit to ensure proper spelling, grammar, punctuation and comprehension. (If necessary, seek help from a professional)
• Make effective use of highlighting (bold type) and underlining to facilitate ease of reading and appropriate topical emphasis. Think before your bold or underline anything. If making it stand out will not benefit you, don’t use these features. It is important that you do not overuse the different highlighting accents
• Make sure the final copy is neat, well spaced, uncluttered and easy to read
• Final printing should be done using a high quality laser printer

Although all of this may seem like basic advice, a high percentage of résumés do not meet these simple standards. The extra effort can have substantial payoff for your job hunt.

Tips on Formatting Your Résumé Using Word
Using the CRC template is important, but you may still want to watch this quick video to learn the MS Word hacks necessary to format your résumé professionally.