University of Scranton
Office of Career Services
RESUME WRITING GUIDE

• Staff Physical Therapist (Specific job title)

• Seeking an entry level position in a social service agency (Type of organization)

• A position which will utilize my strong writing and photographic skills(Specific abilities)

  EDUCATION

  It is not necessary to include high school or any school you transferred from in which no degree was earned. You should include: School, city, state, degree, major, minor, areas of concentration, date of graduation, grade point average. If there is more than one degree, put them in reverse chronological order. Grade Point Average: Include on your resume, if overall grade point average or grade point average in your major is 2.80 or above.

  CATEGORIES THAT MIGHT FOLLOW EDUCATION

  Representative Coursework
  Student Teaching 
  Employment
  Other Work
  Additional Employment
  Additional Experience
  Summer Employment
  Volunteer Work
  Senior Project / Relevant Class Project
  Internships or any Career Related Experiences
  Computer Skills
  Foreign Languages
  Study Abroad
  Faculty/Student Research Program
  SJLA (Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Program)
  Relevant Certifications
  Publications

  
  EMPLOYMENT (Be sure to list jobs in reverse chronological order)

• Include dates, job title, name of employer, city, state Describe responsibilities and accomplishments.

• Include most important responsibilities/accomplishments should be listed first with the remaining listed in descending order of priority.

• Include specific information and cite numbers where appropriate (Example: trained four new employees, receptionist duties for six sales representatives).

• Begin these descriptions with an action verb (see Action Verb List in this guide) Be concise and use different words.

• Use the correct verb tenses (past or present).

• When using a number in your job descriptions the following rule applies: If the number is under 10 write it out, and if it is 10 or over use numerals.

• Don't get discouraged if it seems you don't have any career related experiences. Look at what you can do now to enhance your qualifications by adding related career work or by emphasizing the skills you can offer an employer.

  
  OTHER CATEGORIES YOU MIGHT INCLUDE

• Professional Associations

• Community Involvement

• Military Service

• Leadership Appointments

• Honors/Awards

• Interests/Hobbies

  ACTIVITIES

• List career related activities first. Examples of some activities you can include are:

• Health Administration Association

• Student Government

• Psychology Club

• Campus Ministries

• Royal Ambassadors

• COCA

• Hand-in-Hand

• Intramural Sports

• Varsity Soccer

• Service Oriented Students

  PERSONAL INFORMATION

  
  You can include information like:

• Willing to relocate

• Interested in pursuing advanced studies

• Worked an average of 25 hours per week throughout college

• Financed 40% of college tuition or college living expenses

  REFERENCES

  Available upon request is sufficient. A more professional way to handle your references would be to refer them to our office if you do have letters on file. If so you should put this address on the bottom of your resume:

  
  Available upon request:                          Office of  Career Services
                                                              University of  Scranton
                                                              Scranton, PA  18510-4580
                                                              (570) 941-7640

  Additional resume samples are available for use in the Office of Career Services.

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  ACTION VERBS

  This list of words can be used in your resume and cover letter:

  accelerated  accomplished achieved  acted  administered  adapted  addressed adjusted advised analyzed applied appraised approved arranged assembled assisted authored balanced billed bound briefed built carried out charted clarified coached collected compiled communicated completed composed computed concluded conducted constructed contracted contributed controlled coordinated corrected created cultivated cut decreased

  defined delegated delivered demonstrated derived designed  determined developed diagnosed directed drew up edited eliminated enabled  enforced engaged engineered entertained established expanded expedited evaluated facilitated fashioned filed formulated formed gathered generated guided illustrated improved increased influenced initiated innovated installed instructed interpreted introduced invented investigated kept led

  managed maintained  mastered maximized mediated minimized monitored motivated negotiated notified observed obtained  opened operated optimized ordered organized originated packed  participated perceived performed persuaded planned prepared presented processed procured produced proficient in programmed proposed proved provided published received recommended recorded recruited reduced refined regulated reinforced renewed

  reorganized repaired replaced reported researched restructured revamped reviewed revised revitalized safeguarded scheduled screened selected served serviced set up set criteria  shipped simplified sold solved  started  streamlined strengthened structured summarized supervised supported surveyed systematized taught teamed with tested trained translated tuned tutored typed updated upgraded utilized won wrote

• Listing of Action Words Categorized from University of Wisconsin Eau Claire

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  ADDITIONAL HEADINGS FOR YOUR RESUME

  The following list is meant to give you ideas of headings you can use on your resume.

Education

Educational Background

Educational Preparation

Academic Background

Academic Training

Leadership Appointments

Leadership Roles

Activities

College Activities

Community Involvement

Honors/Awards

Memberships

Professional Affiliations

Military Service

Special Talents

Additional Skills

Computer Skills

Foreign Language Skills

Travel Experiences

Travel Abroad

References

Credentials

Placement File