RESUME GUIDE: UNDERSTANDING YOUR RESUME – Sections & Formatting
Section
Formatting Notes
Examples
Heading and
Objective
If you choose to have this section on your
resume, be sure to make it a brief
statement specific to the job. The
objective should come after your heading
which contains your name and contact
information. You can also add your Clifton
Strengths as a tagline in your heading.
Sandra Shark
“Achiever, Communication, Command, Learner, Responsibility”
One Tsunami Drive ▪ Bluffton, SC ▪ [email protected]
▪ 843-208-1234
OBJECTIVE
To obtain an internship with Enterprise Holdings that will use my degree in business management
and enhance my developing leadership skills
Summary
It is increasingly fashionable to skip the
objective and provide a summary of skills
instead. If you choose to use a summary
instead of an objective, make sure the
points are supported by your experiences
on your resume. Three to five points are
sufficient to bring forward and these points
may change depending on the job
description.
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
• More than five years of experience serving customers in the hospitality industry
• Proven leadership ability as demonstrated by serving as an officer in three student
organizations
• Recognized for achieving and exceeding goals in sales and service with two
previous employers
Education
Your education is one of the positive
attributes you need to showcase. Put this
section at the top of your resume. You
typically do not need to include your high
school unless there is something significant
about that school such as it was a School
of the Arts or Sciences. You should list your
most recent degree first if you have more
than one. Notice in the example how the
institution is in bold and the degree is
italics. If your GPA is above a 3.0 include it
and also include your graduation or
intended graduation date.
University of South Carolina Beaufort Bluffton, SC
Bachelor of Science in Biology May 2021
• GPA 3.3 / 4.0 scale
~OR~
University of South Carolina Beaufort Bluffton, SC
Bachelor of Arts in English GPA: 3.2/4.0 scale
• Anticipated Graduation: December 2021
Honors & Awards
You can create a separate section for
honors and awards. If all of these are
academic it is suggested that you include
this in your education section.
University of South Carolina Beaufort Bluffton, SC
Bachelor of Science in Biology May 2021
GPA 3.3 / 4.0 scale
• Honors & Awards: Palmetto Fellows Scholarship, National Society for Leadership,
Outstanding Biology Major, Pi Sigma Phi Honor Society
Relevant
Coursework
If you do not have any related work
experience, but you do have related
coursework for the job, then you may
decide to include a section for relevant
coursework in your education section
University of South Carolina Beaufort Bluffton, SC
Bachelor of Science in Biology May 2021
GPA 3.3 / 4.0 scale
• Relevant Courses: Microbiology, Organic Chemistry, Marine Biology, Coastal
Ecology & Habitats
Experience
Experience can be paid work/ internship
experience or unpaid volunteer/internship
experience. It can be research
experience or project-based experience.
What’s important is that you organize the
experience in a way that makes sense
and highlights your most impressive first. All
experience should be listed in reverse
chronological order, meaning most recent
first. The place where you worked, it’s
location, your work title, and dates of
employment should be listed. Short
phrases that begin with action verbs
should be used to describe your work.
Amazing Resorts Hilton Head Island, SC
Front Desk Clerk August 2020 – May 2021
• Employed for 20 hours a week while maintaining a full-time course load in college
• Served as many as 100 customers per day during peak vacation periods
• Recognized for providing exceptional customer care during a crisis that resulted
in monetary reward by management
• Initiated check-in procedure that saved on average 5 minutes per customer
during critical first impression period
(Note the quantitative (numbers) information and qualitative (descriptive) information
used to explain work. Notice also that these points demonstrate results and how the
candidate made a difference rather than just listing job duties.)
Additional
Experience
You may decide to create different
categories of experience. For example, if
your most relevant experience is not your
most recent, you can create a section
“Relevant Experience,” to get around the
reverse chronological order rule so that
the best experience is seen first when
someone reads your resume. You may
also create categories such as Leadership
Experience, Volunteer Experience,
Internship Experience, or anything that
helps a reader make sense of your
resume. Be sure to keep the reverse
chronological order rule within each
section.
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Amazing Resorts Hilton Head Island, SC
Front Desk Clerk August 2020 – May 2021
• Employed for 20 hours a week while maintaining a full-time course load in college
• Served as many as 100 customers per day during peak vacation periods
• Recognized for providing exceptional customer care during a crisis that resulted in monetary reward
by management
• Initiated check-in procedure that saved on average 5 minutes per customer during critical first
impression period
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
University of South Carolina Beaufort Bluffton, SC
President, Student Government Association April 2019 – April 2020
• Elected to represent student body of 2250 and to implement changes, initiatives, and activities that
would enhance the collective student experience
• Initiated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion protocols to ensure that the diversity of the student population
was represented in all student organizations
• Negotiated new food service contract that improved the variety, quality, and quantity of food
available in campus dining facilities on three campuses
• Consolidated resources within student organizations that achieved $12,000 savings to overall budget
and used the extra funds to enhance the resource available in the student emergency account
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
USCB Scholarship & Research Day Bluffton, SC
Research Project: Gender Bias In Campus Administration Spring 2019
• Participated on an academically diverse research team to uncover gender bias within the
administration of the university
• Conducted 100 separate surveys at all departmental levels and collected and analyzed data from
the surveys
• Personally conducted 25 informational interviews to gather firsthand experiences of gender bias
experienced in the workplace
RESUMES – Getting Started
Brainstorm!
Before you sit down to write your resume, take some time to capture all that you have done. You want to capture all of your work experiences, volunteer
experiences, internship experiences as well as things like honors, awards, skills, relevant courses, and extra-curricular activities.
Use the information below as a guide to help you get started.
Education
List all educational institutions you have attended in reverse chronological order.
Institution & Location
Degree
Graduation Date
GPA
Work Experience
List your work experience. This is experience that paid you a salary.
Name of Business
Location of Business
Job Title
Beginning & Ending Dates of
Employment
Volunteer Experience
List volunteer experience. These would be experiences where you did not get paid a salary.
Name of Organization
Location of Organization
Volunteer Role
Dates of Service
Travel Experience
List any significant travel experience you have.
Travel Location
Dates of Travel
Title (Can be “Volunteer”)
Activities, Clubs, Organizations
List extra-curricular activities.
Extra-Curricular Activity
Dates Engaged
Positions/Offices Held
RESUME FORMATTING
Font
10-12-point font should be used. It should be professional and easy to read. It is okay to use a different font for the headings
of your sections from that which you use in the sections. Your name in your heading should be in 12-16-point font size, but
the font size of your contact information should stay withing the 10-12-point size range.
Margins
Margins should be between 0.5” and 1.0” depending on the content of your resume. If you have a lot of experiences to
share, you will use a smaller margin than if you have very little. Typically, your experiences build as you progress through your
college classes such that a freshman’s resume looks very different from a senior’s.
Length
A typical college resume should be one page. If your resume goes over to two pages, try narrowing your margins, the
spaces between lines, and or the font size you are using. You may also have to judiciously edit your content.
If you have significant experience and have been in the workforce for many years, you may need a two-page resume.
Contact Information
Include your name, phone number, email address and home address on your resume. Make sure your email address is
professional. If you are posting your resume on a website such as Indeed, Career Builder or Zip Recruiter, you may leave out
your personal address for safety.
Format
Formatting should be consistent throughout your resume. If you bold the names of organizations, be sure to be consistent
about this in each experience you list. Likewise, if you put your job title in italics, this should remain consistent throughout
each experience. If you write out your sections in all capital letters, be consistent with this in each section.
Everything should be aligned. This includes each section heading, all bullet points, and experiences within sections.
Alignment on the right side of the page should line up as well as on the left side.
Save your resume as a PDF document before emailing it or uploading it to a website or application. If you are handing out
copies of your resume, it’s professional to use quality grade business paper.
If you chose to use color on your resume, do so sparingly. A blue line separating your heading from the body of your
resume is eye-catching, but bold and bright colors can be distracting, plus they don’t always reprint well.
Description of Experiences
After you have listed all your experiences, describe what you did in each. (Include descriptions for your Work, Volunteer, Travel, and Extra-Curricular)
Experience
Job Title/Descriptor
What You Did
Supervisors’ Contact Information
While you are gathering all of this information, take the time to list your supervisors or the mentors for each of the experiences. Include the person’s contact
information. You will not use this on your resume, but you will need this information for job applications.
Experience
Mentor or Supervisor
Contact Information
ACTION VERBS – Use action verbs to describe
your experiences.
Led a Project
Chaired
Controlled
Coordinated
Executed
Headed
Operated
Orchestrated
Organized
Oversaw
Planned
Produced
Envisioned/Implemented a Project
Administered
Built
Charted
Created
Designed
Developed
Devised
Founded
Engineered
Established
Formalized
Formed
Formulated
Implemented
Incorporated
Initiated
Instituted
Introduced
Launched
Pioneered
Spearheaded
Saved Time/Money
Conserved
Consolidated
Decreased
Deducted
Diagnosed
Lessened
Reconciled
Reduced
Yielded
Increased Efficiency, Sales, Revenue, or
Customer Satisfaction
Accelerated
Achieved
Advanced
Amplified
Boosted
Capitalized
Delivered
Enhanced
Expanded
Expedited
Furthered
Gained
Generated
Improved
Lifted
Maximized
Outpaced
Stimulated
Sustained
Managed a Team
Aligned
Cultivated
Directed
Enabled
Facilitated
Fostered
Guided
Hired
Inspired
Mentored
Mobilized
Motivated
Recruited
Regulated
Shaped
Supervised
Taught
Trained
Unified
United
Brought in Partners, Funding, Resources
Acquired
Forged
Navigated
Negotiated
Partnered
Secured
Supported Customers
Advised
Advocated
Arbitrated
Coached
Consulted
Educated
Fielded
Informed
Resolved
Changed or Improved Something
Centralized
Clarified
Converted
Customized
Influenced
Integrated
Merged
Modified
Overhauled
Redesigned
Refined
Refocused
Rehabilitated
Remodeled
Reorganized
Replaced
Restructured
Revamped
Revitalized
Simplified
Standardized
Streamlined
Strengthened
Updated
Upgraded
Transformed
Achieved Something
Attained
Awarded
Completed
Demonstrated
Earned
Exceeded
Outperformed
Reached
Showcased
Succeeded
Surpassed
Targeted
Researched, Analysis, Fact Finding
Analyzed
Assembled
Assessed
Audited
Calculated
Discovered
Evaluated
Examined
Explored
Forecasted
Identified
Interpreted
Investigated
Mapped
Ensured
Qualified
Quantified
Surveyed
Tested
Tracked
Wrote or Communicated
Authored
Briefed
Campaigned
Co-authored
Composed
Conveyed
Convinced
Corresponded
Counseled
Critiqued
Defined
Documented
Edited
Illustrated
Lobbied
Persuaded
Promoted
Publicized
Reviewed
Oversaw or Regulated
Authorized
Blocked
Delegated
Dispatched
Enforced
Ensured
Inspected
Itemized
Monitored
Screened
Verified
Sample Resume
Sandra Shark
“Achiever, Communication, Command, Learner, Responsibility”
One Tsunami Drive ▪ Bluffton, SC ▪ sss@uscb.edu
▪ 843-208-1234
OBJECTIVE
To obtain an internship with Enterprise Holdings that will us my degree in business management and enhance my developing
leadership skills
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
• More than five years of experience assisting customers in the hospitality industry
• Proven leadership ability as demonstrated by serving as an officer in three organizations
• Recognized for making significant contributions to customer care with previous employer
EDUCATION
University of South Carolina Beaufort Bluffton, SC
Bachelor of Science in Business May 2022
• Emphasis in Management 3.3/4.0 scale
EXPERIENCE
Amazing Resorts Hilton Head Island, SC
Front Desk Clerk August 2020 to Present
• Employed for 20 hours a week while maintaining a full-time course load at the university
• Served as many as 100 customers per day during peak vacation periods
• Recognized for providing exceptional customer care during a crisis that resulted in monetary reward by management
• Initiated check-in procedure that saved 5 minutes per customer during critical first impression period
University of South Carolina Beaufort Bluffton, SC
President, Student Government Association April 2019 – April 2020
• Elected to represent student body of 2250 and to implement changes, initiatives, and activities that would enhance the
collective student experience
• Initiated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion protocols to ensure that the diversity of the student population was represented
in all student organizations
• Negotiated new food service contract that improved the variety, quality, and quantity of food available in campus
dining facilities on three campuses
• Consolidated resources within student organizations that achieved $12,000 savings to overall budget and used the extra
funds to enhance the resources available tin the student emergency account
USCB Scholarship & Research Day Bluffton, SC
Research Project: Gender Bias in Campus Administration Spring Semester 2018
• Participated on an academically diverse research team to uncover gender bias within the administration of the
university
• Conducted 100 separate surveys at all departmental levels; collected and analyzed data from the surveys
• Personally conducted 25 informational interviews to gather firsthand experiences of gender bias experienced in the
workplace
• Uncovered only a moderate level of gender bias with only 5% of the interviewees having significant experience to
report
