Résumés

What is a Résumé?

A résumé is a one-page summary (some fields allow the front and back of one page) of your education, paid and volunteer experiences, and relevant skills for a position. It should be tailored to the position you are applying for; you may want to edit your résumé to highlight how your experience and background make you a top candidate for that position.

For information on how a résumé differs from a CV, see the CV page. The CV page also has a template that you can use to start building a résumé/CV. There is a resume example at the bottom of this page.

Résumé Sections

Sections that should always be included:

  • Name and Contact Information: At the very top of your résumé, include your name and contact information - typically an email address, phone number, and an address where you will receive mail. You may also want to include a link to your professional website (or your LinkedIn profile) or an online portfolio of relevant work. Do not link to personal social media.

  • Education: Include the institution name and location, the degree and subject (include any cum laude or Honors, and minor(s) you had if they're relevant), and the year the degree was granted or is expected. You can include GPA if it is high, but you do not need to. If you dropped out, you can choose to list the education (or not) and your major or specialty, but do not give a degree. Say the years you attended (i.e. 2014-18).

  • Experience: All work experience relevant to the job that you have had in the last ten years. You can choose the title of this section according to the position (for instance, Research Experience for a research job, Teaching Experience for a teaching job). On a resume, "experience" is usually paid work. If it was a volunteer position, say so.

  • Certifications and/or Skills: if a position requires or values technical skills (bilingual/multilingual skills; expertise with types of software or hardware; clinical skills like phlebotomy; certifications such as CITI, Red Cross, etc.), include a section for them on your resume. Personal opinions (kind, hardworking, flexible, etc.) aren't skills. If you have them on your resume, take them off and use the space to name skills and describe work experience you do have. Many people underestimate their skills and past job responsibilities that are related to what they want to do. Practice naming them.

Other sections you may choose:

  • Objective/Research Interest: A short statement that will allow you to show application reviewers or hiring managers how your interests, skill, and experiences align with the job. Sometimes this statement is used to express what you hope to gain from the experience.

  • Other Related Experience: For significant experiences that aren't directly relevant to the position you are applying for (for instance, a job as a kids' camp counselor if you're applying to do research or clinical work with children).

  • Leadership: Activities that aren't paid or volunteer jobs, but have responsibilities (such as an officer in a student club, serving in student government, a local organization, etc.).

  • Honors & Awards: Academic honors (Dean's list, etc.), merit-based scholarships, programs you had to apply and be chosen for, and professional memberships can go here. (Don't forget to include "NIH BUILD EXITO Scholar"). If you have more than one, you should include this section.

You can also include:

  • Publications: Journal publications, newspaper publications, and others that are relevant. If there are many co-authors, bold or italicize your own name to highlight your contribution.

  • Presentations: Conference presentations, poster presentations, workshops you've taught, etc. A résumé is only one page, so you may want to only list those most important to the job, or highlight in your description of past jobs that presentation was part of your work.

But if your publications and presentations are valuable to what you're applying for...make a CV unless the position asks for a resume.

Reference Page

Sometimes, you may want to include a page at the end of your resume. You will typically do this if there is no place on the application form to add references and other instructions have not been specified. Include your references' name, position/title, and contact information. Make sure to ask your chosen references if they would be able to be a reference for you.

Examples

Here's how others recommend doing it as you get more experience and things to add

  • Health Career Navigator - The career companion is especially helpful for framing language around resumes and other good stuff.

Tips and Tricks

Spin Your Experiences Accordingly

Résumés should be tailored to the job: include the work experiences most related to that job and what you want to do in it. You can also change the language you use to talk about the same experiences for different job applications. Look at the language in the job description; based on this, what skills should you name on your resume, and how can you describe what you've done? Tell the truth in the way that represents you accurately and professionally.

Example: Meimei is employed in a lab where her sole responsibility has been to clean up after experiments. She is unhappy and decides to apply for a different job. In her résumé, she describes her role in the lab as follows:

Laboratory Technician, Boring Lab, Portland OR 2020-2021

Responsible for the maintenance and restoration of lab equipment, ensuring the safety of research assistants and accuracy of experiments.

Recruit a Reader... Or a few!

Having another set of eyes can help you catch technical mistakes. Additionally, others see you through a different lens than you see yourself. So having someone you trust help you in the early stages of building your resume can make a significant difference in how you present yourself. People who know your work can ask or remind you of skills you have and things you have done. It isn't too late to get a second opinion regardless of what stage you're in of creating your résumé.

You can also get more helpful feedback by being specific about what feedback you want. For example, if you are completely rewriting your résumé, it won't be very helpful if the person helping you is hyper-focused on proofreading. Let them know you need help reframing your experiences first, and ask them to leave the proofreading and formatting for later.

Give Yourself Due Credit

Take a moment to focus on the language you are using; are you giving yourself due credit?

Are you saying you "helped" when you really coordinated, organized, or managed? Did you write "I was given the opportunity to .... " when you actually applied and were selected? Are you saying you "assisted" when you were responsible for maintaining equipment, ordering supplies, training new staff...

Check out this list of action verbs.

Learn From Others

Seeing how others are representing themselves or formatting their résumés can help you find out how you would like to build your own. Ask friends or classmates if you can take a look at their résumés.

Enrichment writing workshops are hosted weekly during the term and are a great place to learn and get feedback. See the Enrichment schedule for up-to-date information on how you can attend!

Visit the Career Center

PSU students and alumni can access the University Career Center resources. Not only will they be able to help with building résumés but also with every step of finding and applying for a position.

Additionally, they offer a variety of workshops you may attend, covering a variety of essential skills for finding a job.

Use Reverse Chronological Order

When listing your experiences, publications, honors and awards, etc., start with the most recent ones. Organizing your résumé in reverse chronological order makes it more readable.

Additionally, your most recent experiences are likely to be of more interest to anyone looking at your résumé. As you work towards your goals, these more recent experiences will likely be more relevant as well.

In Action

Optimus Academia is a Sophomore majoring in Biology. Optimus is preparing to contact professors about working in research as an undergraduate and decides to get some help updating their résumé. Let's see how their résumé changes.

OC Resume Development.pdf

Templates

There are a wide variety of templates available that you can use to create a résumé or to get inspiration from. Microsoft Word has many options you can choose from. Canva is another place where you can find templates and build your own.

A word of caution: while it may be tempting to go all out and create a beautiful, fancy résumé, sometimes it's better to go with something simple. There are a couple of reasons for this:

  • Some organizations use résumé parsers or AI as the first step to filtering out applicants. A simple format will guarantee that the system can process your résumé. Both people and computers may reject "fancy fonts," too much colored type, etc.

  • A simple format is easier update. Each résumé you create will need to be tailored to a specific position. Keeping things simple makes that easier.

  • Simple formats can provide better readability. Fancy or not, be aware of how you are using white space when creating your résumé. People reading resumes often have to read a lot of them. They appreciate clarity.

Created by Medina Lamkin and Aaron Raz Link. Published July 3rd, 2021. Updated August 22nd, 2021, Sept 12, 2022.

Optimus Academia résumé: Medina Lamkin and Aaron Raz Link.

Cover Photo by RetroSupply on Unsplash.