Resume Guide

SUNY Westchester Community College • Career Services Resume/Cover Letter Guidelines 2022-2024 7 W HAT T O I NCLUDE I N Y OUR R ESUME The following headings are standard in most reverse - chronological resumes and should be included only if they apply to you: ( Be sure to BOLD & CAPITALIZE each heading.) Contact Information Include your name, city/state in which you live, phone number (pick the one you use most often) and email address at the very top of the resume. Cell or home phone numbers need to have a professional message. Email needs to be professional as well. We suggest that you use your WCC email for all your professional correspondence, like your resume. Also include a link to your LinkedIn profile, portfolio, or website if applicable. Objective Although the objective is optional (some consider it obsolete), it enables you to tell the employer what type of position you are seeking. It should be as specific as possible, brief and to the point. Often just a job title is enough, with perhaps the type of industry or department. With today’s technology, it’s very easy to have several different resumes with different objectives, so you can tailor each resume to a specific position. Keep in mind, you need to let employers know what you can do for them , not what you want them to do for you. (An alternative to the objective is to include this information in your cover letter). Summary/Profile/Statement of Qualifications This section includes a set of concise statements that provides the employer with a sense of who you are as an individual and your personal attributes/strengths for the position. Use “ key phrases ” to describe yourself. (See page 9) These phrases must match the qualities needed by the employer, otherwise, why would they want to interview you? So, analyzing the job requirements before creating this section is a very important step. An excellent resource for learning about personal qualities for specific careers is the FOCUS 2 Career tool ( ask in Career Services for access to this internet-based program. ) Skills This section should include items specific to the position sought such as: • any computer knowledge you possess…hardware, software, special programs • medical, culinary, engineering, business knowledge and/or experience you have • fluency in a foreign language • ability to operate particular types of equipment relevant to the position you seek