There is no one way to write a resume. It is important, however, to tailor your resume to suit the needs of the position for which you applying, emphasizing your skills in that area. 

How well you express yourself and order your ideas will greatly influence the employer's impression of you. 

In your resume you are trying to sell yourself and your relevant skills.  Employers read many resumes and will not struggle to read one that is not well organized and well written.  Avoid fancy, too small and too large fonts. Simple, clean formatting makes it easier for your prospective employer to scan your resume (a practice becoming increasingly common).  Even if your resume is clear and well written, if it does not match the job requirements it will be ineffective. 

Do some research on the company and position for which you are applying.  Tailor your resume to highlight how you can benefit the company and show off your abilities and training. 

Highlight your most relevant experiences first.  Relevance should come before the chronological order of experiences. Skip experiences or jobs that connect to the job for which you are applying, or list them in another category that could display other important skills and talents. 

Use appropriate subheadings to highlight the area you are addressing. 

Organizational strategies:

Header information 
Include a header with your name, address, phone number and email address. 

Objective
This section gives the employer a brief overview of  your qualifications and how they can benefit the company. Remember, the emphasis should be on what you can do for the company.  Don't exaggerate your qualifications, but try to be as thorough as possible. 

Education
This section often  includes information such as university attended, degrees earned,  major, minors, grade point average, date of program completion, for example: 

   George Mason University 
   Bachelor of Arts: May 2000 
   Major: Integrative Studies 
   Concentration: Information Technology 
   GPA: major 3.5 

Job Related Courses and workshops
List the courses that can highlight your strengths. For example, if you are applying for a position as a Web designer you might emphasize courses in graphics design, Internet literacy, Javascript, JAVA programming, technical writing.  Include the course number and title and semester and year. 

Work Experience
First list the work experience most relevant to the position you are seeking. Then look at your other experiences you could put in another category, that show, for example,  that you have acquired skills working with people, following directions, meeting deadlines, being dependable. 

Include information such as job title, company name and address, dates, and duties.  Use action phrases to explain the details of your responsibilities. 

Example:

Web site designer: 
Information Technology Department 
Sun Design Systems, 112 Panama Lane, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030 
(662) 573-2020 
 

-	created graphics for the Sun Design Systems Web site
-	designed the Sun Design Systems Web site
-	researched and wrote articles for the company Web site
-	used various software programs such as Adobe Photo  Shop,  Dreamweaver, Microsoft Front Page

Skills
Demonstrate your skills that will be useful for the position you are seeking. Include relevant skills from academic courses,  previous jobs, training, workshops, and so forth. 

   Example:
   Web Design skills 

Activities and Honors
  Point out special activities and honors. 
    Example:

References and Portfolio
List of professional acquaintances who are willing to talk with prospective employers about you and your  demonstrated abilities.  Include full names, titles, address, phone number.  Be sure you ask permission to use someone as a reference. 

Your portfolio should be a selection of  high quality work which highlights your capabilities. 

 These items may be sent with the cover letter or resume or you could note at the bottom of the cover letter that these items are available. 

Example:
   References and portfolio are available upon request 
   OR 
   References provided upon request 

Note: You should never send a resume without a cover letter.  Now that your skills and job experiences are fresh in your memory after writing your resume, see these guidelines for composing your cover letter. 

• Resume overview
• Resume example 
• Writing a cover letter
• Cover letter example
• Preparing Your Resume for the Internet- The Riley Guide