Interview Fundas

Now you can begin to cluster your experiences, skills, and goals into separate sections and begin to think about how to arrange your sections on your page. If you were simply to list all your various qualifications, nothing would stand out and readers would have a difficult time finding specific information.

To make your resume readers' job a little easier, you should consider developing a two-level text, using

headings to help skimmers find what they are looking for, and

details to convince skeptical readers you really have the qualifications you say you do.

Sample:

One of your first steps involves finding the right headings for your resume, those which will enable you to organize the content you've generated.

A common approach to organizing sections is to use the following scheme:

Objective Statement (or Career Goal, Professional Objective, etc.)

Education

Work Experience (or Work History, Professional History, Experience, etc.)

Honors and Activities (or Activities, Hobbies, etc.)

However, what if you want to emphasize your extracurricular leadership activities, your language proficiency, volunteer work, publications, or technical skills? The above scheme doesn't leave a space for you to emphasize such qualifications. What should you do? Simply create your own headings to match the content of your resume and the job ad. You can do this by modifying, for example, Experience or Activities with descriptive adjectives that describe your skills more accurately (like Supervisory Experience, Leadership Activities, etc.).

Or you may use altogether different headings. Here are some others to consider:

Alternative Headings

honors and awards
publications
language proficiency
presentations
in-house seminars
achievements
internships
military experience
qualifications
career profile
community service
relevant coursework
continuing education
advanced career training
specialization
special projects
career-related skills
familiar computer applications
technical training
licenses and certification
accomplishments
skills summary
volunteer work
memberships

Your next step is to determine the right order for your sections. Generally speaking, for tailored resumes, the most important or impressive sections go closer to the top of the page. For example, if you have a great deal of relevant work experience, you might place work experience right below your objective statement; or, if your language proficiency will help your resume stand out from the crowd, place it closer to the top.