Résumés: Frequently Asked Questions

A. Probably not. Unless your high school was notable for its distinguished academic reputation, specialized program of study, or other specific reason, you shouldn’t include your high school in your education section. If you have a college/university listed, a reader will assume you graduated high school.

A. It depends. If you’ve been working and gaining experience in your field for several years, have positions and awards to list from your college years, then you probably shouldn’t include high school experiences. However, If you went to college directly after high school and don’t have a lot of work experience to list in your resume, you may have to include items from high school. I recommend that if you do have to include information from your high school years, don’t emphasize the term “high school.” For example, list “Chess Club Treasurer, 2001-2002” instead of “High School Chess Club Treasurer.”

A. Not always. The more job experience that you get the more selective you can be about what to include.

A. It depends on your other work experience. If you are applying for a position as an accountant and you’ve worked at McDonald’s, Wachovia Bank, First National Bank, and Liberty Tax Services, you could probably leave your McDonald’s experience off your resume. If your only work experience is as a cashier at Walmart during high school, then I would include it.

Working jobs in retail or fast food is nothing to be embarrassed about. Keeping a job at a place like this shows that you’re responsible, dependable, and/or willing to do what you need to do to pay for school. Also, jobs like this often lead to promotions which are always good to highlight.

A. The resume you write for the JSP must include the following sections: contact info; objective statement; education; experience and/or skills & proficiencies.

While you must include contact info, an objective statement, an education section; and a section with your experience and/or skills & proficiencies—those are the required minimum sections. You should also consider adding other sections and content based on your own experiences and skills, your field/discipline, and the job advertisement you selected to work with for this project. In other words, you should make conscious rhetorical decisions about additional sections to include, what information to include within them, how to organize sections and information, and how to title your sections.

A. Never include your photo, physical description, religion, ethnicity, age, medical status, gender, family status or similar personal information. Similarly, I recommend against including “hobbies” or “interests” or “clubs” on your resume unless they directly relate to your job field or desired position. Applying for a job as a bank teller? You should include your membership in the FAU Accounting Club. You should probably not include your membership in Alpha Beta Whateva social fraternity.

NOTE: Of course, there are exceptions. If an employer asks for your medical status, then you have to include it. However, unless any of the above items are commonly requested in your field or specifically requested by an employer, then don’t include it.

A. Personally, I don’t recommend the inclusion of GPAs on resumes in general. It signals that you’re fresh out of college (and suggests you may not have a lot of professional experience), it can connote negative things when it’s “too low” and when it’s “too high.”

But if the employer requests your GPA or if you’re set on including it, there are a few (ethical) ways to calculate the number.

1. You can include your overall GPA, including all courses taken.
2. If your overall GPA isn’t so good, consider calculating your GPA “in the major”, counting only those courses that were required for your major.
3. If neither of those are great, try calculating your major in “upper level courses” (either 2000 level and up or 3000 level and up)

If you decide to include a GPA calculated “in the major” or in “upper level courses” you MUST specify this on your resume (For example, “3.4 GPA in the major”) and be prepared to explain how you arrived at this calculation.

A. It’s best to fill at least one page and its fine to go onto a second page. (If you do, you don’t have to fill the whole second page). Try to avoid orphaned lines or odd page breaks — adjust font sizes or margins if you need to.

The general advice is this:

• Try to fill at at least a page
• As a general guideline (and NOT a rule), usually, resumes for entry-level positions should be two pages maximum. If, however, you have extensive experience or are writing something more similar to a CV, then you can go longer than two pages.
• Don’t pad your resume — find real ways to speak to your skills and achievements. Consider adding “selected coursework,” knowledge sets, volunteer experience, etc.
• If all else fails and you can’t fill a page, consider using document design elements and techniques to make the text reach the bottom of the page. (No, putting everything in 14 point Helvetica isn’t a good way to do this.)

A. Ah—let me guess. You’ve heard that resumes should only be one page, right?

That’s crap. It’s crap because it’s a RULE™. In Professional Writing—and in life—you shouldn’t write using RULES™—you should write rhetorically. Consider your purpose, audience, and your content. Great resumes can come in various lengths. If you write a great resume and it’s one page? Awesome. A page and half? Excellent. Two whole pages? Great! All good.

As a first-time-on-the-career-job-market applicant, there are some general guidelines, though.

• Try to fill at at least one full page.
• As a general guideline (and NOT a rule), usually, resumes for entry-level career positions should be no more than two pages. If, however, you have extensive experience or are writing for an academic/research position, then you can go longer than two pages. (academic and research positions often ask you for a CV instead of a resume. See more about CVs here)
• Don’t pad your resume — find real ways to speak to your skills and achievements. Consider adding “selected coursework,” knowledge sets, volunteer experience, etc.
• If all else fails and you can’t fill a page, consider using document design elements and techniques to make the text reach the bottom of the page. (No, putting everything in 14 point Helvetica isn’t a good way to do this.)

A. I think it’s a great idea to list some of the interesting or relevant courses you’ve taken. You can create a whole section called “selected coursework” or “relevant coursework” and include the titles and short descriptions of some of your classes. Don’t include course numbers (ENC 3213, for example), as these mean nothing to most people. Also, be sure to include a one-sentence description about what the course entailed (after all, what is “Professional Writing” anyway?)

A. Do not include references on your resume. If the employer wants references, they will ask.

A. No. If the employer wants references, they will ask for them.

A. Worldwide, and particularly in South Florida, language fluency (other than/in addition to English) is in high demand. If you are fluent in a language (or languges) other than English, be sure to include an indication on your resume.

Indicate your fluency in any/all of the following: reading, writing, speaking.

Keep in mind that you’re either fluent in a language, or you’re not. Indicating “levels” such as “beginner,” “intermediate,” or “conversational” isn’t helpful to employers (or worse, it usually indicates exaggeration), so don’t do it. If you’re fluent in reading French, but not writing or speaking, indicate “Fluency in French: reading.” If you’re fluent in reading, writing, and speaking Spanish, indicate “Fluency in Spanish: reading, writing, and speaking.”

If you took two years of German in high school, you’re probably not proficient enough to indicate any fluency on your resume… so don’t mention it.

A. It depends on what computer skills you have, what’s required (or valued) in your career field, and what the job advertisement specifically asks for.

For example, careers in architecture and engineering often require professionals to be proficient in AutoCad. Since this is specialized software for a specialized field, I would mention proficiency in AutoCad on a resume.

However, while careers across the disciplines require professionals to use word processing applications (MS Word, usually), potential employers will assume you know how to use Word. If you’re looking for a career in hospitality or teaching, there’s no real benefit to including “proficient with Word” on your resume — employers will assume you are because everyone is (or should be). Proficiency with Word will not set you apart from other candidates, nor does it require any specialized, discipline specific knowledge or training.

My general advice is to leave computer skills in word processing, spreadsheets, email, and internet navigation off your resume unless there’s a compelling reason to mention them.

However, depending on the position, skills in graphic design applications, programming languages, web design, multimedia production, are specialized enough that you probably should mention them if they’re relevant (or potentially useful) to the position.

A. No. As stated on the project overview, you must write and design your resume from scratch. You may not use a resume template of any kind.*

• You may not use a template to help you with content—think rhetorically and write according to guidelines and information in these notes (and other notes provided for this class).
• You may not use a template to help you with design. Instead, design rhetorically and use good H.A.T.S. Design for Professional Documents.

* You may not use any templates—this means no MS Word templates, no Illustrator Templates, no templates you found online, no templates you bought online. No templates.

A. For the Job Search Portfolio Project, it’s not allowed. I wouldn’t recommend using a resume template during your actual job search, either. Sure, templates can make your resume look okay, but that often comes at a cost. In brief:

• Resume templates are often difficult to modify and they’re restrictive in terms of headings, sections, space, and content.
• They all look the same. If you submit a resume based on a template to a potential employer, it is likely the employer will see lots of other resumes that look just like yours. That will make it difficult to distinguish you from others, and after seeing the same design over and over, the employer is likely to confuse details.
• It’s lazy. The employer might wonder if you didn’t care enough to format your resume yourself.
• It suggests you don’t know how to format documents. If you knew how to format documents, then why didn’t you do it yourself? It doesn’t speak well to your ability to use word processing applications.

A. If the verb statement refers to a past position, the verb should be in past tense. If the verb statement refers to a current position (one you hold presently), the verb should be in present tense.

A. Your design should look professional. It should be readable and usable. Use good H.A.T.S. Design for Professional Documents.

A. You should write at least two bullets (verb/accomplishment statements), but aim for 3–5. If you have more, consider combining verb statements.

A. Typically, no.

You should only include personal information if it directly or indirectly relates to the position you’re applying for (or the company).

Some examples:

Let’s say you’re applying for a position as a Junior Accountant. Should you include your membership in FAU’s Stats Club? Yes! Since accountants deal with numbers, your membership in FAU’s Stats Club shows your interest in math and statistics even outside of your professional life.

You’re applying for a Waterways Manager position with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). You already know that two of FWC’s current commissioners were members of Theta Delta Whateva fraternity when they were in college. You’re a member of Theta Delta Whateva at FAU—should you include that on your resume? YES! Of course. Since your membership in that particular social fraternity might appeal to the people you’re likely to interview with, you should absolutely include that on your resume.

You’re applying to be a teacher at St. Mary’s Cathedral School in Miami—a private, Catholic K-12 school who stresses faith in their mission statement. You’ve sung in the choir at St. Jude Catholic Church for the past 3 years. Should you include that in your materials? YES! Because you’re applying to teach at a faith-based private school, you should include your choir membership in your materials as a way to show that you share similar values.