Write a Winning Résumé

What to leave out

• Dates of education
• Early job history
• Dates of jobs more than 20 years old. Say “five years” instead of “1980-85.”
• Personal information, such as age, height, race, religion or health status.

Résumé styles

• A chronological résumé works well if you have had steady employment in an industry or field and want to remain in the field.
• A functional résumé is organized by skills and expertise. This is especially useful if you’re changing careers, because it focuses on transferable skills that carry over from one field to another.
• A combination résumé includes elements of both chronological and functional résumés. Organize your résumé by job history as in a chronological résumé. Under each job, list the key skills that you demonstrated in that job.

Formatting your résumé

• The print version of your résumé should use at least 11 point font, black ink on white paper. No colors, photos or fancy fonts!
• A plain text version is the same résumé but without formatting features such as bullets, bold fonts, etc. Use the plain text version for pasting into online forms and databases. The Riley Guide tells you how.
• Format the résumé yourself instead of using résumé-building tools provided by online job sites. Many online résumé forms require a chronological format.

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