RESUME WRITING
GOAL: Brainstorm your life accomplishments and basic information for a
resume that will be used for ISLE
GUIDELINES:
As you create your resume, remember to be HONEST, TO THE
POINT, and INCLUSIVE of all of your experiences thus far. Even if
you’ve only had a paper route in your life, write down everything! If
you think you have nothing to write, THINK a little harder, ask your
parents to help, and if you’re still stuck, see me.
A resume is a highlight of your employment, educational and volunteer
experience qualifications, and therefore should reflect a POSITIVE
IMAGE of you.
Focus on your qualifications, achievements, and demonstrate what
contributions you can make to a service agency.
This ONE PAGE sketch of your potential should describe your
qualifications or achievements in descending order of importance (most
important things first).
Say it SIMPLY and keep it SHORT, CONCISE and TO THE POINT.
Follow the instructions below to begin the process of writing your resume:
1. List everything from your background/experience that contributes to your
volunteer-ability and employability (part-time and summer jobs, education,
special courses, leadership opportunities, class projects, honors and awards,
activities, volunteer work, etc.). Include EVERYTHING that comes to
mind (you can edit later). Next to each item on your list note your
accomplishments, responsibilities, and skills used in each situation.
2. Look over your list and eliminate those items which you think wouldn’t
appeal to your future volunteer agency (i.e. paintball champion is a cool
accomplishment but maybe not totally appropriate for your resume,
however, KOOCS volunteer or varsity swim team makes more sense).
3. Brainstorm some ideas for your volunteer objective, or goals, and list
different community service areas of interest you have (i.e. homelessness,
shelters, food banks, youth group, etc.)—write down anything, this doesn’t
mean you will commit to something right now; it just gets you thinking and
imagining the options and opportunities.
4. Begin to organize your items in a structured way:
Basic Information: Name, address, phone number, email address, etc.
Volunteer Objective: A statement summarizing your volunteer goals.
Use short descriptive phrases, identify the responsibilities, challenges
and work activities that you wish to assume. This tells the agency
what you’re interested in and that you’ve thought about your goals.
Education: Summarize your educational achievement (schools
attended, dates, year in school, etc.). List certain skills you have (do
you speak a second language, are you computer savvy—list these).
Experience: Bring in your work or volunteer experience here, listing
the most recent first. Include organization’s name and location (city),
what your job was, dates you worked there, responsibilities, etc.
References: Gather names, phone numbers, titles, and addresses of
supervisors, teachers, youth ministers, etc.
Activities: Include activities that show your contributions, indicate a
hard worker, leadership abilities, inter-personal skills, etc. Also
include your recreational activities (this shows that you are a well-
rounded individual).
Honors and Awards: List any honors or awards you have received.
RESUME WRITING
ANITA RESUME
1234 5th Ave. S.
Seattle, WA 98765
anitaresume@googlemail.com
(206) 123-4567
VOLUNTEER OBJECTIVE: To volunteer with kids with disabilities
EDUCATION:
2008-present John F. Kennedy Catholic High School
140 S. 140th, Burien, WA 98168
2nd year Spanish
National Honor Society
EXPERIENCE:
Dishwasher, Dominoes, August 2009-present
Wash all pizza pans
Assist manager in prepping pizzas
Volunteer, Highline Food Bank, February-April 2010
Assisted in food distribution to those in need
Volunteer, Sunday School Teacher, St. James, September 2007-June 2008
Teach 3rd graders once a week about God
REFERENCES:
1. Jenny Farrell, Religion Teacher, Kennedy Catholic
farrellj@kennedyhs.org, (206) 246-0500
2. Youth Minister, St. James
ym@godluvsu.org, (253) 987-6543
ACTIVITIES:
Kennedy Catholic Soccer team, defender, 2008-present
Girls Club, 2008-present
Girl Scouts, 2003-2008
Photography Classes, summer 2007 and summer 2009
HONORS AND AWARDS:
National Honor Society Inductee, 2010
Employee of the Month, Dominoes, November, 2009
Things to remember as you work:
Save your document frequently as you work on it! Look at the formatted resume
in Microsoft Word to gain ideas, however, DO NOT use this program since it is set
up for professional resumes.
SUGGESTIONS for FORMATTING
1. Stick to ONE PAGE—your accomplishments and experiences might take
up several pages (save that version for your college recommendations), but
limit yourself to one page for ISLE.
2. BALANCE the material on the page so that the total effect is pleasing to the
eye. There should be plenty of white space, generous margins so that the
page does not look crowded. Do not leave excessive space at the bottom of
the page.
3. Be CONSISTENT in formatting your resume. Be CONSICE, to the point.
Write and rewrite until you are satisfied.
4. Write incomplete sentences or phrases as long as your meaning is clear.
You don’t have to use “I”, it’s already implied in your verb usage. Don’t
refer to yourself in the third person.
5. Use present tense in referring to activities in which you are currently
involved, but anything previous must be referred to in the past tense.
6. Avoid the use of slang and abbreviations.
7. If in doubt, consult a dictionary for correct spellings and use proper
punctuation.