33 / 68
clemson.edu/career
CENTER FOR CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
/ClemsonCCPD
33
DEVELOPING A WINNING RESUME
Résumé counseling is available through the Center for Career
and Professional Development. Career counselors and staff
are available to provide valuable information, training and
techniques that will enhance your résumé.
Deciding which work and academic experience to include
in the first draft of your résumé can be difficult. All sorts of
questions come to mind: How far back should I go? Should I
include anything I did in high school? How much of my college
experience should I list? Is it worth putting down jobs I did “just
to make money?” How about my outside activities? How do I fit
it all onto one page? All of these questions are valid and need
answers; but do yourself a big favor, do not answer them at this
stage.
Begin by making a list of everything. Try to think of every
significant event and activity in your life. Don’t limit yourself.
List jobs, school activities, sports, awards, honors, travel, music
talent, hobbies, forging language fluency, office skills and
charitable activities—in short, any and every skill, interest or
worthy achievement that might be of interest to an employer.
Once you have listed everything, you are ready to start selecting
which items will present the best picture to your potential
employer and be most relevant to the position you are seeking.
Every résumé should be tailored to the job for which you are
applying.
It is important to note that skills that have employment value
are not only those that are work content related. There are
numerous self-management and transferable skills that
employers prize.
OBJECTIVE
Not every résumé will have an objective. If you are creating a
résumé to distribute at a career fair or to mass distribute to a
number of employers, it may be difficult to write an objective to
fit each employment situation. If you are creating a résumé for
a specific job, however, you will want to include an objective.
The best approach to writing an objective is to write a focused
objective.
Here is an example of a good objective:
Objective: To obtain the Summer 2017 internship program
with New Foundations Home for Children to utilize my
mediation and child development skills.
EDUCATION
In the education section, be sure to list your expected highest
degree first. Do not forget to include relevant professional
development courses, licensures and certifications since
your interviewer will be interested in your pattern of self-
improvement. High school information is generally not needed.
EXPERIENCE – GETTING STARTED
When listing your “Experience,” think carefully about which
items are best suited for the industry or job for which you are
applying. It may be possible to present your experience so that
it relates directly to the skills and talents the employer needs.
Use paid jobs, unpaid internships, volunteer activities and
college activities.
If you are applying for a sales job, for example, and have held
two or three jobs that involved sales, such as publicity director
of your college theater, list them separately in a section called
“Sales Experience.” You can then list the other jobs you have
held in a section called “Other” or “Additional Experience.”
This method gives you the flexibility to arrange your experience
out of chronological order and sort your skills for the employer.
The employer can review your résumé and immediately see that
you understand their needs because you have listed the most
relevant background first.
Once you determine which of your experiences are most
relevant, list your skills that do not fit in the “Education” or
“Experience” categories. For example, if you are fluent in one
or more foreign languages, list this information in a section
called “Languages.” If you have mastered computer languages
or programming skills, list them. For those that are submitting
international and curriculum vitas, other information can be
added to showcase other talents, skills and abilities such
as publications, presentations, awards and honors. This
information may also be incorporated into the three most
common résumés—the reverse chronological, the functional
and the hybrid (better know as the combination).