Some people think of a resume as their life on a page,
but how could anyone put everything important about herself on a single piece of paper?
Actually, resumes are much more specific,
including only relevant information about yourself for specific employers.
Like a life, however, a resume is always growing and changing.
As your career goals shift or the job market changes,
as you grow personally and professionally,
chances are, you will need to rewrite your resume, or at least create new versions.
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The quick answer to both of these questions is: It depends.
It depends on your individual career goals,
as well as the professional goals of the companies hiring in your area or field of interest.
In the end, only you, through research, planning, questioning, and self-reflection,
can determine the shape and content of your resume.
The strategies in this podcast, along with the materials on the OWL,
can help you ask the right questions and begin exploring your options.
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A contact section provides employers with essential information,
so you can be contacted for an interview or to answer questions.
But of course, as with the rest of your resume,
you want to make sure all of the information you include is correct and accurate.
Mis-typing your phone number could easily cost you an interview.
Also, if you list an e-mail address, be sure to check your e-mail regularly,
or you may miss an important message.
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Most often, the objective statement includes
one to three lines of text summarizing the position you are applying for
and/or your main qualifications.
While some writers choose to use a complete sentence format,
many objectives are simply stated in short phrases with minimal punctuation.
Objective statements improve your resume by helping you emphasize your main qualifications
and summarize them for readers, as well as inform your readers
about the position you are seeking and your career goals.
They also help establish personal and professional identity.
An experience section emphasizes your past and present employment
and your participation in relevant activities.
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Feel free to customize your heading for this section,
especially if you are writing a tailored resume.
For example, if a job ad calls for someone with editorial experience,
you may want to create a section with the heading, "Editorial Experience."
Even the busiest reader will notice it.
Also, you may discover that you need more than one section to organize your experiences.
For example, you may want a section for volunteer work
and another for work history, or one for technical experience
and another for supervisory experience.
The usual content for an experience section includes
company or organization, location, position title, dates of employment,
and description of responsibilities and duties.
The education section sometimes varies tremendously,
while sometimes they span half a page.
What's the best way for you to approach yours?
An education section highlights the relevant schooling
and academic training you've completed.
If you have substantial work experience, this section may be very brief.
If you are currently enrolled as a college student or recent graduate,
you may want to build this section substantially.
The education section usually includes information
about schools you've attended,
such as universities, four-year colleges, junior and community colleges,
as well as professional and technical schools,
occasionally high schools, depending on how relevant it is.
locations of schools, date of graduation or anticipated graduation,
and the degrees you've earned.
Sometimes people choose to withhold their GPA,
because it isn't relevant or it's not high enough.
If a company specifically requests your GPA, however,
you may want to include it.
In such cases, not including your GPA may actually call attention to it.
Finally, we have the "Activities and Honors" section.
This section of your resume highlights the relevant activities you've been involved with,
and the honors you've received that you could discuss
your prospective employer or that have given you
valuable experience and skills.
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Thank you for watching the Resume Vidcast brought to you by OWL.
Hopefully this helps building your resume.