Resume vs. Curriculum Vitae (CV)

For master candidates going into areas other than teaching, health care or social work, a one or two page resume works best. Graduate candidates may want to prepare a resume with a “Profile” section (PDF) (Word) instead of an “Objective” depending on their background and present career path. Depending on the amount of experience a graduate candidate has, he or she may still want to prepare a one-page resume as many recruiters in the business world prefer one page. However, two pages is quite acceptable as long as there is ample information to fill most of two pages and none of the information is redundant.

For master's or Ph.D. candidates going into teaching, health care or social work and possibly other areas such as research, a CV (curriculum vitae) should be prepared instead of a resume. A curriculum vitae is a longer version of a resume that includes much more information such as teaching competencies, publications, seminars or workshops presented at, conferences attended, pro bono activities etc.

Resume and Cover Letter Help

Resume and cover letter are your chance to make a positive first impression on the employer. A good resume markets your education, experiences, and skills in addition to focusing on what is most relevant to the employer. It is important to dedicate time to developing a focused resume for each type of position you apply for.

Personal assistance:

1. Walk-in hours with a career intern
2. Appointment with a career counselor

Some helpful resources might be:

1. Curriculum Vitae (PDF) (Word)
2. Understanding how to write your degree
3. Resume and Cover Letter Writing (PDF) (Word)
4. Resume and Cover Letter Writing for Internships (PDF) (Word)
5. Functional Resumes for Experienced Professionals (PDF) (Word)
6. Electronic Resumes (PDF) (Word)
7. Action Words (PDF) (Word)
8. Marketing your Study Abroad Experience (PDF) (Word)
9. Portfolios (PDF) (Word)
10. References and Letters of Recommendation (PDF) (Word)

Templates:

1. Alumni (PDF) (Word)
2. CV (PDF) (Word)
3. CV into Resume (PDF) (Word)
4. Education (PDF) (Word)
5. Internship (PDF) (Word)
6. Profile (PDF) (Word)

Sample Content:

1. Business (Word)
2. Communication (Word)
3. Education (Word)
4. Engineering (Word)
5. Health Sciences (Word)

There is no "right" way to write a resume. Employers have different opinions on what they prefer; therefore, it is important for your resume to best highlight your skills and interests.

Quick Resume Tips

Design: Resumes tend to be very conservative in format with the primary goal being readability. In some fields, such as advertising, marketing, and fine arts, creativity is more acceptable and, often expected. Creativity however should not deter from the overall content and flow of a resume.

Tabs: Use tabs instead of spacing in order to keep everything aligned.

Objective: Adding an objective helps the employer know for which positions you are applying. Try and include those experiences on your resume that demonstrate skills related to your objective. Be sure to include an objective that is specific without generalizations and what I would call "fluff." Doesn't everybody want a challenging position?

Templates: Typically we recommend not using a template. Employers see so many resumes and notice quite easily who is using a template. Instead use a format that best highlights your skills. Start with a clean word document or convert your resume from a table to text by selecting the table to be converted, under the table menu select convert, then table to text. Be sure to clear all formatting before re-formatting it with tabs, bold, bullets, and more.

Strengths: Think of 2-3 strengths that set you apart from your peers. When you look back on your experiences, what are the skills you gained or used that made you most proud? What did your supervisors praise you for? List those here in a specific and professional way. Transferable Skills (PDF) (Word)

Education: Be sure to include your degree and date of graduation. It can be written like this: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with majors in Finance and Marketing. Understanding How to Write Your Degree.

Class Projects: If you have little experience that is related to your career objective, think about class projects that might demonstrate your skills. List these just like a position with the name of the project, name of the class, Marquette University, and semester (Fall 20XX). Then list the objective of the project just like you would list your action word phrases under each position.

Student Activities: Use your involvement experience to demonstrate your skills. List these just like a position with your title (member, membership chair, and president), name of the organization, Marquette University, and dates. Then list the objective of the project just like you would list your action word phrases under each position.

Career Related Experience: Separate out the experiences that best relate to your objective. Use headings such as Career Related Experience or even naming each section based on your career goals such as Marketing Experience or Leadership experience. This tactic helps to make the connection for employers from what you've done to what you can do. It also allows you to put your more career-related experiences toward the top even if they are not the most recent.

Action Word Phrases: Action words help demonstrate what skills and experience you have that would help an employer know why he or she should hire you. Be sure to use bulleted lists to help the reader.

Use of pronouns: Eliminate all use of pronouns (I, me, my, etc). Instead, use action word phrases and bulleted statements that make the resume easier to read.

One Page: If possible, use a one page resume for new and recent grads. If you have trouble fitting all of your information on one page, drop by for walk-in hours or make an appointment with a Career Counselor.

High School Education: Do not include your high school graduation on your resume; employers expect this from a college graduate.

Location of Your Experiences: Indicate the city and state location of your educational and work experiences on your resume. This way, employers know where you worked and/or studied.

Dates of Your Experiences: Indicate the month and year you began and ended your position. If you have still doing it, list the month and date to Present.