Students, especially at the university level, require much understanding and preparation to apply for their internship and/or scholarship programmes. Meanwhile, a resume is one of the most fundamental requirements. Therefore, this blog will guide you on how we can write an effective resume.
According to the Harvard University, a resume is a summary of your education, and professional experiences and is usually a short and precise one page. The most frequently used fonts for resumes are Arial, Times New Roman, Garamond, Calibri, and Georgia with 10-12pt font size for normal text and 14-16pt for titles or headers. Applicants mostly make repeated mistakes, for example lexical and grammatical errors. Moreover, it is important to note that using an active verb would make it easier to understand for the selection committee when reading your resume. Therefore, you should avoid using complicated or too technical words and passive voices.
Do’s
1. Provide a clear format with an easy-to-read flow, short and precise
2. Provide headings for each experience, for instance, education, professional, training …etc.
3. List inputs in chronological order
Don’ts
1. Use abbreviation, personal pronouns, slang
2. Use number or letter categories
3. Mention age, gender, or input a picture (unless the application ask you to provide your picture)
A resume should mention 5 main parts including:
- Personal information (Name, Address, Contact number, and Email)
- Education (Universities/Schools name, Major, GPA/Grade, Enrolled and Graduated date)
- Professional experiences (Institutions name, Position, Brief of responsibilities, Started and Ended date)
- Training/Volunteer activities (optional) (Institutions you have volunteered for/trained at, Brief of responsibilities, Started and Ended date)
- Miscellaneous (Languages or skills you can use)
You can also include a short summary of your relevant information under Personal Information, for example, your research interest. Please note that resumes may vary.
Below is a resume sample that you see as an example.
