With second semester in full swing, it’s not too early to start thinking about the summer, especially with jobs on the mind. And summer jobs may require writing a resume.

“A resume is a professional document that highlights skills and experiences,” said Tori Spring, assistant director for Employer Connections and Job Preparation at the Career Center. “It is a way for you to represent yourself professionally and should be tailored to the job you are looking for.”

If you’ve never written a resume before, here’s what to include:

“Undergraduates may want to create a list of things they’ve done and how they can best present themselves as to what they can do for the job they want, and divide that list into five sections: Education, Work Experience, Activities, Leadership/Honors, and Skills,” Spring said.

*AT THE TOP:*

“Overall, you should use a 10 or 12-point font, and make it professional, so it would be wise to use Times New Roman or Arial,” Spring said. “Start with your name at the top of the page in a slightly larger font, such as 14 or 16 to help you stand out, then add your email and phone number, followed by your permanent address.”

*OBJECTIVE*

“An objective is a statement that is placed right under the name and contact information where students identify the type of position you’re seeking, such as ‘obtain a summer internship and build communication skills,’” said Pnina Steiner, senior director of Business Career Services. “For business students, it is key to have a default to submit to any potential employer, but they can also change it to meet the specific position.”

However, if students are trying to save room on their resumes, the objective may not be necessary.

“A lot of employers may require cover letters as well as resumes, so you’re not giving the recruiter any more information that is not in the resume,” Spring said. “So we sometimes tell students to leave that statement off.”

*EDUCATION*

“This is where you will list the degree name (Bachelor’s of Science, for example), Institution, graduation year, major and GPA,” Steiner said. “Most businesses expect GPA to be listed on the resume next to your major, as it shows that you are a strong student.”

Steiner said students who study abroad or attended other institutions are encouraged to list it as a subtitle in the education section.

“Employers look for a certain pattern, so it is imperative that the dates of the institutions you attended as well as your GPA should be lined up at the right,” Spring said.

*EXPERIENCE*

“This is the bulk of your resume and what employers will look at the most,” Spring said. “Students can assess what they’ve done in these experiences and achievements, so if there’s a certain position in management and student writes down that he or she worked at the dining hall, he or she might not see the connection to the position but there are great transferable skills that they can include.”

As far as formatting, Steiner said students should list the most recent jobs or internships first, followed by two or three bullet points describing the position using short and concise statements.

“Students should list the employer and the position on the left, and the month and year they worked for the employer and the city and state of employer location, on the right,” Steiner said.

In addition, students should use strong action verbs to describe the titles they’ve held and be specific about what they did, said Spring.

“Words such as directed, managed and created are stronger and show the potential employer that you did something meaningful in your related experience, rather than just listing basic intern duties,” Spring said. “It is also helpful to list quantitative data to help you stand out.”

*ACTIVITIES*

“Any related extra-curricular activities where students have held leadership positions can be included in the resume,” Steiner said. “But simply listing ‘member’ of 20 different activities doesn’t show the recruiter anything that makes you more qualified than another applicant.”

*UNIQUE SKILLS*

“This is a section where people can write down if they are proficient in a foreign language or have great computer skills,” Steiner said. “It’s not always necessary, but can help if it relates to the position you are applying to.”

*HONORS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS*

Along with leadership skills, it may be helpful to put down honors or awards a student may have received, Steiner said.

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Overall, the document should be free of grammar and spelling mistakes, and should be looked over multiple times before submitting it with the application, Spring said.

“The document should be clean and on white paper when students are at career fairs and handing out their resumes,” she said. “Errors can be costly to the applicant, and by following a clear format, students show recruiters that they clearly took the time to make it the best it can be.”

Steiner said students should be consistent with the format and make sure there is enough white space on the resume.

“Business students are expected to be very conservative with their resumes: using good quality paper, avoiding first person and making sure everything makes sense,” she said. “This is the first impression employers have on future employees, so it is important to show you care about the position and the company.”