Elements of a strong communication resume

The first thing to know about resumes is that most employers give them only a 30-second glance, so to make the most of it, your resume must be precise, clean, readable and complete and answer an employer's questions: “Why am I worth your time and attention?” and“What am I going to offer you?”

First, a disclaimer…
There are very few hard and fast rules when it comes to résumés. Remember that your résumé reflects your priorities and reflections on your professional expertise. The things you choose to include and not include, and the order in which present them, send the employer a clear message about your sense of their importance. In short, while we can give you suggestions, ultimately you need to do what is best for you!

Types of résumés
Elements of a résumé
What about...
Formatting
Electronic résumés
Common mistakes
Last thoughts

Two types of résumés

• Chronological: This is the more common type of resume and is often better preferred by employers. It shows work experience in reverse chronological order, and is good for showing a solid background of work. For most entry-level candidates, this is a stronger option for your first professional resume.
  
• Functional: This resume type focuses on skills or abilities and is excellent for tying together the common threads among a wide variety of jobs. This is a good choice for people interested in making a career switch or who have significant gaps in their employment history. It still must be accompanied by a chronological listing of previous work experience, but it is not the main element of the resume.

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Elements of a résumé

A résumé MAY include any and all of the following elements:

• Contact information: this is the header of your resume and should be visually one of the most prominent pieces of information. It should include your name, address, phone and email addresses. This information should be good for at least six months. If you choose to list both your campus and permanent addresses, be sure to label them accordingly.
  
  As a side note – be sure that the voice mail message on the phone number you have listed is appropriate for an employer to hear. You don't want a potential employer to hear that you "can't get the phone because you're busy roaming the streets in search of mayhem."

• Objective: This is not a necessity, but can be a nice element to add to show the direction you are hoping to take professionally. If you choose to write an objective statement, you must walk a fine line between getting too vague (i.e. "Looking for a job in public relations") to too specific (i.e. "Seeking a copy editing job at ABC Newspaper with late afternoon/early evening hours). If you're too vague, you look like you're fishing for any job you can get, regardless of who, what or where. If you're too detailed, you can knock yourself out of competition for other positions that might exist at an organization.
  
• Summary of qualifications/key skills: Again, this is not a necessity, but can nicely tie together your range of skills and experiences, making you larger than the sum of your parts. This can be presented either as a short bullet list (in third person, power phrases) or as a short paragraph written almost in personal ad style (i.e. "Recent UW-Madison journalism graduate with extensive internship experience in agency and healthcare settings. Design and Web experience combined with a full range of public relations and event planning skills. Proficient in Dreamweaver and InDesign.").
  
• Experience: This is the meat of your resume. You can present your professional experience as one block, or break them into relevant (communications) experience vs. other work experience. Each entry should be formatted identically, and include your working title, the name of the organization, the city and state in which it was located, the dates you worked (month and year are fine) and a short bullet list the focuses on the results you enjoyed at the position. Do not dwell on your duties – it is expected that a reporting intern was responsible for writing articles. Instead, talk about how many articles were published, what beats you were assigned to, or what additional responsibilities you were given over the course of the experience.
  
  Whenever possible, quantify. If you interned at a newspaper, what is its circulation? If you worked at a television station, what market is it in? If you worked on a fundraiser, how much money was raised? Numbers help employers get perspective on the scope and breadth of your responsibilities.
  
  Try to look at this section with a stranger's eyes as much as possible. Would someone from outside the Madison area know what the Daily Cardinal is? Would they know that it is an independent newspaper with a circulation of over 10,000? That is an entirely different experience than a university-sponsored newspaper with a circulation of 1500. Short descriptor phrases help an employer better understand the depth of the experience.
  
  Do not use pay status to determine whether or not to put an experience under this section. Unpaid internships or relevant volunteer experiences belong under this section. If you were the newsletter editor for your sorority or planned a fundraiser for your church, that is communications experience that belongs in this area.
  
• Skills: This is another section that is not a necessity, but is a good way to show unique skills that are relevant to the field. The most popular skills to list here are proficiencies with computer programs, foreign languages and industry-specific equipment.
  
  This is one of the areas of a resume where the most people feel compelled to stretch the truth. Not smart. Do not list a proficiency with ANY program, language or equipment unless you are prepared to demonstrate it during an interview. Nothing makes you look dumber than claiming you're fluent in Spanish and not being able to respond when the interviewer switches languages in the middle of your interview (it's happened!).
  
• Academic Information: Focus on your post-high school experiences – your high school degree is assumed at this point. List academic institutions you have attended, dates of attendance, areas of specialization (majors) and graduation month/year. If you have not graduated yet, list your expected month/year of graduation.
  
  Other information that can be included under this heading are nationally-recognized honor society memberships, academic honors like Dean's List, study abroad experiences and nationally recognized scholarships. Awards that are specific to a city or university that would likely not be recognized by the employer should be left off.
  
  One of the biggest resume debates is where to place your academic information – before or after your work experience? The general rule is to lead with the item that makes you best qualified for the job. Ninety-nine percent of the time, that's going to be your experience. After all, employers want to hire professional communicators, not professional students. Furthermore, you want to stand out from your competition, not blend in. You can bet that the majority of your fellow applicants have an undergraduate degree in journalism, but do they have the same type of experience you do? Your experience makes you stand out and the folks who stand out from the pack get interviews.
  
• Licenses, certifications, professional memberships: If you hold a licensure or professional certification that is relevant to the job you are applying for, list them here. Similarly, if you are a member of a professional organization that is relevant to the employer, list that affiliation, including any specific chapter information if applicable.

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What about…

• GPA: Few employers are interested in your GPA, and those that do will specifically request it. If it is not requested, only include your GPA if it is impressively high (3.8 or better) and earned over the course of more than four semesters at one institution.

• References: Include references only if they are requested by the employer. List your references on a separate sheet from your resume, with a matching heading and matching paper.

• Salary Information: Again, only list this if requested by the employer. Add the information by each job listing using a consistent format (hourly, weekly, annually, etc)

• Personal Information: Hobbies, personal interests, travel experiences, etc. are should only be listed if they are directly related to the job.

• Classes/coursework: This is tricky– by and large, coursework should not be included unless was substantially professional in focus. Unless an employer attended the same university and participated in the same program as you did, he/she is not going to know what was taught in "Mass Media Practices," so listing it as a relevant course does not tell much about you or your suitability for a job. Unless you have a strongly compelling reason to include your coursework on your resume, you are better off not including it.

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Formatting
So you've decided on your type of resume and the elements you will include – now how do you package it together? The formatting you use will be a map for the employer's eye, to show them which items compliment each other and which items are more important than others.

A common mistake is to over-bold. Bolding is a great tool to set off a heading or give emphasis, but if you use it too much, it loses its impact. Consider underlining or italics to give an item emphasis. Another option is the limited incorporation of a second font for your name and section headings.

Maintain a good balance between your text and white space. Three-quarter inch margins are an acceptable standard. Avoid large blocks of text, which can be hard for an employer to read through. Short, power phrases will get your point across.

Pick your own style and structure, but be consistent. If you start a work experience entry with your title, then employer, do that for each work experience. If you use round bullets in one section, use round bullets throughout.

It's ok to think outside the box, especially if you are applying for a creative position, but don't sacrifice readability for design. The most creative resume in the world won't get you a job if the text on it is obscured. Use color and graphics sparingly, to make an impact. As in many things in life, less is more.

Use résumé paper (can be found at most office stores and the UW bookstore). Yes, it's more expensive, but it's worth it. Avoid dark or extreme colors. Paper for your résumé, cover letter and envelope should all match.

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Electronic résumés
More employers are asking for electronic résumés -- or are scanning paper résumés they receive by mail. Some things to keep in mind to make your résumé electronically friendly:

• Have a high degree of contrast on your paper résumé – dark ink against a light background.

• Avoid screened images behind text.

• When emailing your résumé, PDF is best.

• Consider an alternate résumé for emailing when in-message text is requested with minimal formatting and symbols.

• Choose a plain font (like Times or Arial) for the bulk of your résumé.

• Type size should be at least 10 pt, preferably 12

• Email a copy to yourself and to a friend to see how it appears as a message. If possible, test it in a variety of email programs as well as on both a PC and Mac

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Common Mistakes
A sub-standard resume can prevent you from ever being called for a job interview. Here are the four mistakes that ruin most resumes (and what you can do to prevent them).

Mistake #1: Focusing on you and your needs: By and large, one of the most common mistakes is filling your resume with what YOU hope to get out of a new experience and what YOU have received from prior jobs. Your future employer has one question: “What can you do for me?” Tailor your resume to show how you can contribute to his/her operations, and how you have contributed in your past positions.

Mistake #2: Focusing on responsibilities instead of results: In a field like communications, two people with the same title at different organizations can have vastly different responsibilities. However, employers are more interested in what you DID, not what you HAD TO DO. By showing your achievements, you can also display your responsibilities. Instead of saying “Responsible for writing and editing press releases and updating media database,” say: “Coordinated media relations for project resulting in coverage in four major daily newspapers and two broadcast news outlets.”

Mistake #3: Too many big words: You have a great vocabulary. Congratulations. Employers are generally unimpressed with a resume that is teeming with big words, as it is generally a way to hide a lack of experience.

Mistake #4: Spelling/punctuation errors: It may be listed as #4, but this is the #1 IDIOT mistake an applicant can make. You are a communications professional and nothing shows it more than a clean, error-free resume. DO NOT rely on your spell-checker or grammar check. Read through your resume once for accuracy, once for missing/extra words, and once more for spelling. Then, show your resume to several friends and ask for their feedback.

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Last thoughts… 
Remember, a résumé is not a static document. It should be constantly reviewed and updated to reflect changes in your experience. It should also be edited and reorganized as appropriate for the positions to which you apply.

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