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Resume Components Guidelines

Setting up the Functional Resume

• Contact Information:
  • name, address, phone
  
  
• Either
  Job/Career Objective: Must be clear and concise because the functional areas will be selected and ranked according to the objective
  Or
  Functional Summary: A one to three sentence description that encapsulates experience and highlights skills related to the objective
  
  
• Functional Headings:
  • four or five separate paragraphs
  • list in order of importance, as related to the objective
  • within each paragraph, stress the most significant abilities and accomplishments as related to the objective
  • use past-tense, action-oriented verbs
  
  
• Employment History:
  • brief synopsis of actual work experience: dates, employers, and titles
  • if no work experience or work experience is very spotty, leave this section out (but be ready to discuss it in the interview)
  
  
• Education:
  • if date of last attendance is three years or less, move this section to after the Contact Information
  • if longer than three years, or in an unrelated field (no matter how recent) include education after work experience
  • indicate degree received, date, institution
  • grade point average can be included if it is above a 3.0
  
  
• References:
  • same guidelines as chronological resume

NOTE: The "General Resume Guidelines" apply to both chronological and functional resumes.