Take a Closer Look

There are a few sections of a résumé that should be the main focus of the document:

• Work experience
• Volunteer experience
• Education and training

Work Experience

Depending on the résumé format you choose, you may list your most recent job first. Include the title of the position, employer’s name, location, and employment dates (beginning, ending)

Skills

Work experience is on all résumés, even if you feel the work is not directly connected to the job you are trying to get. Even a first-time entrant to the job market has some experience. Perhaps you have been a babysitter or lawn mower. Those hard skills of diaper changing or emptying grass bags may not be a part of the new job, but your reliability and customer service will be.

Listings of your work experience should include enough detail that the reader could check your background if needed. Remember, this document is marketing you, so never include anything that is not true. List the jobs you’ve had that are most relevant to the current position but you don’t have to list every job you’ve ever had. If you have been in the workforce for twenty years, that first job you held for two years as a cashier may not be relevant to this District Manager job that you are now applying for.

Work experience is frequently listed near the top of the résumé page or perhaps just below the Education section if you are early in your career.

Location Information

There are times when including specific location details is important. At other times, the location may not be relevant. Say you have worked for one company for ten years and been transferred to three cities to do the same job. The employer’s name is likely sufficient without listing all the various locations in which you have worked for them. However, if you have moved from a small store to managing a flagship location, for example, then location can be a critical part of the impact of the listing in your résumé.

Dates of Employment

Dates can be another sensitive subject. Perhaps there has been a time where you went through several jobs in quick succession, and you would prefer not to focus on all those early departures. You could consider another résumé format, or while still listing the jobs in order, remove the dates or perhaps only list the years, rather than months and years.

Be aware that any résumé gaps or other chronological anomalies are going to raise questions. Be ready to address these in your cover letter and in a prepared answer when you get to the interview stage.

Volunteer experience

Assuming that you are not applying to a non-profit organization, use volunteer jobs in a limited fashion. For people new to the workforce with limited paid job experience, volunteer experience can show important skills. It may also support the concept of a well-rounded, socially connected employee.

With volunteer experience, there is the risk of triggering some implicit bias in the reviewer. Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions unconsciously. Your volunteering could give rise to implicit bias if the reviewer of your résumé has a negative opinion about the organization you volunteered for or its mission.

If you are listing your volunteer work to demonstrate leadership and organizational expertise, it will be up to you if you want to include your volunteer coordination of a local Beer Pong league (which may seem unprofessional to some) or your organizational work at any politically aligned organizations (which may not align with the politics of those in charge of the hiring process).

No one wants to work for a company that would intentionally discriminate. However, it is sometimes wise to be sensitive to the things readers might read into your résumé before they meet you.

If your only work experience is volunteering, list it high in the résumé. If it is a supplement to work experience, list it toward the bottom of the résumé.

Education and Training

Formal and informal experiences both matter. Include academic degrees, professional development, certificates, and other such accomplishments.

Education is most often separated from other sections with various titles such as Training or Certifications. When detailing your formal education, list from your highest degree down. If you have a high school or G.E.D degree, list it only if you have no college experience. Once you have college experience to add to your résumé, the prior schooling is assumed and does not need to be listed.

Education is listed similarly to Work Experience. List the name of the school and location. If you are under forty, list the graduation year for any degree. After that age, the choice is yours about listing the year because it could raise implicit bias about age. If you are still in college and expect to graduate in one year, it is fine to list that year. The reader will know that you are finishing the degree by next May.

Other relevant items of training should be listed to improve your chances of earning an interview. Label that section as such and then follow a standard listing that is usually the name of the training or certification, provider or certifying body, and date. For example, a CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) certificate means more to those applying to be paramedics than accountants and might be optionally listed or not at all listed. In contrast, a CPA (certified public accountant designation) is a huge advantage to those applying to some type of accounting and should be listed. Certifications are generally listed toward the bottom of a résumé.