you've never written a resume before, you may be wondering what type of information you should include and leave out. This article goes over the different sections of a resume and offers style suggestions to make your resume more effective.

According to Dawn Rosenberg McKay, who is a career planning professional and co-author of books about government employment, a resume is a written document listing work experience, skills and educational background. The order in which these items are listed on your resume will depend on what areas you're strongest in.

Educational Background

Many college students begin with their educational background because they tend not to have much work experience. Depending on how many years of college you have under your belt, you may or may not want to begin with your high school information.

If you're a freshman student, then you should begin with your high school information since you haven't been in college that long. However, if you're a sophomore or further along in college, you will probably want to include just your college information. Things you may list in this section include the name of your school, your major, type of degree (BA, BS, or MA), type of minor, GPA, expected graduation date) and year in college.

Work Experience

Next you will want to include your work experience. You should begin with the most recent job that you had that is relevant to the position that you're applying for. Finally, you'll want to put any other jobs you have had just to show that you do have some type of work experience.

Special Skills and Considerations

Lastly, you'll want to put down any skills or activities that could be relevant to the job. Make sure the skills are as specific to the position as possible. If it's not relevant, leave it out. As for activities, you may want to put down sports, clubs, sororities or fraternities. Having a list of activities may help show that you can balance school work and extracurricular activities. It may also give your interviewer something to break the ice.

Formatting Your Resume

Experiment with different layouts. Keep the font simple and use color sparingly. Make sure that your resume is well-organized, clear and easy to read and understand. Proofread carefully. Typos may hurt your credibility with the interviewer. And most importantly, be honest.

Resume Resources

For more resume tips, you may want to visit careerplanning.about.com or www.accepted.com. Both of these websites offer more tips and sample resumes.

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