The purpose of a resume is to persuade a prospective employer that you are qualified for a job. The resume is usually the first impression the employer receives of you, so make the impression positive. Tailor your resume to the job you are seeking. Omit irrelevant information. Show the employer that you value his time by being concise. Use active verbs to describe your accomplishments.

Place your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address at the top of the resume. Align this information to the left margin of the paper or center it like a letterhead. For a professional look and to save space, use the same font through the resume, but use all capitals for your name and section headings. Emphasize your name and the section headings by using bold font.

Type "Job Objective" and write your goal in one or two sentences. If you are applying for a specific job, identify the job title. Indicate skills you can bring to the job and how they will benefit the company. To save space, simply state the title of the job or omit this section altogether. Many resumes do not use this.

Create an "Education" heading and list your educational background starting with your most recent schooling. Include the name, city and state of each school you have attended, the year you graduated or anticipate graduating and your degrees. Identify majors, minors, certificates, honors and awards. If space permits, list select courses that demonstrate your qualifications. To save space, align the name of the school to the left margin and align the graduation year to the right margin on the same line. Use bullet points and column format to list coursework.

Create an "Experience" heading and list your work experience beginning with your most recent job. Include the name and address of each employer, employment dates, job title and responsibilities. If space allows, include internships and volunteer experience. Save space by left aligning the employer name and right aligning dates on the same line. Use bullet points, rather than full sentences, to describe responsibilities and accomplishments.

Create headings for "Skills," "Memberships" and "Awards" if you have additional qualifications related to the job that were not listed in the previous sections. Under memberships, list offices you have held in those groups and the years of your terms. For these sections, use bullet points rather than full sentences to save space and to increase readability.