Career & Counseling Services
Virgil Henson Activities Center Suite 210
(806) 651-2345
email a question
This online workshop is designed to assist our students and alumni in creating a professional resume. Our guidelines have been developed through input from employers who attend our job fairs and recruit through our office, as well as by staff research into the latest trends in resume preparation.
This workshop is offered "live" in our office every Tuesday at 12:30 PM, every Wednesday at noon and the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month at 5:30 PM. We encourage you to attend one of these if at all possible.
As you approach writing your résumé, it is important to know that this is a marketing piece, an advertisement, for your unique set of skills, abilities and experience. It is a tool that you use to gain an interview. Employers today want to know “What can you do for me?” …It is up to you to do the research and discover what employers in your field seek in a prospective employee. A résumé today is not the "historical" document it was 5-10 years ago, with the availability of personal computers, it has become a fluid and changing document which must be personalized and targeted whenever possible.
In marketing terms, we'd like you to think of your résumé as a billboard. It is not going to be possible to list every single item of interest about yourself in this document - you need to identify what will be of interest to your target audience and highlight that information.
We invite you to go through this workshop from start to finish - it will take less than an hour. After doing so, if you are a current student or alumni of West Texas A&M University feel free to contact our office if you have any questions. We look forward to working with you!
FIRST YEAR TEACHERS
If you are a beginning teacher, that is, with no teaching experience besides student
teaching, there are some slight differences in format and style recommended for your
resume. Be sure to look for these in blue type as you go through the workshop.
Also, check out the format sample and sample resume links at the bottom of this
page. NOTE: Once you have experience, you will no longer be a
beginning teacher and should therefore follow the regular format for resume writing.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access some of the information in this
workshop.
NOTE: This is a free download.
or jump to a particular question:
What Will
a Resume Do For Me?
Are There Any Absolute Rules of Resume Writing?
What Are the Other (Sometimes Breakable) Rules of Resume Writing?
Will I Have More Than One Version of My Resume?
Are There Different Styles of Resumes?
Which Style is Recommended for College Students?
How Do I Get Started?
What Must I Have on My Resume?
What Else Can Be Included on My Resume?
What Should Never Be on My Resume?
How Do I List My Name?
What About Phone Numbers or Email addresses?
Do I need an Objective?
What Is Included Under Education?
Should I put my GPA on my resume?
Licenses and Certifications – Do I include them?
Does Coursework Belong on my Resume?
What About High
School?
What About Junior College?
Where do I list Academic Awards, Honors, and Recognition?
What do I include and how do I develop my
Summary of Qualifications / Profile / Skills
section?
I'm A Beginning Teacher, How will my Resume Differ
from Others?
How Do I List Jobs Within the Experience
Section?
Where Do I Put My
Activities and Honors?
Are There Activities That I
Shouldn’t List?
What About Hobbies and Interests?
Who Can I Use As a Reference and How Do I Format the Reference Page?
When & Why Do I Need A Cover Letter?
I Need My Resume to Distinguish Me
From Everyone Else, How Do I Do That?
What Is Focus In a Resume and Why Should
Mine Be Sharp?
What Are the Type/Design Details I Most Need to Know and
Follow?
Sample Resumes with various formatting
details.
What About Paper?
What
About Mailing?
Tell
Me About Scannable Resumes?
How about a Curriculum Vitae?