Creating a Resume

A resumé represents your skills, experience, and education. It's also a potential employer's first impression of you. Make your resumé accurate, easy to read, laid out clearly, and free of typos or grammar errors.

1. Have all of your information ready before you begin to create your resumé, including your education and work history, references, and any special awards, honors, and memberships.
2. The Library offers the database Job & Career Accelerator [1] to create a resumé, which is accessible from any computer with internet access and a Kansas City Public Library card.
3. The Block Center computers also offer the software program WinWay Resumé to create a resumé. With both this program and Job & Career Accelerator, you can create a resumé draft that can then be further modified further in Microsoft Word.
4. Microsoft Word also has its own resumé creation tools, including a Resumé Wizard.

Ask a librarian in the Block Center for assistance in using any of these tools. Here are a few other suggestions:

DO:

• Create a rough draft, then edit several times.
• Emphasize headings using boldfacing, italicizing, etc.
• Include some white space so your resumé is easier to read.
• Leave a "resumé gap" if you were out of work due to unemployment, illness, etc. Explain this in a cover letter.
• Include relevant volunteer experience.
• Use active, descriptive language. Rather than "worked," "ran," and "managed," use "successfully created," "efficiently completed," "responsible for," etc.
• Have a careful reader review it, and use your word processor's spelling and grammar checker.
• Keep the length under 2 pages.
• Date the electronic filename of your resumé so that you can tell it apart from older and newer versions.

DON'T:

• Include any of the Deadly Dozen: Height, weight, health, sex, marital status, number of children, religion, ethnic origin, age, photograph, reasons for leaving previous jobs, or salary history.
• Use the words I, me, or my.
• Use the heading "resumé" (it will be obvious that the document is a resume).
• Overdo the boldfacing, italicizing, etc.
• Use abbreviations (exceptions: GPA, Inc., states, educational degrees).
• Put the date in your resumé.

Whether you are Using WinWay Resumé, Open Office, or Microsoft Word, be sure to save your work when you are finished, either on a jump drive or disk (at the Library), or on your hard drive (at home). You will want to submit this résumé along with your job application.

Winway Resumé (on the Block Business and Career Center computers) has a video guide with resumé-writing tips. The Library also offers three databases (accessible remotely with a Kansas City Public Library card) which offer guidance on creating a resumé: Job & Career Accelerator [2], Career Insider [3], and JobNow [4]. Please ask one of the librarians in the Business Center for assistance in using these resources.

For still more help with resumés, look over these books available at Kansas City Public Library. Search the Library's catalog [5] under the subject heading "Resumé (Employment)."

The Everything Resume Book [6]. 2013. Call number: 650.14 G82E 2013

Gallery of Best Resumes [7]. 2012. Call number: 650.14 N748G 2012

Same-Day Resume: Write an Effective Resume in an Hour [8]. 2012. Call number: 650.142 K96S 2012

Knock 'em Dead Resumes: How to Write a Killer Resume That Gets You Job Interviews [9]. 2012. Call number: 650.142 Y31K 2012

The CV Book: Your Definitive Guide to Writing the Perfect CV [10]. 2012. Call number: 650.142 I58CV 2012

If you need further assistance, contact an H&R Block Business & Career Center librarian by phone, 816.701.3717, or by e-mail, bcc@kclibrary.org [11].