Writing Effective Resume Content

Section 1: Header

Your resume header is the very first thing an employer sees. Think of it as your business card at the top of the page: it tells employers how to contact you and anchors your document with your name and identity.

Here's what to include (and what to leave out):

Full Name

Use the name you go by professionally (usually chosen or legal name). You can include an alternative or nickname in parentheses or quotation marks. Make sure your name is consistent across your resume, cover letter, and application materials so employers can easily identify you.

Example: Jingxi (Joe) Chen or Elizabeth "Liz" Taylor

Pronouns

While sharing pronouns is a personal decision, we recommend leaving them off your resume to help reduce potential bias in the early review process.

Location (if applicable)

City and state are enough. You don’t need to include your full address.

Example: Claremont, CA

Whether or not to include your location depends on the role:

• If you’re applying for a job in your hometown or a local position, including your city and state can show your connection to the area and reinforce your interest
• Most resumes list your location (city and state), but it is not required. If you are applying in a different geographic region and are concerned it might lead to relocation bias, you can omit it. Keep in mind that some hiring managers may expect to see a location, so consider the employer’s perspective and industry norms before deciding

Email Address

Use a professional-sounding email that you check regularly. Avoid overly casual handles. Ideally, your email should include your first and last name, or a variation of it. If needed, create a separate email just for job or internship applications.

Example: janesmith@email.com or j.smith23@email.com

Phone Number

Use a number you can answer reliably. Your voicemail should have an appropriate greeting (avoid casual messages) and be checked regularly. Some employers might prefer phone calls over emails, especially during the interview scheduling process.

If you’re applying for international positions, include your country code at the beginning.

Example: +1 909-123-4567 (if applying for international positions)

LinkedIn Profile (if applicable)

Only include your LinkedIn if it is complete, current, and aligned with your resume. A strong profile can enhance your application by showcasing your experience, skills, and professional network. However, if your profile is outdated or incomplete, it’s better to leave it off until it’s ready.

Always write out the full customized URL (e.g., linkedin.com/in/joechen) instead of hyperlinking it.

Why no hyperlinks? Hyperlinked text can cause problems with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), may not work properly if your resume is printed or scanned, and can raise security concerns for employers who are trained not to click on unknown links.

Other Links (if applicable)

If applicable, include full written URLs for an online portfolio, GitHub, or personal website. This is especially useful for roles in creative, technical, or research-focused fields.

Example: github.com/jochen-dev

Section 2: Education

For undergraduates and recent graduates, the education section typically appears right after the header. That’s because your primary role right now as well as your most consistent fulltime experience is being a student. Your academic background sets the stage for your skills, interests, and the opportunities you’ve pursued so far.

As you gain more full-time work experience after college, your resume should shift focus. Eventually, your professional experience will take the lead, and the education section can move farther down the page. But while you’re still in school or recently graduated, this section plays a key role in telling your story.

Starting off, include the following core details for each educational institution, starting with the most recent or highest degree first:

• Name of your college or university (e.g. Pitzer College)
• Degree you’re pursuing (List out the full name of the degree, add honors if applicable: the degree you are receiving at Pitzer is Bachelor of Arts)
• Major(s) and/or minor(s)
• Expected graduation date (month and year)
• GPA (include only if it’s required or 3.5 or above)

Additional (optional) sections you might include:

Relevant Coursework

Relevant coursework can help you highlight knowledge or skills that support your career goals, especially if they’re not fully reflected in your experience section. While it’s commonly used to show alignment with your major, it’s also a helpful tool when:

• You’re applying to a role related to your academic focus
• You’re pivoting into a new field and want to demonstrate transferable knowledge
• Your past work experience doesn’t yet reflect your full range of skills

For example, if you previously worked in marketing but are now exploring roles in data analytics, listing courses like Statistics or Data Visualization can help bridge the gap and show employers that you’re building a foundation in the new field.

Formatting Tips:

• Choose 3–5 course titles that are most relevant to the role or industry
• List them by title only, skip the course numbers
• Keep it concise. You can list them on one line, separated by commas

Senior Thesis

If you’re completing a senior thesis, you can include the title in your education section—especially if the topic aligns with the roles you’re applying to. This is a great way to showcase research, writing, problem-solving, or technical skills.

If your thesis is especially relevant to the role, or involves significant independent work, collaboration, or skill development, consider moving it into your Experience section instead. There, you can add bullet points to highlight the skills, tools, or outcomes that directly connect to your target job.

Study Abroad Programs

If you’ve participated in a study abroad program, include it under your education section as a valuable academic and global learning experience. Studying abroad can demonstrate adaptability, intercultural communication skills, independence, and academic curiosity—all qualities that employers value.

What to include:

• Name of the program or host institution
• Location (city and country)
• Semester or year attended
• Relevant coursework (optional but recommended, especially if it supports your career goals)

Honors and Awards

Honors and awards can help showcase your academic excellence, leadership, and competitive achievements. These recognitions can be included under your Education section or listed in a separate section if you have several that come from different areas (e.g., academics, leadership, service, or outside organizations).

Examples of what to include:

• Honors
• Academic or merit-based scholarships
• Research or academic fellowships
• National or campus-wide awards
• Recognition from outside organizations or programs

Don’t assume employers will recognize the name of your award. When possible, add a short phrase explaining why it was awarded or how selective it was. Some examples:

• Senior Thesis Honors (Expected 2025) – Honors awarded upon completion of a senior thesis and departmental review
• Napier Academic Scholarship – Merit-based award granted to top 5% of admitted students
• Fund for Education Abroad Scholar (2023) – Nationally competitive study abroad scholarship

Other Educational Institutions

Honors and awards can help showcase your academic excellence, leadership, and competitive achievements. These recognitions can be included under your Education section or listed in a separate section if you have several that come from different areas (e.g., academics, leadership, service, or outside organizations).

Transfer Institutions: If you transferred from another college or university and earned a degree or certificate from that institution, you should list it in your education section. Include the degree name, the institution, and the dates attended or graduation year. If you didn’t complete a degree, you generally don’t need to list the school—unless the coursework is highly relevant and supports your current academic or career goals.

High School Education: You can include your high school only if you’re a first-year student and your resume still needs more content. By junior year, your college-level experiences should take the lead, and high school should be removed to make room for more current and relevant accomplishments. However, if your high school has a strong alumni network or personal significance to the person reviewing your resume—for example, they also attended or are closely connected to the school—it can be strategic to keep it on. Use your judgment based on the audience and relevance.

Here’s an example of how your education section might look:

Section 3: Experience

This is the most important section of your resume. It’s where you show employers how your background, skills, and achievements make you a strong candidate. Instead of just listing what you’ve done, your experience section should demonstrate what you’re capable of—how you’ve made an impact, worked with others, solved problems, and delivered results.

A well-written experience section tells a story about your readiness for the role and helps employers quickly see why you’re a good fit for their team or organization.

Organizing Your Experience

Not all experiences are equal in every application. Instead of listing everything in one long section, divide your experience into meaningful categories based on relevance and significance. This helps employers focus on what matters most first.

Here are a few ways to group your experiences:

• Relevant Experience: Internships, jobs, research, or leadership experience that directly relate to the position you’re applying for
• Work or Professional Experience: Paid or unpaid work experiences that demonstrate transferable skills, even if not directly related to your field
• Leadership & Involvement: Student clubs, leadership roles, community service, athletics, or campus engagement
• Projects or Research Experience: Independent work, academic projects, or group collaborations that show initiative and applied skills

These are just examples—you can name your sections in a way that makes the most sense for your experience and your goals. For example, you might use “Marketing Experience,” “Community Engagement,” or even “Creative Work.” The key is to organize your resume in a way that highlights your strongest qualifications for the role.

Remember: Always list entries within each section in reverse chronological order, with your most recent experience first.

Writing about Your Experience

Every experience entry on your resume should be consistent in structure and clearly communicate what you did, where you did it, and the impact you made. Here’s a breakdown of the key components:

Organization/Company Name

Write the full name of the company, organization, or department where you worked or volunteered. This helps establish credibility and gives context to the experience

Your Title or Role

Use a clear, accurate title that reflects what you did. This helps employers quickly understand your level of responsibility and the kind of work you were involved in.

If your official title was vague or informal (e.g., “Volunteer” or “Intern”), consider using a more specific title that accurately represents what you did, as long as it stays truthful (e.g., “Data Analytic Intern”).

If you held more than one position—such as being a Treasurer one year and then elected President the next—that’s a great opportunity to show progression and leadership growth. Here are two ways to format this:

Option 1: Expand on both roles

List both titles under the same organization name, with their own dates and bullet points.

Option 2: Emphasize your current or most relevant role

If you only want to include bullet points for your current or higher-level position, that’s okay too. You can list the earlier title and dates briefly underneath.

Location

List the city and state (or city and country if outside the U.S.) where the experience took place. This gives context to your experience and helps employers understand where you’ve worked.

If the role was fully remote, you have a few options:

• Simply write "Remote"; or,
• List your base location during the role (e.g. “Remote — Los Angeles, CA”) if you want to emphasize your regional connection

If the role took place across multiple locations, you can:

• List the cities if there are only a few. Example: “Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY”; or,
• Write “Multiple Cities, CA” or “Various Locations, U.S.” if it involved frequent travel or more than 2–3 places

Dates of Involvement

Include the month and year you started and ended each role. If you’re still actively involved, use “Present” for the end date. If you held the same role during a specific season over multiple years (like a summer internship or seasonal job), you can use seasons instead.

Important Reminders:

• List experiences in reverse chronological order within each section, placing your most recent roles first
• If two roles end at the same time, list the one you started more recently first. This keeps the order consistent and emphasizes your most recent experience
• Keep your date formatting consistent throughout your resume. Choose a single style (e.g., “September 2025” or “Sept. 2025”) and use it for every entry
• For roles with multiple positions (like a promotion or leadership advancement), list each title with its own date range
• Align your dates to the right margin to keep your layout clean and easy to scan

Bullet Points

Bullet points are where you bring your experiences to life. Instead of listing duties or tasks, use this space to show employers what you actually did, how you did it, and what came out of it. Every bullet point should help answer the question: Why should someone hire you?

The key to writing strong bullet points is focusing on achievements, not just responsibilities. Avoid simply listing what you were “responsible for.” Employers don’t want a job description— they want evidence of what you did with the opportunity.

Most bullet points follow a loose structure: Strong Action Verb of What You Did + How You Did It + Result / Impact or Strong Action Verb + Achieved X by Doing Y

Even if you can’t include all parts in every bullet, aim to:

• Start with a strong action verb
• Emphasize a skill you used or developed
• Include data, outcomes, or a measurable result

What makes a bullet strong?

• It highlights a transferrable skill (e.g. collaboration, analysis, leadership)
• It includes a quantitative or qualitative impact (e.g. how many? how often? what changed?)
• It shows your contribution in a way that aligns with the job or internship you're targeting
• It avoids filler language and focuses on outcomes

Some examples:

• Facilitated weekly advising sessions for 10–15 students, offering tailored support on resumes, internships, and interviews; achieved 98% satisfaction in post-session surveys
• Conducted archival research for senior thesis on educational equity, analyzing 50+ documents to uncover patterns in school funding disparities
• Co-led a cross-campus fundraising campaign that raised $7,500 in three months by designing outreach materials and coordinating donor engagement
• Planned and coordinated a campus networking event with 60+ attendees, securing 5 alumni speakers and managing logistics, promotion, and day-of execution

Start with 2–3 bullet points per experience. For more significant or recent roles, you can include up to 4–5. For shorter or less relevant experiences, 1–2 concise bullets may be enough.

Section 4: Skills

The Skills section is your opportunity to show the tools, technologies, and languages you’re comfortable using. Unlike the Experience section, which focuses on how you’ve applied skills, this is more of a snapshot of your technical and functional competencies. This section is especially important for roles that value technical tools, software, languages, or certifications, such as jobs in data analysis, marketing, design, tech, or communications.

Do not include soft skills like leadership, teamwork, communication, or time management here. These are better demonstrated through your experience bullet points.

What to Include:

Technical or Software Tools: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Google Suite, Python, Canva, Adobe Photoshop, Tableau, WordPress, Salesforce, etc.

Languages: List any non-English languages along with your proficiency level: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or Native. If you are applying for positions outside the U.S., especially in a country where English is not the primary language, be sure to also list English and your level of proficiency.

Lab or Field-Specific Tools: Especially relevant for STEM or creative majors. Examples: GIS, SPSS, AutoCAD, Final Cut Pro, Stata, R

Certifications or Trainings: Include certifications that are medical-related or industryrecognized, such as first aid certifications, financial licenses, Google Analytics, Forage, or Salesforce Trailhead.

Optional Sections

Professional Summary

A professional summary is a short, 2–3 sentence section at the top of your resume that highlights your academic focus, key skills, and what you’re looking for. Please note that this is not the same as an objective statement. Focus on what you bring, not what you want. This section is most useful if you’re:

• Making a career pivot
• Applying to a very specific type of role
• Wanting to connect your varied experiences into one cohesive message

Interests

A well-crafted Interests section can help personalize your resume and create points of connection with recruiters or interviewers, especially in industries like consulting, finance, or other people-facing fields. It’s often used to spark small talk during interviews or to give hiring managers a sense of who you are beyond your academics and work experience.

That said, this section is entirely optional and should only be included if:

• You have enough space on your resume
• Your interests are thoughtful, specific, and appropriate for a professional setting
• You believe they add dimension or spark curiosity

Choose interests that:

• Are relevant to the company or role (e.g., social impact, entrepreneurship, travel writing)
• Show a commitment to learning or a unique hobby (e.g., digital photography, chess tournaments, plant-based cooking)
• Could be a conversation starter in an interview (e.g., long-distance running, podcast hosting, escape room enthusiast)

Avoid:

• Generic entries like “watching movies,” “music,” or “travel” without any context
• Anything too personal or sensitive for professional settings
• Listing too many (keep it to 3–5 items max)

Conferences, Presentations, or Publications

If you’ve presented at academic conferences, co-authored papers, or published articles or creative work, you can include them in a dedicated section. This is especially useful for students involved in research or applying to academic, policy, or writing-intensive fields. Use a consistent academic citation style that matches expectations in your field.

What to include:

• Title of the work or presentation
• Event or publication name
• Date and location (if applicable)
• Optional: A short bullet point to add context, describe your role, or summarize the topic or impact

Creative Work or Portfolio

If you’re applying for roles in design, media, art, film, or writing, you might include a short section highlighting selected works or linking to your online portfolio.