A resumé presents certain essential information that reflects your professional background. Here are some tips on the different elements of a resumé.

Personal information 

Include your name and contact information as well as other details, such as your LinkedIn profile. 

Content 

Summary of qualifications:

  • Level of education and years of experience 

  • Job-related skills and abilities 

  • Organizations 

  • Field of specialization 

  • Technical skills 

  • Written and spoken languages 

  • Education 

  • Work experience 

  • Volunteer experience 

  • Awards 

You can add sections to highlight your volunteer or community involvement, awards and achievements, extracurricular activities, areas of interest, etc. 

Format 

A resumé should be no longer than two pages, so be sure to follow these principles: 

  • Clarity: Information is well organized, logical and readable 

  • Conciseness: There is no repetition or redundancy 

  • Completeness: All relevant information is presented 

  • Consistency: Style and form are consistent 

  • Up to date: The information is accurate and reflects your current situation 

Tips 

  • Repeat your name and contact information in the second page header. 

  • Use boldface for your name and phone number, as well as section headings and degrees, positions or job titles. 

  • Reduce the left and right margins. 

  • Align all dates to the right. 

  • Be consistent in your alignment, spacing, font selection, punctuation and bullets. 

  • Correct all spelling and grammatical errors. 

Page layout 

  • Appropriate, clean and readable font (Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman) 

  • Font size between 10 and 12 points 

  • Maximum of two pages (unless it’s an academic resumé) 

  • Contact information in the second page header 

  • Concise, simple and evocative style 

  • Educational institutions 

  • All degrees and diplomas earned, the years they were earned and the institutions are listed

  • All awards are specified 

Experience 

  • All experience relevant to your job search is listed. 

  • You've used action verbs and key words. 

  • Each example of experience is described in 3 to 5 lines and refers to a task or group of tasks. 

Grammar and spelling 

  • You have read and reread your resumé, and you have had someone else read it to correct errors. 

  • You have run it through a proofreading program (Antidote, Grammarly, etc.). 

Other ways to improve your resumé 

  • Always tailor your resumé to the position you’re applying for, highlighting your most relevant skills and experience for that position. 

Skill-based 

  • Allows you to highlight your skills if you have little to no experience. 

  • Helpful if you have gaps in your employment history. 

  • Focuses on your transferable or technical skills in research, communication, organization, etc. 

Chronological 

  • Useful for highlighting relevant experience. 

  • Contains a section describing your experience in reverse chronological order. 

  • Allows you to add any other experience in a “volunteer” or “other” section. 

Combined 

  • Ideal if you have developed skills outside of work (school, volunteer work, extracurricular activities). 

  • Allows you to list the skills you have acquired through your work experience and extracurricular activities. 

Academic 

Perfect if your career goals are related to academia: 

  • Research or teaching positions 

  • Applications for grants or scholarships 

  • Applications to graduate programs

This resumé is often longer as it includes experience, research, publications, awards, conference attendance, etc. 

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