Many of the résumé tips you may have picked up over the years do not apply to online application systems used by many employers, including the UW.

Electronic documents for use on the UW jobs website and other online application systems. Keep it simple. The UW jobs website will convert your résumé/cover letter to text only, so do not use italics, underlines, shading, bullets, graphics or fancy formatting. Follow these guidelines:

• Create a comprehensive résumé that highlights and summarizes your work history. Most online application systems only allow one résumé per candidate, so you will not be able to create a custom résumé for each position to which you apply.
• Create a general objective that covers several career areas and that does not include specific job titles.
• Read job descriptions and requirements carefully and highlight the match between your qualifications and the skills and experiences that are being sought.
• Compose in a plain text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad.
• Avoid tables, paragraph borders, columns, and fancy fonts.
• Replace bullets with asterisks or dashes.
• Keep all lines left-justified.
• Use line breaks to separate headings and sections.
• Use ALL CAPS rather than bold, italic or custom fonts to
emphasize a word or words.

Once you're ready to submit your application, select all of the text in your document, copy and paste it into the résumé text box in the online application. Do not attach your résumé unless the job posting specifically requests you to do so.

When to use a formatted résumé. Although you’re required to apply for UW jobs with electronic documents, you'll need to have hard copies of your résumé on hand for interviews. If you are applying for a job outside the UW, use a formatted résumé if the job posting requires you to email, fax, or send through US mail. You should target your formatted résumé to the job for which you are applying.

• If possible keep your formatted résumé to one, no more than two, pages.
• Use headings to highlight the different categories of information in separate sections.
• Use an easy to read, 11 - 12 point font.
• Use reasonable margins and spaces in between sections. White space used effectively improves the readability of your résumé.

Best tip for all resumes! Have someone proofread your résumé before you submit it or bring it to an interview. Most jobs require "attention to detail" so make sure your résumé doesn't make you look sloppy.

Typical categories of information to include:

• Identifying and contact information. Make it easy to find out who you are and how to reach you. Provide your name, address, phone numbers, and email address at the top of your résumé.
• Objective. Consider the objective as the "headline" for your résumé. To be effective, it should mention your preferred field or work setting and the skills or functions to be used or performed. Avoid vague generalizations such as, "Challenging administrative position that utilizes my skills and experience."
• Skills Summary. Many résumés include a skills summary or summary of qualifications at or near the top that clearly states skills and experiences that match the positions being targeted. A skills summary should be brief, 4 - 6 lines in length, and lead with the skills or qualifications that match the type of positions for which you will be applying.
• Education. Your educational credentials are listed either before or after your experience depending on how much related experience you have. Recent graduates almost always provide their educational background first, whereas someone with many years experience in the field may list their education after their experience. Your degree(s), the schools you attended, their location (city, state or province, and country, if outside the USA), and the date of the degree(s) are listed. Other credentials, such as certificates, continuing education credits, and/or related courses may also be included in this section.
• Experience. You may include both paid and unpaid experience in this section. The key is to highlight the experience you have that is related to the job you are seeking. List your position title, the name of the organization, the location, and dates of employment or involvement. Write brief compelling descriptions of your responsibilities and accomplishments beginning with action verbs. Include not only the duties that you performed but also how you performed them, e.g., "Coordinated staff calendars by entering new appointments in the Oracle calendar system." These descriptions do not need to be complete sentences. It is common to use phrases that omit personal pronouns and definite and indefinite articles like "the" and "a" in order to achieve conciseness. Whenever possible include information about the results or outcomes.
• Activities. Activities may include hobbies, sports, organized groups, volunteer service and community involvement. If your activities are relevant to the position, describe them in more detail using the same format you used to describe your experiences: your position or role, organization, location, and dates with a short description of your responsibilities and accomplishments.
• Professional memberships and affiliations. List by name or organization and dates of membership.
• Awards, honors and recognition. If these are relevant and prestigious you may want to list them in your summary near the top of your resume or, if appropriate, in your education section. Otherwise, list them at or near the end indicating the name of the award, a brief explanation (if necessary), and the date received.
• Interests. Hobbies, travel experiences, and avocations may be listed at the end of your résumé, if space allows. This section can make you memorable, but use good judgment. You want the impression you convey to be a positive and appropriate one.

Résumé styles:

• Reverse chronological (see sample). This style is the most common and is preferred by most employers because it is easy to find the information they are using to screen candidates. It works well for candidates who have experience and education related to the positions for which they are being evaluated. Each section is organized with the most recent experience listed first.
• Reverse chronological with summary (see sample). A summary highlighting related skills and qualifications is often included at the top of a résumé either instead of an objective or just below the objective. The best summaries are targeted to the position and make clear how the candidate matches the required and preferred qualifications of the job.
• Functional or skills (see sample).This style groups experiences together by skill or job function. It can be effective in highlighting transferable skills from a variety of experiences that are not obviously related to a targeted position. It is a risky style to use, because employers do not prefer it. However, if you are new to a field or changing fields or roles, it may be the most effective style for showing the match between your background and the requirements of the job. It is recommended to also include a brief work and/or volunteer history near the end of your resume, so that the employer can see where you have obtained your experience.

How to stand out from the crowd:

• Focus on skills,
• Highlight how you match the position,
• Use action verbs,
• Include results and outcomes.

A word about references.

It is not necessary to indicate on your résumé that your references are available upon request. Most employers will assume that you will supply the names of references, if asked. Instead, you may create a separate reference sheet that can either accompany your résumé when you submit it or can be brought with you to an interview.

Additional resources for getting started:

Online resources:

UW Résumé Tips/ Sample Résumé

UW Employment FAQs

UW Career Center

Work Source Washington

The Résumé Place, Inc. includes a résumé builder for federal government résumés.

Books:

Ryan, Robin, Winning Résumés. Second Edition. Hoboken NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2003.

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