Resume Review Project (Career Change)

Targeted for Profession

Criteria Meet Specification

Resume is targeted to a specific job or field

  • Resume is targeted to a specific job
  • Resume includes keywords, experiences and skills specific to the job
  • Experiences are selected to prove success in job’s responsibilities

Resume includes summary statement on career change

  • Summary statement is about 1-2 sentences
  • Statement talks about how past experiences support new career path

General

Criteria Meet Specification

Resume meets industry formatting standards

  • Resume fits on one page
  • Resume is in PDF format
  • Links are hyperlinked
  • Resume uses the following standard order: Heading, Skills, Projects, Experience, Education

Resume is concise and free of extraneous information with no spelling or grammatical errors

  • Spelling and grammar are correct
  • Resume does not include: age, gender, marital status, photo, or mention of references
  • Resume does not include negative language
  • Resume does not indicate that the candidate is seeking a job because this may be extraneous or redundant information

Resume style is clean and organized, allowing the reader to easily digest the information

  • All text is aligned to left and/or right axis
  • Company name and title are emphasized/distinct
  • Content optimized for horizontal space; resume uses space well for a reader reading from top to bottom
  • Lists of single words are condensed into the same line
  • Section headings are distinct from other text
  • Name is at the top of the page and larger than other text
  • Formatting is consistent, from section headers to bullet point alignment

Heading

Criteria Meet Specification

Provides necessary contact information

  • Heading includes: full name, phone number, email and location
  • Student should include links to their LinkedIn, GitHub and/or personal website; recommended: professional Twitter or other social media accounts

Education

Criteria Meet Specification

Includes relevant education, such as but not limited to community college courses, online courses, bootcamps, etc.

  • Nanodegree program included, even if incomplete
  • Any college, including major or courses, are included
  • If applicable, relevant courses (from university, community college, online, etc.) are listed

Skills

Criteria Meet Specification

Lists relevant skills

  • Relevant and challenging technologies are listed: programming languages, frameworks, version control systems, databases, operating systems, image/video/audio editing software, etc.
  • If resume displays a wide range of skills, student notes which skills are of particular expertise

Projects

Criteria Meet Specification

Includes 2-3 projects that demonstrate skill

  • Only most relevant projects are listed; can include personal, academic or work projects
  • Includes about 2-3 projects

Bullet points are concise and focus on individual actions and project results

  • Maximum 2-3 bullet points per project
  • At least 1 bullet point demonstrates individual contribution
  • At least 1 bullet point communicates project result (success metrics, findings)

Experience

Criteria Meet Specification

Includes 3-4 work experiences

  • Includes 3-4 work experiences
  • Experiences note company/organization, title of role, start and end date (month & year), location
  • Even if work experiences don't relate to intended job, experiences convey cross-industry skills (ie: teamwork, project management, data-driven results)

Bullet points are concise and focus on individual actions and results, and does not summarize job description

  • Maximum 2-3 bullet points
  • No sub-bullet points
  • Bullet points start with action verbs
  • Correct tense is used in bullet points: past tense for previous, current tense for ongoing
  • Within each job listing:
    • At least 1 bullet point communicates how candidate benefited company or cause
    • At least 1 bullet point provides concrete, numerical evidence such as projects completed, money made, people managed, accomplishments (eg. % increase)
  • Bullet points are one sentence maximum, not longer than one and a half lines