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Resume Tips

Craft Your Perfect Resume!

Whether you're applying for your dream job or updating your professional profile, this guide will help you organize and showcase your achievements effectively. 

From education and work experiences to internships, projects, and skills, we'll walk you through creating a resume that stands out.

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Getting Started

This structured approach will help you organize your background clearly and highlight your achievements effectively.

Resume Sections

A well-organized resume typically includes three to five sections to highlight your qualifications effectively. Common sections are:

  • Education
  • Experience
  • Engineering Projects (or Research)
  • Leadership and Activities
  • Skills and Interests

However, you can customize these sections based on the position you're applying for. For example, if you're applying for a research-focused role, you might emphasize Research and Publications. Tailoring your resume sections ensures you present the most relevant information to your potential employer.

Layout & Format

Following these guidelines will help you create a visually appealing, polished, and professional resume that effectively showcases your qualifications.

  • Length: Keep your resume to one page, unless you are a PhD student or have more than five years of work experience.
  • Margins: Use margins between 0.5" and 1" for a clean and balanced look.
  • Fonts: Choose an easy-to-read font such as Calibri, Garamond, or Arial.
  • Body Text Size: Use a font size of 10–12 points for the main content.
  • Headings: Make headings slightly larger (12–16 points) and consider using bold type or uppercase to save space and make them stand out.
  • Contact Information: Place your name, address, email, and phone number at the top of your resume for easy access.
  • Bullet Points: Use bullet points to describe your key accomplishments and contributions clearly and concisely.
  • Consistency: Ensure your cover letter and resume are internally consistent and match each other in style and content.
  • Capitalization: Capitalize the names of institutions and words like president, department, and international when appropriate.
  • Avoid Templates: Do not use Microsoft Word resume templates; create a custom layout to stand out.

Do Not Include

When crafting your resume, it's important to avoid including certain types of information to adhere to professional standards and legal guidelines. Here's what not to include:

  • Personal Information: Resume writing conventions vary by country and culture. In the US, it is illegal for employers to ask about your race, religion, national origin, age, marital status, or other personal details. NEVER list your Social Security number.
  • Citizenship Status: Employers generally only need to know if you are legally authorized to work in the United States, not your specific citizenship or residency status. If citizenship status is critical to a hiring decision, the employer will ask. In some cases, students may choose to voluntarily share citizenship information if it benefits their application. If you're unsure, consult Career Services for guidance.
  • References: Do not include a reference list with your resume unless the employer explicitly requests it. Guidelines for creating a reference list are available on Handshake if needed.

How to Detail Your Education

This structured approach will help you present your educational background in a professional and impactful way. When listing your education on your resume, include the following info to ensure clarity and relevance:

  • Degrees in Reverse Chronological Order: Start with your current or most recent degree and work backward.
  • Current Degree Details: Include the name of your current degree, the school you're attending, your major, and any relevant coursework.
  • Previous Higher Education: For any other institutions you've attended, list the degree earned, the school name, and the graduation month and year.
  • Thesis (if applicable): If your thesis is relevant to the position you're applying for or aligns with your career goals, include it.
  • Honors & Accomplishments (if applicable): List if they are relevant to your major and that are well known within your field of interest or nationally (eg. National Honor Society, Phi Beta Kappa).
  • GPA (optional): Only include your GPA if it is 3.0 or above.

Education Examples

Action Words

When describing your experiences, projects (or research), and leadership and activities, use action words to catch a hiring manager's eye on your work. These are some examples of action words, but view the full list for even more examples. 

Accelerated
Achieved
Acquired
Administered
Advanced
Audited
Authored
Authorized
Awarded
Blocked
Boosted
Briefed
Built
Calculated
Campaigned
Capitalized
Centralized
Chaired
Charted
Clarified
Coached
Co-authored
Completed
Controlled
Converted
Conveyed
Decreased
Deducted
Defined
Delegated
Delivered
Demonstrated
Designed
Developed

Devised
Diagnosed
Directed
Discovered
Dispatched
Documented
Earned
Edited
Educated
Enabled
Enforced
Engineered
Enhanced
Ensured
Established
Explored
Facilitated
Fielded
Forecasted
Forged
Formalized
Formed
Formulated
Fostered
Founded
Furthered
Gained
Generated
Guided
Headed
Hired
Identified
Illustrated
Implemented

Inspired
Instituted
Integrated
Interpreted
Introduced
Investigated
Itemized
Launched
Lessened
Lifted
Lobbied
Mapped
Maximized
Measured
Mentored
Merged
Mobilized
Modified
Outpaced
Outperformed
Overhauled
Oversaw
Partnered
Persuaded
Pioneered
Planned
Produced
Programmed
Promoted
Publicized
Qualified
Quantified
Reached
Reconciled

Recruited
Redesigned
Reduced
Refined
Refocused
Regulated
Rehabilitated
Remodeled
Reorganized
Replaced
Resolved
Restructured
Revamped
Reviewed
Revitalized
Screened
Scrutinized
Secured
Shaped
Showcased
Surveyed
Sustained
Targeted
Taught
Tested
Tracked
Trained
Transformed
Unified
United
Updated
Upgraded
Verified
Yielded

How to Detail Your Experience

This shows employers what you've done in previous jobs and internships. 

List what you've done in reverse chronological order, placing your most recent experience at the top and working backwards. 

For each experience, be sure to include:

  • Your title
  • Name of organization
  • Location
  • Date of work
  • Your responsibilities
  • Skills you used
  • Your accomplishments

When detailing each of these experiences: 

  • Whether the work was paid or unpaid is irrelevant. Concentrate on the work itself.
  • Use action words to describe what you accomplished (see the list above).
  • Use the past tense for previous experiences.
  • Show quantitative results when you can (eg. "Increased efficiency by 20%" or "Cut budget by 30% in five months").
  • Provide work examples that demonstrate your skills and personal attributes. 

How to Detail Your Engineering Projects (or Research)

Thayer prides itself on being innovative, creative, and collaborative. Listing your engineering projects (eg. Dartmouth Formula Racing Team) is a great way to show employers you have the hands-on skills to be a successful engineer.

  • Some ideas for this heading: Project-Based Experience, Academic Experience, Research Experience, and Engineering Experience
  • Describe what you've done on the specific project: your responsibilities, findings, and the implications of your work.
  • If you've worked under the auspices of a company-sponsored project for your coursework (eg. ENGS 89/ 90 or ENGG 390), you can mention the company sponsoring the work—but ask for their permission first.
  • Include unpaid internships and volunteer work (eg. extra hours volunteering in the machine shop).

How to Detail Your Leadership & Activities

Most resumes contain a section that showcase your roles, contributions, and achievements outside of academics or work. Whether it's student organizations, volunteer work, or leadership roles, this section adds depth to your resume and demonstrates your well-roundedness.

This section can have various names such as: Leadership, Activities, Community Service 

We can help you determine the most appropriate title for this section and guide you on what to include to best reflect your skills, interests, and impact. 

How to Detail Your Skills & Interests

Break out skills separately into subcategories that are relevant to the position you seek, and be honest about what you know.

Common subcategories are: 

  • Software
  • Programming languages
  • Foreign languages: Language fluency is usually categorized as elementary proficiency, working proficiency, professional proficiency, or native/ bilingual. 

Resume Samples

Use these samples for visual references to get ideas. Do not copy them. You want your resume to look like yours, not identical to someone else's. 

Contact

For more help, Thayer Career Services is ready to help with resumes, cover letters, and more!

Schedule an appointment by logging into Handshake.

Rm 113, MacLean Engineering Sciences Center (ESC)
engineering.career.services@dartmouth.edu
+1 (603) 646-0630