Resumes & Letters
Resumes
The resume is an opportunity to market yourself to a prospective employer. It should be succinct, target an employer's needs, and distinguish you from your competitors.
Explore the detailed overview of many types of Letters of Employment, and sample letters.
The following thought exercises can help you write a more effective resume.
- Conduct a self-assessment.
Review your education, career history, and accomplishments. What are your strengths, weaknesses, personal preferences, and motivations? Think about who you are and what you want for the next phase of your career.
CareerLeader—developed by HBS Director of Career Development Programs Dr. Timothy Butler and his colleague Dr. James Waldroop—is an interactive tool that can help you identify your interests, values and abilities and match them with career opportunities. CareerLeader will also help you identify your "Achilles' heel" and learn what you need to do to avoid the career pitfalls most associated with your profile. This service is available to HBS alumni at a discount.
- Think like the reader.
Employers want to know how you can be an asset to their organizations. Consider the company's needs and the way your skills meet those demands.
- Highlight accomplishments and results.
Avoid the common trap of "resume as job description." Focus on what you've been able to achieve rather than a laundry list of duties and responsibilities. The best way to convince employers that you will add value is to show them that you've done it before.
- Consider the playing field.
Who is your competition? What skills and experience are qualified candidates likely to bring? In what ways are you unique? Think about your work and life experience in ways that make you stand out from other applicants.
- Advice for alumnae.
Whether you've reduced your career commitment to care for family, accommodate a spouse's or partner's career, or achieve greater work-life balance, your resume is the place to demonstrate the contribution you can make to an organization's goals. Keep the focus on the value you will bring to the organization, not on the gap in your career. Demonstrate how you have kept up-to-date with changes in your industry.
Guidelines
- Create visual impact.
A concise, visually appealing resume will make a stronger impression than a dense, text-laden document. Limit the amount of type you use, and list no more than 7 to 10 bullet points on the entire resume to call attention to key activities. Respect page margins and properly space the text. Learn to appreciate the value of "white space."
- Use parallel construction.
Select a consistent order of information, format, and spacing. If one experience starts with a brief overview followed by bullet points, subsequent experiences should follow a similar form. Parallel construction—including the use of action verbs to start all phrases—greatly enhances a resume's readability.
- Always proofread.
Pay close attention to margin alignment, spelling, punctuation, and dates. Read your resume backward to check for typographical errors. (You will focus on individual words, rather than the meaning of the text.) Better yet, have a friend, colleague, or family member review your resume.
Additional Resources
