Career Readiness: Handouts and Tools
Creating Your Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV)
What is a resume?
A resume is a one- or two-page summary of your education, skills, accomplishments, and experience.
What is a Curriculum Vitae (CV)?
A CV is often required when applying to graduate or professional programs, employment with international firms or when promoting oneself primarily within academic fields. In addition to the fields normally seen on a resume, a CV may also include publications, professional licenses or certifications, educational or professional awards, and relevant course work. Since the CV usually includes more information, they are most often longer than resumes.
The purpose of your resume or CV is to get your foot in the door.
A resume does its job successfully if it does not exclude you from consideration.
To prepare a successful resume, you need to know how to review, summarize, and present your experiences and achievements on one page. Unless you have considerable experience, you don't need two pages. Outline your achievements briefly and concisely.
Visit the following links for guides to help you create your resume or CV:
- CareerOneStop - A great place to visit to start assembling your resume. This tutorial will take you step-by-step through the process of creating a resume, providing examples along the way.
- Penn State Career Services - From Penn State. Explanation of parts of the resume & CV
- Purdue OWL: Resumes and Vitas - From Purdue University. Includes parts of resumes & vitas. Includes information on how to make a resume scannable.
- Susan Ireland Resume Guide - Guide created by Susan Ireland, author of The Complete Idiots' Guide series on resumes, cover letters & job hunting. Includes many free resources to creating resumes.
- University of Notre Dame: The Career Center - From University of Notre Dame. Resume guide. Includes required and optional parts of a resume.
Resume Examples
Explore Careers & Occupations on the Web
- Career One Stop - Sponsored by the U. S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Explore career information, find job listings, find job training.
- Careers After College, Career Profiles - From the Princeton Review. Searchable career profiles.
- Careers in Science - Explore careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Run by ScienceBuddies, a non-profit focusing on K-12 STEM education.
- Explore Careers - From Yale University's Office of Career Strategy. Each career link includes and overview of the field, typical positions within it, and an array of useful web links to help you learn more.
- Explore Health Careers - This website is a joint initiative involving national foundations, professional associations, health career advisers, educational institutions and college students. The information on ExploreHealthCareers.org comes from health associations, educational organizations, universities and colleges, government databases, professional journals and published articles.
- Majors and Careers - Run by The College Board. Suggested careers based on majors, and other career information.
- Psychology Career Center - Curation of links focusing on careers in psychology for students and professionals. Curated by Wesleyan University social psychology professor.
- Social Work Career Center - Information and job search for the fields of Social Work. Run by the NASW (National Association of Social Workers).
Salary Information
- PayScale - What are you worth? What your skills are worth in the market is constantly changing.
- Salary.com - A free basic report shows national average salaries adjusted by location.
- Salary Expert - Access data trusted by the majority of the Fortune 500
Job Searching Websites
- Careerbuilder - Job and resume posting website. Search jobs or create an account to upload a resume.
- Engineering Jobs - Search engineering jobs by engineering discipline or location.
- Indeed - Search jobs or upload your resume. International & local postings.
- Kansas Labor Information Center - KLIC is a job search, career assessment, and labor market information system designed for all who are exploring local labor markets in Kansas.
- LGBTQ+ Workplace Resource Guide - Half of LGBTQ+ employees remain closeted at work. Many fear that they will face discrimination and mistreatment if they come out. From finding inclusive companies, getting comfortable with the interview process, to coming out at work, here is a resource guide to help you navigate the corporate landscape as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
- LinkedIn - Professional and career-focused social networking.
- Monster - Job posting & resume uploading site. Also searches social media sites and newspaper ads.
- Nonprofit Connect - For over forty years, Nonprofit Connect has linked the nonprofit community in Kansas City to education, resources and networking so that organizations can more effectively achieve their missions. Find nonprofit jobs in our career center, learn from local and national experts in our training programs, and sharpen your skills with our online resources.
- Public Service Careers - Job listings of professional jobs in the public sector, advice on public service careers, and information about pursuing a degree in public service. This site is co-sponsored by the three most prominent nonprofit associations in public policy and public administration: Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA); American Society for Public Administration (ASPA); Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM)
- Riley Guide - Provides free career and employment information.
- Science Careers - From the journal Science. Job posting search or resume upload. Postings are focused on scientific positions in government, academia, and industry, but also have job listings across a variety of areas within scientific organizations including sales, marketing, management, and more.
- Social Services Jobs - iHireSocialServices is a niche job board dedicated solely to the Social Service industry. From child advocates to licensed social workers to counselors and more.
- USA Jobs - USAJOBS is the official job site of the US Federal Government. USAJOBS.gov is a free web-based job board enabling federal job seekers access to thousands of job opportunities across hundreds of federal agencies and organizations, allowing agencies to meet their legal obligation (5 USC 3327 and 5 USC 3330) of providing public notice for federal employment opportunities.
- What Can I do with a Major in... - This site will provide information on careers in a variety of majors. Not sure about where your major can land you in your career? Check out this site!
BCC Library Database: Ferguson's Career Guidance Center (Infobase) - Provides profiles of nearly 3,400 jobs and 94 industries, invaluable advice on career skills, thousands of resource entries, and more! Includes job and internships postings; career interest assessment; scholarship information.