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career-services/
Resume Guide
Getting Started
A resume is a concise and informative summary of your
education, training, experiences, skills and accomplishments
as they relate to the type of employment you are seeking. It
should highlight your strongest assets and differentiate you
from other candidates seeking similar positions. It is often
your first introduction to an employer and is an important
element towards obtaining an interview. When writing a
resume, think about it from the employer’s perspective and
be sure to tailor your resume content to your reader and the
job description. Prioritize and select information that
enhances your qualifications and only include what is
relevant to the position.
Style
The choice of design and format depends on personal
preference and career goals. Our office recommends a style
that is easy to read and visually appealing with no typos or
grammatical errors.
• Use Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Calibri
in size 10-12 point (11pt font recommended) throughout
the document with a minimum of 0.5 inch and maximum
1 inch margins (.8 – 1” recommended).
• Bold section headings (e.g., Education, Experience)
• Consistent use of bold, italics, and underlining
• Use bullet points to direct the reader’s attention
• Start each bullet point with action verbs
• If your resume is more than one page long, insert your
name and page number in the header or footer
Resume Sections
Sections in your resume should be tailored to each position
for which you are applying. Choose the section heading that
best organizes your experiences and accomplishments. Make
sure to present information in reverse chronological order
and use consistent formatting in each section. Here are
some common sections to be included in resumes:
Name & Contact Information - Provide your current mailing
address, email, and telephone number. You can include a url
to your LinkedIn profile or your website.
Education - Write the full name of your school and its
location, full name or abbreviation of your degree(s), major
or field of study, and expected date or date of completion. If
you have credentials from institutions outside of the US, use
the exact name of the degree as provided by the granting
institution. If necessary, you may add a phrase to clarify the
training attained, for example “equivalent to US MD”. You
may also include in this section relevant or select coursework,
dissertation thesis, academic honors and awards.
Experience - You can organize your experience with different
headings that make it easier for an employer to identify
relevant skills and experience, e.g. “Public Health
Experience,” “Research Experience,” “Teaching Experience,”
“Industry Experience,” “Community Health Experience,”
“Clinical Experience,” “International Experience,” “Military
Experience,” “Other Professional Experience,” etc.
For each experience, list the name of the employer, the
location, the dates of employment, and your job title. You can
include internship, practica, volunteer, and part-time
experience in this section if they are relevant to the types of
positions to which you are applying. Make sure to indicate
whether it is an internship, practica or volunteer position and
if it is less than full-time, you should indicate this on your
resume.
Optional Sections:
Executive Summary or Profile or Summary of Qualifications
– Some people include this section at the top of the resume.
It is recommended for more senior and experienced
candidates or people with very diverse experiences. It can be
an effective way to present why you are a good fit for a job
and can give your resume a context/focus. It is tailored to a
specific audience or job application and highlights the synergy
between your skills and experience and an employer’s needs.
Office for Alumni Affairs & Career Advancement
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career-services/
Leadership Experience – This can include extracurricular
activities in which you had a leadership role, e.g, chair of a
student group or professional association. If the organization
is not well-known and its mission is not evident from its name
or context, you may add a one-line descriptive phrase.
Additional optional sections: technical skills (including
computer skills), language skills, academic honors, awards
and fellowships, select publications and presentations,
professional associations.
Writing About Your Experience
For each position, give an overview of what you did, with an
emphasis on what you were able to accomplish in the
position. If you are describing a research project, give a brief
introductory statement indicating what you set out to
accomplish and the results obtained. If relevant, go on to
indicate important research techniques you used.
If possible, quantify experiences to convey size and/or
scale of projects, budgets, and results
Describe current positions in the present tense and past
positions in the past tense
Do not use personal pronouns
List relevant accomplishments and skills, NOT job duties
and responsibilities
Incorporate keywords from the job description as much
as possible
Make sure to organize the bullets so that the most
“important” information is presented first
Make sure the format is consistent! – For example, if you
choose to include periods at the end of bullet point
phrases, include them in all bullets and if you choose not
to, do not include them in any. They are optional.
Tips
Your resume is a personal marketing tool – Make sure it is
easy to read and highlights your most relevant training and
experience. Be aware that employers may spend as little as
30 seconds to review it!
When sending your resume electronically, a pdf version is the
best for preserving the format. When printing, use high-
quality bond paper in neutral color such as white or cream.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I include references?
If a list of references is required as part of your application,
prepare it on a separate sheet of paper. Be sure to include
your name at the top, e.g., “References for ____” and
current contact information (name, title, e-mail and phone
number) of referees.
What personal information should I include?
U.S. law prohibits employers from asking any personal
information. Do not provide your date of birth, height or
weight, marital status, number of children, or attach photos
to your resume. However, keep in mind that this may not
apply to personal information that is required when
submitting an application to positions outside of the US.
Need more help?
Resume workshops are held multiple times throughout the
semester and Career Coaches hold drop-in hours in Kresge
Cafeteria for resume assistance. Students and alumni may
also have their resumes reviewed as part of an individual
career coaching appointments. To schedule an appointment,
please login to CareerConnect at https://hsph-harvard-
csm.symplicity.com/ See Sample resumes in the Career
Resources Library.
What’s the difference between a resume and a CV?
A resume in the U.S. is used to present your professional
identity and a CV is used to present your scholarly
identity. A CV is generally used when applying for
academic, scientific, or certain government research
positions. The CV includes a broader range of topic areas
including an extensive list of academic engagements,
publications, and presentations, including honors and
awards. The goal of a CV is to highlight one’s academic
accomplishments. There is generally no limit on the
length of CVs (2 – 5 pages recommended early in your
career), while resumes are typically 1-2 pages long.
What’s the similarity between a resume and a CV?
Both resumes and CVs need to be tailored to your
audience. For example, highlight your leadership
experiences when applying to a management level
position; emphasize your business or consulting
experiences when seeking employment in the consulting
industry and highlight policy experience for government
positions.
617-432-1034
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/
career-services/
ACTION VERBS for RESUMES/CVs
Each description of experiences should begin with a strong action verb. Try to remove phrases like “responsible for” and “duties
include” and replace them with the action verbs below.
Communication
Advertised
Addressed
Arbitrated
Authored
Collaborated
Composed
Conferred
Contacted
Convinced
Debated
Discussed
Edited
Enlisted
Expressed
Furnished
Informed
Influenced
Interpreted
Interviewed
Judged
Listened
Mediated
Negotiated
Outlined
Persuaded
Promoted
Publicized
Recruited
Reinforced
Resolved
Solicited
Summarized
Translated
Creative
Acted
Adapted
Combined
Conceptualized
Created
Designed
Developed
Directed
Drew
Established
Fashioned
Founded
Formulated
Generated
Illustrated
Initiated
Instituted
Integrated
Introduced
Invented
Modeled
Originated
Performed
Photographed
Planned
Produced
Revitalized
Shaped
Finance
Administered
Adjusted
Allocated
Analyzed
Assessed
Balanced
Budgeted
Calculated
Conserved
Determined
Developed
Estimated
Managed
Marketed
Measured
Netted
Planned
Projected
Quantified
Reconciled
Reduced
Retrieved
Helping
Advocated
Aided
Answered
Assessed
Clarified
Collaborated
Counseled
Cooperated
Demonstrated
Educated
Ensured
Expedited
Facilitated
Furthered
Guided
Helped
Intervened
Led
Mentored
Prevented
Referred
Rehabilitated
Represented
Simplified
Supported
Management
Achieved
Administered
Analyzed
Assigned
Approved
Attained
Chaired
Contracted
Consolidated
Controlled
Coordinated
Delegated
Developed
Drafted
Directed
Eliminated
Evaluated
Enhanced
Executed
Expanded
Handled
Hired
Implemented
Improved
Increased
Inspected
Merged
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career-services/
Navigated
Organized
Oversaw
Presided
Produced
Reorganized
Restored
Scheduled
Selected
Strengthened
Terminated
Administrative
Approved
Arranged
Coordinated
Categorized
Classified
Collected
Corrected
Distributed
Executed
Generated
Filed
Implemented
Incorporated
Logged
Monitored
Operated
Organized
Processed
Purchased
Registered
Responded
Routed
Screened
Supplied
Systematized
Tabulated
Validated
Research
Analyzed
Clarified
Collected
Compared
Conducted
Detected
Determined
Diagnosed
Evaluated
Examined
Experimented
Explored
Identified
Inspected
Gathered
Interviewed
Investigated
Measured
Reported
Researched
Reviewed
Searched
Summarized
Surveyed
Systematized
Teaching
Advised
Adapted
Coached
Enabled
Encouraged
Evaluated
Explained
Facilitated
Guided
Informed
Instructed
Persuaded
Planned
Stimulated
Tested
Transmitted
Technical
Applied
Assembled
Built
Calculated
Coded
Computed
Constructed
Converted
Designed
Debugged
Determined
Devised
Engineered
Fortified
Maintained
Overhauled
Programmed
Regulated
Repaired
Restored
Solved
Specialized
Standardized
Studied
Upgraded
Utilized
Updated June 2016
