No matter what anyone else says or advises, a resume is your document and you have to be comfortable with it. You have to feel it is the best of you on paper. Every time you send off a resume to a potential employer, you should feel they will get an idea of what you have to offer and will be interested enough to call you for an interview.

Can you pay a resume service to create your resume for you? Sure. But don't expect to see a reflection of yourself on the document. They do not know you, cannot grasp the intensity of your experience and at best can produce a "nice looking" resume void of real content.

People have said doing their resume was much harder than any term paper or research project. For some reason we are hesitant to toot our own horn. But if you don't no one else will. Spend time thinking about all that you have done. Reach out from the usual thinking that resumes only reflect paid employment. Resumes should be about your skills - what you are good at - what you know the best. This skill set comes from more than just paid employment. It comes from life, education, volunteer work, community service, travel and the military, and family. Does all the above appear on a resume? No. But sitting down and listing all you have done since high school puts it all in perspective. Maybe you will see trends throughout your list such as managerial ability that really started when you had that summer job flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant. Within a month you were the shift supervisor, then the weekend manager with responsibilities for staff, money, customer service etc. You get the picture. If nothing else, listing all you have done helps not only to assist your memory in writing the resume, but it puts in your head the types of things you might cover in an interview.

You can find a thousand resume books on the shelves of any library. If you find one you like, use it. If you use the CSU Career Service and you like the results - perfect. If your friend just got a wonderful job and you like the resume format they used - terrific. There are many options available to you. Investigate them all or go to the nearest. The bottom line is you have worked hard to get where you are today and you want to create a resume that fully tells a stranger what you can do, which skills are your best, and why they should consider you.

Heading
Name, address, home phone number, e-mail address. Can be centered, or run across the top of the page if you need for space.

Highlights of Skills
4 or 5 one line bullet points that express what you do the best. Skill should be preceded by action/power word. Last bullet point should be your computer skills.

Experience
This is the body of the resume and is your chance to explain why you have the skills you do and how you achieved them. This part can be split into sections to capture your emphasis, i.e. Organizational/Administrative or Analytical/Research.

Work History
Start with most recent and work back. Format can be as follows:

Name of Company/Organization, Dates
Your position title

No other explanation is needed since the body of resume covers all skills and responsibilities. However, if you prefer a more traditional format, the above two sections of the resume can be combined as a chronological format.

Education
List the most recent degree first. Use name of college, then university name to emphasize most recognizable and prestigious aspect.
Sample:
Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
Cleveland, Ohio
Master of Public Administration, Specialization in Economic Development, May 2000

Professional Affiliations/Honors/Awards/Community Service
This last section can list any other items that have contributed to your skills set, or displays community involvement etc. Personal information is not required.