Content sections and order vary for each individual and within industry expectations. There are many “right ways” to organize one’s résumé content. Tailor your experience and skillset to the position, department, or organization you are applying to. Prioritize your most recent and relevant skills, abilities, and experiences on your résumé. The order of content sections will vary depending on the type of position to which you apply and the content you seek to feature first.
Tailor each résumé to suit the application. As space on your résumé permits, choose which content to add based on its relevance to the opportunity you are applying for. If you have a lot of content to include you might need to select your most relevant and recent content. With a 1-2 page limit it is a rare occurrence that you can include everything, and this means that strategic decisions will need to be made.
Content Sections Typically Include:
Name & Contact Information
Qualifications (when applying for a specific opportunity)
Education
Relevant Experience (including work/internships, research, publications, presentations, etc.)
Optional Sections (these can include community involvement, leadership, co-curricular activities, professional memberships, etc.)
Skills
Name & Contact Information
Your name and contact information appear at the top of your résumé, with no section heading. Your résumé should begin with your name, located on its own line, without any degree or credentials following it. You can decide how many lines you will dedicate to your remaining contact information.
Example
Your Name
City & State | Phone Number | Email | LinkedIn URL
Pro Tips:
- Keep It Simple: Include only one email, phone number, or address to ensure easy communication. If you include links to digital profiles (LinkedIn, personal website, Google Scholar, etc.), keep content up to date.
- Optimize Space: Arrange contact details on one or multiple lines, combining elements when necessary to maximize room for other important content.
Strategic Decision:
Consider including the state and city or city and country (if international) in which you live, if it is located in proximity to the opportunity to which you are applying. (e.g. Internship is in Connecticut, and you live in Vernon, CT then consider including Vernon, CT in your contact information section | Job is in Naples, Italy and you have a residence in Sorrento, Italy then consider including Sorrento, Italy in your contact information section.) Employers often prefer to hire candidates who reside in closer proximity to a position than those farther away. Knowing this, you will only want to include your location if it is near the role to which you are applying.
Qualifications
Use “Qualifications” as a section heading to include 3-5 bullet points that show a few ways you are qualified for the position to which you are applying. Make sure you include keywords from the position announcement in your bullet points. This is not a generic summary.
Example 1:
- 3 years of experience informing public policy and community development practice through applied research and analysis
- Expertise in engaging with external stakeholders to solve problems
- Proficient in monitoring and analyzing policy research pertaining to economic rights
- Programming knowledge in R and Python
Example 2:
- 5 years of research experience in polymer chemistry and materials science
- Strong background designing and producing lab-scale tools for desalination/filtration research projects
- Proficiency conducting synthesis, characterization, and property optimization of various polymer-graphene nanocomposites
- Strong cross-functional team communication skills with industry collaborators
Pro Tip:
The reader of your document should be able to gather that you are a qualified candidate without even reading your entire résumé. As they skim the rest of your résumé, they should encounter content that reinforces and provides evidence of how you are qualified.
Education
Include all college/university education in this section. Organization within this section is by institution, in order from most recently to least recently attended. Certifications that are required in, or essential to, your field of study should also appear in this section.
| Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT | Expected May 20XX |
| M.A., Political Science, Department of Political Science California State University, Long Beach, CA | May 20XX |
| B.A., Economics Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India | May 20XX |
Example of a format when you have more than one degree from the same institution:
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
| Master of Science (M.S.), Statistics, Department of Statistics GPA: 3.67/4.00 | Expected Dec. 20XX |
| Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Mathematics, Department of Mathematics GPA: 3.02/4.00 | Jun. 20XX |
Pro Tips:
- If you are pursuing your doctoral degree or already have a doctoral degree, it is not common to include your GPA. The exception to this would be if a position to which you are applying requests that you include it.
- When including the GPA, you will want to note it out of the whole, keeping the same number of decimal places (e.g., 3.6/4.0 or 3.87/4.00).
- Consider writing out and including the abbreviation for your degrees.
Strategic Decision:
You have the option of mentioning the academic institution or your degree first. The format you choose is really based on what you want to emphasize, and you must stay true to the format throughout the entire education section. This means that if you begin with your degree first you will use that format throughout your education section.
Adding Experience
Consider including a Relevant Experience section in your résumé to highlight your relevant skills, experience, and accomplishments for a specific opportunity to which you are applying.
Pro Tip:
Organize the content in your résumé sections from most recent to least recent.
Note: This Relevant Experience example includes research, teaching, and an internship – all related to the political science field
Relevant Experience
University of Connecticut, Department of Political Science, Storrs, CT, May 20XX – 2024
Research Assistant
Research Focus: One sentence description of research
- Performed qualitative research on voting behavior of residents of Vernon, CT, between the ages of 19-35, including using LexisNexis and compiling results into Excel spreadsheet
- Trained 5 callers and conducted phone-based public opinion polls regarding political party affiliations and voting habits
- Recorded and transcribed content of all polls and produced data overview and visualizations to be included in book chapter
University of Connecticut, Department of Political Science, Storrs, CT, May 20XX – 2023
Instructor, Sept 20XX – May 20XX
Title of course (no course number) / Semester(s) and year(s) taught
Title of course (no course number) / Semester(s) and year(s) taught
Consider adding bullet points to highlight some of your transferable skills.
Teaching Assistant, Sept. 20XX – May 20XX
Title of course (no course numbers) / Semester(s) and year(s) taught Title of course (no course numbers) / Semester(s) and year(s) taught
Consider adding bullet points to highlight some of your transferable skills.
Fund for Public Interest, Hartford, CT
Field Manager, Jun. 20XX – Aug. 2022
• Educated citizens on pressing environmental issues by engaging in conversation at shopping malls, generating support on state and national petitions.
• Recruited, trained, and managed a team of 6 canvassers, exceeding weekly fundraising goals by 22%.
Note: If you don’t have relevant experience then you might want to create individual content sections such as “Professional Experience,” “Research Experience,” “Teaching Experience,” etc.
Professional Experience
You can feature professional experience on your résumé if you have completed one or more internships or jobs either prior to or during your academic program.
Example:
MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Biostatistics Department, Houston, TX
Biostatistician, May 20XX-August 20XX
- Collaborated with two statisticians in developing the statistical analysis plan for three clinical cancer trials.
- Performed statistical analyses, including survival analysis, linear regression analysis, and statistical modeling of clinical trials and observational studies using SAS and R.
- Prepared the statistical section in three peer-reviewed medical manuscripts and regularly presented methods to principal investigators.
Pro Tip:
If your professional experience is irrelevant to the position you are applying for, you might consider moving this section lower on your résumé.
Research Experience
You can feature research experience on a résumé in many ways. Include the university name, department name, title, and research topic, plus a list of bullet points that highlight what you have done that is relevant to the work you will be doing in the future.
When choosing a format for your research section consider what you seek to feature. Do you want to highlight the focus of your research, the techniques or approaches you use, etc.? Share enough of a context that your content does not appear generic, while also honoring the need to not reveal proprietary information. A couple of sample options follow. The extent of detail could be dependent upon the opportunity to which you are applying.
Example 1:
| University of Connecticut, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Storrs, CT Dissertation Research/ Research Assistant Topic: Bulk Freeze-Thaw Process and its Impact on Protein Stability | 20XX– Present |
- Apply a DoE approach to investigate the effect of freeze-and-thawing (F/T) process parameters on the concentration, native conformation, enzymatic activity, and subvisible particle formation of a model protein.
- Investigate pH shift, ice surface area (BET analysis after lyophilization), and concentration polarization as potential perturbing conditions to proteins after F/T.
- Perform statistical analysis of response data through model fitting.
- Develop a physics-based computer simulation to predict solid-liquid phase transition kinetics and thermal/solute transport during F/T processes.
Example 2:
| University of Connecticut, Department of Political Science, Storrs, CT Research Assistant Research Focus: Voter behaviors and political party affiliation | May 20XX – May 20XX |
- Performed qualitative research on voting behavior of residents of Vernon, CT between the ages of 19 -35, using LexisNexis and compiling results into Excel spreadsheet
- Trained 10 callers and conducted public opinion polls over the phone and at town hall event, regarding political party affiliations and voting habits
- Recorded and transcribed the content of all opinion polls and produced data overview with visualizations to be included in future book chapter on voting trends
Pro Tip:
Leave off advisor name and PI, unless known entity to the company (such as a well-known industry collaboration)
Teaching Experience
You can feature teaching experience on a résumé in many ways. Focus on the narrative you want to emphasize.
Example 1: Emphasizes job title and titles of courses taught
University of Connecticut, Department of Kinesiology, Storrs, CT
Instructor, Sept. 20XX- May 20XX
Title of course (no course number) / Semester(s) and year(s) taught
Example 2: Emphasizes job title and a couple of key responsibilities
University of Connecticut, Department of Sociology, Storrs, CT
Instructor of Record, September 20XX – May 20XX
Title of Course (no course number)
• Designed curriculum for upper-division courses to engage students in critical conversations about social inequity.
• Facilitated online course, developing and managing the course site via Blackboard.
Adding Publications
If you have publications, select a few (space permitting) that are most relevant to the kind of work you seek or opportunity to which you are applying. There are multiple strategies to feature your publications on your résumé. It is important to consider what you want to convey to the employer.
Consider providing an overview of the number of articles you have written and the publication(s) in which they were published. This will highlight for employers the significance of the journals in which you have published articles.
- Published articles in 10 peer-reviewed journals including A, B, and C
Or provide an overview of the number of articles you have written and the topics you have written about. This will highlight the significance of the topics.
- Published articles in 5 peer-reviewed journals on the topics of A, B, and C.
Or choose a few publications and list them using the citation format consistent with your field of study. Identify that you are featuring (3 out of 9). This will demonstrate that you have written nine and are selectively sharing three of them in this résumé.
Adding Presentations
If you have presentations, select a few (space permitting) that are most relevant to the work you are seeking. These may include Invited Talks, Selected Poster Presentations, and other events.
Provide an overview of the conferences at which you have delivered presentations. This will highlight the types of conferences at which you have presented.
- Presented at three international conferences, including the International Society for …, the Association of Applied …, and the Symposium on …
Or list the number of conferences you have presented at, and the topics presented. This will highlight some of the topics – and choose those most relevant to the opportunity to which you are applying.
- Presented at three international conferences on the following topics…
Or choose a few presentations and list them using the citation format consistent with your field of study. Identify that you are featuring (2 out of 5). This will emphasize the number of presentations you gave, where you presented them, and the topics.
Leadership/Co-Curricular Involvement
You can determine if you wish to list your leadership involvement or also add bullet points to describe your role and accomplishments. Many times, the leadership section includes experiences where you can feature skills that are not reflected in other areas of your résumé. Not everyone has a leadership section.
Treasurer, Graduate Student Senate, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 8/20XX – 5/20XX
(Consider adding bullet points)
Program Chair, Department of History, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 9/20XX – 5/20XX
(Consider adding bullet points)
Professional Membership or Affiliations
It is sufficient to identify the name of the organization/society you are a member of and the duration of your membership. If you have held a leadership role within the professional organization/society, you have the option of entering that in a leadership section or including the title of your role, perhaps with bullet points in the professional membership section.
American Statistical Association, Member, September 20XX-Present
Honors/Awards/Fellowships
If you have received honors/awards/fellowships/grants throughout your education, consider listing a few (as space permits). Title this résumé section based on the content you include.
| Travel Award, Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT Awarded for presentation travel to a national conference | January 20XX |
| Graduate Student Senate Service Scholarship Award, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT | April 20XX |
Skills
Choose and list relevant and important skills for the opportunity to which you are applying. Consider creating category headings of skills within this section.
Software: Strata, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Programming: Python and R
Language: Mandarin
Laboratory: High vacuum anionic polymerization
Other Section Headings for Consideration
The list below includes only a fraction of the section headings that you might consider. The objective is not to have many headings, but rather to look at the content that you seek to include in your résumé and to make sure that you have section headings that accurately describe the content.
Clinical Training or Practica – important to include one of these (or similar) section headings for jobs that require or value this type of training (include bullet points for each experience that you feature)
Performances – common section heading for the arts (title of work and/or role, venue, company or ensemble name, location, date(s))
Major Works Conducted – common section heading for the arts (title of work, name of orchestra/ensemble, venue, location, date(s))
Exhibitions – common section heading for the arts (title of exhibition, name of venue, type of exhibition, location, date(s))
Competitions – common to include this section heading when featuring a ranking event (competition name, purpose, award or placement, location, date)
Entrepreneurship – common to include this section heading when wanting to feature a business venture you started or are involved in
Patent – common to include this section heading, featuring your patents, to show capacity to innovate
