should give you a good indication of the particular personal character-
istics that recipients of your resume will value most highly in a candi-
date.
You can combine your “profile”with your “professional objective”
statement, as is done in the following example:Overview
A well-prepared professional with solid academic background and experi-
ence in marketing, seeking a marketing management position where he
can make a difference. A team player who is creative, enthusiastic, and
likes to get things done. Strong background in sports marketing.Alternatively, you can list “Professional Objective”and “Profile”as sep-
arate subheadings under the general heading,“Overview”:Overview
Professional Objective:Professional sales representative with a diverse
range of successful sales experience, seeking institutional manager posi-
tion within the pharmaceutical industry.
Profile:Enthusiastic, dedicated, persistent, able to build lasting relation-
ships. A leader who is a team player.Further examples of overview statements can be found in the resumes
included in Part 2.Work Experience
You might call this section “Professional Experience,”if you have been
working as a professional or your work experience has been preparing
you for a professional career. Bear in mind that the term “professional”
is used pretty broadly these days. Work that was once considered cleri-
cal, for example, can now be referred to as professional.
Many students have limited paid work experience but have been
involved in volunteer work, internships, practicums, student teaching,
or other forms of student work such as being an advertising director for
the school newspaper. These experiences should be included in the re-
sume if they involve P.E.A.K.S. that would be important to a potential
employer. It is particularly important that candidates for teaching po-
sitions include their student teaching experience in their resumes.
Homemakers and others who have taken time off from a “paid
work career”can list volunteer activities here, under “Work Experi-
ence,”or under a separate “Community Service”heading. Whatever you
decide to do with your headings, the most important thing to remember
when first putting together a master resume is to list these unpaid
work activities somewhere, as they give ample opportunity for demon-
strating P.E.A.K.S. that employers are seeking in candidates.
List all work experience in reverse chronological order. In other
words, list the most recent things you did first.
Each job or other work experience you have had can be listed using
the following format, which highlights your key P.E.A.K.S. Wherever
you see italicized font, you would replace it with the relevant informa-68 Part I: Building, Using, and Maintaining Your Career Portfolio