by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

There really is not a whole lot of mystery behind developing and writing a good resume. It does take some time and effort -- and a good set of eyes to spell-check and proofread it -- but if you are serious about making a statement as a job-seeker, then use this worksheet as a guide for creating your resume.

1. All About You

1. Discern Your Skills, Talents, and Abilities (Note: talking to people about yourself, taking some assessments, and other self-discovery activities may help you with this section.)
   • What do you do best?
   • What are some of your favorite activities?
   • What does your family brag about you?
   • What types of things do you do for your family?
   • What types of things do you do for your friends?
   • What are your best subjects at school? Why?
   • What awards have you won?
   • What honors have you received?
2. Education and Training
   • List high school and all training (most recent first)
   • Identify certifications, honors, awards
3. Experience/Work History
   • List all work experience, paid or not (most recent first)
   • Include any jobs working for family business
   • Include part-time and summer jobs
   • List any entrepreneurial experience and odd jobs

2. Identify Resume Goal and Conduct Research

1. Job -- research job descriptions, requirements, skills, etc.
2. Education/Scholarship -- research requirements, values, etc.

3. Associate Yourself to Resume Goal

• Demonstrate abilities, skills, and strengths through specific examples
• Focus on accomplishments
• Use action verbs
• Quantify whenever possible

4. Develop Summary/Profile and Job Objective (Optional, but Recommended)

• Summary should be brief list (up to five) of attributes that make you perfect candidate -- shows your unique characteristics
• Summary statements must be supported by material in body of resume
• Job objective should be one short line identifying your goal. (Learn more about job objectives.

5. Assemble Your Resume

1. Develop resume
   • Name and Contact Information
   • Summary and/or Objective
   • Education and Training
   • Honors and Distinctions/Awards
   • Experience/Work History
   • Skills
   • Activities/Volunteering/Community Service
2. Spellcheck and proofread
3. Ask for feedback

Resume Development Worksheet

1. What's the purpose of this resume?

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

2. What are some of your unique talents, strengths, and abilities?

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

3. What are your educational experiences?

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

4. List each work experience, including two to four key attributes of what you accomplished in each job. Include all work experiences.

Job #1_________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Job #2_________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Job #3_________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

5. Once you have written a draft of the resume, check off each of these:

___ used action verbs
___ used specific examples
___ used bullets, phrases
___ used reverse chronological order
___ used clean design
___ used research
___ used feedback
___ used spellcheck, proofread

See our sample teen resume.

See also, Ten Easy Ways to Improve Your Resume.

And if you are seeking even more free resume advice, tips, and tools, go to our Resume Resources page for tons more resume-writing tools, including some great sample resumes.

See also the Job and Career Resources for Teenagers section of Quintessential Careers for more job-hunting tips, articles, and resources to help you get a job.

Questions about some of the terminology used in this quiz? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.

Dr. Randall S. Hansen is founder of Quintessential Careers, one of the oldest and most comprehensive career development sites on the Web, as well CEO of EmpoweringSites.com. He is also founder of MyCollegeSuccessStory.com and EnhanceMyVocabulary.com. He is publisher of Quintessential Careers Press, including the Quintessential Careers electronic newsletter, QuintZine. Dr. Hansen is also a published author, with several books, chapters in books, and hundreds of articles. He's often quoted in the media and conducts empowering workshops around the country. Finally, Dr. Hansen is also an educator, having taught at the college level for more than 15 years. Visit his personal Website or reach him by email at randall(at)quintcareers.com.