What's in a Resume

The main body of your resume is like a movie trailer. It’s a marketing tool, designed to make you stop scrolling and pick that movie to watch over the thousands of other options you have. And just like the endless choices of T.V. shows and movies on your favorite streaming services, hiring managers are also faced with a huge number of resumes to flip through and choose. So, treat your resume like that trailer, pick the most interesting parts to highlight, make it clearly represent what you are about, and find the right language to have it stand out.  

Let’s help you create that resume. These are the components you will need (in no particular order):

Contact Information
Education
Projects
Extracurricular activities
Experience (includes paid and unpaid)
Training or awards, professional memberships
Interests

And remember, when you tailor your resume to the position, the employer, and the industry, you may need to rearrange the order of these components.

Not every resume needs to include a skills summary or objective!

Name: If you have a preferred name put your legal name in brackets e.g., Kris (Kristina) Smith. You may also include your preferred pronouns here. Consider using a larger font size for your name to make it stand out.
- Strategy: Consider making your name a few font sizes larger than other information so that it stands out.
Phone number: Must be a number you check regularly and should have voicemail enabled.
Email address: Use a professional email address (your first name and last name). Remember that you will have access to your utoronto.ca email address for life so consider using that.
Address/location: You don’t always need your full street address, in most cases your current city and postal code is appropriate.
- Strategies - Consider including it when:
  - applying to government positions.
  - if your street address is very close to the employer address.
  - If you are currently living away from home, use the address that is closest to where you are applying for work (e.g., if you are planning to work in the Mississauga/Toronto area, use your local address.)
  - If you are applying for work closer to home, use your home address.
Use between two and four lines for contact information.

Weblinks (optional). e.g., LinkedIn, GitHub, Canva, or any other site you have that is relevant to your industry (include a hyperlink).

Strategy: Think of it as giving an employer a way to see samples of your work or to learn more about you.
Before you add the link:
- Ensure that the information is up to date.
- If an employer is using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), the link will not work inside the system.
- Demonstrate your core skills on your resume and use these links as a back-up resource.
- Before you link your portfolio, GitHub or industry-related links, consider connecting with someone from your industry to look over your profile.

Include dates attended, name of institution, name of the degree, program, area(s) of study.
Include relevant courses if related to job posting.
Include GPA if it sets you apart from other applicants or if the employer has specifically stated that you need to. You should also include the scale (e.g., 3.2/4.0)

Should I include my GPA?

You can include your GPA if it is strong and shows an accomplishment, or if you are applying to a position that requests you include your grades.

Should I include a list of courses?

A short list (3 - 5) of relevant courses can point to any knowledge or aspects of your educational background that relate to the qualifications sought after by the employer.

Should I include high school?

Yes. If you are in first- or second-year — note if you graduated with honours or awards; include high school if it is unique, such as the International Baccalaureate.

What about awards and honours from high school?

If you don't include high school but wish to include awards/honours from high school, put them in a separate 'awards' section.

Projects (optional)

Here’s something that might surprise you. Ready for it? Employers understand that you’re a student or that you recently graduated. In fact, it’s very likely that when they posted their position they fully expected the vast majority of applicant to be just like you, recently out of school or still taking classes. So with that understood, why wouldn’t you include your course work and projects on your resume? It’s an asset and real experience.

Here’s what you can include:

Suggestions	Strategy - demonstrates / highlights
Working in a group of four to create a presentation.	- Skills such as teamwork, presentation and communication.
Working in a team using a computer program to create a functioning game.	- Skills like negotiating, creativity, organizing and process documentation.
Working on a project analyzing economic data to create a recommended strategy.	- Analytical, mathematical and problem solving skills.
Working on a research project in a lab.	- Use of certain lab equipment/techniques.

How to present it:

Use the same formatting that you use in the experience section. Name of Project, Name of Course, where (location, such as UTM or University of Toronto if the information isn’t obvious) and date.
Use bullet points, beginning with action words and using accomplishment statements to describe the experience.
Label the section as Academic Projects, Independent Projects, Research Projects or Projects.

The following are brief examples to demonstrate how they could be included.

Included under heading Relevant Experience

Research Project: Introductory Animal Physiology Course January 2022 - April 2022

Successfully developed research plans, applied various data collection techniques, and analyzed survey data; accurately followed the scientific method.

Valuation Project, UTM Finance Course

Analyzed fictitious, publicly traded company; valued securities and intangible assets; recommended opportunities that would structure capital so as to maximize value

Included under heading relevant coursework

Relevant projects:

The Politics of Obesity course project: Using scholarly work, critically examined biomedical discourses about the causes, prevalence, and effects of overweight and obesity, and reflected on alternative perspectives in a group presentation and an individual essay. Rewarded A

Seminar Course: Race Ethnicity, Diaspora Indigeneity: Analyzed and highlighted key points and comparisons of theories and ideas, in a concise, clear, and inviting presentation handout.  

Included under heading Extracurricular

Member, Enviro Group, UTM 2023 to present

• Interacted with students to explain “Green” initiatives on campus and how they can be involved

Peer mentor University of Toronto Mississauga 2022 to present

Provided leadership, guidance, and support to students with disabilities as they made the transition from high school to university.

Volunteer Community in Mississauga April 2022 to August 2022

Created software-based solutions for a problem in the community by being involved in a community project

What to include:

Include paid and unpaid or volunteer experience.
Entrepreneurial e.g. your own business, family business.
International experience.
Draw from what you have done throughout the course of your life including your academic work to demonstrate skills and knowledge.

How to present it:

Place the most relevant and important tasks or accomplishments first.
Begin each point with an action verb.
Use reverse chronological order within each section to order your experiences.

Heading options:

The traditional way of listing all your experience under the heading 'Experience' works but give descriptive headings some consideration. Your decision about how to group your experience depends on your research.

While researching the organization you may discover the organization places great value on volunteering and much of your experience is unpaid. In this case a heading called Volunteer will draw attention to this shared value.

Alternatively you may decide it is best showcase them using descriptive headings such as Relevant Experience, Related Experience, or Projects.

For input make an employment strategy appointment with an employment strategist.

Action: Use the worksheet Position Requirement Analysis to conduct the analysis to help you decide which experiences can be put on your resume.

How many bullets should I use to describe an experience?

Try to limit your bullet points to three to five accomplishment statements for each job or project. Visit How to get noticed page for information about how to write bullets.

How far back do I go for experience?

Employers are interested in your most recent experiences. Focus on the experiences you gained during university, or that go back about four or five years. Experiences from high school can generally be omitted unless you are in first or second year.

Is paid experience more important than unpaid?

Both paid and unpaid work experience can be valued by the employer, if you describe skills and achievements that are relevant to the position. Need assistance, book an appointment with an Employment Strategist.

I have no (relevant) experience. What should I put on my resume?

Think relevant skills and knowledge, not just working at the exact same job. See the No Paid Experience section.

Skills describe things you can do such as writing, analyzing, problem solving.

Knowledge describes what you know, such as accounting terminology, science theories or human learning behaviours.

Go beyond your paid experiences: think about your university studies; your extracurricular activities; cultural, religious, charity group and sports teams that you are/were involved in.

Your university course content can be a major source of this kind of knowledge.

Employers also seek certain personal qualities or behaviours that have been proven to lead to success in the workplace. These are who you are, and include traits like team player, integrity and self-motivation.

Part‐Time Associate, Urban Planet
Jun. 2021 ‐ Present

Provide clothing suggestions and feedback to customers to assist them in making purchases they are satisfied with.
Consistently place in the Top Three List for promoting and selling the most store discount cards.

Software Developer

Summer 2022 Financial Models Company Inc.

Created supporting software to provide online, context-sensitive help as part of a web application.

Payroll Clerk, GlaxoSmithKline 2020 - 2021

Coordinated and implemented projects involving data collection, organization, (summers) computer input and data analysis
Presented project findings as a five member team to senior management; resulted in company-wide policy changes for the Payroll/Finance Department

Communications Liaison (Volunteer), Residence Environmental Council,
2022- Present University of Toronto Mississauga

Developed and implemented innovative advertising campaign, partnering with the Theatre Department and leading to increased attendance.

Research Assistant Summer 2022
Tourism Department, Government of Singapore•

Analyzed, as part of four member team, results of marketing programs to North America through visitor records, hotel and tour company bookings.

Extracurricular Activities

Include university and high school activities such as class representative, club membership, leadership roles.
Include a brief description of accomplishments and results if possible.

While at UTM extracurricular activities are an opportunity to learn new skills, enhance existing skills and build your network. UTM has a diverse offering of clubs and academic societies. Search "UTM" and "clubs" or attend clubs day to get involved and build experience.

Look at the following examples and determine what skills are being used.

Web Master Sept. 2022 – Present
Computer Science Club, University of Toronto Mississauga

Expanded website to include alumni profiles, exams file, events and careers links.
Update web site to keep members informed about club meeting details, special events, and resources such as new practice exams and career information.

Member, Enviro Group, UTM 2022 to present

Interacted with students to explain “Green” initiatives on campus and how they can be involved.
Assisted with social media campaign “Think Before You Drop” to combat littering on campus.

Awards

Include any awards during high school, university, or as part of a paid job or volunteer experience.

Why include: How many times have you watched a movie just because someone told you that it won an Oscar? Whether we like it or not, accolades tend to sway opinion positively. It also allows hiring managers to create connections in their own mind between the skills it takes to earn an award and the skills you bring to the table. Take the time to include awards or accolades you’ve earned at work, at school, and in your extracurricular activities to give yourself that slight edge.

Professional Memberships

Include any professional memberships, role, duties and any accomplishments.

Interests

Include sports or leisure activities that demonstrate other areas of your life.

Why include: You are much more than just your experience and some words on a resume, you have an entire life outside of school or work. Sharing some of your interests and passions can share that unique personality, spark interest from the hiring team, and may indicate some skill or personality trait you have that wasn’t apparent in the experience section of your resume. Remember that hiring managers are hiring people!

Optional Sections:

Summary of Qualifications, Skills Highlights or profile: This type of section can showcase your skills and results at the beginning of the document. Not all positions you apply for need to have a summary of qualifications section.

Action: Use the worksheet Summary of Qualifications to aid you in writing the statements.

Objective: The objective is not mandatory, and can often be stated within your cover letter.