Career Navigator
Discover your next steps along your career development journey.
Résumés
Your résumé is one of the most important documents you will ever prepare.
Your résumé is a statement of your abilities, skills, achievements, and aspirations. Essentially, it is an advertisement where you are the product — your own personal marketing tool.
While you are developing your résumé, it is important to keep in mind:
- Just like real-world advertisements, résumés are meant to be attention-grabbing. Reviewers are often going through a batch of résumés quickly, which doesn't give you a lot of time to communicate your strengths, skills, and goals. Therefore, it is important to clearly and concisely capture their attention immediately.
- Résumés are fluid; that is, they are never "done." You will be adding, editing, and reformatting throughout your working life. Sometimes you will need to tailor your résumé to a specific field or even a particular job in a specific company. Résumés are also individualized — what works for your roommate will not necessarily work for you, and that's a good thing. You want your résumé to reflect your unique abilities, skills, achievements, and aspirations.
- A résumé alone will never get you a job. The primary function of your résumé is to convince an employer to interview you. It is the interview that will hopefully lead you to the job offer.
Résumé Professionalism Rubric
Is your résumé novice, average, or advanced? See where your résumé stacks up on our Professionalism Rubric [PDF].
Upcoming Workshops
April 30, 2024
1:00 — 2:00 PM
Graduate Student Resume Drop-In Sessions
Graduate Student Lounge, Room 010A - Main Building
Main Building 3141 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
April 30, 2024
1:00 — 2:00 PM
Pre-Grad Workshop: The Graduate Application Timeline
May 1, 2024
3:00 — 5:00 PM
Pre-Professional Drop-In Advising Hours
Bentley Hall
3301 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
May 6, 2024
1:00 — 2:00 PM
Pre-Law Info Session: Law School Resumes
Steinbright Career Development Center
3201 Arch Street, Suite 110
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Hours:
Monday–Friday: 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
The office is closed daily from 12 p.m.–1 p.m.