Résumé

Next, as a current student, your education section should be listed at the top under your contact information.

Information that should be included: 

• Institution name, city, and state
• School or college, including study abroad institutions and graduate schools, where relevant
• Date of graduation (month and year)
• Major, if known
• GPA, if above a 3.0 or if required by an employer

Other optional information:

• Relevant coursework: You can share up to five classes that are relevant to the position to which you are applying. This is a great way to tailor your résumé to a specific position and to show content knowledge that may not be reflected in your major or elsewhere on your résumé.  
• Academic honors or awards: e.g. Dean’s list (with dates) or other academic recognition can be included here
• High school can be included through your second year of college if space permits unless there is a compelling reason to keep it there (e.g. for networking purposes). 
  

• When applying for a creative position, such as a graphic designer, web designer, or creative manager, it can be appropriate to have a creative résumé designed in a program like Adobe InDesign.
• While a creative résumé can include graphics and colors, it should still look professional and be easy to read. 
• It’s a good idea to have a traditional version of your résumé along with the creative one. Applicant Tracking Systems cannot always pull information from graphics or heavily designed résumés, so use a traditional résumé when applying for a position online and save your creative résumé to be emailed directly or to give to someone in-person.
• See more information here about how to design a résumé for the creative fields.

• When applying to positions in the federal government, it is appropriate to submit a federal résumé. Federal résumés are generally 2-5 pages in length and include more required information, including U.S. citizenship status, veteran status, the address and contact information for prior employers and supervisors, and specific USAJobs.gov job identification number.
• As the large majority of federal jobs are posted on USAJobs.gov, we recommend using the website’s résumé builder for a step-by-step guide to craft your federal résumé.

Undergraduate students should keep their résumé to one page, although there are some career fields for which a two-page résumé is acceptable (e.g. teaching and federal government). Longer résumé (up to two pages) are acceptable for graduate school applications as well. 

Because companies receive so many résumés for each job, applicant tracking systems (ATS) that screen résumés electronically are commonly used. Over 98.8% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS while 66% of large companies and 35% of small organizations rely on them (Jobscan). Given that so many companies use this technology, assume that your résumé will be screened by an ATS and create an ATS-friendly résumé.

The ATS will screen your résumé and cover letter for keywords that match the job description, so make sure to use keywords from the job description in your résumé and your cover letter.

• Putting keywords on your résumé that match the job description (as long as they make sense). 
• Making sure your résumé is readable, neat, and free of typos and spelling or grammatical errors.
• Dividing your experience into Relevant Experience and Additional Experience with Relevant coming first.
• Using bullet points rather than blocks of text to describe your experiences. Start each bullet point with a strong action verb, and show the result or purpose of what you did in each bullet point.
• Using numbers to quantify achievements when possible (e.g. served over 100 customers per day during a three-hour shift).
• Having a well-rounded variety of experiences and activities.

While it might be tempting to use a résumé template from sites such as Pinterest or Canva because it is predesigned, it is best to stay away from résumé templates and create a Word document from scratch. Résumé templates are often not compatible with ATS and could render your résumé unreadable by many employers. See our editable résumé template for ATS-friendly formatting. 

You should avoid using graphics and colors in your résumé unless you are applying for a creative position, such as a graphic designer, web designer, or creative manager. For these roles it may be appropriate to have a creative résumé designed in a program like Adobe InDesign, however you should still avoid using a template. See more information here about how to design a résumé for the creative fields.

ChatGPT and other AI tools can be used to enhance your résumé, but should not be used to write one for you! AI should not replace your own creativity and perspective and the results generated are meant to provide suggestions rather than to be copied and pasted word-for-word. Think of these ChatGPT résumé prompts as a supplement to your own ideas and insights, not a replacement.

When using AI to help with your application documents, submit prompts that are specific to the role for which you are applying. This will help you create materials that are tailored to the position and demonstrate your relevant skills and experience.

Just like any other writing, edit and proofread anything generated by AI before submitting. Make sure the content flows well, the wording is typo- and error-free, and the metrics are accurate. You should be able to speak to every bullet point on your résumé if asked about it in an interview.

Yes, you may include extracurricular activities, sports, jobs, internships, and volunteer roles on your résumé up through your second year in college or until you start replacing your high school involvement with activities you are involved in at Boston College. You may still keep work experiences from high school on your résumé if you have space and/or they are relevant to your future career interests.

There are pros and cons to submitting your résumé either as a PDF or Microsoft Word document. Read more here. Either way, follow the format instructions on the employer’s website or in the job description, if they provide them.

Some people choose to put their personal pronouns at the top of their résumé after their name. This is entirely optional. Do what feels most comfortable for you.

A curriculum vitae (CV) contains significantly more information and is more detailed than a standard résumé. Unlike the one-page rule for résumés, there is no page limit for a CV. The CV includes your career history as well as your education, awards, special honors, grants or scholarships, research or academic projects, and publications. You might also include professional references, coursework, fieldwork, descriptions of dissertations, and a personal profile that lists your relevant skills and attributes. 

Check out the Ultimate Guide to Writing a CV and a video overview of putting together your first CV.

There are no formatting differences between an undergraduate and graduate CV except that a graduate CV might be longer because graduate students typically have more experience.

CV’s are primarily used when applying for faculty positions in higher education or high-level positions in the sciences. CV’s are also often used in countries other than the U.S., but they can vary by country so make sure to research each country’s specific guidelines (Interstride’s country insights can be helpful here). Résumés are used when applying for most other types of positions in the U.S.