HDS - Career Services

Career Services

Résumés

An important note. Before moving on, be sure you know what sort of application materials are typically used in your field. There are at least two types of positions commonly sought by HDS graduates that often require application materials other than a résumé. These are parish and church-related ministries, as well as faculty and research positions with colleges, universities, and research institutions. For more information on application materials for ministry positions, consult your denominational counselor, the Office of Ministry Studies more generally, denominational contacts, or a knowledgeable professional in your faith community. For faculty and research positions in higher education, use a curriculum vitae—also called a CV—consulting our office, your faculty advisor, or a knowledgeable professional if you have questions. Our office also has samples CVs, as well as resources for getting started. In some fields additional materials are often expected. Please contact us if you have questions.

What is a résumé? A résumé is a very brief one- or two-page summary of your history and skills as they relate to your professional goals. Generally speaking, the primary purpose of a résumé is to encourage a prospective employer or search committee to invite you for an interview. Because most employers see many résumés, initial reviews of them are often extremely brief. Consequently, we recommend writing a targeted résumé.

What is a targeted résumé? A targeted résumé is an articulation of your history and skills written with a particular type of audience in mind. It should not be approached as an attempt to be misleading but, rather, as an aid to a potential employer who needs to learn, easily and quickly, what it is that makes you a strong candidate for that specific field, position, and/or organization. This way of approaching résumé-writing encourages a particular attitude and focus, and has one fundamental principle: Know as much as possible about what is needed and desired in your field, and have this information in mind at every stage of writing the résumé.

General principles of writing targeted résumés

It is ordinarily not advisable to use a résumé to filter out certain employers, as this is the earliest part of the application process. Think of the résumé instead as a means to move to the interview stage, where you will have the opportunity to learn more about the organization and position, and to become a participant in deciding whether the match is a good one.
Do not use the words "I" or "me" on the résumé. Eliminate them by making sentences into fragments.
Be very concise. When possible, drop grammatical "helpers," such as articles, helping verbs and prepositional phrases. Carefully and thoughtfully pull out irrelevant information, keeping in mind the fundamental principle of a targeted résumé. However, do not assume too much about what is irrelevant without thinking it through carefully or talking with people in the field. For example, hobbies and personal interests may be quite relevant in certain fields.
Try for a one-page résumé, but do not cut out crucial information. You can go to two pages if necessary.
Use language and tone with potential readers in mind. Consider connotations of each word carefully. Start sentences with active verbs, as this connotes an energetic and active person. Though terms and abbreviations familiar to a particular profession or field may be used, avoid obscure jargon.
When possible, include specific data or concrete examples to back up claims.
When ordering elements of the résumé, try to find ways to move the most relevant credentials to the top of the document. Increasingly, people use a professional summary to do this, often with very reader-friendly results. Find out more about professional summaries below.
For print documents, format carefully, moving your reader's eye strategically through the document. Bold and italics are acceptable, but avoid graphics or underlining. Use a simple, classic 10- or 12-point font. Top and bottom margins should be around 0.5 inches. Left and right margins should be around 0.8 inches. Proofread very carefully, and have another person proofread as well.
Although most employers will be able to open an attachment of your formatted résumé, consider developing a plaintext version as well.
Use the best print quality available and choose white or natural-colored, high-quality paper. Avoid paper that looks unprofessional.
Include a cover letter.

A procedure for writing a targeted résumé

Contact us to request some quality sample résumés.
List your professional experiences, skills, educational achievements, volunteer experiences, and other relevant achievements in short sentences. Be very specific and thorough.
Determine what you are seeking in terms of your field and title. Be as precise as you can, and if you are interested in more than one field, consider developing more than one résumé.
This step is vital to the employer-directed résumé: Research the field or specific position you identified in step 3. Understand the general ethos as best you can, and know the frequently desired backgrounds, skills and traits. Make a list of these.
Look to the information from step 2 for specific experiences, deeds, education, and achievements that give evidence of matches with the list from step 4. Highlight or underline them.
Read the remainder of this page, and then draft a résumé of your own. As you write, consider ways you can imply, specifically mention, and feature items from step 5. Do not use gaudy formatting in order to achieve this. Have findings from step 4 in mind at every stage. Ask a career services professional or a professional in the field to review your résumé, and be ready to run through a few drafts.
Depending on the needs of each organization or position, you may choose to rework your résumé slightly for each application in order to accentuate the information that will be of greatest interest. However, for most positions you learn about, do not delay your application in order to do this; and be sure to proofread very carefully every time you make changes.
Consider establishing brief contact with the recipient as you send the résumé.
Include a cover letter.

Types of résumé formats, and how to choose one

Résumés are almost always one of the following types:

Chronological. If your employment and education history are fairly continuous, and if they progress naturally toward the position you are seeking, the chronological résumé may be the best choice because it makes very quick and clear sense of your experience and skills. It is the most commonly used type of résumé, and it is often regarded as the most "user-friendly." Within basic sections (see below), arrange elements in reverse chronological order. One problem with this type is that it can make it difficult to accentuate elements from diverse experiences. If this is the case, consider a combination résumé.
Functional. If you would like to highlight certain experiences and skills instead of accentuating a natural progression, the functional résumé may work well for you, although this type of résumé can be confusing for readers, and they can be put off by the format. We do not encourage this choice, but, if you use this format, organize experiences and information by theme or skill within basic sections, with the most relevant information coming first in a more filled-out form, and with less relevant information coming later on in abbreviated form. Consider using a combination résumé instead.
Combination. This type of résumé has both functional and chronological features. We often recommend this type because in many cases, it easily succeeds in meeting the goals of a targeted résumé. More and more, this type of résumé simply begins with a professional summary, which highlights experiences, skills, and achievements most relevant to the particular field and position. It then proceeds with a résumé that looks very much like a chronological résumé, but with less detail required in the lower section.

Basic sections of a résumé

The heading is fairly straightforward. It should always include your name, address, phone number, email, and any other information that would make contacting you as easy as possible. If you are about to graduate or relocate, try to use an email or phone number that will stay consistent. Make sure your outgoing message will make the sort of impression you would like to make with potential employers. If you include a personal website, be sure it is totally professional.

We often recommend including the objective statement in your cover letter rather than your résumé. This is because an objective statement is vital in a cover letter, making it somewhat redundant in the résumé. Also, the objective statement often leads writers to start off their résumé in a voice that does not follow the guiding principle of a targeted résumé, which is to focus on employers' interests, and not your own. However, an objective statement may be used effectively in a résumé, particularly if you want to connote vocational clarity, will not consider alternative positions within the organization, or if you are attending an event where you will pass out multiple copies of your résumé. If you do use an objective statement, be very concise and clear.

The professional summary is optional, but increasingly recommended. In this section, summarize the information that is most relevant to the field and position you are seeking. Examples may include years of experience, ordination or endorsement, licensures, certifications, skills, achievements, honors. The phrasing you use to title this section is flexible and can be targeted to your audience, or you might simply insert it with no title.

Your decision on how to order the education, experience, and "additional" sections is strategic. Your choice should depend on both your history and the employer's emphases. Be sure to title these sections. Your association with Harvard is likely a good choice for emphasis, which would suggest putting education first, especially within five years of graduation. However, for many employers, your experience or skills will be much more important than your educational background, so consider your audience. In the education section, be especially careful to avoid irrelevant information. Also, if a divinity school education is rare for your professional field, many employers in that field may not be familiar with the versatility of an HDS degree. You might briefly include your academic focus below your degree information, or put relevant coursework, thesis themes, or other clarifiers in your education section. In the experience section, lists are highly recommended, as narratives are generally more difficult to process quickly. Under each title or employer listed, add short lists of duties and achievements. Begin each line with a clear and appealing verb. Try to think of ways to quantify and specify evidence of relevant abilities. Be very concise. Drop dull or irrelevant information. Obvious information, such as "responsibilities included," is likely a waste of space.

Additional sections may include one or more of the following: activities, special skills, languages, computer applications, publications, certifications, licensures, special projects, affiliations, volunteer history, awards, portfolio information, cultural expertise, etc. Avoid using "other" or "additional" as a title, as this may suggest to the busy reader that the information is irrelevant and can be skipped over. In fact, you probably have very important information to include here. Choose one or two titles that best fit your field and create these sections, remembering that they need not come last on the page. People often wonder whether it is appropriate to include personal hobbies or interests on the résumé. In many cases, it is indeed helpful to the potential employer, because it rounds out a picture of a personality, and it may be very relevant to certain kinds of employment. Your hobbies and interests can also be used to suggest ways in which you can contribute to diversity at the organization. When listing hobbies and interests, however, it is wise not to do too much, remembering always to write to the interests of the audience and to keep your résumé succinct.

Be sure to contact us in the Office of Career Services if you would like help getting started, are having trouble with the process, or would like a critique. Also see our section on cover letters and thank-you letters.