What does a resume need to include?

View our resume sample and/or resume template before beginning to see the general format

• Your name and contact information
  • Name, phone number, and UC Davis email centered at the top of the page
  • Make sure the voicemail greeting on your phone is professional in case an organization chooses to call you
• Education
  • Name of university, degree, major(s)/minor(s), expected graduation Month and Year
  • Only include GPA if required by the organization
• Experience (Paid, Internship, Volunteer)
  • Job title, company name, dates of experience (Month Year - Month Year), job duties, skills demonstrated in position, accomplishments
    • Here is where you can also showcase relevant skills and abilities, such as fluency in a language or knowledge of coding languages like Python 

What if I have less than one page?

While direct experience found in experience sections is preferable, some students may not have enough work/volunteer experience to fill out a full page resume yet. If you find yourself in this situation, you may include some of the below information as appropriate:

• Relevant Coursework/ Projects
  • Only include classes or projects that have a relevant bearing to the internship
  • List courses by name, not by course code (Introduction to History, not HIS 001)
    • If the course title doesn’t adequately describe what is taught in the class, you can modify the course title stated in your resume to be more technically accurate (i.e. “The Circle of Life” could become “Intro to Biology")
• Research Publications
  • Project title, where it was published, when, and brief description
• Certifications/Licenses
  • List only if applicable
• Honors and Awards
  • List relevant honors or awards with a brief description

Helpful Hints

• Avoid adding high school information (the only exception is if it is extremely relevant) .
• Your resume should be one page long without manipulation of margins or font sizes. Most students should refrain from creating two page resumes unless all information is pertinent to the internship to which they are applying.
  • If you only have a few lines on a second page, make cuts so all information fits on one.
• Use a professional font (Times New Roman, Calibri, Helvetica, Garamond, etc.) in size 12, and single spacing. Be aware that sometimes Microsoft Word defaults to 1.16" line spacing. Make sure you change this to single spacing when you beging writing your resume. 
• Do not include “Character Traits” sections. 
• Do not include "Skills" sections. Most skills can be included within your "Experience" section.
• You only need to have one experience section that encompasses all your experiences. There is no need to break your experiences into multiple sections (Volunteer experience, work experience, internship experience, etc.).
• Bullet points should be singular sentences often no longer than two lines. Do not create multiple sentence bullet points.
• Prioritize the skills and experiences that fit into the internship position.
• Use strong action verbs to describe your experience and skills.
  • If you want some suggestions, look at our handout to make your resume stronger.
• Be sure to proofread! Be sure to have us review your resume and finalize your resume before applying to positions. 

How to Elaborate on Your Skillsets

• The point of expanding your experiences is to explain the skills you learned and used. The more detail you can add, the more likely you are to catch the internship coordinator’s attention.
  • Many people fall into the trap of writing standard 2-4 word descriptions such as “Wrote reports” or “Dealt with customers,” which will be passed over by the person reading your resume, when often they were very significant portions of your position.
• Focus on addressing these areas in your bullet points:
  • Who – Who did your job help? (The company? Clients? Customers?) Who did you work with? (Colleagues, Executives?)
  • What – What happened with the results of the job? If you did research, was it published? If you had to do a report, what was done with that information?
  • When – When did this happen? Daily, weekly, monthly? Talking about how often you did something is an easy way to show productivity in your job.
  • Where –Where did your duties occur? Were you responsible for interacting with people outside your organization? Did you have to travel?
  • Why & How – Why did you do this? Why was this skill/task important? How did your job duties help or add to the organization’s ability to function?
• Start each bullet point with a strong verb that sums up your accomplishments.
• Quantify your experiences if possible. For example, “Increased sales by 10% in 3 months” is more impactful than “Increased sales.”
  • Even if you can’t list quantities, always describe your achievements and how you achieved them, i.e. “Exceeded sales quota every week by providing excellent customer service and anticipating customer needs.”