Tailoring your résumé for a management position

Employers may receive hundreds of résumé for one position and often spend as little as a minute looking at each résumé. Often after a quick look an employer will decide whether to reject your résumé or spend more time looking over it with care. It is very important to create a resume that can make it past the first brief reading that it might get. Your résumé will have a better chance of being noticed if you have qualifications that the company is looking for.

Companies that hire management students generally look for students with:

• Previous experience(s) related to the job
• Educational background related to the job (major and minor)
• Strong communication skills
• Computer literacy
• Effective organization skills
• Ability to learn material quickly
• Qualities of a team player

Knowing what information to exclude from your résumé is as important as knowing what to include. This will also help with making more space available on your résumé. Omit the following.

• Salary demands or expectations
• Preferences for work schedules, days off, or overtime
• Comments on fringe benefits
• Height, weight, hair or eye color
• Any disabilities
• Comments on personal life (ex: family)

Career objective statement

One of the first things an employer reads is your objective statement. Include the title of the position for which you are applying, the skills you have for that position, and what makes you an asset for the particular company. Your résumé should prove that your objective statement is true. This statement tells the employer what kind of job you are looking for and in what ways you are qualified to hold it. Ask yourself these questions to get started on an objective statement:

• What kind of job do I want? Or, what is the job for which I am applying?
• What kind of job am I qualified for?
• What kinds of skills and qualifications do I possess?

Example: A position as an Informational Technology Intern for General Electric providing opportunities to use my communication and problem solving skills in an dynamic environment.

Education

In this section you should provide the name of your school, major, minor, GPA, and expected graduation date. Be sure to include any study abroad experiences in this section as well. This is also the section in which to include any relevant major or minor courses. Also, consider including computer skills have you mastered, such as computer languages and software knowledge. Including computer-related courses on your résumé will emphasize your technical skills, which employers consider a requirement for some management positions.

Example

Experience

Your previous experience, whether earned during internships or through other kinds of work, is the key category for many employers hiring for management positions. This section indicates that you have held jobs before and that you are responsible, as well as some of the specific skills that you could bring to your new job.

Here are some guidelines for writing your experience section:

• Begin with your most recent position. List the company, location (city, state), and your title.
• Highlight the position or positions you have had that are most relevant to the position you are seeking, but also make sure that you provide a comprehensive employment history that includes your current job.
• Provide a bulleted list description of your duties and achievements using action verbs. Make sure to use the past tense in your descriptions unless you are currently interning or working for the company.
• In describing your position(s), emphasize any responsibilities that involved handling money, teamwork, dealing with customers, etc. Employers are interested in students with leadership experience as well.
• Do not exaggerate or lie about your job duties.
• If you do not have work experience that relates to the job that you are seeking, develop your previous work experience in detail using the above techniques. Also, emphasize in greater detail the related skills you do have that are necessary for the position for which you are applying.
• Use parallel verbs.

Example:

Achievements and honors

This is the section where most students include activities that display their leadership abilities as well as their communication skills and group involvement. It is necessary for students to imply that they are well-rounded individuals. This will emphasize the skills you claimed to possess in your objective statement and can help you to stand apart from other students. Employers sometimes seek students who are involved with campus activities. Including activities on your résumé also suggests that you are able to work on multiple projects successfully and demonstrates leadership experience. This is also the section where students mention academic honors, such as being on the Dean's List and/or belonging to honor societies. Have you won any awards or scholarships or received a raise or other promotion?

Example:

References

It is not necessary to include references on a management résumé. Make sure to have a separate reference sheet listing all your references in case the company asks you to produce them. It is not necessary to put "References available upon request," unless you have space and would like to do so.

Works Cited

1. Asher, Donald. The Overnight Resume. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1999.
2. Henry, Kay. Personal Interview. 5 March 2001.
3. Kohne, Shay. Personal Interview. 5 March 2001.

Job seekers at Purdue University may find value in the Purdue career Wiki here.

For more information about how to develop a résumé, visit these OWL resources:

• Résumé Workshop
• Résumé Design
• Résumé Presentation
• Job Search Documents for Working Class Positions