Resume Section Headings - Continued

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Since people read from the top to the bottom and from left to right, begin your resume with the most important information. Then work your way down to less important information. The top half of your resume 's first page should be packed with your strongest qualifications.

So, which section goes first? Should it be education or experience? Start with the section that contains your strongest qualifications for your target job. If you have had little experience in your prospective field but have a degree that qualifies you for a starting position in the industry, then by all means list your education first. Most people eventually move their education below their experience as they get further from their school days. If you change your career and go back to school, then the education will move to the top again and begin to gravitate to the bottom as you gain relevant experience.

The same idea goes for information within each section. For instance, if you went to an Ivy League school, you can list the school before the degree. Look at the difference in emphasis between these two methods:

HARVARD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Master of Business Administration

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Little Known College, Backwoods, Idaho

The same principle applies to your experience. If your job title is more impressive than where you worked, then list it first.

VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
Little Known Company, Boulder, Colorado

IBM CORPORATION, Boulder, Colorado
Assistant Export Coordinator

Avoid the use of underlining since it cuts into the descenders in lower case letters. For example, notice the "p" in:

Assistant Export Coordinator

It is acceptable to use underlining when the letters are all capitalized since there are no descenders:

ASSISTANT EXPORT COORDINATOR

Italics, bold, ALL CAPITALS, FIRST LETTER LARGER, or any combination of the four are all good ways to make certain information stand out within the text. However, these styles can be overdone very easily. To make them more effective, use these type treatments sparingly.

• Name in Resume
• Address in a Resume
• Resume Section Headings
• Dates in Resumes
• Your Location in a Resume
• Personal Information in a Resume
• Resume Fonts & Bullets
• Graphic Lines in a Resume
• Resume Example
• Paragraph Style in a Resume
• Creative Resumes