Resume Tips:

The following tips for students on resume preparation were prepared for the Annual National Financial Mathematics Career Fair, co-hosted by the IAQF and NYU Courant Institute.

Tips On Resume Preparation

Your resume is an important marketing document designed to sell your background to a targeted reader. Generally, readers of resumes see hundreds of resumes and spend very little time with any single one, so it is essential that your resume be easy-to-read and concise yet highlight key points that relate to your future employment objectives. Remember, the purpose of the resume is to get an interview, not to get the job. Excessive detail is best left for the interview.

Length:
Stick to one page ONLY. Everything you have to say should fit on one page. If your resume is longer, you need to revise it so that you are presenting only the most important information.

Dates:

For a cleaner look to the resume, we suggest that you put the dates of your positions on the same line as the college or place of employment rather than in the left margin. If you held only one position with an employer, list the date on the same line as the company name. If you held more than one position with an employer, list the date after the position held on the same line and in parentheses.

Dates should be expressed in terms of month. and years only – i.e. such as January 2024 - December 2024.

Salary and other personal information:
No salary or personal information such as health, height, weight, marital status, or photos should be used on a resume.

Contact Information:
1. Your name should be in capital letters, bold type, centered, and in a font size one point larger than the rest of your contact information.
2. Your address, phone number and email should be in regular type and centered. Use only one phone number.

Example:

JOHN SMITH

Tel: (646) 123-4567

email: john.smith@nyu.edu

Writing style:
Do not use words such as "I", "me", and "my". Also, don't overuse "the", "a", and "an". Formatting and writing styles should remain consistent throughout, including past and present tense wording. You should express yourself in a matter that is specific and concise.

Spell Check and Proofreading:

We cannot stress enough the importance of correct spelling and grammar in your resume. You can use the spell and grammar check features of word processing programs and/or an LLM such as ChatGPT.