Graduate > Resumes > Chronological Resumes

Graduate Students

Chronological Resumes

In this format, job histories and education are described from the most recent to past experience. Titles and organizations are emphasized. Job descriptions, duties and accomplishments are described. Students with some related experience sometimes create two experience sections, "Related Experience" and "Additional Experience", covering the positions in reverse chronological order within each of the sections.

Advantages of Using Chronological Resumes

Name of previous employer is an important consideration
Staying in same field as prior jobs
Job history shows real growth and development
Prior titles are impressive

Disadvantages of Using Chronological Resumes

You want to emphasize capabilities not used in recent work experience
You are changing your career goals
You've changed employers too frequently
You want to de-emphasize age
You're looking for your first job

Examples

Here are seven examples of chronological presentations. All are PDF documents so Acrobat Reader is required for viewing them. Although some are undergraduate resumes, they are offered to help students gain a general sense of the layout, language, and types of information typical of most resumes.

Graduate students should position their graduate degree information before their undergraduate information (see 2,6 and 7). Students from schools and majors other than those represented here should still be able to use these effectively, especially as they seek out critiquing from our staff.

Example 1: An IST undergraduate major. Note the treatment of courses to emphasize key words, something critical to automated systems used by employers. Note also the summary treatment of experience outside her most related experience.

Example 2: A resume example for an international M.S. student in Information Management.

Example 3 : A fashion design major with both design and business experience to present.

Example 4 and example 5 : Engineering majors with different layouts that maximize what they had to present. Note the inclusion of projects as valuable experience, something many students fail to include.

Example 6 : An international Engineering student's resume that briefly describes projects as well as other qualifications.

Example 7: A Masters student in Engineering Management