Philip Merrill College of Journalism | University of Maryland

Writing a Successful Resume

You’ll need to create this document before you start applying. The trick is to produce an easy-to-read, one-page document that provides your contact information, details on your past employment and journalism experience. Most employers will spend only a few seconds reading it. You want to leave a good impression by being accurate, concise and direct.

We encourage you to also post your resume online (although you might not want to list your home address or phone number.) However, don’t send a print-out of your online version by mail or fax. It won’t look as professional on paper.

It’s OK to design a resume using a graphics program such as Quark, but make sure you also have a plain-vanilla version that can be easily e-mailed to an employer, using Microsoft Word or Notepad. (It won’t matter how pretty your resume looks if the employer cannot open the file.)

Some important tips:

A journalism resume must be a single page.
Avoid using “I” or other personal pronouns.
List activities in reverse chronological order within each category.
Use 12-point type – don’t reduce the type. If an employer has to squint, she may not bother to read it. Stay away from hard-to-read fonts, varying type faces and sizes. Choose one format and be consistent. If your achievements don’t fit, write more concisely.
Use white space efficiently. That often means avoiding bullets as well as unnecessary indentations.
Objective lines are unnecessary when applying for journalism jobs.You can discuss your objectives in your cover letter.
Use past tense to describe past experiences. Use present tense only for the activities that are ongoing at the time you are sending your resume.
Be specific and be honest! Don’t claim to be a staff writer for a campus publication if you only attended one meeting. Also, don’t say you are “currently” working for a publication or news station if you are taking a semester break.
Proofread, proofread, proofread. Typos or grammatical errors will cost you jobs.

Categories to include in your resume:

Contact information: Be sure your name is bold and in larger type than the rest. Use the address where you will most likely be receiving mail (rather than having it forwarded to you,) the phone with the most reliable message system and the e-mail address you check most often.

Teresa Terrapin
1111 Turtle Lane
College Park, Md. 20742
Home: 301-555-1122
Cell: 240-111-6666
tterrapin@umd.edx

If you are serious about looking for a job, be sure your voice mail and e-mail address reflect your intentions. (In other words, remove the musical intro on your voice mail and avoid cutesy or suggestive e-mails addresses.) Once you’ve sent your resume, be sure to regularly check your e-mail as well as your phone for messages.

Education: List your university, the degree you are seeking and the anticipated date of graduation. You may also list a great GPA – 3.5 or better. If you have a citation from an academic honors program such as Gemstone or College Park Scholars or have studied abroad for a semester or two, you should list that here, as well.

University of Maryland

Journalism Experience: List what you did, where you did it and when. Also include a line that tells the employer the size and type of publication, the Web site usage or the market of the broadcast station. To make the text stand out, use italics and bolding sparingly. For example:

Statehouse reporter

Capital News Service

Covered the Maryland General Assembly as part of a university-run wire service with more than 74 clients. (Fall 2008.)

News editor

The Diamondback

Served as chief news editor for university's independent daily with circulation of 17,000. (September 2007 – May 2008.)

Other Experience: Here’s where your list summer jobs, on-campus or part-time positions and other volunteer activities. Don’t hesitate to put that waitress or sales clerk position down – it shows you can juggle work and school and understand the value of a job. Any mentoring and tutoring experiences should go here, too.

Awards, Honors, Memberships: Put down scholarships, writing awards and other honors you’ve been given. Memberships or other affiliations can go here, as well.

Specialized Skills: A good category to include, but only if you’ve got some. Don’t put Microsoft Word, Excel or Powerpoint. That’s not specialized. But if you are familiar with a particular broadcast editing system, have studied computer-assisted reporting with Ira Chinoy, science writing with Jon Franklin or speak Spanish fluently, put it down. The rule of thumb is – if it makes you stand out from the other candidates, it’s worth including on your resume.

References:Place them on a separate sheet, with all your contact information at the top. Include the person’s name, title, company, address, phone numbers, e-mail address.

Who should be a reference? Previous/current employers, professors, adults who know you well and can speak to your character. Never include other students. Make sure you have asked your references if they mind getting a call from a potential employer. Don’t include someone who may say something negative about you. Letters of reference are nice but they aren’t necessary, unless specifically requested by the employer.

Here are two sample resumes. Feel free to use them as templates:
Example 1
Example 2