Resumes
Applying for WWU scholarships through the Scholarship Portal?
Visit our Scholarship Resume FAQs section for tips on how to showcase your experiences.
Developing a polished and clearly focused resume is your first step towards gaining employment.
As you develop your resume, remember that we are here to help! Ensure that your resume will earn you an interview by attending a resume workshop or clinic or requesting written feedback via email (see instructions below).
Please note: The Career Services Center only provides these services for WWU students and alumni.
Request Resume Feedback:
Want to refine your resume? Our staff can help!
How to Submit Your Resume for Review:
Complete the Resume & Cover Letter Review Request Form.
Within the form, you’ll find a link to upload your resume. You’ll also have the option to share a job or internship posting—either by pasting a link or uploading a copy along with your documents.
What to Expect:
Once we receive your request, we’ll assign it to a reviewer and email you with the estimated return date. At the scheduled time, your resume will be reviewed, and we’ll send you feedback as soon as it’s complete.
Please note: We can no longer review resumes submitted as class assignments. You’re still welcome to request feedback, but we can’t guarantee a return before assignment deadlines.
Scholarship Resume Quick Links
Applying for a WWU Scholarship?
WWU Scholarship Resume FAQs
WWU Scholarship Portal
Applying to scholarships outside of WWU?
Use our Scholarship-Focused Resume Sample
Resume FAQS
View our tips on getting started.
Want additional support? attend a resume workshop or connect with a career counselor at Career Center Virtual Drop-Ins.
It depends. Generally, we recommend undergraduates have a one-page resume. For graduate students 1-2 pages is acceptable. Longer resumes also may be appropriate if you are applying to research positions, government positions, or roles in the performing arts.
Connect with a career counselor at Career Center Virtual Drop-Ins if you are not sure what’s best for your situation.
Experience comes in many forms! If you don’t have relevant work experience yet, consider highlighting class projects, internships, and club involvement. If you have work experience that is less related to your desired field, include it and emphasize the transferable elements, such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving.
Learn how to improve your resume draft.
When you are ready for customized feedback, submit your resume for an email review or schedule an appointment.
Yes, it is essential to tailor your resume to match each position you are applying for. Learn how to tailor your resume.
While references are important, you should not include them on your resume or write “references available upon request.” Instead, create a separate document for your references to submit when the employer asks for them.
Yes! While the resume is a key part of any application, cover letters are also important. They help the employer learn why you are a strong candidate for the position—and why you are interested in the role/organization.
A CV, or Curriculum Vitae, emphasizes academic accomplishments and is used when applying for positions in academia, such as fellowships and grants. A CV has no limit on length and typically includes coursework, publications, posters, presentations, research, experience, etc. Learn more about CVs.
A resume is used when applying for a position in industry, non-profit, and private or public sector. A resume is selective and strategic in the information included. It is kept to 1-2 pages, emphasizing skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the position.
For most internships and entry level positions, you will submit a resume.
Get Started
A resume piques the employer's interest and gets you to the interview stage.
Your resume should be:
- Concise
- Clearly and consistently formatted
- Focused on your unique contributions, accomplishments, and skills
- Tailored to the position, addressing the qualifications posted on the job description
In deciding what to include, ask yourself: How can I demonstrate that I have the relevant skills, knowledge, and experience for the position I want? You can include a variety of details, such as relevant coursework, technical skills, volunteering, and club involvement. This resource can help you identify the skills and accomplishments from these different experiences.
Check out the sample resumes to see what this looks like! Then learn how to create your own resume content.
Are you starting from scratch—or looking to update the style of your resume?
We offer a free resume builder tool called SkillsFirst. You can browse additional sample resumes by industry—and choose a template for your own resume. There is also a key words generator tool that helps tailor your resume for specific jobs!
Learn how to activate your SkillsFirst account and get started.
Resume Tip
Keep your formatting simple. Some features, like text boxes and graphics, can cause problems with resume scanning software. Using SkillsFirst or one of our sample resumes will help you avoid this issue.
Strengthen & Revise
The bullet points that describe your experience (work, volunteering, class projects, etc.) are an essential part of the resume. They should provide impactful information about what makes you a strong and unique candidate.
Make the most of your descriptions with these best practices:
- Start with a strong action verb
Past tense for previous experiences, present for current ones - Highlight achievements/accomplishments, not just tasks/duties. Incorporate results, improvements, and problems solved
Use this formula: What did you do + why did it matter? Check out the How to Write Resume Content handout for examples. - Quantify when possible.
For example, if you were a tutor: How many people did you tutor? What age(s)? How many times per week? - End with a period.
Strengthen your existing bullet points using the good-better-best model.
Tailor to the Position
Your resume is about you, but it is also about your audience! The information in your resume should make it clear why you are a great candidate for the job that you want.
To tailor your resume for a specific position, follow these steps:
- Identify key duties and qualifications in the job/internship posting.
- Ensure that you have clearly addressed how you meet these qualifications in your resume. Have you shown the employer that you have these skills/abilities? Remember, the employer does not know everything that you do about your previous experiences! It is up to you to share the relevant information with them.
- Condense or remove less relevant information. This helps to keep the reader focused on the important, relevant content of your resume.
- Incorporate key words from the job description into your resume. You can use the key word generator in SkillsFirst to identify possible words and phrases to include.
Resume Tip:
Start a “master resume” to save yourself time—both now and in the future!
Scholarship Resume FAQs
Please note: For WWU scholarships you apply to through the WWU Scholarship Portal, you will not upload a separate resume document. Instead, you will be prompted to list accomplishments from a variety of experiences—such as internships, employment, volunteer work, clubs, activities, and other honors or awards—and explain how they connect to your current goals.
Within the WWU Scholarship Portal, in the Resume (Honors, Employment/Internships, and Activities) section, you'll be asked to select all that apply to you:
- I have current and/or past honors, awards or recognitions
- I have current and/or past internships or employment
- I participate(d) in clubs, activities, or have volunteer experience
Based on your responses, you will be able to enter the following information:
Please list all current and past honors, awards, and recognitions.
In the details section, share how this accomplishment relates to your current goals.
Please list all current and/or past internship and employment experience.
In the details section, briefly describe in a sentence of two what you did in the experience and share any accomplishments from this experience as they relate to your current goals.
Please list all current and past volunteer experience, as well as participation in clubs and activities.
In the details section, briefly describe in a sentence of two what you did in the experience and share any accomplishments from this experience as they relate to your current goals.
The focus of a scholarship resume should primarily be academics. We recommend you think broadly about your experience! Some experiences that could be helpful to include:
- major (or intended major)
- minor (if you have one)
- GPA
- certificates
- research
- study abroad experiences
- field work
- class projects
- participation in academic clubs
- volunteer activities
- extra curriculars (sports, clubs, etc.)
- internship experiences (paid or unpaid)
- work experiences (part or full time)
Check out our sample resume for some ideas: Scholarship-Focused Resume
Yes. Feel free to include experiences, extracurriculars, and academic achievements from high school if you are early on in your time at Western. Please note that you do not need to include your High School under education.
Consider sharing accomplishments and skills developed through the experience along with tasks and duties. Use our Brainstorming Resource: Identify Your Skills to help extract the key skills developed from the experience.
Incorporate results, improvements, and problems solved. What did you do and why did it matter? Check out the How to Write Resume Content handout for more examples.
No. On a scholarship resume you will highlight your experiences more broadly than you would for an internship or job.
It is important to follow application guidelines when creating a resume for a scholarship. Generally, scholarship resumes should be one page. If you are applying to an academically focused scholarship such as a fellowship, your resume or CV may be longer.
For support on your scholarship essays, we recommend reaching out to the Hacherl Research and Writing Studio.
You can request an appointment to connect with them in-person or online (though this is not required), send a draft for an email response, or simply drop in, either in-person on the second level of Haggard Hall or online through chat on their website (hours listed here).
Ask A Viking
Get resume tips from alumni working in the industry using Ask A Viking!