The initial goal of your resume is to put your best self forward in order to obtain interviews and eventually gainful employment. Your resume is equivalent to a company's prospectus. It is your marketing tool.

Start the resume process by listing all employment, internships and volunteer work you've been involved in. Include all of the duties and skills, which were needed or used for these positions. Based on this information, you will need to decide how to organize it. Functional and chronological resumes are two of the most common forms of resumes. You should choose the style that will best present you.

A functional resume is generally used for a person who has had several positions. It has a summary the top including duties and attributes according to previous employment. Then, comes a listing of various jobs and dates worked.

The chronological resume is the more traditional approach listing each position with the pertinent information including dates and specific job descriptions under each job heading.

After this information is organized, it's time to think about which headings you will use to present all of the information. Here are some of the most common headings followed by a brief description of each:

• Summary of Qualifications - Explains with some detail why you feel you should be hired
• Objective - Should be direct; try to stay away from lines like, "…work for a growing company with room for advancement"
• Experience - List work, internship and volunteer information
• Accomplishments - List awards. Dollars saved, promotions, etc.
• Activities/Volunteer Work - Should show the ability to balance work and life outside of work
• Education - As a rule of thumb, you generally include the dates graduated or indicate that you are still attending

When you have decided which headings you will use, try to use strong action words such as saved, researched, coordinated, implemented, developed, etc. to fully describe the information you are trying to convey. Also, use various industry "buzzwords" allowing your resume to stand out to the hiring manager.

One of the best things to remember is that whoever first sees your resume may be looking for various skills and duties, which match an available position at the agency. Be sure your resume stands out to the screener by having it impeccably organized. To ensure you have completed a resume that will well represent you, have at least one other person double check it for spelling, grammar and presentation before submitting it for review by various employers.

Good luck in you job search!