• Maintain Professionalism:
  Stick to the basics and present yourself simply and clearly. Use concise terms, visually clean organization and a recognized format. List your current or most recent position first and continue to work backwards through past positions.

• Lead the Reader:
  Try to give examples of increased levels of responsibility and advancement throughout your resume. This should lead to your more recent positions representing the level of responsibility you have currently attained.

• Maintain Parallelism:
  Keep all items in a sequence grammatically consistent.

  The following statements are parallel:
  - Demonstrate ability with complex modeling projects
  - Create rate filings
  - Train new actuarial interns

  The following statements are not parallel:
  - Demonstrated ability with complex modeling projects
  - Creates rate filings
  - Familiar with training new actuarial interns
  

• Avoid Writing in First Person (ìIî):
  The employer already knows the resume is yours.

  Example:
  Write: ìResponsible for variable and Universal Life Valuation and provide support to the Appointed Actuary. Manage two actuarial students.î

  Instead of: ìI am responsible for all Variable and Universal Life Valuation. I provide actuarial support to the Appointed Actuary and I also manage two actuarial students in my company.î

• Use Bullets and Fragments When Appropriate:
  Bullets are easy to scan. Keep them brief and use sentence fragments.

• Avoid Carelessness:
  Typographical and grammatical errors may not reflect on your experience, but such carelessness leads to a poor first impression.

• Use Few Graphics:
  Steer clear of using any more than two graphic devices in any resume (preferably only bold). Use italics sparingly, as it can become difficult to read if sent by fax.

• Maintain Consistency:
  Consistency makes a document easier to read. For example, if you mention the months for one job, use months to specify dates for all jobs.

Below are more specific guidelines.

Heading: Looks best centered or flush left at the top of the page. Include your name, address, email, phone and credentials.

Professional Summary (optional): Can be used as a specific description of your professional background, or as a general description of your skills and attributes. Usually falls directly below the heading. Can be a sentence, a small paragraph, or a few bulleted items.

Experience: List past work experience in chronological order, starting with your most recent positions first. Include: Job title; company, city, and state; dates you held the job; major accomplishments; critical duties; and responsibilities.

Education: The general rule to follow is to decrease the details/emphasis on your education as you move further along in your career. Always list the degree and school attended, and dates of graduation.

Computer Skills: Include actuarial software and programming languages with which you are familiar.

Professional Designations: Include all professional designations you have achieved. If you are a pre-ASA, include the actuarial exams you have passed, and possibly the exam track you are taking.

Other: also known as ìInterestsî or ìSpecial skills.î In this section, stick to job related skills that could impress a potential employer, such as a language proficiency. It is not recommended to go into detail about your personal life (e.g., hobbies, marital status, children, religion).

FAQs: Resumes

Q: Should I list my work experience by month or by year?
A: It depends on the amount of time spent in the positions. The rule of thumb is that if you held a particular job or internship for nine months or less, then specify only the years. If you held a position for more than nine months, then specify the months.

Q: Should I keep my resume to one page?
A: For the actuarial profession, the one page rule doesn't apply. Since many companies offer rotational student programs, you may have a great deal of diverse experience to report on your resume. It's in your best interest to include all of these experiences. Your best bet is to review your resume--if itís concise and tells an employer who you are and what you can do, then the length is probably fine.

Q: Should I include an objective?
A: Only include an objective if you have a very specific job that you are looking for, and you are not open to other possibilities. If space becomes an issue, keep in mind that there are many other points that are more important to include on your resume than an objective. A nice alternative to this for you may be a summary of your skills and experience.

Q: Should I include my GPA?
A: If you have an impressive GPA, then you may wish to include it in the Education section of your resume. Many companies take notice of high GPAs, as it may be an indication of your ability to progress towards Fellowship.