iowa state resume template

Career Resources

LAS Career Services offers a variety of resources, both in-person and on our website, to help you identify, find, and attain the career that interests you. Whether it is finding a job or internship , preparing your resume and cover letter , tips for a successful interview, or planning your career during your undergraduate education, our career advisors want to help you succeed.

We can also help you learn how to connect your major to your career .

Resumes and Cover Letters

Job and internship searches, salaries and benefits, what employers want, other resources.

• Career Services Policies for Students

Resumes and Other Communication

"The knowledge we get in our classes is very applicable to things that are going to be in our career."

Major: Kinesiology and Health Organization: Gilbert High School

Major: Kinesiology and health Program: John Cabot University Destination: Italy

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Put your best foot forward.

Your resume is essentially a marketing piece. Its purpose is to quickly communicate your qualifications to a potential employer, so it should be organized, clear, concise, and relevant. You may have different versions of your resume depending on what you are seeking.

If you need help creating or reviewing a resume, please request an appointment in CyHire .

Sample Resumes

There are various ways to create resumes based on your preference and industry. The examples below are provided as guidelines and represent industry-specific content employers seek on resumes. If this is your first time creating a resume, please see our beginner resume sample . If you have studied abroad, download this handout for information on highlighting this experience on your resume. Always consider working with Career Services to create the best resume for you.

Action verbs for your resume Applicant Tracking System Guide for Resume Handout Resume Bullet Points Guide Resume Template

Apparel, Events, and Hospitality Management

Apparel, merchandising, and design Event management Hospitality management

Food Science and Human Nutrition

BSN Culinary Food Science Dietetics Dietetics (with internship) Food Science Nutritional Science

Human Development and Family Studies

Human development and family studies Financial counseling and planning

Kinesiology and Health

Athletic training Kinesiology

School of Education

Early childhood education (student teaching complete) Education (one page) Education (two pages – student teaching complete) Higher education

Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Sample CV Graduate students may also connect with the Center for Communication Excellence for assistance with all aspects of writing.

A reference page allows you to provide a list of contacts who can validate the information on your resume and speak to your quality of work. References should be individuals who are familiar with your applicable skills and will provide you a positive recommendation. Be sure to ask permission before you provide contact information to anyone and supply your reference with a copy of your resume.

References may include:

• Former and current supervisors/managers
• Professors/academic advisors
• Student organization advisors
• Contacts from professional organizations
• Contacts from volunteer/community activities
• Customers/clients

Sample reference page

Other Communication Samples

Formatting letters and designing page layout is a matter of personal preference and should be appropriate for your major and audience. Your letter, resume, and reference page should be designed as a total package with consistency of style, font, color, paper and layout. 

The samples below should be used to gain ideas for the framework and content of your letter. Letters must be personalized for each employer and reflect your objective, personality, and qualifications. Always have at least one person proofread your letter.

• Cover letter/letter of interest/letter of introduction
• Prospecting letter
• Post-interview thank you e-mail
• Acceptance letter
• Declining an offer letter
• Apology letter

Personal Statements

Your personal statement is your introduction to a university admission committee. The purpose of the personal statement is to expand on your career accomplishments and future aspirations. Be aware of specific prompts and requirements from admission committees when getting started on your personal statement. Ask at least two of your advisors/instructors to read your first draft and offer feedback. The  Writing and Media Center  also offers appointments to assist with personal statements.

Use the resources below to get started, organize your thoughts, and create a draft for review.

• Essay guide
• Preparing a personal statement
• Personal statement worksheet
• Online workshop

Teaching Philosophies

Your teaching philosophy should reflect your personal values and beliefs about teaching. The samples below should be used as an example only. Request feedback on your philosophy from an advisor/instructor within your major, in addition to career services.

• Sample teaching philosophies

Need More Information?

College of health and human sciences career services.

131 MacKay Hall 2302 Osborn Drive Ames, Iowa 50011-1078

515-294-0626

[email protected]

1 on 1 Career Advising

How we can help

Need advice on your resume, cover letter, preparing for an interview, reviewing an offer, or any other career-related topics? Schedule an appointment with an advisor in Engineering Career Services. We are here to assist you. To avoid waiting and ensure that an advisor will be available to meet with you, it’s recommended that you schedule an appointment using  CyHire , but we also have drop-in advising available. More information about both options is available below.

Career Advising Options

Scheduling appointments.

Our career advisors are excited to talk with you. We can meet however is most convenient for you: In-person, virtually, or via phone. Career advising appointments can be scheduled through CyHire .

How to Schedule a Career Advising Appointment in CyHire:

• Click the Appointments Tab on the left side of your CyHire homepage.
• Depending on your preference, you can adjust your view from the default list to a day, week, or month view.
• You can also apply various filters if you would like. However, it is not necessary to do so. Your Engineering Career Advisors will be able to assist you in all areas.
• This selection does not limit what you can ask in an appointment. We want to answer any questions you have.
• Allows you to select an in-person or virtual appointment.
• Let us know any information that may help us before your appointment, and provide applicable documents, such as a resume, before a resume review.

Drop-In Advising

If you just have a quick question or an immediate concern, we have two drop-in options for you:

• Stop by our office (3200 Marston Hall) to see if a career advisor is available. Drop-in hours are M-F 9am – 3pm.
• Use the convenient chat feature in the bottom right corner of our website. This is monitored by our staff during business hours. If a staff member is unavailable at the time, you can leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible via email.

On-Demand Resources

Access advice and resources anytime, anywhere through our Engineering Career Prep Resource in Canvas (including videos, samples, tips, and more). If you do not see this resource on your Canvas dashboard or have any questions, email or call us ( [email protected] ; 515-294-2540).

We look forward to meeting with you!

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Resume tips & samples, getting started.

Develop a comprehensive list of your skills, knowledge, abilities, experience, accomplishments, honors and awards. Think about qualifications gained through projects and classes, volunteer experiences, student organizations, and work experience. Don’t forget second languages, leadership experiences, and study abroad .

Once you’ve done this, organize your skills into categories. Typical categories include education, experience, qualifications, extracurricular involvement, and honors/awards, but there may be others depending on your experience. Use action verbs  when describing experience and accomplishments, and list specific responsibilities and quantify when possible.

Be sure to include contact information, and use the official name of your degree and graduation date. Don’t include photos, personal information unless related to the job, high school activities, personal pronouns (me, my, etc.) or complete sentences, errors. Here is an example for content and structure (not design).

Since you are graduating with a degree in a design discipline, your resume should show your ability to organize information, craft, consistency, and attention to visual hierarchy.  Pay attention to color choices, and typography, and be sure design choices don’t interfere with a reader being able to quickly and easily see your qualifications. Avoid tables, columns, images, and fonts that aren’t commonly used can cause issues if a company uses applicant tracking software.

Applicant Tracking Systems

Some employers, especially large organizations, use applicant tracking software to narrow pools of candidates prior to a person viewing resumes. It is essential to be sure your resume responds to the position and that the design and file type are readable by these systems. Jobscan offers a video, Tips for Beating ATS , and a free tool to test your resume.

• Affinities / Identities
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• Explore Your Interests
• Prepare for an Interview
• Search for a Job / Internship
• Write Your Cover Letter / Resume
• Video Library

How to Fill Out Common Resume Sections

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In our previous video we tackled some of the bigger-picture questions such as “should I include a summary or statement?” and “is it ok to use a template?” Now we focus on constructing each individual section of a standard, chronological resume. Find out whether or not to include your GPA, where to place your education section, what to exclude from your contact information, and more!

Common Resume Sections

Career Services at Iowa State University

Iowa State University Career Services is a coordinated network of career services offices offering a broad range of programs and services for undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, alumni, and employers.  We encourage you to explore the college or university websites listed below to learn more about career services at Iowa State.

Agriculture and Life Sciences

[email protected] 515-294-4725

Undergraduate Business

[email protected] 515-294-2542

Graduate Business/MBA

[email protected] 515-294-8118

Engineering

[email protected] 515-294-2540

[email protected] 515-294-0735

Health and Human Sciences

[email protected] 515-294-0626

Graduate College (Interdisciplinary/Interdepartmental Graduate Studies & Postdocs)

[email protected] 515-294-3003

Liberal Arts and Sciences

[email protected] 515-294-8691

Veterinary Medicine

[email protected] 515-294-0772

Additional University Offices

• Student Counseling Services
• ISU Alumni Association

Career Services

Resume Tips

Interview Tips

Big Interview

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Part-time Opportunities

Job Databases

Placement, Salary, and Internship Information

Career Services

An experienced guide for your Ivy adventure

Whether you’re an undergraduate or graduate student, our professional staff is here to provide you with the knowledge, competencies, and resources for career achievement as well as connect you with employers. We encourage you to connect with a career coordinator as soon as possible, even to simply say hello and learn about the many ways our staff can help you.

Undergraduate Career Services

In the Undergraduate Business Career Services office, you are our number one priority. We have a team of professional career coordinators who dedicate their time and talents to helping you succeed — starting on day one. Our staff is here to work with you to prepare for your future career and help you make decisions that work for you.

Undergraduate Business Career Services

Graduate Business Career Services

As a graduate student, you understand the importance of making connections with employers. That’s where we can help.

Graduate Business Career Services offers comprehensive career management services to graduate business students enrolled in the MBA and specialized master’s degree programs. We partner with hiring managers and employment recruiters to facilitate your recruitment and hiring.

Employer Services

At the Ivy College of Business, we’re preparing students to be the business leaders of tomorrow. Our talented, internationally known faculty teach in a state-of-the-art facility, where students are challenged with real-world scenarios and case studies. They are immersed in a diverse environment, allowing them to leave with the experience to work in an ever-changing, fast-paced business world. Our high-achieving graduates are innovative, forward-thinking leaders who turn ideas into action and set their sights on where your company wants to grow.

• Hire an Ivy graduate

Online platform for students to view internships and jobs posted by employers as well as register for career events.

Connect with us

1320 Gerdin Business Building 2167 Union Drive Ames, IA 50011 [email protected] 515-294-2542

1420 Gerdin Business Building 2167 Union Drive Ames, IA 50011 [email protected] 515-294-5133

Pomerantz Career Center

Resumes are typically required when applying for part-time jobs, internships, and full-time positions. They capture all of your relevant experiences, so you want your resume to be the best representation of you on paper! Your resume is always a work in progress!

Resume Overview

Download the resume guidelines

Sample resumes.

After reviewing the resume overview above, take a look at how to make your resume more tailored to your specific situation, skills, or area of study with the following samples.

General Resumes

Highlighting high school experiences.

This sample is ideal for incoming first year students and is appropriate for seeking a part-time job on campus or in the community.

Word Doc PDF

Highlighting High School & College Experiences

This sample   is ideal for a 1st or 2nd year student and is appropriate for seeking a part-time job on campus or in the community.

Highlighting a Class Project Experience

This sample is ideal for a 2nd or 3rd year student and is appropriate for seeking an internship.

Highlighting Athletic Experience

Highlighting an internship.

This sample is ideal for a 4th or 5th year student and is appropriate for seeking a full-time job.

Highlighting Lab & Research Experience

Highlighting study abroad & research experience, highlighting professional & leadership experience.

This sample is ideal for a 4th or 5th year student and is appropriate for seeking a full-time job. 

Program-Specific Resumes

Actuary resume, elementary education resume, engineering resume.

Sample 1 Word Doc Sample 1 PDF

Sample 2 Word Doc Sample 2 PDF

Engineering Resume Checklist

Nursing Resume

Nursing resumes may be 1-2 pages depending upon experiences and skills.

Secondary Education

Writing bullet points.

Adding bullet points to describe your experiences is a great way to highlight your duties, responsibilities, and accomplishments. Writing strong bullet points can be tricky though, because they need to be descriptive, yet brief.

Think about adding the Who, What, When, Where, Why or How and use the formula below for writing detailed bullet points:

All bullet points should begin with a " power " or " action " verb that identifies your tasks (i.e., managed, assisted, supervised, planned).

Basic:  Assisted with inventory (missing the what) Great:  Collaborated with team members to reconcile inventory discrepancies of 500+ medical supplies accurately (answers the what)

Basic:  Provided quality customer service (missing the how) Great:  Provided quality customer service utilizing active listening skills to promptly resolve complaints (answers the how) 

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) Software — What Is It & How to Beat It

99% of Fortune 500 organizations use ATS software. Why? ATS is a software solution designed to help employers source talent, evaluate potential, track interview processes, assess performance, and make offers to candidates quickly.

Unlike applying in person, your resume is seldom sent directly to recruiters or hiring managers when you use it online. ATS is processing it first. You may have a chance to be seen by a human recruiter only if your resume has been optimized for an applicant tracking system.

Here is what to focus on:

• Use the right keywords—tailor your resume to the job description and use similar wording
• Create a simple format—use simple font, avoid multiple columns, logos, pictures, etc.
• Use standard section headings—Education, Work Experience, Course Highlights
• Utilize basic language and avoid acronyms
• ALWAYS submit as a PDF—it is okay to utilize a text box if that is part of the application

For more information on ATS and how it works, please visit these articles below:

How to Beat the Applicant Tracking System (ATS): A Checklist

How resumes are reviewed and evaluated is evolving fast. To get the interview, you must adapt to the new reality of candidate screening and beat the applicant tracking systems.

How Many Companies Use an ATS

How & why do companies utilize ATS in 2023? See how employers benefit from utilizing these systems and get crucial industry statistics and information that can help you think like an employer when creating your resume.

The Top 500 ATS Resume Keywords of 2023

By having these keywords on your resume, you’ll improve your chances of being noticed by a hiring manager and landing an interview.

Uploading Your Resume to Handshake

Once your resume is in tip-top shape, it’s time to add it to Handshake! Handshake is Iowa’s online recruiting platform where students can search for volunteer, internship, and employment opportunities. Follow the steps below to upload your resume onto your Handshake account:

1. Log in and then click on your name in the upper right hand corner

2. Click on Documents

3. Click on Add New Document

4. Be sure to set your document as visible if you would like an employer to be able to see it on your profile (you will also need to set your profile to public in your privacy settings) If you receive an error message, make sure there are no special characters in the name and convert to a .pdf before uploading

We Offer Resume Reviews!

If you would like to have your resume reviewed, please schedule a meeting with a  Career Coach or Peer Advisor ! If you have a time sensitive request, come in to the Pomerantz Career Center (C310) during drop-in hours from 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Monday–Thursday. (Drop-in hours are not available during summer, spring, or winter breaks)

Check Out Our Career Guide!

Take our resume tips to go.

Download now

Join Handshake

Graduate Career Services

• Career Coaching

Career Watch Parties

Career planning, online resources, your career exploration starts here, finding the perfect job is a complex and iterative process that requires a lot of effort. whether you are a master's student, ph.d. student, or postdoctoral scholar, we are here to guide you as you discover , prepare , and apply for competitive positions..

• What are your passions? 
• What are your strengths? 
• What skills are transferrable and marketable?
• What will the world reward you for?
• What careers align with your skills and values? 
• What makes a successful job search​?
• What does it take to become career ready?
• How to leverage your strengths?
• How to use effective job search strategies? 
• How to craft impressive job application materials? 
• How to excel at interviewing?

Graduate Career Coaching

Work with us on career readiness tasks appropriate for any stage of your career preparation, including:

• discovering and shaping your career trajectory
• creating a strategic approach to your career planning
• navigating job searches
• networking and establishing new professional connections
• conducting informational interviews
• navigating applicant tracking systems (ATS)
• tailoring application materials to job postings and employer expectations
• interviewing strategies and mock-up interviews

Contact Graduate Career Services at [email protected] .

Begin shaping your career path early and reach your dream destination!

• Make an Appointment with our Graduate Career Coach

Upcoming Events

The college classroom, grad mixer wednesdays, how to prepare for a 1st round interview for a faculty job, ai-facilitated literature review - practical applications.

Schedule for Fall 2024 Career Watch Parties 

Join informal get-togethers to watch videos and chat with each other about your career development. The Career Watch Parties are scheduled as part of the Grad Mixer Wednesdays.

• Location: Room 1118, Student Innovation Center
• Time: 1pm – 2pm

Effective Career Planning for PhDs: Fall 2024 Cohort 

This 8-week program is designed to equip attendees with the skills, resources and self-assessment information to make informed career choices both within and beyond academia. The program topics and materials are adapted from the pd|hub Collections, an NIH-funded collection of evidence-based practices to support PhD professional development.

If you would like to participate, mark Career Planning (8-week program) in the Career Support Interest Form .

Find answers to questions regarding your career development needs in these online platforms. Graduate students and postdocs can use these resources free of cost by logging in with ISU net-ID and password. 

Beyond the Professoriate for PhD Students

Beyond the Professoriate is an online career training platform designed to help doctoral students and postdocs s uccessfully transition into academic or nonacademic careers . Informed by nearly a decade of experience supporting PhDs, this platform offers:

• Videos, materials, and activities tailored to professional careers
• Videos, materials, and activities tailored to faculty careers
• A video library featuring interviews with PhDs from different academic disciplines
• Live webinars.

To access this platform, please navigate to  https://login.iastate.edu , click Add Apps, search for 'Beyond the Professoriate', and add it to your Okta Dashboard. Once you click on it, you’ll need to sign in by selecting Iowa State University from the drop-down menu. 

Login to Beyond the Professoriate

Beyond Grad School for Master's Students

Beyond Grad School is an online career training platform designed to help master’s students make the most out of their investment and build their careers. This platform guides students through each stage of their job search including  by offering:

• Job search strategies
• 'Deep Dives' into finding a career, LinkedIn, networking, findings and applying to jobs, interviewing and negotiating
• Video library featuring interviews with Master's graduates
• Online events and live trainings.

To access this platform, please navigate to  https://login.iastate.edu , click Add Apps, search for 'Beyond Grad School', and add it to your Okta Dashboard. Once you click on it, you’ll need to sign in by selecting Iowa State University from the drop-down menu. 

Login to Beyond Grad School

NPA Career Center for Postdocs

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) supports postdocs' development of professional paths through its online Career Center. It offers:

• Postdoc's Guide to Career Development
• Career Planning Portal
• Career advice regarding personal branding, networking, cover letters, etc.
• Featured services such as creating a job alert and uploading a resume to the Resume Bank for employers to find candidates.

To activate your ISU-sponsored NPA membership, go to the NPA's Select Your Member Type page , choose “Organizational Member”, and use your @iastate email. It will take the NPA a day or so to add you, but then you will be able to benefit from their resources and register for their events for free any time.

Login to NPA

Big Interview

Big Interview is an interactive online platform that offers immediate feedback on your interview answers and delivery. It provides:

• Question Library
• Answer Builder Tool
• AI Feedback Tool
• Resume templates and ResumeAI Tool.

Login to Big Interview

NCFDD Career Center

The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) is an independent faculty development center dedicated to supporting academics in making successful transitions throughout their careers. Students and postdocs seeking academic careers can benefit from:

• Career workshops and resources 
• Guest webinars with follow-up access to recordings, slides, and transcripts
• Weekly Monday motivator e-mail messages with productivity tips
• Monthly writing challenges, productivity webinars, and accountability buddy matches.
• Discussion forum and peer network.

Activate Your Membership

Career Alignment

Skills transfer, personal branding, interviewing, negotiation.

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• No. 8 Cyclones end four-game home stretch against St. Thomas
• Lia Thomas speaks on trans athlete rights and the future of sports
• PHOTOS: Cyclones extend losing streak to six against Colorado
• A downtown treasure, "A Stitch On Time"
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• News / Academics

A guide to preparing resumes and cover letters

There are many tips on how to put together the best resume and cover letter to get noticed by potential employers. Iowa State Career Services offers advice to students when creating these essential things.

Jill Even February 29, 2020

Resume and cover letter strategies are crucial for students during the application process for jobs, internships and co-ops.

A resume is a professional document used as a synopsis of a person’s professional goals, educational history, skills and work experience. Resumes are given to employers upon application to a job and give employers a general idea of a person’s abilities and achievements.

One of the best things a student can do for their resume, which is parallel across all colleges, is to customize it to the position. Often, students’ resumes don’t even get looked over by a human before they are rejected, according to Liberal Arts and Sciences Career Services at Iowa State.

Employers are now using applicant tracking systems, an algorithm that looks for keywords in a resume that are also used in the job posting. The algorithm then picks out the resumes with those keywords to send to the employers. This means when a student applies for a job they must customize their resume to each job they are applying for to receive better results.

Career Services highly recommends the reverse chronological resume format, which lists the most recent, however relevant, experience and skills at the top of the resume. They also emphasize never using contractions in your resume writing.

Kathryn Wieland, program coordinator for the Ivy College of Business, recommends students actively update their resumes so no detail goes undocumented.

“Resumes are living, breathing documents that you want to have in progress really throughout your whole time here at Iowa State,” Wieland said. “This is your tool to gain interviews.”

Wieland does not advocate for template usage when it comes to resumes. She said templates have a distinct look that does not utilize page space well, making it difficult to work with from a consumer standpoint. Custom-made resumes are preferred, typically created in Microsoft Word. She said resumes for students should be no longer than a page.

As for looks, the preference consistently seen throughout the university leans towards a traditional, black and white resume — even for creative majors.

Keely Branstad is an Iowa State graduate student in education and career services intern for Human Sciences Student Services. Her job is to advise human sciences students on their resumes. She said she often sees creative majors use Canva templates because they can be aesthetically pleasing, but employers find that to be a distraction.

A resume without colors, graphics or photographs may seem like it doesn’t stand out among the others, however an emphasis on skills is more beneficial than risking professionalism.

“If [students] continue to [revise their resume] maybe once every year, it is a lot less effort rather than waiting for your last year and trying to think back on everything you’ve done within the last four years,” Branstad said. “The sooner I always say the better.”

Branstad said as for content, she often sees students in their freshman year of college include high school information, which is acceptable until sophomore year. Her job is to help students fill in the gaps and give guidance on what they can do to gain more experience, whether that is through jobs, clubs, leadership or volunteering.

Another thing Branstad said students struggle with is trying to sell themselves.

“They really struggle with self-identifying as a leader,” Branstad said. “So trying to convince them that just because maybe they didn’t have a title that explicitly says leader or an exec position that says president, you still do develop leadership skills within your workplace, within what you’re doing.”

She tries to get students to self-claim leadership to boost their confidence, especially when applying to a job they don’t feel qualified for. Branstad emphasizes using language advantageously to show not only tasks a person does, but skills a person gains through those tasks.

Angela Wagner, program coordinator for Liberal Arts and Sciences Student Academic Services, refers to resumes as a marketing document for students. She said a student can make a resume with no paid experience, and can substitute paid experience for class projects that have relevance to their major.

Wagner encourages students to have family members or close friends look over their resume, because they know the student’s qualities best. She also said researching resumes on the internet can be problematic because students can find information on resume styles for different countries that shouldn’t be used in the United States.

“Every country has a different style for resumes,” Wagner said. “If you’re applying for a job in Europe, they’re going to ask for a photo; we don’t do that in the United States, it’s not appropriate […] Career Services at Iowa State knows what works here in America to find an internship or job, and we have tools to help students find positions internationally as well.”

COVER LETTERS

A cover letter is a personalized document, written in letter format, given to an employer to state a person’s interest in the position, and how they will benefit the organization through their employment. This convinces employers to read resumes sent to them.

According to Career Services, a cover letter should be one page and include the student’s name, address, telephone number and email at the top of the document. This will be followed by the date, employer’s name and title, the company name and address. The letter should be addressed to the recruiter.

Double check the gender and doctoral status of the recruiter, and make sure to use the correct pronouns and titles when addressing them.

The first paragraph should start with what position is being applied to, and how the position was found, which is a great opportunity to name-drop connections to someone within the company. The end of the paragraph should include a strong explanation of experiences and skills related to the position.

The second paragraph should include specific examples when skills have been applied. Address each skill listed in the resume with new information, as employers don’t want to read the same thing twice. At the end of the paragraph, demonstrate knowledge of the company and interests.

The last paragraph will refer the reader to your resume. Include phone number and email for further contact, and end the paragraph with a thankful statement.

Branstad recommends always writing a cover letter, regardless if it’s required for the position or not. She said to make sure to use relevant keywords from the job position in the cover letter as well.

“In your cover letter, you’re able to dive deeper into your experiences and exact skills within what you’re doing,” Branstad said. “[Employers are looking for] who’s going that extra step, even if [the cover letter] is optional, especially in more competitive job fields. That’s something that can make you stand out, and make it known that you’re really wanting that position.”

• angela wagner
• applicant tracking systems
• application
• career services
• college of human sciences
• cover letter
• ivy college of business
• kathryn wieland
• keely branstad
• liberal arts and sciences

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