Once you earn your degree majoring in Criminal Justice, the next step is creating a unique and quality criminal justice resume. Your resume is basically a summary of your professional objectives, your work experience, your qualifications, and your educational background. With so many different work processor programs that include templates for resume built into the program, developing a good-looking resume is not difficult. While looks are important, the overall impression will be made based on the content of the resume and not based on its appearance. If you are looking for a guide to creating a quality criminal justice focused resume, read on for the information that you need.
Choosing the Right Type of Resume Based on Your Field Experience
There may be dozens and dozens of different templates and layouts to choose from, but there are essentially only 3 different types of resume formats to choose from: chronological, functional, and combination. You should select the right type of resume based on your own individual level of experience and education.
A chronological resume, which is the format where most recent experience is listed first, is a very common format. This is best used when you have experience in Criminal Justice and you also have a degree. A functional resume, which involves listing specific skills and personal qualities, is great if you do not have a consistent work history. A hybrid resume, which is a combination of the two, tends to be the least common choice due to redundancy. If you have work experience, it is best to focus on the chronological format.
Creating an Attention Grabbing Objective
Employers would like to know what your professional goals are before hiring you. This is why the objective statement that you construct is so very important. If you are qualified to work in a specialty area in the field of criminal justice, you need to give your employer a clear idea of the work you are qualified to do. Your objective should also include why you are the best fit for the position so that the recruiter knows from the start that you are an asset to consider.
Focus on Qualifications and Skills
If you are a recent graduate from a reputable school, you need to highlight your achievements in school and apply the skills that you can use in Criminal Justice from other fields. An entry-level criminal justice resume may not include relevant work experience in the field, but you can focus on your student career and show that you are motivated and committed to whatever you put your mind to. By adding recent work experience from other employers following your education background, you can put what is most important first while still showing you have been an employee in the past.
After you complete your resume, you should take the time to create an original and focused cover letter for every position that you are applying to. The cover letter should show that you have done research about the position and the agency that you are applying to. This shows that you take action and that you are serious about the application that you are submitting. Sit down and really take time to jot an outline before you write your criminal justice resume, and you can secure more interviews.