Smeal Career Connections
Build Your Resume
The main goal of a resume is to concisely describe how your
experiences and education are relevant to the position for
which you are applying. Proper formatting is important
to ensure that a recruiter can pick out your most relevant
accomplishments in the initial few seconds of scanning.
Refer to the sample resume on the back to see examples of
the information provided below. Following these specic
tips will help you tailor your resume to a career in the real
estate industry:
1 Use an objective statement to highlight
your interest area.
There are various career paths within the real estate
industry. Your employment objective is useful to
communicate your interest in a particular position or track.
An objective statement should be short and to the point.
2 Include your GPA.
Recruiters consider GPA an important factor when
evaluating candidates. You should always include your
cumulative average. If your cumulative average is below a
3.0, consider including your major GPA if it is over 3.0. You
can calculate your major GPA through eLion.
3 Highlight relevant experience.
Recruiters are keenly interested in what you have
accomplished during your internships or co-curricular
projects. Be sure to describe your accomplishments instead
of simply listing your job duties. Use industry-specic
keywords and quantify your accomplishments where
relevant.
4 List skills such as computer software
knowledge that are relevant to the
position.
Be sure to explain how you have used the skills through
an activity, a project, or if you completed course work
focusing on a specic program. Simply stating that you are
procient in Excel could be misleading to the recruiter. If a
job description specically lists software experience needed,
make sure this is included in your resume.
5 List leadership positions and/or activities.
This is an important section of your resume. Recruiters want
to see that you are doing more than just going to class.
While the two most desired skills ranked by recruiters are
teamwork and communication (both written and verbal),
Penn State Smeal College of Business
Resume Guidelines: Real Estate
Career & Corporate Connections ❘ 114 Business Building ❘ 814-863-6161 ❘ smealcareers@smeal.psu.edu
ugstudents.smeal.psu.edu/careers
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the job description may alert you to other soft skills
required. Describe your skills here in the same detail as
you would in the relevant work experience section, noting
your accomplishments.
Resume Tips
When drafting your resume, be sure to always keep the
following in mind:
› Never embellish on your resume
› Check and recheck for spelling/grammar mistakes
› Keep your resume to one page
› Always communicate skills in every bullet point
› Make sure the layout of your resume is easy to scan
For more tips or to schedule a resume review, visit the
career development and resources sections of the Career &
Corporate Connections website.
Resources for Real Estate
Students
The following are helpful resources for students in the Real
Estate option at Smeal:
Penn State Career Services
studentaairs.psu.edu/career/cic/
Institute for Real Estate Studies
smeal.psu.edu/ires
The Counselors for Real Estate
cre.org
Certied Commercial Investment Member
ccim.com
Commercial Real Estate Women
crewnetwork.org
Additional Resources:
LinkedIn: Penn State Real Estate Group
Get involved in a discipline-specic student organization:
ugstudents.smeal.psu.edu/student-organizations
Smeal Careers
Resume Templates 1210 Document(s)
