Writing Resumés... a form of torture.

[halfoz]

pay someone to do it for you.

blueskyresumes.com produces decent work.

as someone who has the unfortunate task of having to interview a lot of people - like 60+ last year - i can assure you we (corporate america) could not give one shit about your cover letter.

keep your name big and bold. i've usually got 6 other resumes to deal with and i dont like you making me have to work to find your document.

don't overburden your resume with so many buzzwords and hyper-syllabic words that your meaning isn't extremely clear.

quantify your results with numbers instead of qualifying your performance with subjectivity.

remember, the purpose of the resume is to get you the interview.

also, please do not include an "objectives" section. your objective is to get a job, duh. if instead you want to call out a brief summary of your professional highlights, that's fine.

don't title inflate, don't lie, don't add bullets just to fill the space.

ideally, and this is gonna suck for those of you who hate writing resumes, but i would like to see you customize your res to my position.

finally, be well assured that while we're interviewing, i'll have my laptop up and will be checking you out on google, faceboook, or anywhere your name shows up. if your facebook wall implies information about you that i find unfavorable, you NEED to reset your privacy settings.

you should have a LinkedIn account and completed profile. ideally you'd have some recommendations already. include a picture of yourself on your LinkedIn profile.


good luck

 

[purple_cloud]

After a solid read through this thread...looks like I have some revising to do. I just ripped a template off my university's school of management...my work experience is also significantly lacking although my education area is nice and fluffy. The interviews I've had, it seems they care more about the experience than any academic background...they only care about it in terms of "we need to make sure you actually have these degrees and not making it up, so you have to sign a waiver for us to contact your academic institution."

My ability to write cover letters is lacking...I really hate the formality in all of this, I'd like my resume to seem more individual but at the same time, I've been told that doing so can work against me as well.

Oh, how important is printing your resume on nice paper? I've talked to some people that hire, and they've said they won't look at a resume that isn't...so I went out and got the nice paper and I'm using it (they sell it in a 100 pack so I doubt I'll run out anytime soon). Now that most are electronic, I'm sure this practice is dying out...I've also been told to bring at least 5 resumes to any interview, is that really necessary? And, are they all supposed to be on "nice paper"? Seems like a really stupid formality, but since an accountant told me it's one of the things they look for, just curious what you guys think.

 

[rangrz]

Oh, how important is printing your resume on nice paper? I've talked to some people that hire, and they've said they won't look at a resume that isn't...so I went out and got the nice paper and I'm using it (they sell it in a 100 pack so I doubt I'll run out anytime soon). Now that most are electronic, I'm sure this practice is dying out...I've also been told to bring at least 5 resumes to any interview, is that really necessary? And, are they all supposed to be on "nice paper"? Seems like a really stupid formality, but since an accountant told me it's one of the things they look for, just curious what you guys think.

As I said, I shred the fanciest, best paper resume right off the top. I'm in the line of work where nice neat planned resumes aint in the fucking schedule.

 

[embers_fading]

Am I the only person who is absolutely unable to write a resume despite taking several workshops? I find the process to be excruciatingly painful.

Anyone has tips for a resume for a general entry-level job?

Better yet, anyone has examples of resumes that have worked for them?

I think the biggest issue here is the fact that I actually have very little (ie. no local) experience at work. My work experience section would be empty... and so I need to "market" myself otherwise...

Resume writing is easy. Just go borrow a few books on resume writing authored by people who are well-known in business for having screened resumes for their companies, study, take notes, write up a rough draft then edit your final resume. Formatting is everything in your resume. Make sure all of the formatting is universally applied. All you have to do is summarize your key accomplishments from each job you've held while keeping it clear and concise. You don't need to write in full sentences, and it's OK to have a resume span two pages. Reverse chronological format is the preferred format for today's resumes.

Also, you really should focus on your educational background and accolades if you are looking into getting an entry level position at a company. Where did you go to college? Can you go back to utilize your alumni privileges and access your university's career center? They can usually help guide you through the resume process or set you up with an internship. You can also try going to temp. work agencies. Temp. work places will get you jobs that look very good on a resume.

You can't market yourself in a resume unless you write about what you've been doing at the jobs you've held. It's generally a bad idea, according to all of the resume books I've read, to have a "skills" section or something similar. People reading your resume want to see what you've been doing at your job, what your accomplishments are, what you've done for the company to cause major gains or improvement in overall productivity, etc; they don't want to read a list of skills you have as they would prefer to see what you can do for their company directly based upon how you've applied yourself at past jobs.

Definitely go out, borrow or buy some books on resume writing, read and study, and work on your resume. Your resume should take many hours to complete if you do it right. Keep editing and refining it until it is perfect. Have other people read it. Also look into career counseling. Those people can also help you with your resume. It's their job. Good luck.

Look on the bright side..once you make a good resume/CV you usually only need to make slight modifications in the future. Some little tricks that make it look fancy is putting in your picture, having a digital signature, making sure everything is lined up perfectly, and that your format is consistent. Go over it several times and make sure there are absolutely NO mistakes i.e. spelling or grammar. Also, don't over do it!

Where in the hell did you hear that ridiculous nonsense? Why in the world would you ever put a picture of yourself in a resume? Maybe in the 1950s you'd do that, but doing so today would just make the resume screener laugh at you while he throws your resume into the garbage can. Everything else you listed is OK: Formatting is everything. Digital signature? All you need is your address, phone number, and e-mail in the header. Picture of you = big no no and totally unnecessary. Prospective employers aren't interested in what you look like.

Ah yea, for the work experience. When I was right out of school I used my grandmother from my mom, who has a different name than me. It is true that I worked at her farm every summer for many years, but it wasn't full time, nor year round. Since she is my grandmother I told her I was putting her as a reference, and that she shouldn't say I'm her grandson. It is cheating a little bit, but if you can find such a loophole it will help eliminate empty gaps of time. Having empty gaps of time in a resume is usually a big turn off.

Don't put references on resumes. Ever. It's counterproductive. Only provide references to employers once you receive an actual job offer. Until then, hold off on that. The point of a resume is to convince employers to give you a chance at an interview, not to hire you outright.

 

[Cyc]

Books? Workshops? Maybe this is a form of torture after all. I mean, come on. It's a piece of paper with writing on it.

I still say, rip off someone who has a good track record with getting interviews. Steal their template and formatting style.

The vast majority of what employers are going to look for going to be in a person's demonstrated marketable skills. You won't get hired for having a pretty resume, and content is not something a spellchecker or Word template is going to provide for you.

Don't sweat the little things so much. More important is the meat and potatoes, and that's sort of, 'you have it or you don't.'

 

[purple_cloud]

As I said, I shred the fanciest, best paper resume right off the top. I'm in the line of work where nice neat planned resumes aint in the fucking schedule.

NO idea how I missed that during my read over, rangrz, thanks for politely repointing it out. What I have done in the past is bring one fancy one and several plain paper ones with me, and since it's mostly electronic now I find that they don't often take these from me but have the one I already sent to them printed out in front of them. Since I did have someone tell me it was a good approach, and chances are whatever I'm applying for, a nice resume saying I took the extra time to make it so may mean something, so I think I'll stick to that for now. I'm just so scared no one is ever gonna want to hire me...I have a Master's Degree and friends who just have even a year of work experience are being offered SEVERAL dollars per hour more than I am, even for crappy jobs. Now I'm starting to wonder if a MA was the right decision or not...it seems work EXPERIENCE is the most important part and they just skin over the academics section.

 

[Cyc]

I don't think employers are skimming, so much as they are intimidated by your credentials and perhaps your salary expectations. Not all of it is meritocratic either. Most students with a Master's owe quite a bit of money back to the government or private lenders, and employers will be hesitant to short-change someone when 50% of their income is going to pay back loans for the next 10 years.

A good way for students in your position to get valuable work experience is through your university. I imagine with 6+ years of full-time attendance, you would have made some contacts there. Also, check out the university's database for job postings. I go to a big research school, and there are literally dozens of job postings at any given time, where I can just e-mail and get work. It doesn't pay much above minimum wage, but it's good experience.

 

[purple_cloud]

Cyc, I did work some part time jobs during my undergrad...my school is also a big research university, but they are a bit lacking on the career resources. Plus, most people with an MA in Linguistics just go on to PhD program somewhere, and that's not what I want to do. My salary expectations aren't exactly ridiculous...minimum wage here is somewhere between $7-$8 an hour, now I'm willing to settle for between $10-12 yet I have friends making $15+ easily. And yes, loans are going to have to start being paid back around August...right now I'm sitting in the grace period. So, I have some work experience, and the "gap" between that and now is when I did my 3 semesters of graduate study. The fact that you used the phrase "intimidated by [my] credentials" actually made me feel good, though. I'd rather that than have someone think I'm incapable.

I also wear a skirt suit (not an insanely fancy one, either) to job interviews, and often feel overdressed when other people being interviewed for the same position are wearing jeans and a tshirt. I've been told I was overqualified when standing up to greet the interviewer and shaking their hand...when I asked why, they said it was my mannerisms and how I was dressed. I don't think lowering that behavior will help any though.

 

[Cyc]

Well, I have to say, your salary expectations are not at all unreasonable. I troll a jobs forum in my local community, and it's filled with university grads who expect $50,000+ out of university. Now granted, most are business or engineering students, but I still don't think the salary difference between an M.A. and an B.Sc./BBA should be that insane. After all, you had to write a thesis and do all the boring research.

I'm also a bit disheartened that your min. wage is so low. Here it's $10.25hr, and that's what Mcdonalds workers make. Your willingness to accept that, especially in NY, is a bit scary to me.

I would think with an MA in linguistics, you would be well positioned to teach a 2nd language at the beginners level, where grammar and word roots are studied extensively. However, I'm not sure where your focus in languages was.

The good news is, the jobs you're applying for don't seem overly formal, which in my opinion, is a huge bonus, especially if you're not earning a whole lot.

 

[purple_cloud]

I'm currently looking for temp work in the Buffalo area, which explains why the wage is much lower (I'm from NYC, just not currently there). In terms of an actual job dealing with linguistics, ideally I'd like to work for a dictionary company I've decided, not sure doing what. I don't speak a language other than English fluently, although I know about the structure of many languages, and know Classical Latin very well. The reason I'm looking for temp work is to gain some more resume experience before I go around asking for that significantly higher salary. I just, have expenses and loans coming up and at this point in my life, cannot afford to work for minimum wage (and honestly, feel like I'm above it in many ways). I would have taken this to PM, but I feel like the fact that I'm mentioning my qualifications, relative location, and struggle for employment may help someone else in the future looking at this thread.

 

[Cyc]

I appreciate your disclosure, and also think that this sort of information is useful to other job seekers, who might be in a similar situation.

 

[rangrz]

I don't think employers are skimming, so much as they are intimidated by your credentials and perhaps your salary expectations. Not all of it is meritocratic either. Most students with a Master's owe quite a bit of money back to the government or private lenders, and employers will be hesitant to short-change someone when 50% of their income is going to pay back loans for the next 10 years.

A good way for students in your position to get valuable work experience is through your university. I imagine with 6+ years of full-time attendance, you would have made some contacts there. Also, check out the university's database for job postings. I go to a big research school, and there are literally dozens of job postings at any given time, where I can just e-mail and get work. It doesn't pay much above minimum wage, but it's good experience.

congratulations, you have 0% experience in the production market of whatever you studied. I want you as an employee why?

 

[Cyc]

Because someone like purple cloud has been trained to think deeply and critically, and most important of all, has learned how to learn. Whereas work experience tends to train people how to simply perform a task. I'm also not sure what you mean by, 'production market', as many workplaces and roles within those workplaces aren't involved in the market of 'producing' things.

You can learn how to perform tasks at any time. The stuff I mentioned above takes time and patience.

 

[TINK]

Ok I ran across this awesome podcasts that totally changed my way of creating a resume. I mean this was revolutionary to me. It is amazing, I encourage all of you to go there and listen if you are needing to create a superstar resume. It was amazingly east once you learn the tricks and the insider tips. It got me in the door. My interview is tomorrow.

http://manager-tools.com/podcasts/career-tools

 

[Pretty_Diamonds]

I just put my resume together following some random internet format. I really think you should have a cover letter, it's a nice gesture. But experience IS usually more important than education because they want you to hit the ground running, not have to take you through baby steps all the way...

I was 18 when I got a supervisor position. All sales & stock associates were older than me and most of them had a bachelor's degree (or at least an associates)...I was still in uni. Yeah, you could imagine everyone hated me. But what they forget it that I had 3 years retail (all commission based) experience, plus high-end retail as well (clientele experience). I actually knew what I was doing. Because school doesn't teach you work-related common sense...it really doesn't.

But goodluck with your resume! =]