Career Compass

Resumes

The purpose of your Resume is to secure an interview, not land the job. It is a "brochure" where you sell yourself and your assets. Most people reading your resume will spend less than 10 seconds scanning through it. A properly crafted resume will say much with fewer words and attract the audience you are targeting.

Resumes Types- What works best for your situation?

• Functional – focuses on skills and expertise – best for those switching careers/industry
• Chronological – lists the jobs you held in order – most popular & most effective
• Hybrid – begins as Functional & uses Chronological aspects

Resume Format - Looks are everything

It needs to be scanner friendly and easy to read since most places will scan hardcopies into their databases.

• Fonts - Ariel or Times New Roman preferred
• Point Size – 10 -12 pt preferred
• Justify: Left justify and ragged right; not both justify
• Use round bullets and set along the left margin
• Allow sufficient white space
• Don’t overuse bold, italics and underline
• Regular white paper – fancy colors may not scan clearly
• Standard 1 inch margins – don’t crowd the page
• Length:
  • Electronic Resumes - 2pgs or less
  • Printed Resumes - 3pgs or less
• Electronic - create in plain text format for uploading to web sites (ie: Monster)
• Research job postings in your industry to find the buzzwords/skills they are looking for. Use those words in your resume, assuming you have those skills of course.
• Grammar:
  • Imply First Person - no "I" or "me"
  • Use past tense (ie: Lead a team that …)
• References (see References page)
  • Listed on a separate page & delivered at the interview
  • To protect against identity theft, do not post references on web sites(ie: Monster)

Protect against Discrimination - Protect yourself and your future employer

Do not include or make reference to: Martial status – Ethnicity – Age – Gender – Weight – Height – Children – Hobbies etc.

Do not include a photo of yourself or described your appearance

For Age Discrimination, the following steps will help make it harder to guess your age:

• If you held many jobs at the same company do not reference the full period next to the company name. Instead only reference each period next to each position held.
• Do not list any jobs prior to 15 yrs
• Do not list any date or year next to your education items (ie: don’t tell them when you graduated)
• Do not list the number of years you have performed a particular skill, duty or position. Instead use a vague but descriptive word.
  Example: "5 years experience as a manager…" should instead be "extensive experience as a manager…"

Resume Outline - We supply the bones, you supply the meat!

#1 - Header – Name & contact info

• Name, address, city, state, Zip, phone # and email – in BOLD, CAPS and centered preferred
• Make sure you list a phone # where you can be reached at any time (ie: cell phone) & change the voicemail greeting to something fairly professional sounding (while you are job hunting).
• Note: for electronic Resumes that are posted to web sites (ie: Monster), DO NOT include your street address or phone# (to protect against identity theft). If sent directly to an employer via email you should be okay.

#2 - Summary – briefly state your top skills and qualifications

• Start with what you call yourself: "An experienced trainer…" or "A Legal professional …"
• Imagine that you are describing your ideal job
• Keep it short – 3 lines
• Then list your skills (not personal qualities) – 6 lines or less, use columns
• Do not list all your skills or qualifications – just those you want to focus on & they are interested in. Support these with accomplishment statements below (in Work Experience).
• Use key/buzz words to let them know you have the skills they are looking for

#3 - Work Experience

• Company, City, State – Bolded in upper & lower case
• (Optional) company description – one short sentence if needed to identify the company or a company name change
• Position(s) or Job Title(s) – BOLD & ALL CAPS – listed below company name & description
• Years – list next to each position - do not include month or day (ie: 1998-2000)
• Only list jobs going back 10-15yrs – to protect against Age Discrimination
• (Optional) Job description – one short sentence if needed to identify your job
• Next list your accomplishments, not duties (See earlier section on Accomplishments)
• Use Bullets
• Keep each one short: 3 lines or less
• These should support the skills you listed in the Summary section above.

#4 - Education & Training

• List formal education - Highest degree first. No dates
• List any other professional development (ie: courses & training)

#5 - Additional Information - only if it pertains to the position

• Technical skills – software or hardware skills
• Bilingual or "Facility" in another language
• Licenses & certificates
• Awards & recognition
• Membership in association

Sending Your Resume - Call-Send-Call

• Call to ask how they want to receive it – mail, fax or email
• Send the resume and …
• Call again to make sure they got it
• If emailing – find out if they want the Resume attached or in the body of the email
• If mailing - use a flat large envelope since it will stand out more & include your business card paper clipped.