Search the Web and find some tips on writing quality resumes and cover letters and load to blog by Monday noon of Week 8.
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Search the Web and find some tips on writing quality resumes and cover letters and load to blog by Monday noon of Week 8.
The Blue Pencil 
For this assignment, I looked at MSN.com. The site has a few separate writers who write about resume and job-related issues, and I thought their tipes were excellent and applicable. A few highlights were:
1) For phrasing issues, they believe one should always emphasize numerically one’s performance:
Possess leadership, communication, motivational and inspirational skills.”
• Let Sweeney rephrase that: Highly effective leadership, communication, motivational and inspirational skills, which led to 98% employee retention ratio and four out of six employees promoted into management positions.*
2) For the major issue, I thought a really interesting feature was about what major you need to get a job. According to MSN, it doesn’t matter:
Additionally, post-baccalaureate studies provide specialization and internships provide work experience. These can define your road more significantly than undergraduate studies.
Here are some examples of real people who found success outside of their college majors:
Carly Fiorina, former chairperson and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Company, received a degree in medieval history and philosophy from Stanford.
James Gandolfini, Emmy award-winning actor, majored in communications at Rutgers.
Richard Gephardt, politician and former Presidential hopeful, earned a degree in speech from Northwestern University.
Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine, majored in philosophy at the University of Illinois.
Lee Iacocca, former head of Chrysler Motor Company, studied history at Lehigh University.
Mick Jagger, lead singer for the Rolling Stones, majored in economics at the London School of Economics.
Ashton Kutcher, actor, majored in biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa.
Sherry Lansing, chairman of Paramount Motion Picture Group, earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Northwestern University.
Lucy Liu, actress, studied Asian Languages at the University of Michigan.
Sandra Day O’Connor, former Supreme Court Justice, majored in economics at Stanford.
Brad Pitt, actor and heartthrob, was two credits shy of a journalism degree from the University of Missouri.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California and actor, studied economics at the University of Wisconsin.
Denzel Washington, Oscar-winning actor, has a degree in journalism from Fordham University.
3) For some tips for introductory college students, MSN says (among the highlights made more concise by myself):
1) Keep it to one page. Always.
2) Never lie. Just don’t.
3) Choose the right style of chronological and highlighting professional experience. This means grouping things together to make themes.
4) Your volunteer and academic experience are relevant and should be on there.
Here are some tips from the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Comm:
* Be concise.
* Limit yourself to things you’ve done well. You’re trying to sell yourself; be factual, but be selective.
* Use short sentences. Show potential employers that you can communicate clearly.
* Use past tense to describe past work experience and activities. Use present tense to describe the things you’re doing right now.
* Start sentences with active words such as created, organized, initiated, designed or supervised, instead of using “I.”
* Find a critic. Have someone you trust look over your resume – preferably more than one person. Have them look for grammatical and spelling errors, and ask for suggestions for improvement.
* Send out only a perfect resume – no smudges, coffee stains or faulty printing. A perfect resume may not make you a shoo-in for the interview, but a sloppy resume won’t even get you in the door.
These are some cover-letter tips from the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism (UMaryland) that I liked:
Always send a cover letter with a resume. It is your opportunity to demonstrate good writing and to make it clear why you are applying. Keep it short, accurate and concise.
Guidelines:
* Use a professional business letter format, with your address, the date and the name and address of the recipient at the top.
* Always address your letter to the appropriate editor or producer. Make sure you spell his or her name correctly. Always use Mr. or Ms. With names such as Chris and Randy and Dana, don’t assume the gender. Always triple-check spelling of names and titles, using different, reliable sources.
* Do not start a letter, “To Whom It May Concern.”
* Avoid cuteness, colloquialisms, puns and off-color humor.
* Don’t be wishy-washy – cut phrases such “I think I’m qualified,” or “I believe I’m the right person for the job.”
* Keep the letter to a single page, usually no more than three or four paragraphs.
* Proof read, proof read, proof read.
Introductory paragraph: Your first paragraph should grab the reader, motivate him or her to move on to your resume and clips. You can do that in three ways:
* An anecdote. Using a personal experience can illustrate your talents as a journalist. Your anecdote can be about a great story you broke, the way you pursued a particular source or something more personal that inspired you to enter journalism. The trick is to keep is short – it’s only the introduction.
* A personal reference from someone the reader respects is another good opener. Examples would include a colleague, a former boss or a well-regarded professor. Make sure you have the person’s blessing before including him or her in the letter. Example: John Smith, city editor of the Maryland Banner, recommended I contact you.
* Get right to the point. If you lack an anecdote or a personal connection, simply introduce yourself and say why you would be worth hiring. Be confident.
Middle: Highlight your experience, but don’t exaggerate. Don’t repeat your resume — complement it. Talk briefly about stories you’ve written or experiences you’ve had that make you a great candidate for the job. Talk about your ambition and what motivates you.
Closing: Wrap it up. Thank the editor or producer for considering you. Let them know you’ll be in touch in order to schedule an interview. Be sure to sign your letter.
Thank-you letters: They are never out of style. If an employer has taken the time to interview you, be sure to send a follow-up letter (not an e-mail but a formal letter) thanking him or her for the time. You can also use this letter as an opportunity to supply some fresh examples of your work.
E-mail letters: Some employers request applications by e-mail. Keep in mind the same guidelines apply. Be as professional as you would in a letter – misspellings or inaccuracies are just as glaring in an e-mail as on the printed page.
One resource any UF student can use is the Career Resource Center’s Resume Builder. It’s a program that you can sign up for at no cost, at crc.ufl.edu. You will type in your resume and it will give you guidelines and examples of what you should type. However, it emphasizes that you shouldn’t copy/paste the examples, you should tailor your resume to your personal responses.
Some of their tips:
-Any work or volunteer experience
-In-depth description of your employment; add the location of your employer, as well as the period of time during which you were employed.
-Describe your position, responsibilities and accomplishments.
Yahoo! Hot Jobs:
*Objective: Your objective should be simple, specific and brief — no more than two or three lines. It should highlight what you have to offer the company, such as a specific skill or experience. A recruiter is more interested in what you can give the company than what you hope to get from it. Example- Objective: To obtain an entry-level account management position in financial services utilizing my strong analytical and interpersonal skills.
*Keep It Simple
*Your resume should show how you can benefit an employer — not just list your features and skills
*You have to have done what you claim on your resume.
Many employers today take steps to ensure that you have the background you claim. They have a wide variety of background checking tools at their disposal.
-After you’ve sent a resume, it’s tempting to sit back and hope the recruiter will call. But — make no mistake — you SHOULD follow up. Wait a week, recruiters say.
-E-mail is a great follow-up tool because it not only lets you remind the recruiter that you’ve applied for a job, but it also lets you submit a resume again without seeming too pushy.
A week after you’ve submitted a resume, send the recruiter an e-mail to follow up.
Use these tips to write your follow-up e-mail:
* Put your full name and the title of the position you’ve applied for in the subject line.
* Write a professional note that reiterates your qualifications and interest in the job.
* Attached your resume again. (Don’t make the recruiter have to dig though old e-mails to look for it.)
* Include your full name in the file name of your resume.
* Don’t forget to proofread carefully before you hit “Send”!
Here are some tips from MSN.com, courtesy of Robert Half International:
Stick to the facts:
Including keywords that match phrases from the job description in your résumé and cover letter is one way to help you catch a hiring manager’s eye. For example, if you are applying for an entry-level Web design job that requires “advanced Photoshop skills,” include “Photoshop” in your résumé and highlight projects you’ve worked on that entailed extensive use of this application. Just be sure the keywords you include accurately reflect your background.
Make the connection:
Many job candidates assume that if their résumé generates only tepid interest from employers, it must be because their qualifications fall short of the company’s requirements. But in many cases, the bigger problem is how their experience is presented. A résumé isn’t just a list of facts — it should paint a portrait of who you are and what you can do for an employer.
Perhaps the most common résumé mistake is not being specific enough about your previous duties and accomplishments. For example, if you are a database administrator, noting that you “manage the company’s databases” doesn’t tell an employer exactly what you did. Did you troubleshoot problems? Make key business decisions related to the database? Supervise employees?
Put yourself in the employer’s shoes. He or she is trying to develop the clearest possible sense of how you can contribute to the business. For every position you’ve held, list several specific achievements and explain how each benefited the company.
Don’t sell yourself short:
Every job candidate has weaknesses. But there are ways to turn perceived weaknesses into strengths. If you have only a few years of experience, for example, use your cover letter to highlight how your enthusiasm and ability to learn quickly can be assets.
Your attitude also can have an effect on your job search. If you’ve become convinced that no one will hire you, you may inadvertently be conveying this pessimism in your cover letter, making it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Demonstrating confidence gives you an immediate edge on the competition.
A truly successful job search isn’t about doing whatever it takes to land a job. It’s about showing employers who you are and what you can contribute. In doing so, you give yourself the best chance of getting a foot in the door.
For cover letters, one of the best pieces of advice I came across was from Literacy Education Online: Research, research, research! Research the company you want to work for. Read about the company in newspapers, do a Google search, consult publications like Moody’s Manuals that tell about companies. Figure out how your skills fit into their environment.
Here are 15 tips from Quest Career (http://www.questcareer.com/tips.htm):
1. Determine your job search objective prior to writing the resume. Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull’s-eye to focus your resume on hitting. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those that read it. Take the time before you start your resume to form a clear objective.
2. Think of your resume as a marketing tool. Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your resume. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your resume.
3. Use your resume to obtain an interview, not a job. You don’t need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer.
4. Use bulleted sentences. In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it.
5. Use action words. Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented.
6. Use #’s, $’s and %’s. Numbers, dollars, and percentages stand out in the body of a resume. Use them. Here are two examples:
· Managed a department of 10 with a budget of $1,000,000.
· Increased sales by 25% in a 15-state territory.
7. Lead with your strengths. Since resumes are typically reviewed in 30 seconds, take the time to determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those strong points first where they are more apt to be read.
8. Play Match Game. Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the key words listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your resume. If you have missed any key words, add them to your resume.
9. Use buzzwords. If there are terms that show your competence in a particular field, use them in your resume. For marketing people, use “competitive analysis.” For accounting types, use “reconciled accounts.”
10. Accent the positive. Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you feel your date of graduation will subject you to age discrimination, leave the date off your resume. If you do some duties in your current job that don’t support your job search objective, leave them off your resume. Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight.
11. Show what you know. Rather than going into depth in one area, use your resume to highlight your breadth of knowledge. Use an interview to provide more detail.
12. Show who you know. If you have reported to someone important such as a vice president or department manager, say so in your resume. Having reported to someone important causes the reader to infer that you are important.
13. Construct your resume to read easily. Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 10 point. Limit the length of your resume to 1-2 pages. Remember, resumes are reviewed quickly. Help the reader to scan your resume efficiently and effectively.
14. Have someone else review your resume. Since you are so close to your situation, it can be difficult for you to hit all your high points and clearly convey all your accomplishments. Have someone review your job search objective, your resume, and listings of positions that interest you. Encourage them to ask questions. Their questions can help you to discover items you inadvertently left off your resume. Revise your resume to include these items. Their questions can also point to items on your resume that are confusing to the reader. Clarify your resume based on this input.
15. Submit your resume to potential employers. Have the courage to submit your resume. Think of it as a game where your odds of winning increase with every resume you submit. You really do increase your odds with every resume you submit. Use a three-tiered approach. Apply for some jobs that appear to be beneath you. Perhaps they will turn out to be more than they appeared to be once you interview for them. Or perhaps once you have your foot in the door you can learn of other opportunities. Apply for jobs that seem to be just at your level. You will get interviews for some of those jobs. See how each job stacks up. Try for some jobs that seem like a stretch. That’s how you grow — by taking risks. Don’t rule yourself out. Trust the process. Good luck in your job search!
Here are 15 tips from Quest (http://www.questcareer.com/tips.htm):
1. Determine your job search objective prior to writing the resume. Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull’s-eye to focus your resume on hitting. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those that read it. Take the time before you start your resume to form a clear objective.
2. Think of your resume as a marketing tool. Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your resume. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your resume.
3. Use your resume to obtain an interview, not a job. You don’t need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer.
4. Use bulleted sentences. In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it.
5. Use action words. Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented.
6. Use #’s, $’s and %’s. Numbers, dollars, and percentages stand out in the body of a resume. Use them. Here are two examples:
· Managed a department of 10 with a budget of $1,000,000.
· Increased sales by 25% in a 15-state territory.
7. Lead with your strengths. Since resumes are typically reviewed in 30 seconds, take the time to determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those strong points first where they are more apt to be read.
8. Play Match Game. Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the key words listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your resume. If you have missed any key words, add them to your resume.
9. Use buzzwords. If there are terms that show your competence in a particular field, use them in your resume. For marketing people, use “competitive analysis.” For accounting types, use “reconciled accounts.”
10. Accent the positive. Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you feel your date of graduation will subject you to age discrimination, leave the date off your resume. If you do some duties in your current job that don’t support your job search objective, leave them off your resume. Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight.
11. Show what you know. Rather than going into depth in one area, use your resume to highlight your breadth of knowledge. Use an interview to provide more detail.
12. Show who you know. If you have reported to someone important such as a vice president or department manager, say so in your resume. Having reported to someone important causes the reader to infer that you are important.
13. Construct your resume to read easily. Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 10 point. Limit the length of your resume to 1-2 pages. Remember, resumes are reviewed quickly. Help the reader to scan your resume efficiently and effectively.
14. Have someone else review your resume. Since you are so close to your situation, it can be difficult for you to hit all your high points and clearly convey all your accomplishments. Have someone review your job search objective, your resume, and listings of positions that interest you. Encourage them to ask questions. Their questions can help you to discover items you inadvertently left off your resume. Revise your resume to include these items. Their questions can also point to items on your resume that are confusing to the reader. Clarify your resume based on this input.
15. Submit your resume to potential employers. Have the courage to submit your resume. Think of it as a game where your odds of winning increase with every resume you submit. You really do increase your odds with every resume you submit. Use a three-tiered approach. Apply for some jobs that appear to be beneath you. Perhaps they will turn out to be more than they appeared to be once you interview for them. Or perhaps once you have your foot in the door you can learn of other opportunities. Apply for jobs that seem to be just at your level. You will get interviews for some of those jobs. See how each job stacks up. Try for some jobs that seem like a stretch. That’s how you grow — by taking risks. Don’t rule yourself out. Trust the process. Good luck in your job search!
This is from a Detroit Free Press piece by Joe Grimm, recruiting and development editor:
*If you describe your work as outstanding, fantastic or thorough, attribute those judgments to someone
*Power words: Initiated, completed, created, developed, earned, built.
*Show you’re connected by putting your e-mail address on your résumé — and then using it.
*In addition to saying where you worked, when and under what title, say what you did.
*Putting personal information such as age, marital status, height and health on your résumé makes you seem unsophisticated.
*Include a permanent address if your present address is likely to change.
*No résumé needs this line: “references available upon request.” That’s assumed.
*While paper résumés should be just one page; electronic résumés may be much longer.
*Most frequently misspelled word on résumés today: QuarkXPress.
*Nouns and names of computer programs help résumés get notice in electronic databases.
*Do you have another language? Put it down, with your degree of proficiency.
*Show how non-journalistic experience relates by describing the skills you used.
*Write your résumé in AP style.
*A good résumé shows progression through your career. Show how one job led to the next.
*State your career objective only if it is specific to the job opening.
*Avoid unexplained gaps in your career.
*Beginners should note jobs they used to pay for their educations.
I found this on Poynter Online. The second half of the article is a conversation between the author of the article Colleen Eddy, who is the director of the Poynter Career Center, and Joe Grimm, the recruiting and development editor at the Detroit Free Press.
Consider what you are dealing with: human nature. We want things to be easy:
• Make your resume easy to understand and easy to read.
• Make it easy to contact you.
• Tell people why they want to hire you by listing your skills and strengths.
What you put on paper makes a statement about you. Ask yourself what image you want to create through your fonts, use of white space, and most importantly, with clear, accurate, straightforward language. People perceive all these things just as though you were speaking.
Don’t worry about that rule you’ve heard about keeping your resume to one page, but don’t stretch it out, either. A resume doesn’t have to say it all, just enough to get them to call you for an interview. Above all, it must be honest and accurate.
Here’s what Joe Grimm has to say about resumes, followed by some of my own comments:
Joe: Generally an “objective” line is not helpful. However if you are changing directions in your career, a good objective line can help the reader look at your work experience from your point of view.
Colleen: I agree. Objectives can limit the hiring manager’s view of you. If they don’t have an opening that matches your objective, they may not read further. Instead of an objective, use a summary heading that makes a statement about why you’re worth hiring.
Joe: Use verbs that show action, such as: founded, directed, initiated, created, led or advocated.
Colleen: Action verbs show performance — you actually did or are doing something. That’s what we need to achieve goals.
Joe: Use concrete nouns. They can help your resume show up in database searches. Useful nouns include software programs, languages, job titles and fields of study.
Colleen: What’s important here is “concrete.” Such nouns anchor to reality the actions described in the resume.
Joe: A resume works on multiple levels. It is not just a professional summary; it is also a sample of your work. Make it a persuasive piece of evidence that you are professional and competent.
Colleen: Amen. Like the attire you wear to the interview, the resume is your first impression — on paper.
Joe: A well-organized resume is built in a grid format with two or three columns. Use the left margin, an indented column and a right column. Use one for employers and schools, another for dates, and the center area for longer descriptions.
Always have a good editor — not your best friend — edit your resume before you submit it.
Colleen: The pain of a typo on a resume cuts deep. It may cut you right out of the picture.
And we both agree that there is never any need to write “references available upon request.” Instead, when you are asked for your references –- which will happen if the company is interested in hiring you –- then submit a list of references with contact information.
I found the following tips from careerbuilder.com titled “Five Easy Ways to Improve Your Resume.”
1. Spell check… the old-fashioned way.
2. Put it in reverse chronological order.
3. Simplify your language. Keep your sentences short and don’t worry about fragments. Leave out personal pronouns like “I,” “my” and “me.” Saying, “I performed” this or “I demonstrated” that is redundant. Who else would you be talking about if not yourself?
4. Eliminate clutter. Format your résumé for consistency and easy reading.
5. Read it aloud.
Then I went on and looked at another careerbuilder.com article, “Cover Letter Dos and Don’ts,” to get some ideas for writing the perfect cover letter.
1. Do personalize your letter.
2. Don’t send a generic cover letter to many different companies.
3. Do address the specific position advertised.
4. Don’t make the reader work too hard to see that you are right for the position.
5. Do get to the point.
6. Don’t end your letter passively.
7. Do write and edit your letter with great care.
After that site, I looked at resume-help.org. They’ve got ways to submit your resume for professional critique, free resume samples and resume FAQs, a section where people have asked them interesting questions and professionals have responded.
Some information from resume-help.org:
Q: Should I staple a 2-page resume?
A: Do not staple the resume, even if 2 pages. Without a staple, the two pages can be placed side-by-side to view the whole resume at once. That said, if you have a 2nd page, put your name on top of page 2 (header). By doing this, if the 2 pages are separated they can be easily put back together.
Q: What is Resume Scanning?
A: Resume scanning is a process where employers convert hardcopy resumes into electronic resumes. Basically instead of a human reading the resume, the resume is first input into the company’s computer database via a scanner. Scanning has some inherent problems due to the non-human element and is therefore not used extensively. If done at all, it is mainly done at Fortune 100 and possibly Fortune 500 companies. Wondering if the job you are applying to scans resumes? Call the Human Resources department and ask. As the job of HR is to find candidates, they will be welcome to the question and outline the process that their company employs for resume screening.
Another great source is jobstar.org. The site features a section of resume tips by professional Yana Parker, who has written a book on how to write the best resume ever. Some of Parker’s tips are:
Q: What’s the fastest way to improve a resume?
Parker: Remove everything that starts with “responsibilities included …” and replace it with on-the-job ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Q: Should I include hobbies/interests on my resume?
Parker: Don’t UNLESS the activity is somehow relevant to your job objective. OR it clearly reveals a characteristic that supports your job objective. (A hobby of Sky Diving (adventure, courage) might seem relevant to some job objectives (Security Guard?) but not to others.)
http://www.free-resume-tips.com suggests the following 10 tips:
1) Use titles and headings that match the job you want.
2) Use design that grabs attention and highlights your skills.
3) Create content and description that sells.
4) Use quantifying examples and powerful, active words.
5) Learning how to analyze the key words that employers provide in help wanted ads and job descriptions is a key element in creating powerful resumes.
6) Identify and solve employer’s hidden needs.
7) Sell and explain the benefits of your skills.
8) Create an image that matches the salary you want.
9) Prioritize the content by importance, impressiveness and relevance to the job you want.
10) Tweak and target your resume so that they address the specific skills each employer requests.
Tips from about.com on a good cover letter:
– A cover letter should be addressed to a specific person and made easy for the candidate to be contacted, providing both cell and home phone numbers.
– It should state immediately the position for which the candidate is applying.
– It should highlight the two most important items that qualify the individual for the position in the first paragraph.
– It invites the employer to learn more about the candidate’s skills and experience in the enclosed resume
– It summarizes character traits, skills, and values in the second paragraph.
– It matches the candidate’s specific skills and experience with what the employer advertised in the job posting.
– It ends with a summary of qualifications and the value he can bring to the organization.
– It states salary requirements, as requested in the job posting
– It gives the potential employer a good sense of whom this applicant is and what the candidate values.
– It ends with a call to action.
I found the following tips for writing a better resume on http://www.provenresumes.com (it’s not much, but it seems like just about everything else that’s useful has already been mentioned on this blog):
1. Correctly identify and market your skills.
2. Analyze job ads to identify top skills employers need.
3. Prove how your skills solve those needs.
4. Replace weak titles with skills that match the job.
5. Write powerful content to quantify achievements.
6. Use design that attracts attention and sells in seconds.
7. Graph resume titles and skills to determine if they make your image go up, down or match the image of the job you want.
I got the following tips from the article “Ten Easy Ways to Improve Your Resume,” written by Katharine Hansen of Quintessential Careers:
1. Use a bulleted style to make your resume more reader-friendly. Given that employers screen resumes for between 2.5 and 20 seconds, they will find your resume a lot more readable if you use bullet points instead of paragraph style. It’s just easier to read.
2. Follow “The Resume Ingredients Rule.” Set forth by Donald Asher, author of numerous resume books (see our Q&A with him), the rule says that information on a resume should be listed in order of importance to the reader. Therefore, in listing your jobs, what’s generally most important is your title/position. So list in this preferred order: Title/position, name of employer, city/state of employer, dates of employment. I can’t tell you how many resumes I’ve seen that list dates first. Dates can be important to some employers, but they’re generally not as important as what your position was and whom you worked for. Education follows the same principle; thus, the preferred order for listing your education is: Name of degree (spelled out: Bachelor of _____) in name of major, name of university, city/state of university, graduation year, followed by peripheral information, such as minor and GPA. If you haven’t graduated yet, list your information the same way. Simply by virtue of the fact that the graduation date you’ve listed is in the future, the employer will know you don’t have the degree yet.
By the way, the Resume Ingredients Rule is also the reason that experience and education are listed in reverse chronological order on your resume; it’s assumed that your most recent education and experience are most important and relevant to the reader.
3. Eliminate “responsibilities” words from your resume vocabulary. Never use expressions like “Duties included,” “Responsibilities included,” or “Responsible for” on your resume. Why? Because your resume should be accomplishments-driven, not responsibilities-driven. Anyone (well, maybe not anyone…) can perform the duties listed in a job description. Job-description language is not what sells in a resume. Accomplishments-oriented language tells employers how you’ve gone above and beyond in your jobs, what makes you special, how you’ve taken initiative and made your jobs your own.
4. Eliminate clutter from your resume. Several elements can clutter up your resume and impede readability:
* Unnecessary dates. Don’t list dates that don’t add anything to your resume; for example, dates you spent involved in college extracurricular activities. If you were involved in these activities during college, the reader can pretty much guess your dates of involvement, and listing the dates will just clutter up your document. Same with dates of involvement in professional or civic organizations; ask yourself if those dates will be meaningful to the employer reading your resume.
* Parentheses. Jobseekers have a particular tendency to set off dates of employment with parentheses. It’s easier on the reader if you just use commas.
* The line “References: Available upon request.” This statement is highly optional because it is a given that you will provide references upon request. If you couldn’t, you would have no business looking for a job. The line can serve the purpose of signaling: “This is the end of my resume,” but if you are trying to conserve space, leave it off.
* Articles. Those little words “a,” “an,” and “the.” Generally speaking, resumes aren’t written in sentence form, but in concise phrases that have become an accepted shorthand that employers understand. Articles tend to clutter up that shorthand; your resume will read in a more streamlined manner without them. Consider these “before” and “after” examples:
5. Use strong, concrete verbs to describe your jobs, and don’t mix noun and verb phrases. Let’s look at this example:
* Managed and controlled all aspects of company’s West Coast presence. [verb]
* Complete ownership of inventory and financial standards. [noun]
* Full P&L responsibilities. [noun]
* Analyzed market and forecast sales, prepared corporate budgets and monitored results to achieve ROI objectives. [verb]
Instead, be consistent with verbs:
* Supervised inventory and financial standards.
* Completely oversaw profit and loss aspects of operation.
Also avoid the weak verbs, “to be,” “to do,” and “to work.” Everyone works. Be more specific. “Collaborate(d)” is often a good substitute. Instead of: “Worked with Marketing Department to launch promotional campaign,” say “Collaborated with Marketing Department to launch promotional campaign.”
6. Focus on describing past job activities that highlight the skills you most like to use and want to use in your next job. Don’t spend a lot of time, for example, describing all that clerical stuff you did in a past job if you have no intention of doing clerical work again. Even if you’ve mastered skills that are in great demand, don’t emphasize them if they’re not the skills you want to use in the future.
7. Don’t fret about the one-page resume rule. Sure, it’s nice to keep your resume to one page if you can, but don’t go to extraordinary lengths, such as by using tiny type. If you have significant experience, you’ll probably need more than one page. What you should avoid is having one full page with just a little bit of text on your second page. If you fill a third or less of the second page, consider condensing to one page. Ways to condense:
* Narrow your margins. The margins in Microsoft Word are set very wide by default. You can have margins as narrow as .75” all around and still have a nice-looking document.
* Use a smaller point size, but not too small. A font size of 11-point is good; don’t go too much smaller than 10.5-point.
* Many jobseekers use a two-column format with headings in the left-hand column. To conserve space, narrow or even eliminate the left-hand column and simply stack your headings on top of each section.
8. Make sure your resume has a sharp focus. Again, given the microscopic amount of time that employers spend screening resumes, you need a way to show the employer at a glance what you want to do and what you’re good at. One way to sharpen your focus is through an objective statement. Another way is to add a section called something like “Summary of Qualifications,” or “Profile.” To see an example of such a section, go to sample resume.
9. Don’t list too much experience on your resume. The rule of thumb for someone at the senior level is to list about 15 years worth of jobs. Age discrimination, unfortunately, is a reality, and even more likely, employers may think you’re too expensive if you list too much experience on your resume. Similarly, don’t give the date of your college graduation if it was more than about 10 years ago.
10. Be sure the reader will understand all the acronyms and jargon you use in your resume. Resumes in the high-tech field are notorious for these mysterious terms. We recently received a resume containing the following acronyms and jargon: MCSE, MCP+I, TCP/IP, CCA, CCNA, token ring and PCMCIA network interface cards for LAN connectivity, NT Service Packs, Ethernet cards, Server 4.0, SQL 6.5, 7.0, Red Hat Linux 6.1, Turbo Linux 4.0 and Caldera 2.3, Cisco 2500 routers and switches. Now, chances are that employers in this jobseeker’s field understand all these terms. Just be sure that’s the case. Spell out any acronyms you think could be questionable, and explain any terms you think some readers of your resume might not understand.
College students, too, need to be aware of “inside” jargon. At Stetson University, my alma mater, for example, we have an annual charity fundraiser called “Greenfeather;” freshman-orientation leaders called “FOCUS” advisers; and a volunteer organization called “Into the Streets.” The school’s graduates routinely use those terms on their resumes without any explanation, as though everyone knows what Greenfeather, FOCUS, and Into the Streets mean. Look at your resume from an outsider’s perspective — and explain (or eliminate) any unfamiliar terms or acronyms.
Bonus tip: Be sure to list locations (city and state) for all your past employers. It’s resume protocol to do so, and employers expect to see that information. I’m constantly amazed at all the resumes I see that list names of past employers, but don’t tell where those employers are located.
The Ultra Honest Resume: How to Write a Resume That Passes the Verification Test
-If you’re not sure, don’t guess. If you can’t remember for certain when you left a position, call the company and ask. The same goes for your salary history, which generally doesn’t go on a resume but you might be asked for on an application.
-Provide extra information if the company’s situation has changed. If a previous employer was bought by another company, it could make it harder for a background checker to verify your employment (although background checkers do have access to databases that sometimes contain this information). Clarify the situation in a short note on your resume: Note the new owner in parentheses after the listing.
-Be careful with titles and temp work. At some companies, employees use a title on their business cards, for example, that is different from the one on file with human resources. An HR job title might be “senior marketing manager,” Hammer says. “That’s not particularly helpful to an employer. In fact what they called you in the company was ‘marketing manager for electric grid suppliers.'”
If the title your HR department uses for your position is very different from the job title normally applied to a particular job, it may help to list both titles on your resume or job application.
Also, if you worked at a well-known company through a temporary agency, make sure you note on your resume and application that you were employed by the agency. The well-known company will likely have no record of your employment.
-Don’t obsess over it. If, despite your best efforts, the background checkers can’t confirm one of your past jobs, it may not be a problem. At Nadell’s firm, more than one-third of past employment verifications turn up something that can’t be confirmed. This doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be turned down for the job.
The following resume tips come from Yahoo! hotjobs:
Your resume has only a few seconds to impress – or to end up in the trash.
A strong resume needs a solid foundation, and no amount of trickery can mask poor organization. Start with these basics.
Contact Information: List your contact information at the top of the resume. Include your full name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address. If you have a personal Web site, include the URL only if the site shows off your skills or applies to your career goals.
Objective: The objectives section gives recruiters an immediate sense of who you are and what you’re looking for, without forcing them to wade through the entire resume. If you decide to include an objective, stress what you’ll add to the company, not what you’re looking to take away.
Experience: List your experience chronologically, with your most recent job first. If your latest experience wasn’t the most impressive, arrange your list by importance. Include the company name, location, your title and dates of employment. Also, give a brief description of your accomplishments.
*Remember these tips:
Emphasize your most important responsibilities even if they weren’t your primary duties.
Use active voice. Strong sentences are those in which a subject performs an action (active voice) as opposed to an action being performed on the subject (passive voice). “I planned an event,” creates a stronger impression than “An event was planned by me.”
Impress employers with cause-effect relationships and tangible results. Quantify your achievements with percentages and numbers like “increased enrollment 20 percent” and “supervised three-person staff.”
Use descriptions to highlight your sense of initiative. Paint yourself as a “go-getter” with strong verbs like “proposed,” “launched” and “managed.”
Skills/Interests: Today’s workers are more tech-savvy than ever, so make sure you mention your technical and computer skills. List programming languages, software programs and operating systems you’ve used as well as certifications you have. Don’t forget “soft skills” like foreign languages and public speaking.
Always include memberships in professional organizations, because it shows you’re serious about your career. Mentioning your interests is optional. Listing activities and hobbies can portray you as a well- rounded person, but it can raise eyebrows, too. Be careful what you list. (You should probably keep your passion for professional wrestling to yourself.)
Education: List your most recent education first and work backward. State your degree, major, minor, dates of attendance and the school’s name and location. You may also want to add your GPA (if 3.0 or higher).
References: Don’t waste valuable space on references. Employers assume you’ll provide them upon request.
*Finishing Touches
Create several versions of your resume, each tailored to the type of position you’re applying for. Writing multiple resumes can be time-consuming, but it’s a small price to pay for the job you want.
If you’re applying for a specific job, research the position and company. Pay attention to the job requirements, and highlight your qualifications as they reflect the hiring company’s needs.
Be concise. Stick to one page. Make sure every word is meaningful.
Choose fonts that are easy-to-read, clean and consistent. Don’t use non-traditional or overly creative fonts.
Read, edit and re-read your resume to make sure it’s well written, clear and typo-free. Do it again. Then, ask your friends and family to do the same.
If you use an online resume, consider saving a text (“.txt”) version that will look good on any computer. Send your resume as an attached file and also paste the text into the body of the e-mail just to be safe. Online resumes should also include plenty of keywords, since they may be searched.
With some self-evaluation, careful organization and savvy choice of words, your resume will rise to the top of the pile on any recruiter’s desktop.
**Here are some cover letter tips from the same site:
Whether you’re submitting a resume cold or responding to a job posting, always include a cover letter. Yes, they’re tedious to write, but a solid cover letter can make the difference between getting the job and getting nowhere.
Address the Recruiter: Start your letter with the date. Skip two lines and write the recruiter’s full name, preceded by Mr. or Ms. Then, list the recruiter’s title and the company name and address. If you don’t know the recruiter’s name, simply list the company name and address.
Say Hello: Two lines below the header, greet the recruiter with “Dear Mr.” or “Ms.”, followed by his/her last name and a colon. Don’t use the first name, even if you’ve met the recruiter before; it’s unprofessional to be immediately informal. If you don’t know the recruiter’s name, address the letter, “To Whom It May Concern.”
Introduce Yourself: State your letter’s purpose in the first paragraph. Tell the recruiter which position you’re applying for and why it interests you. Briefly list your top qualifications. If you’re responding to a job posting, mention where you saw it.
Sell Yourself: The second paragraph is the most important: It’s your sell. Summarize your credentials, but don’t reiterate your resume. List your most relevant accomplishments from previous jobs, internships or volunteer work. Emphasize your qualifications for the job by highlighting applicable skills. If you’re responding to an ad, you have an edge: You already know the job requirements. Make sure you address them.
Flatter Your Reader: The third paragraph should clarify why you want to work at this particular company. Explain why you and the company are a good fit. Show the recruiter that you’ve done your research. Mention a recent company event or express your interest in an aspect of the company that isn’t widely known. Remember, everyone loves flattery, but don’t go over the top.
Follow-Up: Your final paragraph should be only a few sentences. Thank the recruiter for reading your letter, then request an interview and provide your phone number. Or, be proactive and state that you’ll call in a week to follow-up. Then do it.
Wrap It Up: Two lines below the last paragraph, conclude with “Sincerely,”. Three lines below that, type your full name. Don’t forget your signature.
Leave a Great Impression: Three lines below the finish, type “Enclosure” (referring to your resume). You’ll look professional, detail-oriented and oh-so-savvy.
The Quick List
Do not send form letters. Tailor each letter to the company, department and, if possible, specific position. The extra effort pays off.
Recruiters read hundreds of cover letters. Brevity is key. Keep the letter to one page.
When touting your achievements, be confident but don’t exaggerate, brag or lie.
Read, edit and re-read your letter for typos. Ask a friend to read it, too.
A cover letter’s strength lies in its language and detail, so do your research and take your time. Use a professional tone, but don’t be stiff. Be yourself. Take advantage of this opportunity to show off your dynamic personality as well as your skills.
Colleen Bennett
colbe6@ufl.edu
For this assignment, I found an article on Monster.com about how to update your resume based on a career change. This was of interest to me because the job I intend to seek upon graduation is not of the same major that I have spent four years at the University of Florida working on.
The tip they said was to do a job search, and try to gather all the list of skills or traits they look for in potential employees. The trick beyond that is to target your resume accordingly in order to spotlight jobs that have built specific skills necessary to the job. This may sound like something that is common sense, but I guess I had not really been sure about how to talk about your skills, or accentuate them on a resume. They say that all is not lost when seeking a career change, in terms of the experience you have gained. The trick is to sell yourself according to the skills you acquired, even if the career or previous job was completely unlike what you intend to pursue.