Hey all,
I'm currently working on my resume (always a work in progress) and was wondering if any of you had any majors dos or don'ts. I'm aware of the obvious ones like not including your GPA if it's not impressive, no typos or silly fonts, making sure your e-mail address sounds professional, etc. Especially to those of you who may review resumes in your line of work: Are there specific phrases that are overused? Common mistakes you see time and time again? How do you make yourself stand out on paper? Any feedback would be much appreciated.
I don't review resumes, but I always hated putting an "Objective" on there. The business school always told us to, but everyone I've ever spoken with in business thinks it's extremely pointless.
Get a nice template. I'll sell you mine for some student tickets to next year's first game.
I agree, I have heard the same thing about the objective... thats pretty much stating the obvious
https://marquette.optimalresume.com/index.php
Great resource
I won't interview anyone that puts their gpa on a resume. unnatural carnal knowledge em if I'm going to hire someone with a higher gpa than me (pretty much everyone.)
I also think that references on a resume is pointless. "oh yeah, he's great, what a good worker, etc." like your gonna put someone on your reference list that says you're lazy, stupid and show up at work late and reeking of gin.
Keep it clean, simple (not cluttered), and brief.
Brief and a good layout is the best advice I'd say. Important that it flows well and is well organized. The easier it is to read, the more likely they will.
Quote from: Erin Andrews' Thong on April 04, 2009, 09:47:44 PM
I won't interview anyone that puts their gpa on a resume. frack em if I'm going to hire someone with a higher gpa than me (pretty much everyone.)
I also think that references on a resume is pointless. "oh yeah, he's great, what a good worker, etc." like your gonna put someone on your reference list that says you're lazy, stupid and show up at work late and reeking of gin.
You don't really make the paperboy fill out an application and interview, do you?
I hire a number of people a year and probably look at hundereds of resumes. Those that are not organized by chronological work order drive me nuts. I know categorizing by work tasks is all the rage, but unless I understand your career progression, and can see the dates of when you were employed, it doesn't mean anything.
Unless you are just graduating from college, putting your GPA on a resume is dumb. (I actually had an applicant for a job recently list his high school GPA...and he graduated from high school in 1973.)
If the cover letter is more than a page and a half, I'll probably lose interest.
Simple, no gimmicks, lots of white space. Don't try to shove everything on one page.
I like bullet points. Some people don't, but I do.
Oh one other thing...
Just use a nice white bond paper. Nothing too heavy or too colorful. Most resumes are either submitted electronically or are scanned. Those that are scanned with colored paper look dumb.
The most common mistake is to have only one resume. Remember, the purpose of a resume and cover letter is to get an interview. The resume screener typically isn't the hiring manager, so they will quickly scan for key words. Your resume is one of 500 hundred they may receive, especially in this economy.
Forget the career objective, instead make resume a summary of experience. This is your headline...make it brief but impactful...by impactful, I mean what differentiates you from the others. Even if a new grad, stress your internships and academic achievements in the body, related summer jobs to the one you are applying (even if clerical experience the job may be in the field), point out management experience (even if a supervisor of life guards at a pool you are dealing with scheduling, legal compliance, customer service, staff training, etc.), and any non-profit/volunteering. Don't downplay your degree--but remember, the other applicants took the same classes. Stress why you are different while establishing that you do have the base qualifications. Don't embellish, but differentiate with results.
Two examples for the same new grad. Who would you call in to interview for a job in a marketing/pr firm?
Example 1: Recent Marquette graduate in Business with a 3.2 GPA with classes in accounting, marketing and finance. Internship experience. Won numerous academic awards. Minor in Italian. Hobbies include civil war reenactments, baseball card collecting and MU basketball.
Example 2: Accomplished marketing graduate with public relations, customer service and management work experience. Internship project with Jones Agency increased client website user engagement by 1 million hits and ad revenue by 1250%. Served as President of "Alpha Mu Alpha" honorary marketing society and won the national "Leadership in Marketing on Campus" award for the development of a Junior Achievement ad campaign. Won Marquette's "Community Involvement" award for leadership in their urban literacy program, with over 1000 hours volunteered.
Thank you all for your great advice! I really appreciate it and will definitely be implementing your suggestions as I revamp my resume.
now you got me stressing about GPA. great, thanks :-b maybe i'll just say what my "laude" was and be done with it, that's cool right??
Quote from: The Wizard of West Salem on April 05, 2009, 08:02:42 AM
I hire a number of people a year and probably look at hundereds of resumes. Those that are not organized by chronological work order drive me nuts. I know categorizing by work tasks is all the rage, but unless I understand your career progression, and can see the dates of when you were employed, it doesn't mean anything.
Unless you are just graduating from college, putting your GPA on a resume is dumb. (I actually had an applicant for a job recently list his high school GPA...and he graduated from high school in 1973.)
If the cover letter is more than a page and a half, I'll probably lose interest.
Simple, no gimmicks, lots of white space. Don't try to shove everything on one page.
I like bullet points. Some people don't, but I do.
I agree with all of this. I do like the functional resume, but keep the task/functional section focused at the top, but also summarize work experience chronologically below.
Quote from: The Wizard of West Salem on April 05, 2009, 08:02:42 AM
If the cover letter is more than a page and a half, I'll probably lose interest.
You actually read the cover letters? I tend to focus my time reading resumes on the portions of the resume that "accurately" detail the applicant's experience. Cover letters are just a bunch of filler BS.
Of course I'm hiring software engineers/architects, so I'm sure that different industries have different things that they focus on.