The Resume
Finally! We get to actually write the resume!
There are two ways to write a resume. It is up to you to choose which is best for you. The first type is a traditional resume that details your education and work experience. This is an excellent resume if you have a lot of experience in a certain field and want to show that off. The other type focuses more on your skills, gained both in and out of the workplace. This is more appropriate for potential employees who may not have much work experience yet.
The first type of resume will include a prominent WORK HISTORY section with bullet points under every position explaining the nature of the work done. The second type of resume will not have these bullet points, but will instead include a SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS section. Both will have WORK HISTORY, but the latter will have less description under this section.
Sections can be presented in any order, but use your better judgement. Things like CAREER OBJECTIVE should always come first. After this, organize headings in a way that make sense to you.
You may have a basic resume with key information you will reuse for every job application. However, it is important to edit your resume for every single job you apply to using the information you gathered earlier. Keeping in mind the specific requirements of that workplace, tailor your bullet points and descriptions to show how well your skills match those requirements.
Basic InformationCentered at the top of your page should be your contact information. Include your name, your home address, your phone number, and your e-mail address (if applicable). Do not include your age, skin color, eye color, height, photograph, gender, or anything else unless explicitly asked to do so by your potential employer.
EDUCATIONYour list should move from your most recent degree to your oldest. The heading should look like this:
Date TITLE or DEGREE (capitalised and bolded)
University, location
The date should appear in the following format: Jan. 2000 – Mar. 2006. If you are currently in the program, write "present" as the ending date.
The location, for residents of North America, should be the State (US), Province (Canada), or country (other). Two letter codes are acceptable.
Under this information, put bullet points. Information should include any scholarships or awards you've received, your thesis (if applicable), and any courses you took that would be relevant to the job you are applying to. For example, if you are applying as a front desk receptionist, mention that course you took on using common computer programs (such as word processing and such).
If you have the equivalent of a BA or higher, it is not necessary to mention your High School education. However, this is a judgement call. If you received awards or recognition while in High School that you feel should be mentioned, by all means include that. If you did co-op work (work placement for school credits) as a plumber while in High School, for example, and are now applying as a plumber, that would be good to mention as well.
WORK HISTORYI am putting this after EDUCATION because it is very similar. Remember that you can include your headings in any order. Like the previous section, your work experience should be listed with the most recent at the top. Dates should be handled in the same way (make sure you do so, having different systems of dating for different sections of your resume makes you appear inconsistent). Each job's heading should look like this:
Date TITLE (capitalised and bolded)
Company name
City, State/Province/Country
If you choose to include bullet points, they should detail the type of work you did as well as any special awards or recognition you received while working there.
SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONSOK, here's the hard one! Each point should bulleted. What you want to do is explain all the skills you've gained (from school, work, or just every day life) that relate to the requirements of this particular job. This is the section that should undergo the most changes between each application.
The grammar should be stiff and annoying (personal opinion). To give an example from a resume I wrote when applying as a tutor: "Showed genuine concern for first year student adaptation by tutoring peers in study skills and effective essay writing techniques.” Notice that there is no first person. The personal pronoun of the sentence is lopped off. I know, it sounds stupid. But I've heard from several employers that, while they couldn't identify a reason why they look for this trait, reading a resume without it "feels weird” and the candidate will automatically get marks against him/her.
Start with a strong verb that conveys that you have proven yourself qualified to those around you. Good verbs include: Demonstrated, proved, showed, or established. You can add variety by adding adjectives, like "successfully demonstrated…”
Next, you want to say
what you proved. If you found out about an opening from an ad, read the ad carefully and see if specific skills are mentioned. If there are, you want to address ALL of them here. You also want to refer back to the information you gathered about the specific job before (or, if you skipped that part, refer to what you think the requirements of the job will probably be).
Finally, you want to mention
how you proved that you have these skills. This can relate back to previous employment, classes you've taken, hobbies you have, or just stuff in general that has happened to you. For example, if you are applying as a front desk receptionist, you may like to mention that you have experience travelling and that this has given you an ability to communicate with people from a variety of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIESThis is not the place for you to talk about how much you love playing computer games. A very common mistake I see is that people assume that this is just a list of ways that you spend your time when you are bored. It isn't.
This is where you can mention any volunteer experience you may have. If you have a great deal of volunteer experience, however, you may wish to make a new section (perhaps called VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE) written in the same format as the WORK HISTORY section. If you only have a few bits and pieces, however, this is a good section to mention it in.
This is also where you can mention club memberships. If you have been involved with political groups, participated in your school's volleyball team, were in your local Amnesty International chapter, mention it here. Leave off anything you feel might be inappropriate (though think carefully – something like being on your school's volleyball team may do a great deal to promote you as a "team player"). It is also a good idea to include the most relevant items at the top of the list.
Some hobbies are appropriate here. For example, if you are applying for a job as a paperboy and this requires you to do a lot of bike riding, you can mention that one of your hobbies is you ride your bike. Just make sure that all the hobbies you list are relevant.
If you are applying for a job in a multi-cultural or international company, mention things like an interest in other cultures (either expressed through travel or simply through research).
Extra StuffMany people are extremely narrow-minded when trying to relate their experiences to something that employers are looking for. It's a shame because most of us have gained all sorts of great skills that we aren't putting on our resumes and, as a consequence, aren't getting hired for! Just as an example, here are some things I learned from attending University:
-Communication
o Writing effectively
o Presentations
-Research and Planning
-Organization, management, leadership
o Initiating new ideas
o Coordinating tasks
o Delegating responsibility
o Teaching
-Work survival
o Time management
o Enforcing policies
o Being punctual
o Attending to detail
o Meeting goals
o Accepting responsibility
o Enlisting help
o Setting and meeting deadlines
o Decision-making
So think very carefully when you write your resume and don't forget to mention skills that you have.
