Rsum 101 The Basics of Writing an Effective Rsum

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Résumé 101The Basics of Writing an Effective
Résumé
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Résumé Rules

• What are the Absolute, Unbreakable Rules of
  Resume Writing? There are only a few absolute
  rules in resume writing! These rules, however,
  are absolutes
• No typing errors.
• No misspellings.
• Do not tell a lie or mistruth.
• Do not include any negative information.
• It is YOUR résumé, your opinion matters. Use
  your critical thinking skill and filter
  suggestions from others.
• Think of WHO is going to be reading your résumé
  and what THEY are most interested in knowing.

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Résumé Marketing Tool

• How long do you think the average employer looks
  at a résumé?
• What do you most want the employer to know about
  you?
• Formatting first, BOLD, white space!
• THE PURPOSE OF A RESUME IS TO GET AN INTERVIEW

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MUST HAVE Categories on a Résumé

• Personal Logo
• (Name, Address(es), Phone Number(s), and Email)
• Education
• Experience (Work or Volunteer)

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Categories NEVER Included on a Resume

• Height, weight, age, date of birth, place of
  birth, marital status, sex, race, health, social
  security number (except on an International
  Resume)
• Reasons for leaving previous job(s)
• Picture of yourself
• Salary Information
• References (more on this issue later)
• The title "Resume"
• Religion, church affiliations, political
  affiliations

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Templates To Use or Not To Use?

• What About Those Resume Wizards in Microsoft
  Word?
• Word's Resume Wizards are increasingly popular
  with students.
• They can be help get you started with categories
  for your resume.
• CAUTION Formats are not geared to college
  students and can cause students to set up your
  resumes inappropriately. If you use Wizards,
  adapt them to recommended guideline for college
  students.
• FURTHER CAUTION Since so many college students
  are using Resume Wizards, employers are seeing an
  awful lot of resumes that look exactly alike.

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Education

• Bachelor of Science in Scientific and Technical
  Communication
• Emphasis in Web Development
• University of Minnesota
• Anticipated Graduation Fall 2005
• GPA 3.23 Major GPA 3.50

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Work Experience

• Five Components
• Job Title
• Name of Employer
• Location
• Dates of employment
• Description

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Use Action Verbs!Keep it brief and to the point

• Organized Communicated Directed
• Planned Created Assisted
• Supported Initiated Solved
• Reported Edited Analyzed
• Described Developed Managed
• Led Sold Designed

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Tie skills to contextHow have you applied them?

• Excellent communication skills
• vs.
• Presented detailed information related to resume
  writing in strategic career planning workshops

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And now for the numbers

• Conducted presentations for student orientation
  program
• Led over 30 presentations to groups of 50
  students and their parents introducing them to
  the Universitys services

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Use their language

• Assisted students in developing resumes targeted
  to the needs of the employer
• Taught analytical skills to students through job
  search correspondence instruction

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Other Resume Categories

• Objective
• Computer Skills
• Honors and Achievements
• Scholarships and Awards
• Volunteer Experience
• Leadership Experience
• Campus or Community Activities
• Certificates and Additional Training

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Objective

• Objective can add focus to the resume
• Specific to field and industry, but not to job
• Examples
• Obtaining an editing position within the medical
  industry
• To provide web development services to a health
  care company in the Chicago area

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Summary of Qualifications

• Must be specific, weighty, descriptive
• Must NOT be a list of vague skills
• Example of a good Summary
• Three years editing experience through college
  newspaper
• Adept at using Pagemaker, Quark, Flash, and
  Dreamweaver
• Lead designer for 11 web sites used in higher
  education and industry

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Where to start?

• What are you trying to communicate?

• Three guiding questions
• What is that particular employer looking for in
  the dream candidate?
• What are the 3-5 most important aspects of your
  experience that you need to describe based on
  what the employer is looking for?
• What is your competitive advantage relative to
  other candidates?

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Other strategies

• Placement of content makes a difference
• Clump related qualifications
• Use category headings that communicate your
  qualifications be creative.

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The Importance of Research

• Talk with people who know the employer, its
  products, past employees, or customers.
• Web, of course.
• U of M Business Reference Library at
  www.lib.umn.edu/reference click on Careers and
  Jobs

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Checklist

• Is it attractive? Does it make a good first
  impression?
• One page? Or can two pages be justified?
• Is it concise? Is extraneous information reduced
  or eliminated?
• Is unfamiliar information clarified? Just what is
  the Wilma Wonderwoman scholarship?
• Example
• Wilma Wonderwoman Scholarship Recipient Awarded
  to the senior who displays outstanding
  leadership.

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Types of Resumes

• Standard Resumes Laser printed, well-formatted,
  reader friendly.
• Scannable Resumes Text-based, plain, no
  formatting, key words (nouns phrases),
  qualifications summary.
• Web-based Resumes It is available 24/7, global
  exposure (good and bad), no page restrictions.

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Cover Letter Basics
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Guiding Principles

• What are your themes? What sets you apart?
• Specify how you will benefit the employer
• Be as specific as possible-- with examples
• How does your background meet their specific
  qualifications?
• You are just what they are looking for and you
  have the proof to back up your statements

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Employer Name

• If the name isnt given, employ your research
  skills to find out the name
• Be sure you have the gender and title correct

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Position

• A good cover letters targets a specific position
• Lack of clarity may lead to the perception that
  you dont know what you want to do

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Use examples

• My excellent financial management skills will
  greatly benefit your company
• vs.
• Through my work at the Jane Smith House, I honed
  my financial management skills by developing
  spreadsheets, reporting on cash-flow accounts and
  ledger balances

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Show your knowledge of the employer

• I am interested in working for Delta because of
  your reputation for quality
• I have been following your decision to pursue
  portal technology as a part of your communication
  strategy. I am eager to work for a Delta because
  of your commitment to cutting edge technology.

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Relate skills to the objective

• Objective Entry-level writing position
• In my position at Joiner Co. I entered data,
  contacted clients to update their addresses, and
  wrote letters and reports.
• Composed more that 50 letters sent to corporate
  clients such as Zeneca and Campbell, Inc. Wrote
  narrative for statistical report that was
  included in annual report sent to 1000
  organizations nationwide.

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The Big Finish

• Ask for an interview
• Indicate how you will follow-up (unless
  instructed specifically otherwise)
• Be sure you really do follow-up!

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Questions?