resume how to

How to Write a Great Resume! Greg Iaccarino L&S / Human Ecology Career Services Advisor Kari Nysather & Graduate Business School Career Services Advisor What do I need a resume for? ¡ To get your target employer’s attention…in 30 seconds or less! To communicate your credentials To demonstrate your achievements To create a first impression of your professional image ¡ ¡ ¡ Getting Started : Know thyself and thy job ¡ The biggest initial obstacle to writing a resume is describing your experience in terms of skills and abilities and not just as the duties you performed or your job responsibilities. Sometimes it’s necessary to convey job functions, but employers are really looking for you to identify what you learned from those duties and how they’re going to transfer to the new job (since no two positions have identical, static responsibilities). ¡ Getting Started : Know thyself and thy job Once you’ve identified your skills, then you can begin looking for the job(s) that would be the perfect fit for you. If you’re having trouble narrowing your job search, rank the skills or talents you’ve learned in your education, work, internship, volunteer or extracurricular involvement in the order in which you’d most like to use them in your future career. ¡ Resume Styles ¡ Which style will best represent your skills and experiences to a potential employer? l l l Reverse Chronological Functional Combination Reverse Chronological format… if you’re staying on the same career path ¡ The REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL RESUME is the traditional structure for most resumes. This format focuses on the Experience section and highlights in detail the last several jobs you’ve had as if they were rungs on the career ladder you’re now climbing. This type of resume is best used if you’re sticking in the same profession or type of work, or if you’re applying within a conservative field (such as law or academia). A career objective on this type of resume acts as the next rung you’d like on your career ladder. ¡ ¡ ¡ Functional Resume… if you want to veer down another path The FUNCTIONAL RESUME highlights your major skills and accomplishments from the very beginning. The functional resume is a must for career changers, those with divergent careers, those with a wide range of skills in their given profession, and who want to make slight shifts in their career direction. Readers can see clearly what you can do for them, rather than having to read through job descriptions. It helps target your resume into a new direction or field, by lifting up from all past jobs the key skills and qualifications that help prove you will be successful in this new direction or field. ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Combination Resume… for something in between ¡ A COMBINATION RESUME is another wonderful option. This type includes elements of both the chronological and functional formats. It may be a shorter chronology of job descriptions preceded by a short “Skills and Accomplishments” section (or with a longer Summary including a skills list or a list of “qualifications”); or, it may be a standard functional resume with the accomplishments under headings of different jobs held. It maximizes the advantages of both kinds of resumes, avoiding potential “turn-off” of either type. ¡ ¡ ¡ Essential Components ¡ Contact Information Educational background Relevant professional or school-related activities, clubs or organizations Experience ¡ ¡ ¡ Must Have’s: Contact Information ¡ Your Name Your Address: Most college students give “current” and “permanent” Phone Numbers: Make sure that any phone number you include has a professional message at the other end Email address: Again, make sure it’s professional…(ie. no rockstarstudent@hotmail.com) ¡ ¡ ¡ Contact Information (example) Maria Velasquez mjvelas@uwalumni.com Permanent Address: 367 Alameda Drive, Chico, CA 95926 Present Address: 1623 Monroe Street, Madison, WI 53711 Phone: (608) 257-1914 (home) (608) 279-0484 (cell) What’s next Experience or Education? ¡ If you are a current college student or about to graduate, you generally list education first If you’ve been out of school for a few years working, then you generally list experience first ¡ Must Have’s: Educational Experience Education: ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Always list the name of your University first Next, spell out your degree List your major(s) and certificates after your degree and your graduation date (or expected graduation) You can also list relevant coursework Academic awards, honors, and recognition should also be listed under this section You may want to list your GPA…it depends Educational Experience (example) Example: University of Wisconsin-Madison Bachelor of Arts, May 2002 Double Major: International Relations and Spanish Awards and Honors: Chancellor’s Scholarship Dean’s List (8 semesters) Hilldale Research Grant Recipient Relevant Coursework: Latin American Politics Business Spanish International Economics International Business Must Have’s: Experience ¡ You can use subsections for specific skills or experiences l (Volunteer/Community Service, Study/Work Abroad, Language Proficiencies, Professional Memberships, Public Relations Experience, Editing/Journalistic Experience, Fundraising Experience, Laboratory Experience, Experience With Children, etc.) ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Include company name, city and state Dates of employment (month or season, and year) Job Title And excellent descriptive statements to convey the skills you used, the accomplishments you made, and the initiatives you took… Experience (example) Intern, Human Rights Watch Washington D.C. Summer 2001 l l l Performed research for international human rights campaigns Initiated contact with international political organizations such as the European Union Translated documents from English to Spanish and vice versa What’s an excellent resume vs. a mediocre resume? ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Use ACTION verbs Show your achievements Demonstrate scope Readability and organization Clear and Concise Language Error Free (check grammar, spelling, content) Relevance, Relevance, Relevance !!! ¡ Weak vs. Strong Descriptive Statements ¡ The example statement below was on a student’s resume that I counseled on resume improvement. After further discussion, I found out he was not concisely showing his abilities and skills as an Assistant Sales Manager. The statement on the next page reflects the change. “Responsible for stocking inventory, working with employees, helping customers, keeping books, and closing store.” ¡ Strong Descriptive Statements ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Supervised and trained 30 employees in selling shoes, customer service and stocking shelves in a store with sales of $200,000 annually Consistently exceeded Corporate Sales Goals Top sales manger out of three managers Created and implemented employee incentive program, and increased sales by 20% per year Optional Resume Components ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Objective statement – (mixed reviews on this) Skills Summary or Professional Profile Honors or Awards Availability References upon request Computer Skills Group Projects Rule of Thumb… Make sure it’s relevant to your target job !! ¡ ¡ More on Career Objectives… do I need one or not? ¡ The rule of thumb on Career Objectives… l l If you are changing career directions, or have a diverse background you may want to use a career objective. If your resume show consistency in a particular career path, you may not need one. If you use a Career Objective… make sure it clarifies the following ¡ the Position that you’re applying for the Industry you’re interested in or the Skills you would like to utilize ¡ ¡ More specifically, a Career Objective can define… ¡ ¡ Functional area of interest and/or specific job title (sales, data processing, research, copy writing…) Type of organization or industry (governmental, manufacturer, retailer social service agency, financial institution…) Level of position — optional, unless listed (mid-level, entry-level...) Size and scope of organization if relevant (small, large, local, regional, international…) ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Examples to help you prepare your own career objective: for ADVERTISING: ¡ Interested in a career in media or market research field with a large agency. Particular focus on corporate communications. for COMPUTER PROGRAMMER: ¡ Seeking assignment as a programmer or systems analyst with an interest in marketing and finance applications. for PERSONNEL: ¡ In pursuit of a personnel assistant post in public service organization with partiality towards human resources management. Other Optional Components ¡ If you have little professional work experience, think about the skills that you used in the following areas: l l l l l l l l l l Research Papers/Project Summer Jobs Certification Courses Internships Campus jobs (Work study) Campus Activity Positions Entrepreneurial/self-employed jobs Temporary Work Volunteer Work: service learning, tutoring, mentoring, clubs, non-profit organizations Extracurricular Positions What NOT to Include? ¡ Personal information l Marital or family status, age or date of birth, etc. ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ Pictures High school honors l Undergrad awards are okay if relevant Unless you know how it connects Example: reliable, fast learner, team player Personal interests l Personal characteristics l Final Test! ¡ Try a variety of styles and organizational techniques – what works best for you? Have professionals in career services and your field read your resume to be sure of clarity and image projected Keep more than one resume on file to accentuate different skill sets ¡ ¡