THE CONTENT OF YOUR RESUME

There are three kinds of information that your resume must contain: information about your education, information about your work experience, and information about your school-related and community-related activities. After that, you're free to use whatever categories best capture the substance and spirit of the things you've done—coursework, honors, skills, publications, professional organizations, and interests.

Let's take a look at each of the sections that are likely to appear on a resume.

Career Power! Identifying Information

Your name, address, and phone number head your resume. If you're sending out resumes while you're still in school and your school address and home address are different, include both—and accompanying phone numbers—on your resume.

Objective

If you have an objective, put it down. It will tell employers that you know what you want. Your objective should be stated in a single sentence and should describe the type of position you want. There are two ways to do this. You can describe a position in a particular field. For example:

"A marketing position with a major manufacturer of packaged goods." "To work in the news department of a radio or television station." "A position as a designer in a children's clothing company." Or you can tie your skills and abilities to a position in a particular field. For example:

"To apply skills in research design, data analysis, and report writing in a marketing research position."

"A position in the managerial structure of a major department store. Seek to use knowledge of organizations, of people, and of retailing."

"To use social service training and administrative skills in a nonprofit organization."

If you don't have a specific objective in mind, don't worry. As long as you have a fairly well-defined sense of what you have to offer and the opportunities you want the job you take to provide, you're well positioned to pursue the kinds of jobs that will work for you.

Education

The first major selling point on your resume is your college education. Most of you spent at least three years taking courses and getting grades. Now you have a chance to make that work for you.

Include the following information in this section:

• The name of the school that will grant your degree. If you attended more than one

HOW TO PUT TOGETHER A RESUME

school or have more than one degree, start with the school you attended most recently, then work your way back.

• The city or town and state in which each school is located.

• The degree you will be or have been granted. Abbreviate your degree—B.A., B.S.,
B.B.A., or B.F.A.—unless there's a chance that potential employers won't know what
the letters stand for.

• The year your degree will be awarded. Use the year you expect your degree to be
granted even if you haven't graduated yet. Potential employers will understand, and it
will save you the trouble of revising your resume after you graduate.

• Your major and minor areas of study.

• Your overall grade point average and/or major grade point average, if you feel
they're high enough to be mentioned.

• Any professional or trade association seminars you've attended.

If you worked to help pay for part or all of your education, say so. This says a number of things about you, all of them good—that you're mature, determined, and responsible. Use a sentence at the end of this section to get this information across. For example, "Worked to pay for 50% of college costs." Or, "Financed 75% of college costs by working."

Experience

A description of the jobs you've held is the second major selling point of your resume. Which is why you'll probably regard your work experience as a real stumbling block. Don't. Most college students who've worked have done so in work-study programs, internships, part-time jobs, and/or summer jobs. Sure, work that's related to the kinds of jobs you're applying for is clearly a plus. But so is having worked at all. A record of employment shows that you want to work, you're able to find work, and you can hold a job.

A description of each job you've held should include the following:

• The name and location of the company or institution you worked for.

• The title of the job you held.

• The month and year you started and the month and year you left.

Career Power!

• The things you did. Don't feel compelled to list everything. Instead, focus on the things that were most important and required the kinds of skills and abilities you're trying to market now. Describe them briefly and clearly. Don't make up accomplishments. You don't have to. Nobody expects an undergraduate to hold jobs of great scope and responsibility. Nobody expects singular achievements. If you've held several jobs, if one or two were interesting and challenging, and if you did some good things, you're ahead of the game.

Ordinarily, you'd describe your most recent job first, then work backward. If you held increasingly important jobs, listing them chronologically is the best way to make that clear. However, if you've held several jobs that are related to the kind of position you're applying for and several jobs that are not, forget about listing them chronologically. Instead, create appropriate subheadings, group your jobs accordingly, then list them chronologically. For example, under the subheading "Marketing Research," list the summer job you had as a research assistant at a marketing research company and the part-time work you did as a research assistant in your college's marketing department. The summer jobs you held as a lifeguard and waiter would go under a different subheading, something like "Resort Work." Using these subheadings puts the two research jobs together, sets them apart, gets them up front, and enables them to have the impact they should.

Should you list all the jobs you've held, however short-term, pedestrian, and unrelated to the kind of work you want to do now? If you've held no more than three jobs, list them all. At the very least, they indicate that you have a record of employment and that you've looked for, gotten, and held different jobs. If you've had more than three jobs, be selective. List the three that do the most to make you an attractive applicant, then decide if any of the jobs that remain does more to promote your candidacy. List it if it does and omit it if it doesn't, unless your educational record is ordinary and you've participated in few, if any, school-related activities. Under these circumstances, your work experience is your only strong suit, so make it count. List every job you've had. It'll show that you're not afraid of work, and may suggest to some people that you're capable, resourceful, and determined.

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 935