The Job Hunt, Part 2
Well ladies and gentlemen, it's the post you've all been waiting for: How to write kick-ass résumés.
Now, I am sure I will write several revision posts, adding/changing information as I conduct more research, but here is the the best advice I've found that describes picking what information to include in your own résumé.
I apologize in advance for how long this post is, but it really covers EVERYTHING you need to know about what to include in this document. If you're pressed for time, please skip the Functional Résumés section, for many of you won't need to write a document like this.
To begin, as I've descried last week, a résumé is a 1-2 page document that specifically and concisely descries your skills, knowledge, and abilities.
There are 3 types of résumés:
But you only really need 2 (I will describe these in full later)
1) Chronological Résumés
2) Functional Résumés
3) Digital / Online Résumés
But before I dive into the specific types of résumés...
HERE ARE SOME GENERAL TIPS:
- Always print your résumé on high-quality, heavy bond paper, either white or off-white (no Elle Woods wannabe's, please)
- Also, don't use colorful fonts
- Avoid script fonts (fonts that touch each other) - many résumés are copied / scanned and these do not scan well
- Make sure you leave ample margin spaces, again for scanning purposes
- Make your résumé attractive
- Keep alignment consistent
- Keep sections separate and easy to identify
- Do not EVER staple or fold your résumé
- This means buying those large, manilla envelopes to send everything
- Use paperclips to bind documents
- Always proofread meticulously
- Ask friends/family members who have employer / job recuitment experience to revise your résumé
- Look at your own résumé from the eyes of a perspective employer - make sure your résumé actively promotes what you can bring to the company
- Proofread again
- My professor stated that after 2 spelling / grammar mistakes, almost 80% of employers throw away a cover letter or résumé
- Don't lie (!)
- It sounds stupid and obvious, but never embellish, lie, or exaggerate. There are fact-checkers.
CHRONOLOGICAL RESUMES
This is your typical, time-based description of your education and experiences.
WHAT TO INCLUDE:
1) YOUR PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION
- Your full name (must stand out from all other contact information )
- Your home and/or work address
- NOTHING should be abbreviated, other than your state
- Use a 9-digit zip code
- Your email address (I highly recommend creating a unique email address solely for the job search process)
- Your phone number
- Your website (Note: do NOT include this unless it is a site created for professional purposes only)
2) YOUR CAREER MISSION STATEMENT
- This is a brief (usually 1-2 sentence) overview of who you are
- You MUST include:
- What job you're looking for
- What job you're QUALIFIED for
- What skills you currently have
- What skills you wish to learn
- This is the first read section of your résumé, and it will connect all of the subsequent information that you provide
- Be as precise as possible
The next section depends entirely on your experience level.
- If you're a graduating college student with no RELATED work experience, follow steps 3 and 4 in order.
- If you have current / recent work experience in the field which you're applying for, reverse steps 3 and 4, and begin with your "Experience Section."
3) YOUR EDUCATION
- Start with your MOST RECENT education
- Do NOT include high school information
- List the name, city, and state of your college; month, and years of attendance
- List your major, minor, and degree you have / will receive
- List your GPA ONLY IF it is higher than 3.0
- Note: If you have a 3.0 in your MAJOR, feel free to list that instead
- List courses you've taken
- However, don't list course names (that's meaningless)
- Group courses by subject matter (ex: 12 hours of accounting, 16 hours of music theory, etc.)
- Be sure to mention all written / oral communication courses
- Honors & Awards
4) YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE
- This is often the most important section to employers
- Again, start with your MOST RECENT work experience
- List the name and abbreviated location of the company followed by the months and years of employment
- Mention your job title
- List your MAJOR responsibilities, putting particular focus on any responsibilities you've had regarding handling money, customer service, writing, or supervising employees
- ALWAYS USE STRONG ACTION VERBS, such as executed, financed, documented, assisted, supervised, etc.
- Honors & Awards
NOTE: if you were promoted, list both job titles and responsibilities
NOTE #2: INTERNSHIPS can / should be listed under BOTH education and experience
5) OTHER OPTIONAL COMPONENTS
- Honors & Awards, ones that may not fit under Education or Experience BUT ARE STILL RELATED TO PERSPECTIVE JOB
- Computer skills
- Language skills
- Activities and affiliations
- Licenses and certifications you may have earned
- Personal information ***
- Really, really don't include this unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary to the job
- EX: If you're applying for an au pair position, definitely list that you helped raise 3 younger sisters
- EX: If you're applying for an acting job, you may be asked to include your height, weight, hair color, etc.
6) REFERENCES
- One of the most important sections
- Should have between 3-5 references
- You can handle this section in 1 of 3 ways
- "References available upon request."
- "My complete dossier is available through..."
- Simply list the names and contact information of your references, if they've given you permission to do so
So that's your Chronological Résumé, so then what is a Functional / Skills Based Résumé?
CHARACTERISTICS OF A FUNCTIONAL / SKILLS BASED RESUME
- You include your contact information, personal mission statement, and references as you would in a chronological résumé
- Instead of listing the skills that you've utilized under each experience / education section, you mention the 2-4 most job-worthy skills as the categories themselves
- You then mention all of the instances where you've utilized those skills
- You DO list your education and work experience on the résumé, but it is simply a list towards the end of the document
- Here is an example of a skills-based résumé
When Should You Use a Functional / Skills-Based Résumé
The focus of a skills-based résumé is on the skills themselves and the work experience. This format is less frequently used. Although it is gaining in popularity, it is most commonly used by individuals who have the following "problems"
- If you've had a large break between work experience
- Your eyes are drawn to the work experience and not the specific dates of employment
- You've had many, seemingly unrelated jobs in the span of a short time frame
- You've had a few jobs that encompassed the same tasks / responsibilities
THE DIGITAL RESUME
This is now a requirement of almost everyone applying for jobs in the current job market. Most job postings are online, and one will most certainly come across the need to send in a résumé via Word or rtf formatting.
Characteristics of a Digital Résumé include:
- All the same sections as your Chronological / Functional Résumé
- However, if you have a webfolio, you can include hyperlinks under these sections to direct the employer to the appropriate areas of your website
- THERE IS ONE ADDED SECTION
- Instead of making sure you have many strong action verbs, you now have a "Keywords Section"
- Online résumés are often scanned by a database to search for these keywords, so make sure you have about 10-15 that describe you and your skills
- For example: blogger, musician, graphic designer, social media manager, etc.
- The formatting is quite different:
- The digital résumé is typically quite longer, for more "white space" must be used to separate sections of the document
- Do NOT use bullets points to create lists, for these may not format correctly. Instead use dashes (-), asterisks (*), or plus signs (+)
- Make sure your name and category titles stand out by using CAPITAL LETTERS (bold face may not format correctly if converted)
- Make sure the document is Scannable!
- Text should fit in a 6.5" wide column
- Do not use any script fonts, stick to Ariel, Helvetica, Times, Calibri, etc.
- 10 - 12 size font
As a final, VERY important note:
You never, EVER send a résumé by itself!
- If you send a physical résumé to an employer, always include a cover letter (topic of next week's blog post)
- If you send a digital résumé, your job is EVEN HARDER (and you thought it would be easy...)
- Send a digital copy of the document with an email cover letter
- THEN send a physical copy of your résumé with a physical copy of your cover letter
Congratulations! You've made it to the end of this marathon post! Please pass along this information to your friends!