RESUME BUILDING
Road Map
Role of the Resume
Types of Resumes
Resume Formats
Resume Sections
Additional Documentation
Miscellaneous Tips
Miscellaneous Tilts
Sample Resumes
On-line Resources
What is a Resume?
A marketing tool Your first tool for building a career The first impression a prospective employer has of you A selling tool that allows you to highlight to an employer
how you can contribute to the company
Request for an interview Purpose of the resume is to get you an interview Must capture the reader’s interest and attention Must convince the employer that you have the ability to fill
their position
Your “big picture” A snapshot of what you believe are your most important
experiences and qualifications
Types of Resumes
A Paper/PDF Resume A printed resume for use at job fairs, conferences, …
Should be clean, concise, professional, and pleasing to the eye
Use bullets, bolding, and indentation
Take this resume with you on job interviews, career breakfasts, …
An Electronic Resume A plain text resume for on-line submission
Typically must conform to employer specifications
Use left-justified and space indented formatting
If desired, use “+”, “*”, and “0” to represent bullets
An HTML Resume Typically includes links to homepage, images, …
Avoid this type of resume
Most people don’t want an employer walking around in their homepage
Resume Formats - Chronological
Highlight your work experience in reversechronological order
Be sure to not leave gaps
The most widely used format for working professionals
Cut off
Resume Formats - Functional
Highlight specific skills for which the market has high demand
Seldom used by new graduates
Frequently used to change jobs or careers
Again, cut off
Resume Formats - Combinational
Highlight specific work experience
Highlight marketable skills
Use reversechronological order
The best resume stylefor most college students
I would prefer bullets
The Silver Bullet What Is Your “Story”?
What slant can you take on your resume?
Do you want to emphasize internship experience?
Do you want to emphasize work experience?
Do you want to emphasize course work?
Do you want to emphasize project experience?
Do you want to emphasize research experience?
Do you want to emphasize personal traits?
What is unique or interesting about your college experience?
My Recommendation
If you have an interesting internship – emphasize it – if not get one!
Most MBA graduates have interesting project experience
Build on your liberal arts education!!!
Demonstrate leadership, communication, cultural awareness
Standard Resume Sections
Header
Objective
Education
Honors/Activities
Work Experience
Relevant Courses
Skills
Projects
Move toward bottom
I prefer other order
The Header Section
The first line should be your name Larger than the largest font used in body Avoid using decorative fonts Don’t use black or gray shaded backgrounds Exclude titles Mr., Mrs., Ms., …
Include contact address Permanent address Current address
Include your email address Use your PROFESSIONAL email address Don’t use “BIGBOY@HOT_MAIL.COM”
Include your phone number Change the message machine OR caller tune to be
appropriate
The Objective Section
Considered optional but I strongly suggest including it
Make statement clear, concise, and to the point Bad: “I want to get a job” Weak: “To attain an internship in the computer industry.” Good: “To attain an internship in the computer industry working
with database or network security.”
Avoid being overly specific to single company “To attain a position at 3M Pharmaceuticals working on …”
I prefer objectives from the company’s perspective “To attain a web application programming position where
knowledge of Java and the Struts framework will add value the overall development process.”
The Honors/Activities Section Should only contain honors and awards earned
during your time in college
You can include academic or extracurricular items I prefer only academic or service-related items
Include a brief description if not self-evident from title “Award given to top performer on the capstone exam”
Don’t include hobbies or activities not related to the job or your story
Don’t include volunteer work unless there is a direct and positive link with the job or your story
This section should scream “I am a leader”
The Work Experience Section
Dedicated to most recent and relevant employment
Format Employer and location on the first line
Don’t need name of supervisor, complete address, or contact information
Position and time-span on the second line Use only year, not month and year (avoids time gaps)
Each position should have at least two bullets Explain role and contributions
Don’t emphasize duties but rather emphasize outcomes “Increased efficiency of … by 20%”
“Improved user navigation experience on …”
Descriptions should be consistent in wording
Watch the tense Current job uses present tense
Former jobs use past tense
Employers wantproblem solvers
The Relevant Courses Section
The keyword is relevant courses Don’t include Foundations of Computing
Don’t include Aloha and Fabric Painting
Focus on courses the are either unique or would normally be considered elective Soft Skills Seminars
Language Competency Classes
Computer Networks
Employers will assume you have had the rest
The Skills Section
This is where you emphasize your technical skills
The Projects Section
Used correctly, this section can set you apart from other new graduates
Most new grads don’t get the opportunity to use this section
Show any lengthy, impressive, or relevant projects to which you have made real contribution
Each project should have at least two bullets (focus on outcomes)
Supporting Documentation –Cover Letter (1) Why do I need to write a cover letter?
Use the cover letter to focus attention on elements of your background that are particularly relevant to the company
Letter acts as your verbal introduction to the employer
Send it to a person, not a place Avoid “To Whom It May Concern,” Worst case “Dear Recruiter:”
First sentence should tell why you are writing “I am writing in regard to your posting listed on …” “Dr. Wagner at Money Minting Business School suggested that I
…” “As you may recall, I spoke with you briefly at …” If unsolicited, indicate why you are interested in the company
Supporting Documentation –Cover Letter (2)
Highlight your skills Use two to three paragraphs to given in-depth
description of your selling points
Each paragraph should be stand alone (could be moved to different location in text)
Close with a promise of action If possible, indicating that you will be contacting them
in the near future to set up a mutually acceptable meeting time or to further discuss your qualifications
Nice if you can say “during the second half of this month, I will be in your Delhi. I will contact your office when I arrive to arrange a possible meeting time”
Supporting Documentation –Cover Letter (3)
Supporting Documentation –References Prepare a separate reference sheet
Use same paper as the resume itself Bring reference sheet (and resume) with you to any interviews,
job fairs, career breakfasts, … Do not mail reference sheet with resume and cover letter
Reference sheet is a stand-alone document Should include your Header from the resume Try to arrange contact information in pleasing fashion
Use professional references only Pick individuals that think highly of you Pick individuals that are familiar with your work
Always ask your references before using their names Be prepared to give supporting materials – courses, projects, … Ask again if it has been a while
Scannable Resumes
Most large employers will scan your resume into a central database
Tips to assist the scanning process Don’t use italics, underlining, or graphics
Use bold only for headers
Use “scanner-friendly” fonts Times New Roman, Courier, Helvetica, or Arial are
good examples
Font sizes of between 9 and 12
Use black ink on white background
Tips on Delivery of Your Resume
Posting Online “rules” are still emerging
Common mistake – formatting that doesn’t make the trip Convert to text only
Use PDF if allowed
Proofread carefully after conversion
If they ask about salary, leave it empty
If they force salary, be honest but don’t shoot for the moon
Emailing your resume Attach resume as a PDF document (or Word document)
75 – 80% of companies are running Windows
Also include text version in the email message Attachments can get dropped or filtered
Test before deploy Send to at least three friends, ask them to print it and send it back to you
Miscellaneous Tips (1) Use action words in your descriptions
Miscellaneous Tips (2)
Act like a professional Avoid inappropriate graphics, images, formats, …
One page only You are a fresh graduate, don’t assume that the one-
page rule doesn’t apply to you!
Stick to the truth Don’t sprinkle buzzwords in that you really don’t
understand It speaks volumes about your character when you
can’t explain your own resume
Focus on achievements and results Laundry lists of duties are not impressive
Miscellaneous Tips (3)
Use easy-to-read language Winston Churchill - “Use short, old words.”
Get the words and punctuation correct Errors and “broken English” are the kiss of death
For example, “Lets eat grandpa!”
Follow the instructions If the company asks for specific information, then give it to them
Follow up If you said you would call, then call
Maintain a consistent writing style Avoid “To apply …” then “Applying …”
Avoid the use of “I” or “my”
Miscellaneous Tilts (1)
USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS Much harder to read
Avoidwhitespace Use white space (not borders) to break sections apart
Include a picture of yourself You’re not THAT good looking!
Use several fonts to catch their attention Creates a “ransom note” effect
Print your resume on “day glow” paper Be professional
Illogical Order Use Resume is a story – put most interesting parts at the beginning
Would you hirethis guy?
Print your resume on “day glow” paper
How about him?
Miscellaneous Tilts (2)
Focus on you and your needs Employers have better things to do than hear about you
They want to know “what can you do for me”
Use templates to construct your resume
Use superlatives to emphasis your work Great performance as …
Stick to the facts and figures – not an evaluation of yourself
Use long flowing sentences Short and to the point
Sentence fragments are fine if they are understandable –BUT NOT IN THE COVER LETTER!!!!!
Don’t Make These Famous Mistakes “Education: Curses in liberal arts, curses in
computer science, curses in accounting”
“Personal: Married, 1992 Chevrolet”
“Proven ability to track down and correct erors.”
“Disposed of $2.5 billion in assets”
Cover Letter: “Thank you for your consideration. I hope to hear from you shorty!”
Good Examples (1)
Good Examples (2)
Bad Examples (1)
Bad Examples (2)
On-Line Resources www.collegerecruiter.com
www.developercareers.com
www.writinglettersandresumes.com
www.professional-resumes.com
www.1stresumes.com
www.a1resumes.net
www.10minuteresume.com
www.crsresume.com
www.resumeservice.com
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