After going through all of these readings I have came to the conclusion that when the instructor said “Resumes are a gamble”, he was exactly right. When you go over all of the assigned reading you will notice that they are all different ways to go about writing your resume. To sum up all of the readings the main point of a resume is to explain you and your experience in the best way possible, while using the least amount of words possible.
After reading the given articles and blog, I have decided that I need to polish up my resume to better suit the companies I am going after. The instructor’s blog helped me realize that these companies don’t really want to know information about me but want to know how I can benefit the company. This is why I need to make my resume tell how I can attempt to do so. The instructor’s blog also mentioned Douglas Richardson who emphasizes the importance on key words in a resume. I will take this to heart and reword my resume to have more keywords pertaining to the job description that the companies have provided. The Purdue Owl article made me think twice about my objective statement. The resume I already had made up was wrong in the fact that my objective statement told how the job would be good for me not why I would be good for the job. The OWL article also states that “you may want to include skills learned if the job has little or nothing to do with the position for which you are applying.” I included things like this on my resume because I only have one job pertaining to my field, so I need to tell of my other jobs which can possibly connect those jobs to the company I am applying for. This is one of the main concerns when it comes to resume advice. Some people say you shouldn’t include irrelevant jobs and others say you should. I’m going to go along with Purdue OWL on this one because I know they are credible and that’s really all I have to go by.
Tailoring Resumes Reply
I would also have to agree with the "Resumes are a gamble" comment made by the instructor. I have been told many times about how important having a properly formatted resume is. When it comes down to getting a job, even nowadays, there are so many that a company will received. Many of professors have said that most companies will give your resume only a few seconds, and if they don't like what they see they have no problem putting it into the trash. So when only seconds matter the need to have a good looking resume is crucial.
R4 Formless
As you say, having a good looking resume is crucial. That's why one piece of advice really stood out in the reading for me. That is that you should take all of the formatting off of your resume and see if you can still easily pick out the important parts and different sections. If your resume is set up in a good enough manner to be able to scan it without differences in the format of the type itself, then once you actually go ahead and put in the bold, underline, and different sizes you should have a very well put together resume.
Shane
luck of the draw
Yeah I always have wondered about what to put on a resume. The biggest part that I wondered about was the purpose part or the first line in a resume. The "To find an internship in the field of ... " line is something that I think should not be in a resume. There are so many companies with different purposes and requirements. A company that deals with sales usually does not want to hear about technical skills in a resume. Changing the words to each company that you apply for seems outrageous to me. I guess that you are trying to impress that company, so anything that you can do is probably great.
R4 Purpose
I also wonder how much the purpose section actually gets read by the people scanning through the resumes. Obviously the applicant has a purpose of attaining the job by the simple fact that they are submitting a resume. I doubt that a reviewer of job applications for a rocket scientist is actively looking to the purpose section to weed out those that are “seeking employment as an ice cream man.” I realize you want to have a purpose of advancement with the company and so forth but I have to think that a reader would assume that this is already true of the applicant. Basically, the purpose statement seems very archaic to me.
Shane
Objective statement
I think the recruiters that do look at your objective statement probably look at how you write it more so than they look at what your actual objective is. More than likely, they don't care what your objective is as long as you will be good for their company. Those people that write objectives like "To gain experience that I can use in my later jobs" or something of that nature probably turn off the recruiter right from the beginning and won't be read in depth. On the other hand, someone who writes about improving the company being applied to, as suggested in the readings, will probably get a second look. Also, vague objectives can show lack of interest in the particular company or position being applied for. I think the objective won't be read often, but then again, it is usually right at the top under your name, so if a recruiter does read this section, it will be the first thing they read and could land your resume in the trash after the first round.