As was discussed in the instructor’s blog #2, it is so frustrating when you are writing a resume and putting all of this thought and time into it only to have a recruiter spend a maximum of 30 seconds skimming over it. It kind of makes me feel as though it would be impossible to please everyone and it has to do with luck of the draw whether the person that happens to be reading your resume likes the style you have chosen. That being said, I think the most valuable quote on this blog was from the Rockport Institute regarding the selling of a product. That is exactly the approach that I took when I wrote my resume.
When I began my job search in the early Fall of 2008, I sat down and wrote a resume template. From that template which contains every single thing I have achieved in relation to my career, I cut things out and word things differently after I have picked out a job I want to apply for. In a sense, I am tailoring every resume that I send to a recruiter to their specific job requirements. I found this to be the easiest way of fitting their needs.
In the article written by the skeptical resume reader, I found his tips very helpful. However, it is hard for me to feel bad for him with all the complaining he does about reading resumes, because after all, he is the one that chose that profession. I will definitely keep his tips in mind when drafting my resume this week. It is hard not to try and cram as much information as you can on the resume because as job seekers, we want to show them that some quality that we have will make us a perfect candidate for the advertised position. This is where I think a second, and even third, set of eyes come in handy. A friend that you don’t mind getting constructive criticism from is the perfect person to read over this resume and scrutinize it. That is what I have always done, and found to be a very effective strategy.
R4 The Eyes have it
I definitely go for the idea of having another set of eyes look over your resume and giving comments. I think its one of the best best ways to improve the document. I also think it is one of the most forgone points of the resume from what I have heard from a lot of my peers that are looking for jobs. That is where I think this class will be the most beneficial for the students. It forces those that may have just gone solo when building their resume to get another set of eyes on the process and help them improve.
Shane
Resume Template
I did the same thing when I first starting my resume writing last year. I began by just throwing everything I had ever done onto a word document and trying to make the information condensed enough to fit onto one page. From there, I began to use it as a general guide for writing my specific resumes to certain companies, pulling the things I needed from it. However, I always found it difficult to decide what information to actually take from the generic resume and transfer to the one I was working on. There is always at least one good reason why even the most unrelated work experience could go on a resume. I think the readings this week helped to clear that up a little bit for me. When I write my resumes now, I will think about why I shouldn't include certain experience as well as why I should and whether or not it would really help me to let that experience take up space on my resume.
Picking and Choosing
After reading your response I realized that you have created a “bank” of details and criteria that you use for your resumes. By analyzing the job description you can go to your “bank” and pick and choose relative material with applying it towards your specific resume. I find this helpful with being able to adjust your resume with different work experiences and relevant classes. I know I have a lot of material on my resume that I want, but having the ability to pick and choose from diverse material for different jobs is essential for having easily readable and non cluttered resume.
Zebulon Rouse
My best critic
The idea about having someone or even several different people look at your resume before you turn it in is a great idea. I know that last summer when I made my resume I had several people read over it to make sure it was ok. I found that the best resource for me was my father. My dad has 30 years of business experience and I knew that if I gave him my resume he would be able to tell me what to change about it.
I keep a word document of everything I have done since the second or third week of college. Sometimes it is hard to remember exactly everything you do in your years here in school.
Do More Than One
Having others look over your resume is a great way to perfect it. Someone told me another idea that I think would work if you had the time to do it; I didn't have the time. They said to make three or four totally different resumes. Obviously, keep the same skills and work experience, but make a few different layouts and formats. Use different fonts in all of them. When the resumes are done, set them side-by-side and there will be different things that catch your eyes on each one. Then, combine all these different things into one resume to get the best resume.