I think this week’s readings serve up a ton of great information regarding your resume. While all of the readings differ slightly in some aspects as far as what to include and what not to, it should be clear to us now what makes a good resume good and a bad resume bad. I think what should be most important when producing your resume is trying to play the role of the recruiter or HR representative in your head, and thinking objectively about how he or she would judge what you’ve presented. The readings did a great job of conveying to us how much time hiring managers will not spend reviewing a resume. The important information needs to pop off the page and grab the reader. This is done best by having quantifiable information, which does a better job explaining what you’ve done, how you will benefit the company, and why you’re worth a salary.
I personally identify with the notion that if you ask 10 different people about resumes, you’ll get 10 different answers. Something that I’ve found to be true is that there is no set format for your resume. It does not have to follow the order of objective statement, education information, relevant skills, work experience, honors/awards. Again, ask yourself how the recruiter will see your resume and what he or she will be looking for, and design your layout accordingly. For me, I have a couple years of relevant internship experience for the industries I’ll pursuit post-grad. This experience will be highlighted towards the top of my resume, as I think it is what the recruiter is most interested in. I’ll spend less time on my core coursework and technical competencies, because I expect a hiring manager to understand what types of classes I’ve taken and where my skill levels probably are just by looking at what my major is. However, skills and knowledge that I’ve attained that aren’t necessarily associated with my degree (such as quality and project management fundamentals and applications), will be included if they are relevant to the position I’m applying for.
Do this and do that to make the best resume.....
You make a good point when you talk about how the readings kept referring to how the people hiring will not spend much time on each resume. It said each resume is first gone over in about 20 or 30 seconds and put into a good pile or bad pile for further inspections. I also feel the same way in regards to how many different “tips” you can get to create a resume. One site said this and one site said the opposite, so who are we supposed to listen to? Like you said, the positioning of certain information is also very important.