From the article “Resume and Cover Letter Guide: Drafting Descriptions”, I learned a number of very important things about creating a resume. Creating a resume is extremely important for college students because the ultimate goal for the majority of college students is to graduate college and get a desired job, and a well drafted resume is key in landing the perfect job. A resume should first contain a strong objective statement that is specified toward the specific job that is being applied for, this lets the employer know that the person took the time to craft a personalized resume, which show ambition. A resume contains the person’s experiences and should have high impact statements about their learning experiences and gained knowledge. The experiences should be followed up with actions statements that start with strong verbs that will grab the reader’s attention. When making a resume it is also very important to research the particular position and use the key words that are used in the job listing and qualifications to basically feed the employer exactly what they are looking for, if and only if they are true statements. Also when creating a resume one might have many experiences to share in the resume but it is important to be selective and choose only relative information that the potential employer will find important. Choose the most important experience and list it first on the resume because it will be the first thing that the employer reads and will likely strike the most interest.
From the article “A glimpse and a Hook” I learned that a resume needs to contain some key words and key types of experiences that jump off of the page at first glance by the employer. First impressions are key in person, but a resume is usually received by and employer before they actually meet you in an interview, so the resume is actually the first impression and should be a great first impression. Also when employers are taking their first glance at a resume they are looking for experiences and activities that make the person different from all of the other candidates, so finding something about yourself that is interesting is important to put in a resume. I also found it interesting in this article that many employers by pass the school section and actually do not look too closely at the college that the candidate graduated from, this surprised me. The reason the article gave that many employers look over the college section is because they do not want to be bias if the candidate did or did not go to a “name brand” college.
Glue
Good job on finding specific aspects from each reading to apply to your own experience. I honestly felt like every reading had something different to say, and most of it was in direct opposition to something else from other readings.
I would be careful not to assume that one opinion represents the entire recruiting world. In reference to your final comment, the article did not say "many employers" skip over the name of the college; it said only that the article's author skips over it. I doubt he's in the majority, although there are bound to be plenty of recruiters who agree with him; I'd be willing to bet that a lot of companies are more than happy to let themselves be wooed by a "big name." You can't please everyone, but you can give your best shot at pleasing some.
And as a general word to everyone, don't let yourself be deflated because you don't go to Stanford or MIT. I know from experience, especially out here, "Purdue" impresses a lot of people, too.
Research and relevance
Ck86, I agree with you when you talked about how one should research the particular job they are trying to get. Not only will this give you general information about the company but it will give you valuable information to put on your resume. This information can contain the key words that the company may be scanning for before people actually read them. You also stated that you shouldn’t include irrelevant information on your experience because it does not pertain to the job at hand, but one of the articles said some companies use this other information to learn more about you. I have to include things that are somewhat irrelevant on my resume because it’s mainly all I have to go by.
Numero Uno: Be Selective
I think that “researching the particular position and using key words found in the job listing and qualifications to basically feed the employer exactly what they are looking for,” as you covered here, is an imperative starting step in the application process. Whereas I find this to be one of the most important concepts presented in the suggested readings, few others have referenced this idea in their posts leading me to believe the majority does not feel the same. Something that most do appear to agree upon is being selective in the information you include in your resume. As you’ve suggested, although you may have many experiences you wish to share, be careful to choose only that which is pertinent to the particular position you’re applying for. Furthermore, listing these experiences in order of importance, beginning with the most important, will help to “strike the most interest” to the recruiter, as you’ve stated above.
I was also surprised, and a little disappointed, by the fact that “employers bypass the school section and actually do not look too closely at the college that the candidate graduated from.” Albeit it makes sense as it prevents hiring with a bias toward ‘name brand’ universities, as you put it, but from what I’ve heard regarding Purdue graduates and their ability to find desirable employment, this statement proves rather upsetting.
"Name Brand"
I was extremely disappointed when the article stated that many employers bypass the education section of resumes. This is one of the reasons that I went to Purdue, much like many of us in this class I assume. Having that Purdue University name on my resume seems like a boost. I hope that not too many employers miss that part, and let's hope this doesn't start to become a trend, otherwise Purdue will be losing enrollment left and right. I still think that it could be the deciding factor, though. For example, let's say that two people have the exact same qualifications, except one goes to Purdue and one to some lesser college. I believe they would have to pick the Purdue grad just because in the back of their mind they know that this is a "name brand" university.
First Impressions and Name Brand Colleges
Part of me is telling myself that it is silly that the way a resume looks or whether or not it has a list of specific key words is such a contributor to the first impression. The content should be the driving force, at least in my mind, not how pretty it looks. I am in agreement that relevant experience should be listed only, but that's not to say that things that seem irrelevant should be omitted. Something different could be listed on the resume so long as there is somewhat of a hint that there is a hidden meaning or relevance-possibly foreshadowing interview content. As far as not being bias on college names-that is BS. My step dad is a CFO/VP of a large industrial company; whenever he is hiring someone new he checks to see if they've gone to a reputable university-it's on the top of his list at least.
Instructor Feedback
Chris,
You continue to post regularly, but there is room to improve these responses. I point you to the page that Jeremy and I posted in response to the first two weeks' reading responses. In short, you need to flesh out your discussion of the reading to avoid merely summarizing it. For instance, you write, "When making a resume it is also very important to research the particular position and use the key words that are used in the job listing and qualifications to basically feed the employer exactly what they are looking for, if and only if they are true statements." You could here describe which words you will use and why. You could also point to examples you have seen. We have all read the readings; we want to see what you will do with them.