So it appears that writing the perfect resume based on the courses reading and past advice will be harder than IU basketball winning another game or the Cubs winning the World Series. CCO stresses to have a clear cut objective and good cover letter, while the article from Tech Life even said not to bother with a cover letter or objective.
After reading these articles I have decided to do the only thing that makes sense, write my resume for the type of person that is most likely going to read it. The article written by Douglas Richardson said to “try crawling into my head and asking the same questions of your resume that I would ask…If you can't do that, then you don't know your market yet.” I think this not only goes for content, but also a bit of formatting and how you present yourself. Something I wish this week’s articles did was to say what kind of field these human resource workers were in' because that could have a lot to do with the types of information they looked at and ignored. For example, I will be applying for a job in the construction engineering field. So when write my resume, I don’t need to fill it with all the programming, computer skills, and CAD experience. They don’t care that I did well in thermodynamics but struggled with differential equations and system controls. Because guess what, I won’t have to use any of that stuff. Instead I want to convey to them I am not afraid of hard work, lets face constructions isn’t the easiest profession; and let them know I have a bit more common sense than most other people that they are going to find. This logic can be applied to other places on a resume also. Most construction companies really will not care about cover letters, they will know if you have what it takes by your work experience. More than likely it will just annoy them. I do think an objective statement is important also, not to read initially, but after they have looked through your resume, just to see where you want to go.
I don’t mean disregard everything you’ve been taught and just come up with a rogue resume all on your own, but take the readings and tips and see where they fit into your specific field of interest. Each field will have norms and expectations, if you write your resume tailored for the type of person reading it, you will be fine.
Maybe Balance Both Individuality and Basic Standards
I agree that the resume should reflect on the individual to show some characteristic. It’s really two conflicting ideas: you want to separate yourself from the rest of the group but it is important to follow all of the procedures for building resumes. As of right now, I am impartial to both suggestions. I believe that balance is extremely important and obeying all strategies and audiences is necessary. However, if you look at my past resume work. I would be able to convince you that I was focused on impressing the individual by following most of the resume standards. As the next round of career fairs approach, I think I can take a piece of my own advice and balance out my resume.
Conflicting Advice
I agree with you that the articles presented contained a significant amount of conflicting advice. Some things were repeated, and as a result should obviously draw a good deal of attention, while others were inconsistent and often contradictory. Some solid advice that I think I did pull out included the importance of formating and "selling" yourself, as well as presenting the reader with a unique experience (a personal touch). Nonetheless, the most important advice I think I took from these readings is that no two people are looking for the same thing. As the blog states, resumes are a "gamble". The approach you must make can only be based off the limited information you have (unless you can read minds).
We're getting conflicting advice, so write for the reader
You said:
Boom. This is really the key. As we all have noticed, the advice you get about resumes (really most anything) is often conflicting. The reason is that everyone's experience varies. However, this doesn't mean that it's all random and anything goes. What it means is that situations are unique, and often what works in one situation will not work in another. This is a lot like sports; the strategies that work in one game may not work in another—in fact, they may be disastrous. What you have to do is research your opponent and adjust your tactics to suit the situation. This is why we ask you to analyze job ads. What will help you the most isn't discovering the one true resume formula; there isn't one (we've looked). What will help you the most is practice breaking down what you think the job ad wants and responding accordingly. You won't always get it right (just like any particular team doesn't always win), but over the long haul you will perform better because you will be able to respond to the situation.
(Look at me! I'm using the new formatting buttons, and I'm having the time of my life!)
Responding accordingly
This is exactly why I have a "master resume". It has everything that I've ever done relevant to getting a job. Every job I've had, coursework, any volunteer work, you name it is on this resume. First of all this helps me easily view my entire work history. Second and most importantly it helps me to tailor a resume to a specific job or career field. Submitting a resume to become a park ranger? Gone are my computer related coursework and my volunteering experience helping the elderly use computers. Front and center is my Eagle Scout award. If I'm applying for a management position, then I'm definitely going to highlight my prior experiences, removing anything that isn't relevant. This makes fitting the resume to the job much easier.
Andy
Great Idea
Having a catch-all resume is definitely a great way to go. You don't want to forget everything you have done, especially since it has happened during the course of many years. This way, when you want to write a short resume for a specific purpose, you can cut everything that is not relevant to that. However, one thing to note when cutting is that you should always list all of your past major jobs. Employers can be led to believe you are hiding something if you omit a job. If you think they won't find out, think again. Usually, when filling out the paperwork for a job, they ask you to list all of your previous jobs and sign at the bottom that you are not omitting anything.