The quotation in the instructors blog regarding resumes, “I keep seeing resumes that are little more than buckets into which a lot of data has been dumped in the apparent belief that I will fill in the gaps,” certainly hits home with me due to my IT background. It is completely understandable that just filling any report and or resume with loads of data just to give it bulk would be an overall bad idea. In writing my draft resume I will try to be careful about needlessly including insignificant details. Another obviously important aspect of writing this resume would be to “focus on the key words in job ads”, as this has been over emphasized more than once. Having an understanding of what exactly the company is looking for and tailoring your resume to that position and company is very important. The specifics are important; minimize the fluff to optimize the resume.
The importance of proofreading your resume has never been more evident. From correct formatting to the correct paper every aspect of the resume must be as perfect as possible. Correct use of the parallel active verbs is something I have not looked for in my past resumes, but after reading these documents I will pay attention to these smaller details. I will also pay attention to whether or not my resume must be scanable and if this is the case, I will format it accordingly.
“As marketing brochures, they spark my interest in a particular product—you.” This quote really says it all in regards to what this resume needs to do. It needs to sell me first to the HR representative and then to the company itself. With the large number of resumes a HR representative would see in any given hiring fiasco, it is understandable that they would not be able to read all of them thoroughly. I will work at making this resume tailored to be a perfect fit for this position, I will make sure that it only contains the needed information, and I will make sure everything is formatted perfectly.
Thanks! - JFlitt
Proofread Proofread Proofread
All of the small details add up into one big detail, a resume. I too will have to reformate my resume to make sure everything is perfect. When I proofread my resume I will have to go through it twice, once for general errors, and the other to act like a recruiter giving myself thirty seconds to scan it to see if my resume stands out. Other than that I think it would be helpful to view other student’s resumes in the class to see what makes theirs stand out. That way you can imitate it and make it your own.
Jeff
Proofreading resumes
I'm also interested in getting the chance to look at what others in the class have come up with for resumes. I can learn a lot by looking at and proofreading the work of others. I can then apply that knowledge to any updated drafts of my resume, to make mine better. Proofreading is definitely important, as any spelling or grammar mistakes could cost you, even if you are perfectly qualified for the position. I'm also interested in just seeing the layout and design choices that everyone has made for their resumes to make it stand out. I think mine has a professional look, but could always be improved.
Review
I think that that would be the best way to learn how to write an effective resume. The best way for me to learn how to write a resume would be to take the role of somebody reviewing resumes maybe than I could see what information would be the most relevant to include if my resume is going to be scanned in 30 seconds. This could also help me to understand the mind set of somebody that has to look at resumes all day. Maybe then I could understand why these HR people seem to be so cynical and ruthless.
I like the idea of reading
I like the idea of reading back through our resume after we have completed it, with the mindset of a recruiter. It would certainly be good to try to put ourselves in their shoes, but that may be a bit difficult. Reading through the number of random resumes posted here by other students and then reading ours will be extremely similar to what they must do. I think the most difficult aspect of preparing any resume and/or resumes would have to be preparing it for a specific job. There could be an extensive amount of time spent to prepare a resume for each possible position within different companies.
www.JFlitt.com
Marketing your skills
Selling your unique qualities that you can bring to a job is basically all a resume comes down to. I think the hardest thing to do is limit the amount of information that you put on the document because when applying for a position, you just want to dump every possible activity on the resume so that there is definitely something on there that the recruiter wants to see. However, this often has the opposite effect in that the person reviewing your resume doesn’t even want to go through all of your credentials so he/she never even gets to the most important things.
I’m intrigued by your
I’m intrigued by your statement “doesn’t even want to go through all of your credentials so he/she never even gets to the most important things.” Just because this is exactly the opinion I have noticed in my involvement with many different recruiters and human resource personnel who are tasked with reading through resumes. They view so many different resumes and documents from their potential job candidates, that being concise and accurate is obviously appreciated. I will also be working on making my resume stand out from those countless others that they will see.
www.JFlitt.com
Use your peers
One of the best learning devices around you is your peers. I have found it very helpful to see what my fellow classmate’s resumes look like and compare it to mine. Last year, me and two of my friends in my house pretty much just looked at each other’s resumes and offered advice. I know that I learned a lot from my friend, who was a year ahead of me in my major, Andrew’s resume. For me sometimes it is easiest to learn from looking at other people’s ideas before I start my own. Another helpful thing from looking at other’s resumes is that it can give you different ideas about the actual format or layout you want to use for yours.
Help is Nice
I agree Joey. This assignment has helped me see many great resumes and amazing ideas for my resume. There have also been some sub-par ones, and it is nice to have all these resources to compare with mine and others. It is also nice that people will put in their two cents and tell me what they think is wrong (and good) about my resume. I am sure there are things on my resume that aren't great, but since I am the one that actually wrote it, it is hard for me to see these mistakes. That is what makes this assignment so nice, I get free and helpful advice for something I will need for a while.
Information dumping
Considering the quote, it may seem reasonable-at first-to assume that we, the people writing resumes, are in error. The overall tone of the article that that quote came from seems to me like the person was winning and complaining about how he doesn't want to do his job-which is to read resumes. A resume will almost always be generic to one degree or another. Being so specific and 'catchy' as the author of that article suggests will only limit your chances of finding a job. There are two points of view that are relevant: 1)the resume writer--wants to have a broad enough resume as to appeal to many different companies with varying specific requirements and 'key words'; 2)the resume reader--apparently, is looking for specific key words related to their needs. To me there is a huge mental-disconnect with this sort of resume dynamic.
RE: Information dumping
I think you've resolved the disconnect right there. To be most effective, employment documents shouldn't be broad enough to suit many different companies with varying specific requirements and 'key words'. The more you tailor your materials to each specific position, the more likely they are to succeed. Of course, there will be similarities among your job materials for different positions, but the more you craft your work to suit each specific audience individually, the more you use each position's key words and language, the more you cast yourself as the specific person the ad wants (and not just as a part that could be plugged into any company), the more effective you will be. You will get a result taking generic employment materials from position to position, but you will get a better result by shaping the materials to fit each unique situation.