Funny so you don't include GPA or SAT, and if you do it's minimal, but you write out what you did for your GLO??

-Rudey

From a designer point of view:

I'm discovering that when I search for jobs in Classifieds, online job sites, and other online postings, the employers prefer a plain text or Word Doc as their resume form. My resume is a PDF that I designed in InDesign. It has my logo and DUH! lets people know I am a designer.

However, if you are submitting a plain text doc because it's the only way you can, how can you get creative with it? It just seems to defeat the purpose when you go to school for a design major and you are stuck sending out word docs. :rolleyes:

Also, I have internships and unpaid experience as Pre-Professional experience on my resume. I did an internship and did a comp website for my sorority before I graduated. So that's what I put. My current design job is "Professional Work Experience" and then anything unrelated to design is just Work Experience. I didn't include retail jobs, but I did have a customer service/data entry job where I accomplished a lot and made mass improvements for the team.

Which brings up another question. Yeah I have a design job and I hate it. So I am looking for other design jobs as well as something else to keep the money coming in. If the job isn't a design job, I should have a different resume, right? Even though all my experience is pretty much in design?

Argh. Help!

I've been playing around with my resume recently. I've organized it by having a "Work Experience" section where I list the obvious, then I have a "Volunteer Experience" section where I list all the volunteer activities I've been involved in, and I have a "Leadership Experience" section where I have included AZD, but only b/c I have some post-college experience as an advisory board member. My cut-off point is college graduation - I don't mention any of the sorority activities I was involved in as a collegiate.

Another thing to consider:

If you are applying for a job that requires a background investigation or a security clearance, LIST EVERYTHING going back for at least the past 7 years or your 18th birthday (for a SECRET clearance) or 15 years or your 18th birthday (for a TOP SECRET clearance). Be forthright and honest... they WILL find out, and if you hide it or lie about it, you can kiss the job goodbye.

No no, I think the GPA should stay on the resume for entry level or first jobs (until the person has some real world experience--more than internships). SAT scores though, I'm personally not a fan of it, but I work in an MBA Career Services office, so these students took the SAT a minimum of 5 years ago most took it 10+ years ago (the average age of our students is 27), so it is not relevant. And there are aspects of greek life that can show valuable skills, but these could probably be replaced with internships and class projects depending on the persons amount of work experience. I don't think I would include them after the first job, unless it is somehow related (event planning, greek life, etc.) Sorry for the confusion!

Question: What should one do about volunteer work for an organization that some may view as being "snobby"? Same with political campaigns. For me, half of my "office experience" comes from political campaigns. Right now, the only campaign going on in Ontario is for a specific party, so people'll figure it out even if I remain discrete.

I like this thread!

I was laid off at the beginning of the year and it has been very interesting having to send out resumes again. I changed a few things this time around and it seems to work well.

Instead of listing every single thing that I've done in my work life, my work experience and contact info is on the first page. I only hit the highlights and change those as needed depending on the position that I'm applying for. The next page lists education, hobbies/memberships and awards/honors.

And while a "Hobbies" section generally isn't recommended, I customize that to show a little bit of my personality depending on the job that I'm applying for. If it is for a more conservative company or position, I minimize my "Hobbies" to Golf and Civic Volunteer and emphasize my memberships in industry-related orgs and the broadcast conferences where I've been a guest speaker.

In my industry, a college degree isn't that important or necessary although it doesn't hurt. Under the "Education" section, after my college and degree info, I note that I was on the Dean's list for 4 semesters. I had a couple of BAD semesters so my overall GPA wasn't as high as I would have liked and I don't want to list it. So far no one has asked for specifics.

For all my ZTA activities, there is only one listing on my resume and that is under awards/honors. As well as listing my various "Salesperson of the Month" and "Employee of the Month" honors, which are important, I also list "Zeta Tau Alpha National Certificate of Merit". I am very proud of that. I've had only one lady bring it up. She was not in a sorority but was familiar with ZTA because of the Race for the Cure. It gave me a chance to talk about the leadership development opportunities I have been given which was relevant to the position as a manager.

On a side note...I also keep a personal resume that is a listing of all my church, community, children's school and ZTA volunteer activities, awards and honors. Line by line it is much longer than my work resume and means more to me. I started this because our alumnae chapter presidents asked us every year to give a list of the things that we do inside and outside of Zeta. I recommended this to others and it has been very helpful. It lets us know who is eligible for awards within Zeta and also helps us focus some of our philanthropic activities towards things our members are interested in. I have not given this resume to a prospective employer but a couple of my past employers have seen it when we were discussing promotions and/or raises for me.

I find out today if I get a new job! I am very excited and hopeful about it. Wish me luck!

I've been applying for some internships and they've all asked my ACT score and my LSAT score...if it's good, put it on there. :)

If someone doesn't hire you because they don't agree with your political viewpoints, that is discrimination and they could get in a lot of trouble (at least in the U.S.; I would imagine there are similar laws in Canada). It's not like you're going to start political arguments in the middle of the office (at least, I hope not ;)), and they should hire you based on your work experience and skills.

PROVE that they didn't hire you because of your political leanings.
When resumes are gleaned, the decision of the screener is fairly subjective and often times arbitrary for why one is selected and the other isn't.

Better to leave it off.

Right, but if I leave it off, it would look like I've never really worked a day in my life.

That's a toughie. Hrm. Maybe list the types of things you did under skills, like:

* Telephone poll operator-- canvassed households by telephone to do regional research; used PBX7200 phone system

* Proficient in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, familiar with Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Access, and Microsoft PowerPoint.

* Skilled at filing documents

That's kind of cheesy, but it's a start...

I'd take someone who volunteered for a cause I didn't agree with, as long as in the interview they didn't seem to champion it every single second. But that's me. -shrug- How important is it that you look like you've worked? If it's a job that requires "experience", then maybe it's better to add it, even if some might think it's snobby or against their personal beliefs; most offices actually like a little diversity. What might get you tossed from some interviews will get you the other interviews.


General side comment: If you do get an interview, remember to bring your references with you! I always like having references on/with a resume, because then it can give some clue as to what kind of people this person works with and who they choose to list as a reference. [Someone we interviewed had bounced around in a number of schools, but she'd listed all of her former employers-- that was a better sign to me than listing none of them.]

Back to the GPA issue
 

Ok, so if your GPA is below a 3.0, then don't list it?

I went recruiting last week for my company and we were looking only for applicants with a 3.0 and above since thats the min for the training program we were recruiting for,

But what if you are applying for a position that does not have a min GPA requirement, I would think the recruiter would see no GPA and automatically assume it's very bad/low when it could be a 2.7, 2.8 etc. even though you have tons of job experience.

touchy decision for the recently graduated.

Re: Back to the GPA issue
 

I wouldn't list it. If you're that worried about it, don't list it and discuss it if the employer brings it up.

-Rudey

I've never listed my GPA. But, since I graduated with honors, most people assume I'm not an eeediot.

I list my law school GPA because it's HOTTT...even though I've been out for a few years and I don't do anything law related. It's just sexy.

Here's a tip that seems like it should be obvious, but apparently isn't: Don't tell your life story in your cover letter or resume. Here are 2 examples that I've had recently (position is for a medical writer):

1. The applicant started her cover letter by saying something like, "Although I do not have any professional experience with medicine, I do have personal experience with it because I have [insert bad gastrointestinal disease]." (I forget the specific disease she had.) She then went on for the entire 1 1/2-page letter describing the disease and her experience with it in excruciating detail. It was TMI to the extreme.

2. The applicant wrote a 2 1/2 page cover letter, rambling on and on about how her parents discouraged her from being an English major because writers don't make any money, and said something along the lines of "I don't want to go into the business world and be miserable like my brother is because he hates his job even though he makes a lot of money." It's ok to say how much you like the profession in your cover letter, but (1) keep it to 1 paragraph or less, and have concrete examples, and (2) no one cares about your brother and how miserable he is.

So, just remember, you are not writing a letter to a friend, you are writing it to a potential employer. Be professional (and succinct)!

This whole thread is irritating to me, because I had a career center TELL me to leave everything on, and keep it to 2 pages.

Oh, so many questions, oh so little time.

First off, I'm a music major with a business minor, and normally people see that and automatically throw my resume away. BUT, I've taken almost enough Economics classes to declare that as a second degree. So, I'm just frustrated that they don't even take enough time to find that out. Anyway, so I'm trying to get a job in the fundraising department of an arts organization (ANY arts organization, at this point)... Do I list all of my economic classes?

SECONDLY, I'm very upset about the whole, leaving things off thing, because I WANT people to know I busted my ASS in college. If they don't want that on a resume, what's the point of me doing it in the first place? Do I just leave it all of and list the $50,000 I raised for CMN and only have one thing on my resume (since that's related to fundraising)? Or do I list my volunteer activities and how many public relations campaigns I have organized and how many executive boards I've been on and how many other volunteer activities I have done?


ETA: One more thing. I have designed three different websites for different organizations, so even though I'm looking for a job in fundraising, I would be perfectly willing to design another website. Can I not put this on because it's unrelated? And what if the company saw someone being able to design a website as a perk? And what about my public relations experience? Can someone please just read my resume and tell me what to DO?!

I keep being alittle bugged about the incessant use of "3.2" as the GPA (mainly because that's mine). Can we lower it to 3.1? 3.15? Just kidding, but seriously, if you don't care, shouldn't it be there just in case? Like, you aren't going to throw our resume' out the window for ONLY having a 3.2, but there may be an employer (as was earlier noted) who thinks if you don't have your GPA on there, than not only is it not noteworthy, but it's not even remotely good (the "I just squeeked by" people). Also, my major GPA was considerably higher (granted, it was in music) but should we include this as well (I probably won't because... well, it's in music and people just think we "sing all day")?

This is a very interesting thread. But I really don't know how valuable it is. Resume writing is so subjective.
One person says leave your GPA off, another will say include it. I have been given a million and one different tips on how to write a resume, it's hard to know which one is correct. I have never ever been asked what my GPA was, or even what kind of classs I took in an interview. Now all I can assume is that particular employer didn't care. It's true some might, but I can't be a mind reader.
Things also might be a little different up hear, but employers don't care what your degree is in, they just want you to have one.

If you go to a school that classifies your degree (i.e. second class honours, first class honours), then I think you should put that as it doesn't indicate your EXACT GPA (e.g. an upper second class is roughly a 3.5 or so), but might give the employer a rough idea. I'm not sure if too many schools do this anymore, or if at all in the US. It might be an old British thing that is only practiced by a few schools in Canada.

Does Queen's do that? I know Guelph doesn't. Also, British schools are starting to move away from that classification.

Queen's did it when I graduated in 2002. They changed it last year, and replaced First Class Honours with "Distinction".
Students can still get old classifications if they want to.

http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/student...ion/index.html

Do not list volunteer work that has political leanings...it's just safer that way. The same goes for anything that will get people overly excited like pro-life, pro-choice, Greenpeace or PETA. As for leaving it off and it looking like 'you've never worked a day in your life', I personally think having volunteer experience on your resume is overrated, in terms of if it will really help you to get the job or not.

Lastly, I am not sure if you are referring to the Junior League as the organization that "some may view as snobby", since I know you are in JLT (and I was in JLC until I moved) but 99.9999999% of Canadians will not even know what Junior League is; they'll think it's Junior Achievement or something to do with sports and kids, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm just saying...is all.

For the political stuff: I currently have "volunteered for political campaigns at all three levels of government". No party is specified. As for the Junior League, I would think that it would depend on where I am looking for work. I have sent resumes to the States as well.

I just wanted everyone to know that I just did my first stupid (at least that I caught) thing on my cover letter. I had e-mailed in my resume for a position, and sent it in form letter form... I forgot to replace the "Dear Sir or Madam" so it read:

Dear Ms. Smith,

Dear Sir or Madam,


What's frustrating is that this is a position that I actually cared about and wanted, I just was too tired. Silly me, I shouldn't have used a form letter.

i've never been in this situation. i'm submitting my resume to an interim position. the job description is "a temporary basis lasting 6 months but could lead to a permanent position," for entry-level newspaper editorial blah. which works out wonderfully because that's as long as i'll be in the area.

but do i tell them that i would consider, or want, the permanent position, when i'm fairly certain that i will only work ad-interim until next summer? would letting them know that my intentions are to leave after 6 months affect my chances? will lassie make it to the town and back to the well before the storm drowns lil' timmy thompson mcthamerson?

Yes. Make them think it's about them and only them. Look out for your own interests. At the same time it is a 6 month position so you shouldn't feel bad if you choose to leave. But I would be willing to bet someone money that as soon as they divulge the fact that they don't want to be there too long, they will not be hired.

-Rudey

freelance jobs & websites
 

What is the best way to list freelance jobs? Most of my freelance jobs are graphic/web design. I'm thinking just make a separate section and list the jobs without going into detail.

Also, I have a website that relates to my field. I designed it to be professional because I wanted to include it on my resume. It contains some of my better class projects and some I just did for fun. For those who work in HR, have you found applicants listing websites.

English major here!
 

Heya.. I'm going to apply for a job soon!

I am a sophomore in college. Should I include a cover sheet or paragraph? I am unfamiliar with a format for this part of a resume. Please give a sample or advise concerning what to include in a cover sheet or introduction paragraph.

I think my resume is pretty decent (divided into: "Work Experience", "Academic Experience and Related Skills", "Writing Experience" [related to the jobs I'm applying for], "Extracurricular Activities and Community Service"). Since I will need a lot of writing and editing skills, I am adding my composite and English/verbal scores for ACT and SAT too. Do you think this is a good idea, since I don't have too many previous jobs?

Thanks for your advice!

Some of the jobs that I'm applying for are asking for computer skills. Should I list on there that I built our website and maintain it or no?

Re: English major here!
 

ALWAYS include a cover letter. I usually won't consider resumes that dont' have a cover letter, because it shows (at least to me) that the person can't be bothered putting in the effort. Also, a cover letter is a great place to explain some things that you might not be able to put on your resume, such as why the company should hire you over anyone else with a similar background. As an English major applying for writing jobs, it is especially important, because you can showcase your writing skills. Monster has a lot of information about cover letters here: http://resume.monster.com/archives/coverletter/

SAT/ACT scores have been discussed in this thread previously, and some say they help and others don't care either way. I would say that if you want to include them, go ahead. It's not going to hurt your chances if you include them (an employer isn't going to say "I don't care about this person's SAT scores" and throw away your resume because they're there), and there is a small chance that it may help you.

Definitely include that information, and possibly include a link to the Web site so that the employer can check out your skills. The more experience you put on your resume, the better, even if it's not directly related to academics or employment.

Definately.

i checked and fixed my student teacher's resume today.

her advisor in college insisted that she include "references available upon request" at the bottom of the resume. i said to take it off because of course your references are available if they ask you. i feel that most people use that as a filler to make their resume look longer and you don't need it. i told her to have a nicely typed paper with her contacts' names and addresses and phone numbers on it that she can give out when they ask her.

what are your thoughts on the "references available upon request" line on your resume?

I think things like "Pike Dreamgirl" or "ATO sweetheart" are irrelevant and should be omitted. :p

Looks bad on resume cover letters:

1. I'm really keen to work for you, I hear the drugs are good.
2. I regret that I have no references. Unfortunately, every company I have worked for has since closed down.
3. I'll kill myself if I don't get a job.
4. I know where you live.
5. Any sentence beginning with "I was recently acquitted."
6. I'm really tall, so I think I'd be well suited to this job.
7. Happy faces.
8. By the way, I understand that you have unmarried daughters.
9. I'm confident that I'll get this job. The voices told me.

I think this probably has been mentioned before, but I didn't read the entire thread so excuse me if I offer advice that has already been offered! :)

I actually have a section on the bottom of my resume for volunteer experience where I go into more detail about offices held, etc and a separate memberships section. Volunteer experience has my specifics for AOII and Rotary with dates/years while memberships are those orgs that i'm just a member of (Girl Scouts, Sons of Norway, NTHP, reenacting, etc - and I didn't list EVERYTHING I've a member of).

I also have a separate format for more field related positions rather than just your everyday pay the bills jobs. I also have my CV separate to be sent with the resume for those positions that would need that kind of info.

Sarah

I am currently working on a resume with the lady in the business school who well, helps students with resumes and other writings. She said it's alright to put "social sorority" on a resume, but not which specific one because she's seen people be discriminated against based on their affiliation. So my resume now says "Social Sorority - 2002-present," instead of "Alpha Xi Delta Social Sorority - 2002-present." Have any of y'all ever seen this in practice?

YES! Why, oh why do so many women have "dead fish" handshakes? It drives me crazy to no end when I shake hands with a college member (or worse, an alumna) and she's got a weak handshake. My impression of someone is so different if she's got a firm, solid handshake.

Do not ask me if you can go home early if you get bored.

This is what a candidate asked me last week during the interview. I wanted to tell her she could go home now.