Resume Tips! - Page 2

BabyBlue91 · #16 11-12-2002, 03:55 PM

Here's a no-brainer: Be Honest. You never know who'll see your resume on the other end.

I left a private company earlier this year to come to this school (a community college). A woman who had worked at the company faxed in her resume saying she had supervised Department X. (I work on the same floor as HR, so we share the fax machine.) I knew this wasn't true, and I ached to tell HR about it. Turns out I didn't have to -- she was never considered because she didn't submit a cover letter.

Would anyone here have told?

Kevin · #17 11-15-2002, 12:29 PM

If you're just graduating go to your school's Career Services office. They can really help you.

LeslieAGD · #18 11-16-2002, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by G8Ralphaxi
ANSWERING MACHINES - guess what? sometimes, the employer might actually like your resume and want to meet you for an interview. 9 times out of 10 - they will use a telephone to contact you. so then they call and they hear some crazy music and you and your roommates screaming that "Sorry! we're too damn drunk to answer the phone right now! Leave us a message or just stop by with more beer!" Congratulations - you are on the Fast Track to the World of Unemployment.

LESS THAN ILLUSTRIOUS JOBS - ...but for goodness sake, you are fooling NO ONE if you say you were a "customer service specialist" at Burger King. Dude, you were selling fries. get over it.

LOL...two more really good calls!

I just re-structured my resume for an interview and I think another good tip is to vary your word choice. Use a thesaurus if need be.

Heather · #19 11-18-2002, 09:43 PM

I recently made a resume packet for the students in my orientation to psychology class (for an assignment they have to write their resumes) so I have a few webs sites that I found and thought could be useful.

http://www.quintcareers.com/functional_resume.html
Most students only consider chronological resumes, there are also functional. This site describes what one is and who might want to consider using it.

The whole www.quintcareers.com website is loaded with info. I also directed them to:
http://www.quintcareers.com/action_verbs.html
for a list of action verbs

http://search.officeupdate.microsoft...lery/ct116.asp
has templates for resumes

http://www.collegegrad.com/resumes/index.shtml
templates and guidelines for resumes

http://www.jobweb.com
samples of functional, electronic, and chronological resumes.

I have a checklist at work of things to check for in resumes. I made it to give to the students when they are doing peer reviews but I'll post it here if I think about it. Someone may have mentioned this but (at my univ anyway) career services is not just for current students, alumni can use it as well! I got career magazines from them that I found useful.

AOX81 · #20 11-21-2002, 12:48 PM

I'm updating my resume...

Is this enough?
My personal information
Objective
Education
Work Experience

I want to keep it really simple...anything else that I should add?

UofIL AXO · #21 11-21-2002, 05:40 PM

Bump!

I think everyone can take a look at these suggestions and get new ideas!

Kevin · #22 12-11-2002, 08:53 PM

Professional sounding mail addresses are important and often overlooked.

How can you expect someone to take you seriously if you list your email on your resume as

BIGSEXXXY69@hotmail.com

PotentialPledge · #23 12-29-2002, 12:29 AM

When a company scans a resume what are some of the "buzz" words that they are looking for?

aephi alum · #24 12-29-2002, 09:30 AM

Buzzwords: Depends on your field. For instance, if you're a software engineer, you can include a skills section with every computer language you know at all well. Also, work keywords into your descriptions of previously held jobs, e.g. "Built a Web interface to an Oracle database using HTML, JavaScript, and Perl, on a Unix Solaris platform."

DHgirl · #25 01-25-2003, 01:04 AM

I was wondering whether or not it's considered appropriate to put your sorority or fraternity on the resume--particularly if you have held leadership positions within the organization (president vice president...) I've never put it on, but is it any different than being on a varsity sport or running other club when it come to resumes?

PotentialPledge · #26 01-25-2003, 01:47 AM

I think you should put your fraternity and sorority on your resume especially if you have held a leadership position. Also you never know who may be apart of your GLO in company you want to work for.

aephi alum · #27 01-25-2003, 08:05 PM

While I was in school, looking for summer internships and my first job out of college, I listed my sorority along with a couple of the higher offices I held.

Now, I no longer list my sorority. I do list Order of Omega, though, because it's more of an honorary, and sometimes this leads to questions about my affiliation.

You never know who may be a member of your GLO or have a close relative or friend who is... OTOH, you never know who may have negative associations with your GLO (they were cut during rush and are still bitter, their ex was a member, etc - not very mature attitudes but it does happen) or be anti-greek in general.

DHgirl · #28 01-25-2003, 08:10 PM

I'm afraid I don't know what the order of Omega is...I'm a local. I think I've run into the only occassion where I interviewed with a sister--she happened to be a founding member and was thrilled we still existed (we're 16 years old, and we really need an alumnae association) She saw my lavalier and put two and two together. So I don't think there would be alot of anti DH sentiment, but I doubt that there would be many instances where it would be positively IDed, either...does that make a difference?

Heather · #29 01-25-2003, 08:39 PM

DHgirl,
Order of Omega is a greek honor society.

I'm actually working on my resume right now and do have my sorority listed on there. Like is said above it could work for or against you. The main reason I have mine listed is because I was treasurer and assistant treasurer before that and listed what my responsibilities were. Being responsible for a several thousands of $$, creating a budget, working with committees and officers, etc. was no easy feat and required a lot of work, not to mention trust from others that I would be honest. Not everyone would agree with me, but I guess that's why it's my resume!

Heather · #30 01-30-2003, 12:31 AM

I just ran across this regarding how long a resume should be.
http://editorial.careers.msn.com/articles/length/
Personally, there is no way I could fit everything on one page unless it was about 3pt font and then no one could even read it if they wanted to! My contact info, education, and professional organizations alone take up 1/2 a page.