Seasoned Professional Resume Writing Guide

Transcription

1 Teachers College Columbia University Career Services Seasoned Professional Resume Writing Guide Your resume is generally your first introduction to an employer. It should be written with great care and consideration. All resumes should be written with your career goals in mind. Your resume is your marketing brochure, showcasing those skills, achievements, and qualifications that relate to the type of position(s) you are pursuing. It should include specific descriptions that give the reader a solid picture of your accomplishments and capabilities. Remember, your resume is not a summary of your entire history; it is a promotional piece that is targeted toward its reader. General Tips 1. Resumes must be one page in length if you are applying to corporate jobs. If you have trouble fitting your resume on one page, evaluate your content for relevancy and be creative with margins, font size, and format. Non-profit and education resumes can go onto two pages, but be concise whenever possible. You do not need to include every job you ve ever had only the ones that are relevant to your future career goals. 2. Select and order the major content categories so that the most relevant information is placed on the top 2/3 of the page 3. Use verbs to describe your achievements 4. Emphasize skills and experience related to your field of interest and/or positions desired 5. Avoid self-serving and subjective descriptions 6. Include occupation or industry specific-key words 7. Be achievement and results-oriented in your position descriptions. Communicate your skills and capabilities 8. Quantify achievements by citing numbers, dollars, percentages or time 9. Do not include personal information such as age, health, marital status, height, weight, and religion 10. Do not lie or exaggerate 11. Proofread carefully!!!!! Errors are unacceptable. Have someone else proofread your resume as well 12. Include related employment history within the last 5-10 years. Employers run background checks and will notice if your employment history detailed in your resume does not match their findings. Ask yourself: Have I effectively presented my skills, qualifications, and achievements? If not, what is missing? Writing your resume is a time consuming and difficult process. Push yourself to do your best possible work.

2 TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESUMES You can use both Chronological and Functional (to see how to write a functional resume, please go to the Functional Resume Writing Guide or click here) List current or former positions in descending chronological order Chronological- achievements from employment history are listed in reverse chronological order Functional - achievements drawn from education, work experience and volunteer positions are listed according to groupings of skills Combination - emphasis is on skill groupings, but achievements are listed under each position in reverse chronological order Use chronological or combination unless it absolutely works against you! FONT Use Times New Roman. Use one font throughout Font should be in size, your name size font (10 can be used, but is not preferred) LAYOUT Margins 0.5 to 1 Do not use a table format SUGESTIONS One (for corporate jobs), other industries can be pages. If two pages, as a header on second page include name, , phone, page number (font can be smaller) Proofread for spelling and grammar Print on resume paper, fax on standard paper and as a MS Word or PDF attachment Be honest never lie, stretch the truth, or misrepresent yourself CONTENT Bold, Underline, Italicize and/or CAPITALIZE headings RESUME FORMAT Identifying Information Center align this information Name address, phone number and address Career Profile (Optional) This section should be one sentence stating your skill and the position you seek. Typically used if one is changing careers and has limited experience in the job your applying to. Example: Experienced professional with strong communication and organization skills and an understanding of conflict resolution seeks to work with a diverse population in a nurturing environment Career Services Office, Updated 2/5/10, Created 6/27/07

3 Certification/Licensure (if applicable) Can be listed under appropriate degree or as a separate section. List certifications like CPR below under skills. Type of Certification and/of Licensure, Specialization (if appropriate), Grade, Month, Year Languages List all languages under this heading if bilingual and directly applicable and/or requirement of the job you seek (including Sign-Language). If not, include language under skills heading. Experience Under each heading, list all positions in reverse chronological order. This section can include both paid and unpaid positions. The following headings can be used (e.g., Professional Experience, Related Experience, Relevant Experience, Teaching Experience, Clinical Experience, Research Experience, Leadership Experience, Administrative Experience, and/or Volunteer Experience (see below for specific info re: Research and Volunteer Experience)) in order to prioritize your experience. Include title, organization name, city/state and dates of employment (Month/year Month/year) For every position, include the following: name of employer, city, state, job title, dates of employment, and a description of your accomplishments. Focus on accomplishments that relate to the type of position you seek. Volunteer Experience Volunteer job experience can be listed under Related Experience, as long as the job title includes the word volunteer. When listing volunteer experience under the related experience heading, bullets must be used. If volunteer experience is placed under the Volunteer Experience heading bullets are not required. You need be consistent. If you use bullets for one volunteer job, you must use them for all. Include a minimum of 2 bullets for each experience. Example: (without bullets, with bullets see Professional Experience Example) Big Brothers, Big Sisters, New York, NY, September 2009 Present Research Experience TCCS recognizes research experience as encompassing the following components: methodology, quantitative/qualitative analysis, data collection, original research piece, and research team participation (if applicable). Note: An analytic literature review piece and/or research for a paper are not recognized by TCCS as a formal research experience. Bullets must be used. Professional Experience Example: School, New York, NY Special Education Teacher Month Year Month Year Add bullets describing your accomplishments in this position (How to Write Your Job/Volunteer Accomplishment & How to write your Accomplishment that are not related to the position you seek see pg 2) Papers/Publications/Presentations (write in the APA Format) See below Published works and presentations are typically found on a CV. Include only if they relate to the position you seek. If you are an educator, include all, even if they do not relate to the job you seek Career Services Office, Updated 2/5/10, Created 6/27/07

4 Presentations Landrum. R. E. & Murdnal, C. (2003, April). When the spelling of a name is reversed: Does Anyone Notice? Poster presented a the meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Reno N.V Publications Smith, T., & Murdnal, C. (2004). Assigning the appropriate (high) value to reaching. College Student Journal, 49, Professional Development Used for continuing education. Developed, implemented a program and/or created a strategic plan that is not related to a paid job, volunteer position and/or internship. Can be used if you spend a semester oversees developing a program with an organization or association and/or if you observed a classroom for a month or two. Attended workshop, conferences, and/or trainings specific to your industry Example: Special Education graduate course work, Fordham University, New York, NY, January 2005 May 2005 How to Write a Curriculum, Reading and Writing Project, Lucy Calwkins, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, April 2008 The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP), Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, April 2008 Education List educational degrees in reverse chronological order, most recent first. Write out degree. Specify each college/university you attending, is location (city and state), degree received, and graduation date or anticipated date of graduation (Month, Year). Include study abroad. Do not include GPA for grad or undergrad unless asked. Include thesis if applicable. Example: Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY Master of Arts in Cognitive Studies in Education, Expected May 2007 Thesis: (include if applicable) Honors/Awards Honors may be listed as a separate category or included under the university/college where you received them. List scholarships, academic honors and/or professional awards. Professional Associations List the names of professional organizations to which you are still a member of and indicate leadership positions and committee work where appropriate Include leadership/board membership for former organizations. Skills Computer skills, any type of certifications that you have, such as CPR, language (for language, include level of proficiency) and/or interest. (Interests - if applicable to the job you seek) Example: Career Services Office, Updated 2/5/10, Created 6/27/07

5 Computer Skills Proficient in MS Office Suite Or Skills Computer: Proficient in MS Office Suite Language: Conversational in Spanish Interests: Travel Abroad RESUME WRITING GUIDE How to Write Your Job/Volunteer Accomplishment Statements Write your Accomplishments using the Action + Results format. Tell the employer how you did a task and why. o Begin with an action verb to describe the type of work you did o Include a word that describes the results or intended results of your work. Example: Taught parents discipline techniques, communication, and how to set appropriate boundaries to foster responsibility in home, academic and social settings o Sample Results Words resulting in, to foster, in order to, to ensure, to educate, to increase o Action & Result Words please see Resume Action/Result Words No I Statements Write current position in present tense and former positions in past tense Be concise and to the point Under recent or related position list 4-6 bullets. 2-4 bullets for older jobs and/or jobs not related to the position you are seeking, and highlight your transferable skills. Be consistent and either end all bullets with a period or omit all periods List bullets in order or relevance to the job you seek How to write your Accomplishments that are not related to the position you seek If you have limited or no related experience, you should include other types of employment. When writing these jobs, Highlight the skills you utilized to get each job done, instead of listing the type of work you did. Focus on skills that relate to your particular degree and/or concentration. Example: psychology students should focus on their interpersonal skills, communications skills, one on one and group facilitation, report writing, crisis management, problem solving, and collaboration with peers and supervisors TOP RESUME MISTAKES It s easy to make mistakes on your resume and very difficult to repair the damage once an employer has your resume. Here are the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them. A. Typos and Grammatical Errors Your resume needs to be perfect from a grammatical standpoint. If it isn t, employers will read between the lines and draw not-so-flattering conclusions about you Career Services Office, Updated 2/5/10, Created 6/27/07

6 B. Lack of Specifics Employers need to understand what you ve done and accomplished. Take the following for example: a. Worked with employees in a restaurant setting b. Recruited, hired, trained, and supervised more than 20 employees in a restaurant resulting in $2 million in annual sales Both of these phrases could describe the same person, but clearly the second one s details and specifics will more likely grab an employer s attention. C. Attempting One Size Fits All Whenever you try to develop a one-size-fits-all resume to send to all employers, you almost always end up with a resume employers will toss in the recycle bin. Employers want you to write a resume specifically for them. They expect you to clearly show how and why you fit the position in a specific organization. D. Highlighting Duties Instead of Accomplishments It s easy to slip into a mode where you simply start listing job duties on your resume. For example: a. Attended group meetings and recorded minutes b. Worked with children in a daycare setting c. Updated departmental files Employers, however, don t care so much about what you ve done as what you ve accomplished in your various activities. They re looking for statements more like these: a. Used laptop computer to record weekly meeting minutes and compiled them in a Microsoft Word-based file for future organizations reference b. Developed three daily activities for preschool-age children and prepared them for a 10- minute holiday program performance c. Reorganized 10 years worth of unwieldy files to make them easily accessible to department members E. No Action Verbs Avoid using phrases like responsible for. Instead, use action verbs: Resolved user questions as part of an IT help desk in order to serve 4,000 students and staff. F. Leaving Off Important Information You may be tempted, for example, to eliminate mention of the jobs you ve taken to earn extra money for school. Typically, however, the soft skills you ve gained from these Career Services Office, Updated 2/5/10, Created 6/27/07

7 experiences (e.g., work ethic, time management) are more important to employers than you might think. G. Visually Too Busy If your resume is wall-to-wall text featuring five different fonts, it will most likely give the employer a headache. So show your resume to several other people (including Career Services!) before sending it out. H. Incorrect Contact Information Double check even the most minute, taken-for-granted details sooner rather than later. (Top Resume Mistakes Adapted from the Zicklin School of Business Graduate Career Services and Monstertrak.com) What You Should NOT Put in a Resume Place of Birth Age or Date of Birth Marital Status Gender Ethnic or Racial Information Religious Affiliation Political Affiliation Career Services Office, Updated 2/5/10, Created 6/27/07

8 Resume Action/Result Words Action/Result Verbs for Cover Letters and Resumes Teaching Management Communication Helping Detail adapted advised clarified coached communicated coordinated defined developed enabled encouraged evaluated explained facilitated guided informed initiated instructed lectured listened persuaded presented set goals stimulated taught trained updated achieved administered analyzed assigned attained chaired conceived contracted consolidated coordinated decided delegated developed directed encouraged evaluated executed handled implemented improved incorporated increased inspired launched led managed motivated organized outlined oversaw planned prioritized produced recommended reevaluated rejected reported reviewed scheduled strengthened supervised united Addressed arbitrated arranged authored communicated composed conceptualized corresponded counseled created developed defined designed directed drafted edited enlisted formulated influenced interpreted lectured mediated moderated motivated negotiated persuaded produced promoted publicized reconciled reunited renegotiated reported researched summarized spoke translated wrote advised aided assessed assisted brought clarified coached coordinated counseled dealt demonstrated diagnosed educated encouraged enlisted expedited facilitated familiarized guided helped inspired maintained modified performed referred rehabilitated represented supported activated altered assembled approved arranged catalogued classified collected compiled described dispatched edited estimated executed gathered generated implemented inspected listed maintained monitored observed operated organized overhauled prepared processed proofread published purchased recorded reduced retrieved screened specified streamlined Career Services Office, Updated 2/5/10, Created 6/27/07

9 - 9 - Career Services Office, Updated 2/5/10, Created 6/27/07 Additional Action/Result Verbs for Cover Letters and Resumes anticipated arbitrated ascertained charted checked classified collected completed conducted conserved consolidated constructed controlled coordinated counseled created decided defined delivered detailed detected determined devised diagnosed directed discovered dispensed displayed disproved dissected distributed diverted dramatized drew drove eliminated empathized enforced established estimated evaluated examined expanded experimented explained expressed extracted filed financed fixed followed formulated founded gathered gave generated guided handled headed helped hypothesized identified illustrated imagined implemented improved improvised increased influenced informed initiated innovated inspected installed instituted instructed integrated interpreted interviewed invented inventoried investigated judged kept led learned Lectured lifted listened logged maintained made managed manipulated mediated memorized modeled monitored motivated navigated negotiated observed obtained offered operated ordered organized originated painted perceived performed persuaded photographed piloted planned played predicted prepared prescribed presented printed processed produced programmed questioned raised read realized reasoned Received recommended reconciled painted perceived performed persuaded photographed piloted planned played predicted prepared prescribed presented printed processed produced programmed projected promoted proof-read protected provided publicized purchased recorded recruited reduced referred rehabilitated related rendered repaired reported represented researched resolved responded restored retrieved reviewed risked scheduled selected sensed separated served sewed shaped shared showed sketched solved sorted summarized supervised supplied symbolized synergized synthesized systematized talked taught tended tested trained transcribed translated traveled treated troubleshot tutored typed unified united upgraded used utilized verbalized warned washed weighed wired worked