Resume Writing

Presenters: Judy Taylor, Professional Counselor On-Ramp Program 2010 LaWanda Woods, On-Ramp Coordinator

On-Ramp Program 2010

Overview

     Understand the purpose of the resume.

Learn the different parts of a resume and how to build an effective resume.

Recognize your transferable skills and how to use them to overcome common obstacles.

Learn how resumes are viewed by employers and how you can get yours in front of the right people.

Avoid costly mistakes and red flags.

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Past, Present, and Future of the Resume

• • •

Standard resume is a 1-2 page document showcasing professional, employment, and academic history.

Past: 1-2 page word processor document mailed or faxed to prospective employers.

Present: Pervasiveness of Internet brought online job boards and other Web tools.

Future: Capabilities of the Internet will continue to change the way resumes are created, displayed, and transmitted.

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The Resume of the Past

• • • • 1-2 page black and white document.

Emailed, mailed or faxed to employers.

Emphasized job duties Written from perspective of what benefits the employee.

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The Resume of the Future

• • Created, updated, and distributed online.

Links to blog, social networks, and company sites.

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Anatomy of a Resume

Contact Information

On-Ramp Program 2010 • • • • Name should stand out.

 Ideal: In capital letters and larger font than rest of document.

Address

 Format: Street address, city, state, zip code.

Home or Mobile Phone

 10 digits with area code: 800-363-0307 Email Address must be professional.

Objective Statement

On-Ramp Program 2010 The first step to creating a high-impact resume is determining what you're trying to accomplish. With a clearly defined career objective, you can write a resume that conveys the experience, skills and training that best serve your overall professional aspirations.

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Sample Objectives

Entry-Level Positions • • Seeking an entry-level position in marketing utilizing my strong analytical and communication skills combined with a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing.

Recent university graduate seeking an internship with an online media company who can utilize my developed skills in communications and multimedia design.

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Sample Objectives

Experienced • • To secure a business development position leveraging strong customer service and relationship building skills while utilizing over 11 years of business experience including 7 years of overachieving sales quotas.

Seasoned manager offering 20 years of progressive experience in functional staff management and consistent staff retention.

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Objective Statement: Required or Not?

Career changers and entry-level workers should consider incorporating their objectives into their resumes, because their goals may not be clearly defined by their work history alone.

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Career Summary

A career summary is basically a summary of your positive points and aspects, and other attributes that you have, that would be beneficial to the employer.

This gives the prospective employer a chance to glance through your profile in a single stroke and gauge how relevant your job skills are to the position that they are looking to fill.

Career Summary Tips

On-Ramp Program 2010 Tips for writing winning summary statements:     Emphasize personal brand by summarizing value added skills, experience, and accomplishments.

List 2-3 specific skills that relate to the position.

Be specific about your strengths and accomplishments.

Show how you saved money, reduced costs, or increased sales.

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Career Summary Example

Project Manager:

Project manager with over 10 years of in-depth experience in the telecom business.

Managed projects with a pre-allocated annual budget of 8-10 million and achieved goals.

Leader in managing cross company teams efforts through effective and motivating mentoring strategies.

Areas of Expertise: • Voice over IP • Telecommunication • Wireless

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Career Summary Example

Marketing Manager:

• An Internet Marketing Manager professional with 15 years’ experience in the Internet industry.

• Worked on SEO, SEM, website development.

• A proven record of developing new Internet business brands and strategies. Recently, completed a Master of Business Administration degree.

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Recap

Career Objective

 Career objectives are short statements of interest created by a job applicant about a certain position.

 The function of writing a career objective is to help you plan your career and figure out where you want to go professionally.

Career Summary

 Your Summary is your initial sales pitch to a prospective employer.

 The Summary statement gathers the best elements of your resume – your abilities, skills, experience, accomplishments, and personal characteristics – and condenses them into a brief description of the best reasons for hiring you.

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Professional Experience

• • • • • List employers, job titles, and dates of employment in reverse chronological order.

Format: Company, Job Title, Responsibilities and Accomplishments, and Dates.

Include brief description of responsibilities and scope of job. Keep it within 1-3 sentences.

Use bulleted format to list job responsibilities.

Begin each point with a strong action verb.

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Education

• • • • • Education section covers academic credentials and any education that would apply to job you seek.

Typically placed below relevant work experience.

Format: Name of institution, city and state; degree awarded with major and minor; date degree was awarded.

List degrees in reverse chronological order, with highest degree first.

Do not include incomplete degree unless you include an expected graduation date.

Optional Categories

On-Ramp Program 2010 • • • • • List additional information at bottom of your resume. Only include items relevant to specific position.

Awards and Honors

 Format: Award title, date, awarding organization.

Professional Development

 Certifications, licenses, and memberships.

Volunteer Experience

 Emphasizes key skills not shown in work experience.

Work Samples and Publications

 Can help you build portfolio and enhance your personal brand.

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Keywords and Tags

• • • • Keywords are search terms recruiters and hiring managers use to filter resumes.

 Using the right keywords increases the chances of your resume getting seen.

Information employers look for in resume database search: keywords, titles, companies, education, location, compensation.

Keywords often originate from job description.

Identify critical keywords. Use them prominently and frequently.

Resume Formats

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Chronological Functional Technical

Chronological Resume

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Chronological resume format provides your work history dating back from the present.

• • • Briefly describes accomplishments and successes that support your summary statement.

Stresses responsibilities, skills, and accomplishments.

The format calls attention to your recent job history and relevant experience.

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Who Should Use Chronological?

Most job seekers will be using the chronological format.

• • • • • You are staying within specific occupation or industry.

You have steady work history with few gaps.

Your career shows steady growth and development.

You have relevant work experience to the position you are applying for.

You are applying to a traditional field (accounting, law, finance) or organization.

Functional Resume

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Functional resume format stresses qualifications over specific employers and dates.

• • • Organizes information around specific skill sets and supports skills with accomplishments and experience.

Directs attention to functional skills, strengths, and qualifications.

Allows you to customize content to match job position. Not confined by chronological format.

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Who Should Use Functional?

• • • • • • • Contract or 1099 workers.

You have a weak employment history.

You have unexplainable gaps in your employment history.

You are making significant career or job change.

You want to emphasize skills and abilities not used in recent experience.

You have held numerous positions in a short time frame.

You have been employed in highly technical positions.

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Technical Resume

Technical resume format is designed to emphasize your technical skills and strengths.

• • • • Lists computer, software, or specialized machinery knowledge early on.

Emphasizes hard skills over soft skills.

Focuses on Skills and Professional Experience sections.

Technical/Chronological vs. Technical/Functional Most technical resumes follow chronological format but include summary of skills at beginning of resume.

Use functional format if you’re a technical worker who’s mainly been hired for project-based or contract work.

Overcoming Obstacles and Objections

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Baby Boomers

Baby Boomers Applying for Jobs

On-Ramp Program 2010 Overcoming Objections  “Older workers are more costly.”   “Older workers need re-training and can’t learn new skills.” “Older workers are over-qualified and will get bored.” Advantages  When writing your resume, emphasize your knowledge and experience.

Military

Military Transitioning to Civilian Workforce

On-Ramp Program 2010 Overcoming Objections  “Speak civilian, not military.” Translate military experience to understandable civilian qualifications.

Advantages  Modern and current skills and training.

  Ability to work in a team.

Ability to adapt to change and handle pressure.

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Recent Graduates

College or High School Grads without Work Experience

Overcoming Objections  “Recent graduates feel entitled in the work place.”  “Recent graduates lack professionalism and strong work ethic.” Advantages  Bring new ideas: Business thrives on innovation, so highlight your ability to apply new information and ideas to your work.

  Hard working: Younger employees take spirited approach toward work, staying up late or working on weekends to complete tasks.

Affordable: Show value you offer the employer, and what they stand to gain by hiring you over someone more established.

Career Changers

Job Seekers Who Are Changing Careers

On-Ramp Program 2010 Overcoming objections  “Has no experience.” Know and articulate transferable skills.

 “Why does this person want to leave their current field?” Advantages  Bring new and fresh perspective to the position.

 Value added by bringing skills from other profession.

Other helpful tips  Do your research and change your resume accordingly.

 Emphasize accomplishments in your previous career and stress your transferable skills.

View from the Inside

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How Hiring Managers and Recruiters View Resumes

 Location: If address indicates you live too far away— SKIPPED .

 Stability: Depending on position, if you appear to be a job hopper— SKIPPED .

 Education: If the job requires a degree, and you don’t have one— SKIPPED .

 Companies: Previous employers with recognizable names or brands prominently .

stand out . Make sure company names and subsidiaries are listed

Submitting a Resume

On-Ramp Program 2010 Emailing your resume • Most effective and common means of submitting resume to employers and contacts.

• • • Use standard file formats: Word .doc and .pdf

Be direct and clear in your subject line.

Include title of position, word “resume,” and keywords in email.

Electronic screeners • Crack the code by using keywords highlighted in job description.

• Use keywords throughout your resume.

• Prioritize keywords so that those most relevant to position are at the top.

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Posting Your Resume Online

Job boards • Keep resume current and updated.

• Avoid posting confidential resume.

Social networks • • Make sure information on resume and public profiles are consistent and professional.

Blogs and Websites Control your professional presence online and be conscious of the image you are presenting to potential employers.

Social Networks

   Great forums to promote your personal brand.

Join LinkedIn, add, and update work experience. Keep profile information and resume consistent across multiple sites.

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Blogs and Websites

On-Ramp Program 2010   On your blog or website, have a section about your personal brand.

Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to drive traffic to your profile and resume.

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Guidelines for a Well-Written Resume

    Use strong and concise language to communicate your skills and accomplishments.

Do not use personal pronouns: “I,” “me,” “my,” “our.” Use professional language. Remove slang or localized terminology.

Shorten long and complex sentences. Leave out extraneous information.

Check grammar and spelling.

Beware of red flags.

Avoid other common mistakes.

Beware of

Red

Flags

On-Ramp Program 2010  Grammatical and spelling errors.

 Too wordy or too much information.

 Irrelevant experience.

 False claims and over-embellishment.

  Inconsistent work history or unexplained career gaps.

Email address is too provocative.

Any Questions?

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