Building Your Resume

By Student WorkForce Readiness Project PHRMA/SWHRMA

Class Objectives

 Understand the purpose of a resume – Product v. History  Understand how employers read resumes – Scanning v. Reading  Understand how to build a resume – Do’s v. Don’ts  Understand how to target a resume based on specific employer needs

Why Do Employers Want a Resume?

 Each job has different requirements  When skills match requirements, Recruiters & Hiring Managers pay attention  Demonstrates a higher degree of interest and professionalism  Links your Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA’s) and business’s needs.

Your Resume Is a Marketing Tool And You Are The Product!!

 Your experience and skills have value…your salary!!

 Do you know your value?

 Budgets are tight and $$ can’t be wasted  Employers search for the “Best Candidate”  “What can you do for us?”  “Can we get “added value” by hiring you?

Your Resume Is a Marketing Tool And You Are The Product!!

 Your resume(s) should: – Grab attention of recruiters, hiring managers who are involved in the selection process – Highlight why you are the best candidate – Accurately market your Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA’s) – Show information that will “rule you in”, not “screen you out.” – Be visually easy to read and understand

Types of Resumes

 Chronological (70%) – Most widely used – Emphasizes actual work history – Highlights “things”, e.g., title, company, skills, duties, accomplishments – Best format for getting a job in something you’ve done before – Focuses on actual experience and accomplishments

Types of Resumes

 Functional (30%) – Emphasizes skills and knowledge not directly linked to a particular job or experience – De-emphasizes chronology, gaps of time – Focuses on similar functions or skills, across different industries or jobs – Effective when beginning or changing careers

Types of Resumes

 Targeted – Blends Chronological and Functional format – Focuses on a clear, specific job target – Matches the job target with your own job goal – Lists skills and supporting accomplishments directly related to specific job target

Targeted Resume



Do

– Begin with a specific job target or objective – Use specific industry terminology – Include relevant education/training – Include volunteer/paid experience related to targeted job 

Don’t

– Overdo the use of industry terms – Indicate abilities that aren’t credible based upon your background – Focus on areas that are not relevant – Emphasize dates of employment unless experience is recent and relevant to job target.

Targeted Resume

 Advantages – Employers understand what you want to do – Employers can understand how your total experience make you a good candidate – You can customize and emphasize your capabilities  Disadvantages – When you prefer to use one resume for several applications – When you are not clear about how your capabilities match to the job target – When your experience is light

How Employers Read Resumes

  – – – Scanning v. Reading 10-20 second rule “Seven Word” rule Top to bottom, left to right, first v. second page 1.

2.

3.

4.

Key words, phrases, in order of priority Job Goal Minimum Qualifications Relevant Skills Companies, Titles, Dates

Building a Resume

  Heading – Name, Address, Telephone, Email – Free email accounts  Objective v. Summary Paragraph – Potential v. Experience Professional Experience Section – Company, City State, Dates – Title – Accomplishments – Repeat for Each Company

Building a Resume, continued

 Education Section  Training Section  Technical Skills Section  Volunteer Experience Section  Other Sections – Anything that is relevant to the job you are seeking

Building a Resume, continued

 Accomplishments v. Tasks – The difference is accomplishments show results  PAR Formula – P = Problem or Task – A = Action you took – R = Result you achieved  Example – “Actively listened and responded customer inquiries which reduced the number of problem issues escalated to the manager and increased customer satisfaction.”

Formatting Tips

 Use the same font throughout the resume  Use easy to read 12 point font, e.g., New Times Roman, Arial, etc.

 1” Margins, top, bottom, sides  Use bullets instead of paragraphs  Use spell check and have someone proofread 

Bold

is ok, no underlines or

italics

Targeting a Resume Exercise

 Find a job advertisement of interest  Read the job advertisement thoroughly  Use Highlighter and mark KSA’s  Make a list of key skills and requirements for the job  Check off the skills you have  Write accomplishments that match what the employer is seeking  Include this information on the resume

Questions?