39. Draft your resume.

HELP box

How to Prepare an Effective Resume

1. Resume Essentials

Before you write, take time to do a self-assessment on paper. Outline your skills and abilities as well as your work experience and extracurricular activities. This will make it easier to prepare a thorough resume. Your strongest skills should be listed in the beginning. If education is a strong asset, list it first; otherwise wait.

The resume should be written with the employer in mind.

2. The Content of Your Resume

Do not write resume or vitae at the top.

When writing resume there are several parts that must be organized and adequately represented on your resume. Here they are, listed in order:

Name, address, telephone, e-mail address, web site address (preferably centered).

All your contact information should go at the top of your resume.

• Avoid nicknames.

• Use a permanent address. Use your parents' address, a friend's address, or the address you plan to use after graduation.

• Use a permanent telephone number and include the area code. If you have an answering machine, record a neutral greeting.

• Add your e-mail address. Many employers will find it useful. (Note: Choose an email address that sounds professional).

• Include your web site address only if the web page reflects your professional ambitions.

Objective or Summary

An objective tells potential employers the sort of work you're hoping to do. List the type of position that you are seeking.

•Include skills that you can offer to the company. If possible, match your qualifications to those listed in the ad or job description.

•Be specific about the job you want. For example: To obtain an entry-level position within a financial institution requiring strong analytical and organizational skills.

• Tailor your objective to each employer you target/every job you seek.

• Current trends in resume writing state that you don't have to create a career objective, especially if your objective is bland or nonspecific. It is your decision.

Education

New graduates without a lot of work experience should list their educational information first. Alumni can list it after the work experience section.

• Your most recent educational information is listed first.

• Include your degree, and the institutions attended.

• List other educational information in reverse chronological order. (List high school information only if it is relevant to the career objective). Include graduation dates, and the city and state in which each school is located.

• List any courses you have taken that are relevant to your career goals and objective. (This is optional).

• Mention academic honors.

Work Experience

Briefly give the employer an overview of work that has taught you skills. Use action words to describe your job duties. The position titles and companies should be easy to pick out.

Include your work experience in reverse chronological order (List your present position first). Include:

• Title of position

• Name of organization

• Location of work (town, state)

• Dates of employment

• Describe your work responsibilities with emphasis on specific skills and achievements.

Include summer and part-time jobs, as they show stability. If your employment history includes many short-term, miscellaneous jobs, use the following rules: (1) list those relevant to the position for which you are applying, and (2) list those you held for the longest period of time. Briefly explain the job duties for or your accomplishments in each position. Use active language in describing your accomplishments. For example, "I supervised five persons in the emergency room, and worked so well under pressure that I was promoted twice".

Other information (optional):

You may want to list your key or special skills or competencies, awards, hobbies, sports, activities, leadership experience in volunteer work. It may be the personal part of your resume that separates you from everyone else. If the interviewer is reading 400 resumes and most of them cite similar work and educational experience, it stands to reason that he/she would respond positively to see something different in your resume that makes it stand out from the other 399.

Don't mention controversial hobbies (hunting, hang-gliding, etc.). If the person evaluating your resume has a problem with one of your hobbies, you may not even get an interview, much less the job. For example, employers don't want to hire motorcycle riders, because they feel that such persons could be too easily injured and miss too many days of work. You may not agree with this, but before you list personal items, think about the potential response of the persons reading your resume!

Do not take up more than two or three lines when writing this section.

Equal employment regulations have made it illegal for employers to discriminate based upon age, sex, marital status, or religion. Do not include confidential information such as your birthdate, marital status, social security number, spouse's name, health status, political affiliation, race, religious affiliation, children's name or ages, etc.

References

Ask people if they are willing to serve as references before you give their names to a potential employer. Do not include your reference information on your resume. You may note at the bottom of your resume: "References furnished on request" or "References are available upon request'.

3. Resume Checkup

You've written your resume. It's time to have it reviewed and critiqued by a career counselor. You can also take the following steps to ensure quality:

Content:

• Run a spell check on your computer before anyone sees your resume.

• Get a friend (an English major would do nicely) to do a grammar review.

•Ask another friend to proofread. The more people who see your resume, the more likely that misspelled words and awkward phrases will be seen (and corrected).

Design:

These tips will make your resume easier to read and/or scan into an employer's data base.

• Use white or off-white paper. Colors might be beige or grey, but no bright or fluorescent colors.

Try to be a little more conservative in your presentation.

• Use 8-1/2-x 11-inch paper.

• Print on one side of the paper.

• Use a font size of 10 to 14 points.

• Use nondecorative typefaces.

• Choose one typeface and stick to it.

• Avoid italics, script, and underlined words.

• Do not use horizontal or vertical lines, graphics, or shading.

• Have a one-inch margin on all sides.

• Do not fold or staple your resume.

• If you must mail your resume, put it in a large envelope.

Writing a resume is not an easy task; in fact, it's very hard work. A good resume is rewritten and rewritten and rewritten. The first resume you write is probably not good enough, so try again. Resume writing is a constant process of rewriting.

40. Many companies expect all your personal information to be entered on a standard application form. Unfortunately, no two application forms are alike, and filling in each one may present unexpected difficulties. Here is an example of an application form.

Application Form

Personal

name Victor Petrenko

address 10 Zolia St., Ap. 7 phone [phone] (home)

do you have valid driver’s licence Yes No

marital status married # of dependents 1 daughter

education higher

Name of school Year graduated Course Taken or Degree

Kiev University 1990 M. Sc. in Economics

languages

Russian/Ukrainian Excellent Good Fair

English Excellent Good Fair

experience (Give present or last position first)

company Alpha address 17 Proreznaya St.

type of business industry employed (Month & Year)

Information Technologies From March 1990 To July 1995

position(s) held supervisor’s name

Manager Alexander Bach

describe your duties

Negotiations, purchase of

equipment

why did you leave

The company has moved to Sevastopol

company __________ address _______________

type of business industry employed (Month & Year)

______________________ From _______ To _________

position(s) held supervisor’s name

_____________________ __________________

describe your duties

________________________

why did you leave

__________________

personal references

Name A. Bach Address 3 Tolstoy St. Phone [phone] (home)