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Develop a Resume
Resumes give employers written evidence of your qualifications. When
creating a resume, you need two kinds of information-facts about yourself and facts about
the job you want. With this information in hand, you can present the facts about yourself
in terms of the job. You have more freedom with resumes than with application forms; you
can put your best points first and avoid blanks.
KNOW YOURSELF
Begin by assembling information about yourself. Some items appear on virtually every
resume or application form, including the following:
- Employment Experience
Remember, employers want to know what you can do for them, not what they can do for you.
Keep it simple-don't discourage an employer from reading your resume.
- Work Experience
Provide complete information on employers, supervisors, addresses, telephone numbers, job
titles, and duties (unless you are using a special type of resume). Explain your former
duties as if you were discussing them with a new coworker.
- Education
List all your schooling (institutional, vocational, and military). Special courses you
completed in high school may be as important to an employer as non-related college
courses.
- Military Experience
There are special employment programs that are available to employers who hire veterans.
In addition, your military experience may be invaluable to a new employer.
- Special Skills
Highlighting your skills may sell an employer on hiring you. Typing, public relations,
shorthand, welding, mechanical, etc., are only a few of the special skills that could be
included on a resume.
- Achievements & Qualifications
What honors, promotions, etc., did you receive in school or on the job? What makes you a
unique person?
- Hobbies
Hobbies show your interests and job-related skills or abilities that may interest an
employer.
- References
Contact your references and have their addresses and telephone numbers available if the
employer requests them.
Other information, such as your Social Security Number, is often asked for on
application forms but is rarely presented on resumes. Honesty is very important, but you
are not required to reveal disabilities that do not affect your overall qualifications for
a job.
KNOW THE JOB
Gather specific information about jobs for which you are applying. You need to know the
pay range, education and experience required, and hours and shifts usually worked. Most
importantly, you need to know the job duties, so that you can describe your experience in
terms of those duties. Study the job description. Some job announcements, especially those
issued by a government agency, have a checklist that assigns a numerical weight to
different qualifications, so that you can be certain as to which is most important.
Once you have the information you need, you can prepare a resume. You may need to
prepare more than one resume if you are going to look for different kinds of jobs.
Otherwise, your resume will not fit the job you seek.
Arrangement of your resume depends on how well your experience seems to prepare you
for the position you want. You can either describe your most recent job first and work
backwards, or you can group similar skills together.
| General Guidelines for Your Resume |
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Be specific. A vague description of your duties will only make a vague impression. |
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Identify accomplishments. If you headed a project, improved productivity, reduced
costs, increased membership, or achieved some other goal, say so. |
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Type your resume, using a standard typeface. (Printed resumes are becoming more
common, but employers do not indicate a preference for them.) |
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Keep the length to two pages at the most. |
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Remember your mother's advice not to say anything if you cannot say something nice.
Leave all embarrassing or negative information off the resume, but be ready to deal with
it at the interview. |
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Proofread the final copy carefully. |
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Use the best quality photocopying machine and high-quality paper. |
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