Q: What is your resume?
A: It is your first opportunity to sell yourself.
Q: What does your resume do for you?
A: It gets your foot in the door.
It is what makes the difference between getting an interview and not getting one. I would like to give you at least a few tips to help you create a more effective resume. Recommended Reading:
INTRO
I always recommend the following sections on a resume: Header, Summary of Qualifications, Employment Experience, Education and Special Achievements. Next we will attack each one of these sections one at a time. Before you get started, make sure that you are using a normal font like Arial or Times. Do not try to get fancy as it usually winds up looking really dumb and can be distracting.
HEADER
This is the easiest part of the whole resume. I center this section at the top of the page and include the following information.
Line 1 – Name(use bold for this as it will help draw attention to this line – you want them to remember your name, right?)
Line 2 – Street address
Line 3 – City, State and zip
Line 4 – Phone Number(don’t forget this or you won’t be getting any calls)
Line 5 – Email address(optional)
Thats all there is to that!
SUMMARY OF ACHIEVEMENTS
This section is key. It is one of the first things that an employer will read and is your best opportunity to list your attributes and skills. The secret is to use lots of modifiers(adjectives) that paint a picture of your personality and skills. Lets look at how I did this on my resume:
An energetic, self-motivated Microsoft Certified Professional skilled in Windows 95/98, Windows NT and Macintosh environments with some Linux/Unix and Netware experience. Possesses knowledge in LAN and WAN technologies, protocols and configurations and expertise in PostScript printer hardware and software. Experienced in Internet technologies, web-page design and marketing. A very quick learner skilled in communication, problem solving and conflict resolution. Microsoft certified in Networking Essentials and TCP/IP.
From reading this, you are able to determine my technical skills and you also know that I am energetic, self-motivated, a quick learner, a problem solver, communicator and able to resolve conflicts. I chose these modifiers because I believe that these are qualities that are important to employers in the IT field. If I were applying for a customer service position, I would probably use an entirely different set of adjectives. Make sure that you try to avoid cliches such as, “I am a hard worker” or “I am a nice person”. Be creative with your descriptions of yourself. Finally, DO NOT LIE and DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT. Walk the fine line.
EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE
Here you will explain your past work experience. If you have worked for 100 different companies, DO NOT LIST THEM ALL – It will make you look like a job hopper. A resume should be 1 to 2 pages long so only include the last couple of jobs. When working on this section, try to find parallels between duties/responsibilities of previous jobs and those of the type of job that you are applying for. Include facts and figures wherever possible that will qualify the importance of your responsibilities. For example, if you saved the company 10,000 dollars due to a policy change that you helped develop, then mention those figures. If you managed 50 people then mention that. Let’s take a look at an out-take from a resume anyway:
Technical Lead
Assisted Co-workers with technical questions and upset customers often by taking ownership of the call. Implemented and taught training classes, provided 1-on-1 training and call feedback in order to improve team’s ability to resolve customers’ technical questions on the front line. Co-designed and administered internal Product Support web site. Acted as a focal point for Escalated Software and Hardware. Researched product bugs and new issues in order to discover and document solutions before the customer became aware of them. Served on the interviewing and hiring team. Worked closely with management providing feedback and suggestions regarding co-workers, call handling processes and training. Hopefully, this will at least give you some ideas.
EDUCATION
It is probably not necessary to list the high-school that you attended if you have college work to include. List any colleges, trade schools, etc that you have attended as well as any relevant classes that were not a part of a degree program.
B.S., Sociology. University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 1996 Networking Essentials. Portland Community College, Portland, OR. 1998
SPECIAL ACHIEVENTS
In this section list any certifications, awards, etc that you have received. If you don’t have anything that applies, then do not include this section on your resume, it is optional. DO NOT include your picture. DO NOT include “references available upon request”, they already know that. DO NOT include your hobbies or any other personal information. I once saw a resume that had the persons picture on it and he had a section that discussed his hobbies which included gun collecting. Not a good idea! The resume should only include information that is relevant to work related activities. If an employer wants to know what your hobbies are they will ask, although legally I don’t believe that it is a valid question for them to ask.
Well, that is all there is to it. What you ought to do now is view a sample resume (http://www.mcmcse.com/jobs/resume.doc) and use the exact same layout when you make yours. Then print it out on a high quality WHITE bond paper and you are on your way to employment. Good Luck!!!
MC MCSE is a popular computer certification website devoted to providing free learning materials to candidates pursuing Microsoft, CompTIA and Cisco certifications. To access these resources visit http://www.mcmcse.com
