Résumé

A résumé can be organized chronologically or analytically.

• Chronological organization means “time.” You start with the most recent events (like your educational background) and move backward in time.
• Analytical organization is best when you have a lot of experience and want to highlight it. You begin with the most relevant experience.

On your résumé, include computer skills, foreign languages, musical skills, clubs you belong to (and positions you held).

Ask your advisor if your discipline includes references.

• That references thing--Choose former employers and professors. (Community leaders are iff-y. Avoid pastors/rabbis/priests, family members, and friends.) Closed references (ones mailed directly to the employer, ones you don't see before the potential employer sees them) are preferable to open references (ones you hand the employer yourself and, therefore, ones the employer has assumed you have read).
• A lukewarm letter of reference is more damaging than no letter at all. Ask, “Do you feel you know me and my work well enough to write a strong letter of reference?”
• If you get a “yes,” then tell the person what to expect. Provide a résumé and stamped, addressed envelopes if necessary. Don’t forget to say, “Thank you.”

On your résumé, list most, or all of the jobs you have held, even if they seem unrelated to your major field. Any job held successfully for a period of time says that you are responsible and a good employment risk.

The Objective--Check with your advisor to see if your discipline recommends an objective. If so, create a statement that shows that you know the type of work the company does and the type of position it needs to fill. "Job where I can advance" is too vague and tells the potential employer that you didn't care enough to spend a little time creating a specific objective for the position you are applying for.

A résumé is two pages long, max. Your résumé should have your name and contact information at the top. Do not include personal information on a résumé (weight, height, marital status) unless it relates to the job (plus-sized model, for instance).

What Works: Employers usually spend 15-45 seconds looking at your résumé. They want an obvious and persuasive answer to the question, “What can you do for us?”

Employers are impressed by a résumé that

• looks good (conservative, tasteful, uncluttered, on quality paper)
• reads easily (headings, typeface, spacing and punctuation provide clear orientation)
• provides information the employer needs for making interviewing decisions

You will probably create a different version of your résumé and cover letter for every job you apply for. This is common. Just always make sure the right cover letter goes to the right company.

The Cover Letter

The cover letter contains four main elements:

• Introduction (job you are applying for)
• Education (especially as it relates to the job you are applying for)
• Experience (especially as it relates to the job you are applying for)
• Conclusion (polite request for interview and contact information)

The purpose of the cover letter is to highlight your qualifications and get the reader to look at the résumémore carefully. Nobody studies and memorizes your résumé.

Begin your cover letter by naming the job you’re applying for and where you may have seen it advertised. Identify yourself and your background in a sentence. Without merely repeating your résumé, focus on the qualifications you can bring to this specific job.

Don’t come across as a “Jill of all trades.” Relate your qualifications specifically to the job you are applying for. Avoid flattery. “I am much impressed by your remarkable company.” Be specific. Replace “much experience” with specific numbers and data.

Support all claims with evidence to show how your qualifications will benefit this employer. Create a dynamic tone by using active voice and action verbs.

Passive voice: Management responsibilities were steadily given to me.

Active voice: I steadily assumed management responsibilities.

The Curriculum Vita Also called a C.V./ Also called a Vita (Vita is also sometimes spelled Vitae)

The Vita is a longer résumé used by professionals. When you seek a job from within a profession, you will create a Vita. Usually, professionals update their Vitas every year, whether they are on the market or not.

Vitas include

• Name and Contact Information
• Education
• Related Coursework
• Employment History
• Presentations and Publications
• Committees Served On
• Research Projects
• Grants Awarded
• Honors, Awards, Scholarships and Recognitions
• Special Skills (Languages, Computer Skills, Musical Skills)

Vitas are Long: Seven to ten page Vitas are not uncommon. Don’t “pad” your Vita.

The Letter of Application

Read the job ad carefully. Does it ask for a résumé? Special application? Cover letter? Curriculum Vita, Vita or C.V. or Vitae? Letter of Application? Dossier or portfolio?

Job Ads are Legally Binding. If you don’t send in what the employer asks to see, then legally the employer can’t really consider you.

In a letter of application, the applicant explains in detail how he or she fits the criteria advertised for in the position.

Letters of application can be 2-4 pages long as the applicant explains his or her qualifications and how they relate to all the skills requested in the job ad.

To send in a letter of application for the above job ad, the applicant would address every skill listed and explain how the applicant fit the requirements for the job. This letter of application might be two to three pages long. Contrast that to a cover letter, which would only be a page long. The cover letter would try to provide a summary of skills that would address the job ad without covering every single one in detail. Again, be attentive to what the job ad requests--don't send the wrong thing. If the job ad wants a résumé and cover letter, DON'T send a Vita and letter of application.

What’s in a Portfolio or Dossier?

• Your Vita
• Transcripts (unofficial copies--you will send official copies directly to potential employers)
• Scholarship awards or commendation letters
• Projects, designs, papers, evaluations
• Materials relevant to the job (experiments, presentations)
• Letters of recommendation
• Newspaper clippings about you
• Your professional philosophy (This is an individual statement by you regarding your goals in your profession. It’s used to see if you “fit” with the employer.)

Little Details

Check for:

• Good grammar and correct spelling
• Logical arrangement of materials
• Clean, normal (white, ivory, buff, gray) paper.
• Black ink
• Normal font (Arial or Times New Roman)

Also consider . . .If your job materials are to be scanned in or posted on the Internet, then use a standard font and left justify everything. For electronic job materials, make sure you include key words that you know employers will be looking for.

Also consider . . .Many times placement offices keep copies. If you do have a placement office, always keep a personal copy as well. You will be updating this document for the rest of your life.

A View from the Hiring Committee

The hiring committee really is looking for someone who is

• Literate
• Competent
• Possessed of a Work Ethic
• Nice
• Preferably Clean

Red Flags: Hiring Committees want to avoid someone who

• Wants to change the company or office in a day
• Has a negative opinion of past employers and coworkers (everyone is stupid)
• Isn’t able to answer any question in depth

A poor hiring decision is expensive to a company. Make sure you’re a good fit to the employer. Be a nice, pleasant, clean, well-adjusted, literate, competent person who will come to work on time every day and meet deadlines (at least 95% of the time).

Reasons Hiring Committees are Cautious:

• As many as 25% of résumés contain falsified credentials.
• 15-20% of job applicants have something personal to hide.
• Yearly costs of employee dishonesty and poor judgment amount to billions of dollars.

Because Nice Matters: Above all, employers looks for a candidate who is likable. One employer checks with each person an applicant speaks with during the company visit—including the receptionist. Another employer has candidates join in a company softball game.

Know Your Rights:

• There are laws prohibiting discrimination against just about everything. Married men are the only people who benefit from revealing marital status. It is illegal for the employer to ask.
• If you have “gaps” in your resume, you are not obligated to tell an employer why. A recent employment advice columnist advised responding with a polite, “I’m sure you’re interviewing others, and so I thought I’d tell you, those questions are illegal. Wouldn’t want you to get in trouble with the EEOC.”
  

OWL HOME