anybody know how to build a good resume?

[invisibledemon]

i may be in need of a nice resume in the next few weeks, depending upon whether or not i get a decent enough offer from the company im currently working for.

i know this is probably soemthing simple to actually sit down and do but i havnt the slightest clue as to how to make it look good to companies.

and i dont wanna pay one of those stupid websites to end up with the basic shitty looking resume.

if you can send me to a website that gives really helpful info on making a resume more professional please do, or if you feel you can take my info and make it into one, please let me know.

i just need to get a nice resume, bc i cant go back to an 8/hr job. and i dont think they are going to offer me what i want.

 

[BrutalB83]

Do you have anything written so far? Post it up or PM it to me. I've been told that my resume is very nice-looking and effective. I could give you some pointers.

 

[tunercrazed]

monster has quite a few nice tips for resumes, ad they'll write a nice one out for a decent price. Make sure you ask if theres another position open if you move jobs on me, dont forget your old pal here lol

 

[BrutalB83]

monster has quite a few nice tips for resumes, ad they'll write a nice one out for a decent price. Make sure you ask if theres another position open if you move jobs on me, dont forget your old pal here lol

Meh, I wouldn't ever pay anyone to write a resume for me. That's just freakin' lazy...plus, he specifically said that he DIDN'T want to pay for it...

Anyway, the examples online really aren't that bad. I'd look at a few of those and then throw something together. Like I said, if you need any help, just let me know and I'll be glad to look at it for you.

 

[Briansol]

Put your name at the top nice and big along with your contact info below it.

then bullet out some points in what you can do, what you went to school for, and anything else related to the job.

ignore highschool, and anything not related to the job you're applying for. bloat = waste of my time reading what i want to see.

 

[invisibledemon]

Do you have anything written so far? Post it up or PM it to me. I've been told that my resume is very nice-looking and effective. I could give you some pointers.

i dont have anything as of yet, i just thought about it today. and from what ive heard its kinda dificult to make a good professional resume.

monster has quite a few nice tips for resumes, ad they'll write a nice one out for a decent price. Make sure you ask if theres another position open if you move jobs on me, dont forget your old pal here lol

lol, i havnt even met you. but seriously though, how far are you from cool springs?

Put your name at the top nice and big along with your contact info below it.

then bullet out some points in what you can do, what you went to school for, and anything else related to the job.

ignore highschool, and anything not related to the job you're applying for. bloat = waste of my time reading what i want to see.

werd, thanks for the tips. so i take it that a 1 page resume with usefull info is better than a 3 page of blah blah blah?

 

[BrutalB83]

werd, thanks for the tips. so i take it that a 1 page resume with usefull info is better than a 3 page of blah blah blah?

YES! The informational portion should be no longer than 1 page. A potential employer wants to be able to quickly peruse your resume and be able to decide whether or not they want to go any further with you based off of that quick look.

If you go on and on about your education and work experience for any longer than a page, most likely they're not going to read it all, and that could be bad if some of your most pertinent work history is on page 3.

What you want to do with your resume is give a well-rounded description of your best and most pertinent assets/experience, and do so in the simplest and briefest way possible.

My resume is two pages. The first page has my education and work history, and then the second page is just references. I put my name and contact info (address, phone number, and e-mail) into the header so that it appears the same on both pages.

Also, don't overload it with references. 3-4 good ones is plenty. You can always put a little note on it saying "more references available on request". In fact, you don't even need to put a reference page on it if you don't want to. You can just put a note at the bottom saying to ask for references. Most employers will choose to interview you based on the info in the resume, and then contact your references afterwards.

If you have any other questions, let me know.

 

[tunercrazed]

lol, i havnt even met you. but seriously though, how far are you from cool springs?

In gibson county?

 

[invisibledemon]

well hell. cant hire you unless you wanna dive past nashville to get to work everyday. lmao.

 

[tunercrazed]

thats one hell of a commute lol but its not even that big of a deal my home is mobile I've been living out of my car for the past2 months and every once and a while I'll come stay with my parents for a bit, thank god I have a laptop and can leach off of arbies wi-fi XD

 

[invisibledemon]

lol, why would you rather live in your car over your parents house.
sounds like a shitty move to me

 

[get_nick]

use real numbers and stats.

fixed x number of Y problems.
managed such and such people.
improved something by 50%

 

[dacheat]

on the subj of resumes, my advice is to pick a few key accomplishments from each event you list (i.e., previously held positions and time spent in ed) and then find some money words to describe those accomplishments.

there's a lot of magic in the words you choose, and since you're hoping your resume is going to land you an interview, try to intrigue/impress the person who is going to spend 20 seconds (or less) scanning your resume for well...magic. anything you can translate into numbers or percentages speak well in the world of business. did you lower costs, increase revenue? you know.. anyway.

so for example, where some would put this on their res..

burger king - podunk, nowhere
- shift manager
- burger flipper

i'd suggest instead:

burger king - podunk, nowhere
- managed a team of eight on peak shifts
- focused on increasing customer satisfaction with all other duties

so yeah, translate that to wtfe it is you have done, and g'luck
if you want another set of eyes lookin at your res, lemme know.

edit: dammit i go answer a phone and i come back and nick's beat me to it

use real numbers and stats.

fixed x number of Y problems.
managed such and such people.
improved something by 50%

 

[tunercrazed]

lol, why would you rather live in your car over your parents house.
sounds like a shitty move to me

lol me and my father don't necessarily get along and when I'm hom one of us usually ends up with a black eye or busted lip, so I avoid the place as much as possible.

 

[Briansol]

if you send me a 3-page resume, i'm not reading page 2 and 3 so you better impress the fuck out of my on page 1

 

[B16]

if you send me a 3-page resume, i'm not reading page 2 and 3 so you better impress the fuck out of my on page 1

haha, same here. I always get 3 page resumes, shit pisses me off.

 

[BrutalB83]

if you send me a 3-page resume, i'm not reading page 2 and 3 so you better impress the fuck out of my on page 1

Exactly! Regardless of how long a resume is, the first page is usually the only one that's going to get looked at, so really, there's no point in making it any longer than a page.

burger king - podunk, nowhere
- shift manager
- burger flipper

i'd suggest instead:

burger king - podunk, nowhere
- managed a team of eight on peak shifts
- focused on increasing customer satisfaction with all other duties

This is a great example here! Without lying or even exaggerating, she made those two details sound exponentially more important and relevant.

And also, notice how she started each of the two detail sentences with a verb (managed, focused, etc.)? That's a good way to go about it. Verbs draw attention to the fact that you were actively accomplishing something at your previous jobs, as opposed to just being there.

 

[nootrac22]

I use a "skill set resume". You start off by taking the job posting and pulling the key responsibilitites out of the job duties section. Then you make a heading for each of the skills you've identified. Under those heading you list the job(s) that pertain to that with a short description of relevent info/ facts. Short, simple and easy for the interviewer to read, and see if you have what they are looking for.

 

[dacheat]

I use a "skill set resume". You start off by taking the job posting and pulling the key responsibilitites out of the job duties section. Then you make a heading for each of the skills you've identified. Under those heading you list the job(s) that pertain to that with a short description of relevent info/ facts. Short, simple and easy for the interviewer to read, and see if you have what they are looking for.

yeah that sounds like a good approach. reminds me that there are skill-based, experience-based, and education-based resume models/templates that are acceptable and intended to highlight what you do know/have, not where you may have holes.

when i interviewed outta college, i definitely had an education-based resume, but i made sure i pointed out why my educational experience mattered (working in computer labs, research assistanceship, etc).

now that i have 10yrs experience, i just kinda plop the degree on the bottom of the resume along with brief mention of crap i did there . my experience section does tend to crossreference my skillset, but not in a super-direct fashion (repetitiveness is a fine line to walk..wanna keep them reading, not skimming). I've seen lots of developer/programmer resumes that have the skills/languages/tools used for each project listed in parentheses after each item. Seems to work well for showing real application.

ps the 'objective' statement - i've always hated that thing. anyone have any words of wisdom on that? i usually keep my incredibly simple. kinda wish i didn't feel like i had to have one. i mean, i want you to pay me some damn money. and maybe i wanna not hate what i do for 8 hrs a day

 

[Dustin_m]

ps the 'objective' statement - i've always hated that thing. anyone have any words of wisdom on that? i usually keep my incredibly simple. kinda wish i didn't feel like i had to have one. i mean, i want you to pay me some damn money. and maybe i wanna not hate what i do for 8 hrs a day

That's the part of my resume i hate the most. I've been told that it needs to be short and simple, but to me it seems almost unnecessary most of the time.

My resume is 1 page, no need for more. It's in a basic format. Objective, key points about me, Education, Work History. I've gotten a few compliments on it that the presentation is nice. I used tabs carefully to make it easy to read without looking cluttered, so I guess thats what i would suggest is pay attention to indents and tabs to show importance of information. Too much of it, or different spacing on them makes it look cluttered.