Resume Advice

[urplecigarillos]

I need help from NT professionals. What advice would you give on what to put in a resume? 

what should i avoid? and what should my cover letter be about? is a cover letter required?

any help would be appreciated.

 

[travis]

Try to keep it short but descriptive . List (i used bullet marks) the duties you served on your past jobs . You should include customer service , basic math skills , good work ethic , punctuality , good team work while at the same time being a leader , take constructive criticism well , etc . Make sure to include any professional certificate you've received , if any , and wat school you graduated from and/or are currently attending with any degree you've receieved . A cover letter is not needed but strongly suggested . In it you should express your interest in the job and why you would be a perfect fit there . Your cover letter is your way to stand out from the rest of the applicants so make sure you don't write it as if you were writing an essay . Don't be afraid to show the job your applying for the "fun" side of you but make sure not to be to informal ! Your still applying for a job . Put tht you like to have fun while working and you genuinely want to help the company become better while building strong personal relationships with its customers and fellow co workers .

If you need to be pointed in the right direct as to format if you google "resumed examples" or something like tht many will pop up .

 

[lacrimestopper]

yes, what travis said. You should only list 3 of your latest job experiences. It's important to keep your resume one exact full page, neat, simple, organized, and easy to read. Make sure you list the company name, when you worked, and what you learned/did/experienced.

Make sure your resume is in PDF form when u email it to jobs. make sure you have a cover letter as well describing, very briefly, why you believe you'd be a good fit for working there, how your past experiences will help you with this new job, and then tell them how you are a very hard worker and have a true passion for whatever it is ur applying for, even if it's a lie. In order to make it in the job world, you have to kiss a lot of butt.

Remember, a good resume is to get noticed by a company. it's your job to get them interested in you through an interview. The interview, imo, is the hardest part. takes a lot more practice and preparation than most people think.

but anyways, good luck with your endeavors, my friend.

 

[urplecigarillos]

thanks travis and lacrimestopper. that really helps. what categories would you guys list in the resume. education, past jobs, personal qualities? 

what about references? do i put a couple on it?

 

[nazdrowie]

thanks travis and lacrimestopper. that really helps. what categories would you guys list in the resume. education, past jobs, personal qualities? 

what about references? do i put a couple on it?

No need for references on your resume but keep them in a separate doc just incase they ask. Personal refs usually come into play after you've been interviewed. Instead of listing personal qualities, include them in a brief headline about yourself at the top of your résume. As cheesy as it sounds, it has def gotten me a lot more noticed after someone recommended adding the "headline" intro. From what I've learned, the biggest resume killer is empty white space. Try to get it as close to one full page as possible. An example of the unformatted headline for my line of work ive been using below:

Government Affairs Professional ~ Public Policy Researcher ~ Editorial Specialist

An experienced professional who has demonstrated the ability to work with diverse teams of researchers and policy professionals to high levels of success in the public policy industry. Mr. x has a strong technical background in legislative and government research and business qualifications with an impressive track record of more than x years of hands-on experience in information services, content/document publishing, and legislative analysis.

· Marketing and Communications Skills · Key Client Interaction · Relationship Management · Project Management
· Product Development · Training and Teambuilding

If anyone has any recs for me as well, let me know always looking for professional feedback.

 

[qtnettles]

also what types of jobs are you applying for.....I.T., Health Care...etc? Depending on the job type it may be more important to highlight different areas. I was applying for I.T. jobs so I had a column which highlighted certain skills I had like Sql and different coding languages.

 

[antidope]

What I've come to learn is that there is no secret to a cover letter, the purpose of them really seems to be "Lets see if he will forget to put something in there". Its just to see if you say the things that have been deemed necessary to have in one by lord knows who. I've revised mine a bunch and seen some from my friends, while the word choice may be different they all say the same thing, and we're all employed. You can really just write one cover letter and swap out some things and you'll be fine IMO. Throw in the generic "background info about the company, how you'll be a great fit, and express your interest" stuff that every other person is doing and thats about it.

I mean when you go on the interview the employer never brings it with them even though more often than not something you said in there is cause for a question, I'm starting to doubt that theyre really read and not skimmed over moreso than resumes are.

I started using a template that I wrote. Just highlighted stuff that I would swap out for other stuff in red depending on what I was applying for and leave the rest of it the same.

For example.

It was with great interest that I came across the job posting for the job  on your website. I've done xyx for 123 years and I feel that I will be a great assest to your company. I feel that a position such as doing whatever it is will help me to learn more about the whatever industry this is while adding value to your company

 

[corndogmcgee]

I've been in Human Resources, recruiting/hiring for 8.5 years. I've never read a cover letter and don't know of any coworkers, past or present, that do.

 

[antidope]

I've been in Human Resources, recruiting/hiring for 8.5 years. I've never read a cover letter and don't know of any coworkers, past or present, that do.

I had no doubt in my mind. It really is there just to be there. A question I have for you is do you ignore apps that are sent in without one? I've heard it from several people that they do in fact do that because ignoring the cover letter field simply because it's not required doesn't show true dedication. They put it there for a reason, not to read it, but to see who will out forth the effort to provide one.

 

[kickstart]

If you're in school, go to your campus career center. They taught me and I've nabbed jobs ever since.

 

[corndogmcgee]

I had no doubt in my mind. It really is there just to be there. A question I have for you is do you ignore apps that are sent in without one? I've heard it from several people that they do in fact do that because ignoring the cover letter field simply because it's not required doesn't show true dedication. They put it there for a reason, not to read it, but to see who will out forth the effort to provide one.

I have primarily worked in the IT and Telecom space hiring for everything from sales (including retail up to enterprise account management), front desk admin to C level executives. I've never recruited/hired for a position where a cover letter is required. Considering the amount of applicants for any position that is advertised publicly, countless hours could be spent reading cover letters. Instead, we review resumes quickly (30 - 120 seconds) for the necessary requirements: education, unique work experience, accomplishments, etc. If that looks good, it's much more beneficial to spend an additional 10-20 min talking with an applicant on the phone rather than read a cover letter.
I have seen some smaller companies (