The Things You Learn from Loittering at Barnes and Noble

*Originally posted on blog: Bold Moves:East Bound

I have definitely hit that pivotal moment… everything I was taught about resume building from Poly…. all lies. As funny as this sounds. Last night I had some time to kill before meeting with friends for dinner and so I was perusing Barnes and Noble… and I look up books about relocation, job hunting, and resume/cover letter tips. I mean why not right?! Everything I was reading conflicted with what I was taught at Poly. Let’s start at the top of that golden sheet, which will make or break you. Introducing yourself and your contact information. Make your name stand out. I took a resume workshop at Poly and being told ” use color for your name and bold to stand it out”. Well according to these books… don’t. If I want people to take me serious as a professional… then I need to show it on paper. My resume and cover letter show my attention to detail, my professionalism, my grammar and punctuation, and formatting. So much, on just 2-3 sheets of paper. I have 30 seconds to grab their attention– and losing them at the sight of my name– not good. Now you can make this text larger than the rest of your contact information and 12 point font is the general preferred, but you can get away with 11 or 10, but do not go lower than that. Your contact information should include: address, phone number, and email. Use an email you check often and NOT the ones like:hotbabycakes107@hotmail.com or preciousprincessgirl@gmail.com. yourname whether it has a separating character or not is the best way to go. Good thing I haven’t had a “fun” email moniker in a long time.

Now…. remember learning about “write an objective”. Well you are reiterating your cover letter, and they don’t need to see you repeat yourself (your prospective employers). Especially when you put “My objective is to have a marketing position”. Well what if they think you have the qualifications to fill another position? AND…. duh. Obviously your objective is to be hired… by them. Don’t need to tell them something they already know, use the space to fill it with something they don’t know that you didn’t detail in your cover letter (which should not be more than a page). If you have been out of college for 2.5 years or less, you list Education first until you have some applicable work experience under your belt and then you can move it to below that section of your resume. Now this is something I have been doing already, but given a time-line for how long this is necessary or wise was a good thing to know.

Now to each of those pesky little sections that pretty much dissect who you are as a person: Education, Experience, Skills, Extras, References.

Education. There are so many ways to list it. Be basic and to the point. Some people do use a description, which highlights relevant courses taken or skills learned. Experience…. now there are two kinds. Professional Experience (you worked to make the dough), and Relevant Experience (Internships, Volunteer). Some people put their Senior Projects/ Thesis on their resume, but I have also heard leaving it for the cover letter is a better idea. It is more of a discussion topic, not something to throw on an outline. Skills, Achievements, and The Stuff that Makes YOU well-rounded. Don’t say you babysit… no one cares. Let’s be honest. Especially in those words. But your participation in community service projects, this can also sum up all your highlighted skills. Like for me: Event Planning, or what software other than Word and Internet (because really a 9 year old can do it now…. so it is a given for most people). Since they see your resume and cover letter they automatically see you know how to use word, and if you emailed it in… you know how to email and add attachments. So you have stated the obvious. Your potential employer is hopefully smarter than a nail or you probably don’t want to work for them anyway. References: For years I was told it was okay to say “Reference Available Upon Request”. NO! I just got the new info on this… don’t do it. Because really is there another option? Are they not available upon request. So either don’t put anything and when you are in that interview have them ready on the extended resume (since you do bring a copy to the interview), or have a separate Reference sheet ready for that hiring manager and interviewer/recruiter.

Just wait til I get the insider scoop on the Cover Letter…. I have gathered and updated my references and their information, and I am ready to go on this one… at least I think so.