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Resume Help? (UPDATED)
RatherDashing
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I've been out of work for quite a while now, and as my unemployment claim is rapidly dwindling down, I am getting more and more worried that I am simply not going to be able to find a job. And the more I look at my resume, I just feel like, well, it sucks.
I'm hoping I can get some pointers on how to fix this thing up, especially how to gloss over the fact that I have no college experience(started working straight outta HS pretty much, got lucky and landed this gig). I would still be working, except for an unfortunate merger that left my department redundant.
So yeah, any advice at all is greatly appreciated!
I'm hoping I can get some pointers on how to fix this thing up, especially how to gloss over the fact that I have no college experience(started working straight outta HS pretty much, got lucky and landed this gig). I would still be working, except for an unfortunate merger that left my department redundant.
So yeah, any advice at all is greatly appreciated!
Name Namerson
123 Fake St – City, ST, 98765
(555)867-5309 – namenamerson@emails.com
Objective
To secure a position with a well established organization with a stable environment that will lead to a lasting relationship.
Competencies
Exceptional typing speed (90 wpm).
Highly adept with Microsoft Excel and Word.
Always looking for more efficient processes.
Excellent customer service and phone etiquette.
Skilled at multi-tasking.
Experience
<Place I Worked>
<Time Worked>
<Position Title>
In this role, I was responsible for paying out commissions on several types of policies, including annuities, life insurance, and 529s. Much of our operation was automated at this point, however several insurance carriers had not come on board, so it was my responsibility to see that these were paid correctly to our representatives. I also was in charge of managing our representative database, including assigning reps to policies, branches, etc. I was often in communication with regional managers in this position, so excellent customer service was a must. I worked with Microsoft Excel, and several proprietary programs in this position, and also wrote some very basic automation scripting that saved the firm approximately $10,000 annually.
<Place I Worked>
<Time Worked>
<Position Title>
In this position, I was responsible for ensuring that commissions paid by annuity carriers correctly matched the commission we had paid to our representatives in the field. Microsoft Excel was used extensively, and I became very proficient with the program during this time. In this role, I had less communication with our reps, but significantly more with the annuity carriers, especially their commissions teams.
<Place I Worked>
<Time Worked>
<Position Title>
This position consisted of receiving annuity paperwork from our representatives in the field, ensuring it was all completed correctly, and submitting it to various annuity carriers. A high emphasis was placed on customer service, as I'd very often be taking calls from representatives inquiring on the status of their paperwork. This also meant many calls to the carriers themselves, often to expedite processes for our representatives.
Education
City High School – City, ST 1996 - 2000
123 Fake St – City, ST, 98765
(555)867-5309 – namenamerson@emails.com
Objective
To secure a position with a well established organization with a stable environment that will lead to a lasting relationship.
Competencies
Exceptional typing speed (90 wpm).
Highly adept with Microsoft Excel and Word.
Always looking for more efficient processes.
Excellent customer service and phone etiquette.
Skilled at multi-tasking.
Experience
<Place I Worked>
<Time Worked>
<Position Title>
In this role, I was responsible for paying out commissions on several types of policies, including annuities, life insurance, and 529s. Much of our operation was automated at this point, however several insurance carriers had not come on board, so it was my responsibility to see that these were paid correctly to our representatives. I also was in charge of managing our representative database, including assigning reps to policies, branches, etc. I was often in communication with regional managers in this position, so excellent customer service was a must. I worked with Microsoft Excel, and several proprietary programs in this position, and also wrote some very basic automation scripting that saved the firm approximately $10,000 annually.
<Place I Worked>
<Time Worked>
<Position Title>
In this position, I was responsible for ensuring that commissions paid by annuity carriers correctly matched the commission we had paid to our representatives in the field. Microsoft Excel was used extensively, and I became very proficient with the program during this time. In this role, I had less communication with our reps, but significantly more with the annuity carriers, especially their commissions teams.
<Place I Worked>
<Time Worked>
<Position Title>
This position consisted of receiving annuity paperwork from our representatives in the field, ensuring it was all completed correctly, and submitting it to various annuity carriers. A high emphasis was placed on customer service, as I'd very often be taking calls from representatives inquiring on the status of their paperwork. This also meant many calls to the carriers themselves, often to expedite processes for our representatives.
Education
City High School – City, ST 1996 - 2000
RatherDashing on
0
Posts
Employers want to know what you can do, and it's easier when you tell them what you did, rather than what your last job was like for you, if that makes any sense.
objectives are bullshit. Everyone knows your objective is:
"To get a job so I can get paid and continue to subsidize my addiction to food, shelter, and clothing".
If you're applying to Raytheon and you are skilled in both Cisco routers and drywall finishing, there's no need to mention drywall finishing.
Resumes should get to the point in a hurry.
Definitely makes sense, I'll re-write all that with a more "what I can do" vibe.
Done and done, mainly had that there cause it was in the resume template, didn't particularly like it either...
This actually highlights another of my problems... my job was fairly specific, and although I mostly try to apply for similar jobs, I just don't see how I could tailor my work experience for much else, without the resume turning into "I can use Excel and talk to dudes on the phone".
Also, should I be putting references on my actual resume? Or should those be something I only provide upon request?
Make a one page cover-letter, one page of work history/experience/description of duties and a page of references. The cover-letter is the important part, that's where you're selling yourself. If it's no good then it doesn't matter if your references and experience will back you up. Put emphasis in the letter that you WILL BE AN ASSET to the company you are applying at, and you have full confidence in your ability to adapt to a changing work environment and prioritize.
For some reason the ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects is the hot thing right now.
This is TLDR material for HR. Use strong action packed sentence fragments. Remove humble phrasing suggesting the script wasn't no thang. Every one of your minor accomplishments should be on proud display like you cured fucking cancer. See below:
--Responsible for calculation and distribution of commission payments to representatives
--Created and maintained spreadsheets using Excel
--Maintained client and representative database
--Communicated with and reported to regional managers
--Designed and implemented automation poject that saved the firm $10,000 per annum
Good luck!
Also drop this bolded line from your resume...
I had less communication with our reps, but significantly more with the annuity carriers, especially their commissions teams.
Never do anything to diminish yourself on a resume.
Also, less story and more to the point.
Ex... In this role, I was responsible for paying out commissions on several types of policies, including annuities, life insurance, and 529s. Much of our operation was automated at this point, however several insurance carriers had not come on board, so it was my responsibility to see that these were paid correctly to our representatives.
Responsible for paying out commissions on annuities, life insurance and 529's. Monitored accuracy of automated system and manually handled clients not yet on system.
As for your lack of college. That may hurt you, and there is little you can do if someone has a requirement of a college degree. However, you have a fair amount of specific experience. So demonstrating a long line of success and progression in that field is your best bet.
Also, cover letter tailored to each job application.
Pretty much this. To make your qualifications sound even better, consider adding the contents of the spreadsheets and databases onto their respective lines. If I was at a widget company, I might do:
--Created and maintained Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Widget Shipment and pornographic spreadsheets using Excel.
Noting the kind of database doesn't hurt as it indicates skills with SQL, which should probably go on your competencies.
How often did you report to regional managers? Frequently. That's how often.
In general, things like the last one are great. HR people like numbers and clear results, so saying you saved the firm 10K/yr is huge.
123 Fake St – City, ST, 98765
(555)867-5309 – namenamerson@email.com
Competencies
- Exceptional typing speed (90 wpm, 13,000 kph ten-key)
- Highly adept with Microsoft Excel and Word.
- Knowledgeable with Microsoft Access.
- Excellent customer service and phone etiquette.
Experience
Company, Inc. City, ST
<Period Worked>
<Position Title>
- Responsible for manual calculation, payment, and reconciliation of commission on certain annuities, life insurance, and 529s, also researched and corrected any discrepancies with our automated commission payment system.
- Maintained brokerage account database, and was responsible for updating representative of record, branch information, and region assignments.
- Often was in communication with regional managers regarding financial consultant assignments.
- Designed and implemented automation scripting process for representative of record changes, saving the firm $10,000 annually.
- Worked with insurance carriers to preserve books of business when financial consultants left the firm.
- Performed some supervisory duties when current supervisor left the firm during hiring freeze, was responsible for compiling workload data from several other employees and presenting it to a manager on a monthly basis.
- Heavily involved in the firm - other firm transition, re-assigning branch and account codes to corresponding other firm codes, creating comprehensive databases of our policies and procedures for research purposes, and insuring business could resume as normal after the cut-off date.
Company, Inc. City, ST
<Period Worked>
<Position Title>
- Extensively utilized Microsoft Excel in this role, using it to reconcile commission statements from various annuity carriers with commissions we had paid to our financial consultants.
- Often worked with commission teams on the insurance carrier's side to solve any discrepancies that appeared on the commission statements.
- Constantly in communication with our annuity processing team, correcting any commission errors generated on their side, as well as educating them on common mistakes to avoid in the future.
Company, Inc. City, ST
<Period Worked>
<Position Title>
- Performed extensive quality control on annuity paperwork to ensure accuracy when submitted to annuity carriers.
- Communicated with financial consultants in the field, educating them on the proper procedures to ensure expedient processing of their paperwork.
- Used proprietary software to calculate and pay commission to our financial consultants.
- Worked with various annuity carriers on behalf of our financial consultants, often to expedite policy issuance, or meet month-end deadlines.
- Used Microsoft Access databases to track progress on 1035 exchanges and other transfers.
Education
City High School – City, ST 1996 - 2000
Also, couple follow-up questions...
Cover Letter: Full page? Couple paragraphs?
Font: Comic Sans, right? Hah... but nah, I been using Verdana, I don't imagine this makes TOO much difference(obviously as long as you DON'T use Comic Sans), but I'm open to any suggestions of a font thats particularly easy on the eyes.
References: This should just be a separate page, with maybe 3 people, phone #s, what professional relationship they had to me? I recently saw a resume where a guy had like, testimonials typed out from his references, and put them on his resume... is this something I'd wanna do?
Ack - I'm late to this. I've been where you are, and now I'm in the position of going through resumes myself and making hiring decisions. Lot's of great advice has been given. Let me highlight one already made point:
Tailor your resume! 10 jobs, 10 resumes. There should be nothing in there that doesn't position you as the perfect person for the job.
Things look much improved. I'd re-order the bullets. First bullet, best bullet. Unless the job is specific about needing a certain WPM, I'd lead with more technical stuff like Word and Excel. Also - if you can honestly back up the word "expert" on these, I'd use that over "highly adept."
On length, the general rule I apply is 1 page per 10 years. You need to be careful though - if you are looking for a job that is more entry level, you might not want to show TOO much experience. They will pass you as 'expensive' and 'overqualified and likely to leave when something better comes along'.
On your work experience lines - these need to be tightened up more to highlight skills and contributions. Re-order as needed to push relevant skills. Take out words like "some", "constantly", "heavily" - these adverbs are static words that create too much background noise. Either you did these things or you didn't - I don't need to know if you did them constantly or some of the time. If you want to highlight the important, restate in another way like: "Key player in firm-other firm transactions..."
I'd drop the education part all together. I'm a HS grad only myself, nothing to be ashamed of it. Life's not fair though, no need to highlight you didn't go to college.
My experience is that if they want references, they will ask for them.
Cover letter should be short and neat, no more than an opening and a body. Keep it polite and professional. They are looking for the professionalism you show by sending the cover letter more than the content. Also polite follow-ups in email is a plus if you know they will got to the hiring manager. Professional > unprofessional.
Remember in all of these things: the goal of the cover letter, the resume and the follow ups (you do send follow ups, right?) - the goal of all these things is to get you the INTERVIEW. The interview will get you the job, not the resume. You are awesome and will show that face-to-face - these steps are to get you that face-to-face moment you need.
Keep us updated and good luck!
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