It's another [Resume Thread]

noir_blood

Hey all,

So yep, just like the title says, I'm building a resume, and since it's been a while since I last did one (seven years or so), I have a couple of questions I hope you guys can give me advice on.

1) Does the old standard of it just being 1 page still apply?

2) For the last seven years I worked for the same company. Started as a phone agent and moved my way up through several positions. Do I include all it one list, or, as they are different positions with different tasks, do I separate them?

3) Should I go any farther than that when it comes to my past jobs?

4) I had to leave my job in January so I could focus and finish school. I'm worried that it'll look weird for there to be this four month gap in my resume where I don't have a job. Is there any way to explain this on the resume itself?

5) And finally kind of the big one-- As I said, I've been in school for the last four months getting both a degree and teaching certification. Right now, I'm certified to teach English. HOWEVER, I unfortunately don't think that I'm cut out for a teacher, and I don't plan to look for a teaching job, at least right now. Should I make a mention of my teaching certification? I feel like I have learned quite a bit, especially during the fifteen weeks of student teaching I did that would look nice in an application, but I'm worried that employers will look at it and think to themselves "Well, he's just doing this till he can find a teaching job", which at this point I'm really not. Should I leave it out then?

minirhyder

1. I say stick with 1 page. Some sources say 2 pages is OK as well, but 1 page looks better, in my opinion.

2. Company
Most Recent Position (years)
- what you did
Previous Position (years)
- what you did
Position before that (years)
- what you did

3. Go as far as space on the page permits

4. If you were in school for the four months, it should be fine. Not like you were doing absolutely nothing. Your schooling time should be on your resume, so they should be able to connect the dots. A four month gap isn't really a big deal anyway.

5. I doubt they would think that. A certification demonstrates commitment and aptitude; you shouldn't leave it out. You should try to put any applicable skills you learned or projects you completed during your certification on there too.

Serpent

Decent advice above. keep in mind employers don't just want to know what you did, but also how well you did it.

If I got five resumes from people with the same job experience, how am I supposed to know who was actually good at their job if they don't tell me how well they did it?

CourtOfOwls

If you are certified to teach, you should talk it up. If you are worried they will neglect you because you "can't find a teaching job" you can say how the process of becoming certified gave you great interpersonal and communication skills, or how it shows that you can speak clearly and with enthusiasm to a room full of people. You can really work the certification in your favor if your applying for a manager/ leadership position, since you now know how to keep a group of people focused and on task in the long term.
I believe teaching experience goes a long way in most positions, since you really need a set of diverse and critical skills that a lot of places look for when hiring.

MichaelLC

The CourtofOwls is right - that's a great thing to have. Definietly put it on your resume and talk it up in your cover letters or save it for the interview; most managers will ask about it.

ThunderSaid

Pretty good advice so far.

I'd like to chime in about keeping your resume to 1 page - I don't think it's necessary, as long as you meet two requirements. First, if you spill into the second page, you have to be able to fill it up. Two page resumes look fine, one-and-a-half page resumes look like you don't know how to properly format your resume. Second, you have to fill your resume with useful information. If you can only get the full two pages by including the fact that you like rock climbing and softball, trim back down to one page and leave that junk out (unless you're applying for a job at a rock climbing adventures company that is known for taking the local softball league way too seriously).

There are very few situations where having a resume longer than 2 pages is a good idea. I've heard that it's a plus in certain areas of high-level academia to list pages of your published works, but I've never heard of anywhere else that wants to wade through more than 2 pages of your qualifications.

tynic

Just in response to ThunderSaid: academic CVs are a totally different bag, and length is definitely not so much of a concern.

The things I would worry about, first and foremost, are: am I including relevant qualifications/experience and minimizing talking about irrelevant or trivial stuff (but without leaving large gaps). Am I adequately and succinctly explaining my responsibilities and achievements in all positions. Have I managed to highlight areas which address specific requirements in the job advert.

Then worry about formatting. Two pages is fine, as long as it looks good.

zepherin

In cases of 1 1.5 and 2 page resumes, make sure that whatever format and page length you chose looks deliberate.
I have all of my experience on one page, and my education, certifications and awards on the second. There are of course preferences depending on the hiring manager, but at a certain experience level it is silly to constrain your entire work and education to 1 page, especially if you have a degree, several certifications and several years of working history.

AresProphet

zepherin wrote: »

In cases of 1 1.5 and 2 page resumes, make sure that whatever format and page length you chose looks deliberate.
I have all of my experience on one page, and my education, certifications and awards on the second. There are of course preferences depending on the hiring manager, but at a certain experience level it is silly to constrain your entire work and education to 1 page, especially if you have a degree, several certifications and several years of working history.

The only field I know of in which it's vital to have your resume on only one page is theater, because you use the reverse of the page for a photo. Even if you're not an actor this is apparently something you do. It leads to some crazy-looking resumes.

In other fields the one-page thing is a sort of holdover from a bygone era when having held too many jobs was frowned upon as a sign of flakiness or other character flaws. These days it's just the way the world works.

I'd hire someone with a multiple-page resume as long as it didn't look like they were padding it on purpose. If all they have on there are two jobs and a BA they can condense that easily. I'm also not looking for a lot of in-depth detail in terms of work experience because of the job I'm trying to fill (I'll usually know just from the company names if they have relevant work experience, regardless of the position they held) but some companies and hiring managers are going to be looking for specific skillsets which eat up crucial lines of page space.

Edit: also, this

CourtOfOwls wrote: »

If you are certified to teach, you should talk it up. If you are worried they will neglect you because you "can't find a teaching job" you can say how the process of becoming certified gave you great interpersonal and communication skills, or how it shows that you can speak clearly and with enthusiasm to a room full of people. You can really work the certification in your favor if your applying for a manager/ leadership position, since you now know how to keep a group of people focused and on task in the long term.
I believe teaching experience goes a long way in most positions, since you really need a set of diverse and critical skills that a lot of places look for when hiring.

While this is an excellent post as far as deflecting criticism and playing to your strengths and should absolutely be heeded, there aren't a lot of managers which are going to ask about the question in bold. Because the starting salary for teachers is, in many states, rather ungenerous.