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Help me make my resume better please!
21stCentury
Call me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered User regular
Call me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered User regular
Hello, I have trouble getting job interviews. I'm fairly certain it's because my resume sucks due to me not having worked a lot of positions nor any of them for good lengths of time...
I'm currently in an unpaid internship, but it's not for school, it's because it's the only place I could get an interview appointment at... But I think it's time I look elsewhere because I want to get a paying job.
I'm a university graduate in admin, human resources is my specialty. Amusingly, I don't know how to make a good resume. You know what they say about shoe salesmen always having ill-fitting shoes, eh?
Anyway, here's a summary of my resume. I won't because privacy and also because it's in French (I live in Quebec.)
I know I have not a lot of work experience, which is not helping... But I'm sure it's possible to make me look more employable... At least as employable as I really am. I am, after all, a talented, smart, motivated person.
I just had trouble with work in the past due to anxiety and depression.
I am trying to get a job in human resources, hiring, payroll, that sort of thing.
Thanks in advance for advice and I will try to answer any questions you might have.
I'm currently in an unpaid internship, but it's not for school, it's because it's the only place I could get an interview appointment at... But I think it's time I look elsewhere because I want to get a paying job.
I'm a university graduate in admin, human resources is my specialty. Amusingly, I don't know how to make a good resume. You know what they say about shoe salesmen always having ill-fitting shoes, eh?
Anyway, here's a summary of my resume. I won't because privacy and also because it's in French (I live in Quebec.)
First, at the top is my name in bold capital letters, then my address, then my e-mail address then my telephone numbers.
line
Achievements:
Line
Skills
Line
Studies
Line
Work Experience
End of Resume
line
Achievements:
- Made a job description for a position at the local hospital
- Reorganized the stocks system in a small business in order to facilitate sales analysis
Line
Skills
- Able to use the Microsoft Office Suite
- Able to read and write complex reports (Job descriptions, competency profiles, pay policies, etc.)
- Fully Bilingual (English and French)
Line
Studies
- University diploma in admin, HR Major.
- College diploma in admin
Line
Work Experience
- Recruitment Agent Internship, September 2014 to November 2014.
Tasks: Sorting and analyzing resumes, scheduling interviews, Managing job ads on various websites, Greeting candidates to interviews - Administration Internship, April 2011 to May 2011.
Tasks: Sorting and entering invoices in accounting system, Managing payroll, statistical, sales and budget analysis. - Peer Tutor, 2009
Tasks: Explain concepts to students with trouble in a subject, cheer and encourage student to do their work and assignments, Find the source of learning trouble and find solutions to help sutdent learn better. - QA Tester, Summer 2007 and summer 2008
Tasks: Perform specific tasks in a virtual environment in order to find bugs, Experiment in a virtual environment to find bugs, assure quality in the full product.
End of Resume
I know I have not a lot of work experience, which is not helping... But I'm sure it's possible to make me look more employable... At least as employable as I really am. I am, after all, a talented, smart, motivated person.
I just had trouble with work in the past due to anxiety and depression.
I am trying to get a job in human resources, hiring, payroll, that sort of thing.
Thanks in advance for advice and I will try to answer any questions you might have.
0
Posts
For achievements and skills, can I assume you have a brief (2-3 lines) description of what they are, what you did, and how they add value to your application to the new job?
Also, using MS Office is a pretty vague skill. People who cannot "use" Word by typing into a blank page are few and far between, and I've met a lady who could "use" Excel but did stuff like hand-numbering rows and reducing the height of deleted rows to hide them instead of actually deleting them. If you mean you got training on advanced features or you can write macros and Access DB queries, that's something else (and much more valuable) altogether, and you should specify that.
Can you take a screen shot of it or something. The spoiler is not helpful when trying to actually evaluate your resume. I agree with re-ordering the resume. If you don't include your GPA, people will assume you have some reason for hiding it.
Edit: GETH WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!!??
I'll take a screenshot of it tonight, yeah... Keep in mind, it's still gonna be all in French...
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Here is how I would put it. (Notes in parentheses.)
YOUR NAME HERE (Don't put CV or Resume at the top. They know what they are looking at. When they have a stack of them and want to grab yours quickly because it's so well written, make it easy to find.)
Contact information. (Phone number and email address. Don't put your address. It isn't needed at this stage. They need to ask you to an interview, not send you a letter.)
PROFILE (A two to four sentence explanation of who you are. For example "Highly proficient WINDOWS AND MICROSOFT CONSULTANT with 16 years of experience acquired in a series of demanding roles. Focussing on Active Directory, Exchange and System Center technologies, as a Technical Architect, Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity expert and Troubleshooting specialist." The key is to put the job title in all caps and bold so it stands out, and the number of years experience. They are key things the recruiter is looking for.)
EDUCATION (All qualifications, whether in school, university, or external. Some use reverse chronology, some put University before more recent external qualifications. What I would say is to remove anything that is a lesser of something else you listed. Just got a degree in Engineering? Don't list your B+ in high school maths. The only exception to that would be a PhD, Masters and Bachelors degrees. You earned them, put them all on.)
PREVIOUS WORK HISTORY (Reverse chronology here.)
Workplace Full time/Part time/Contract/Volunteer Job Title Date started - Date finished
(If you can't list 5 bullet points per job, even a job you had for a week, think about leaving it off. Seriously, any unpaid internship or volunteer work you have done for a week had you do 5 different things. Advanced bullet points will list benefits to the company. "Wrote script to reduce licence count" is good, "Wrote script to reduce licence count saving the company $205,000 a year" is better.)
Final thoughts: References shouldn't be put on here. "References available upon request" is a waste of space. If they want them they will ask. Also, don't put hobbies. A recruiter doesn't care. The idea that "they show I'm a well rounded person" is old, trite and wrong. A well rounded person will show in the interview. But to get the interview, you need to have the skills they are looking for. Anything on there that doesn't do that is pointless.
Source: I vet CVs and resumes as part of my job. I don't like my time wasted any more than anyone else.
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Some countries/systems don't have a GPA equivalent.
lolwut
1. Vital information: name, address, email, etc.
2. List of skills. This is a short section, basically a comma separated list.
3. Education- For me this was essentially just a line saying "I've got a degree with X gpa from Y university"
4. Work experience - My work history (which at that point included one tech job, 3 semesters of teacher's assistance, and two semesters lab research). Each bullet here had sub-bullets explaining highlights from the job, things I was responsible for, basically reasons this particular bit of work experience is valuable to the employer.
5. Other achievements - For me this included side projects I'd done such as independent game programming, stuff like that. Each bullet included work experience style sub-bullets explaining why they were valuable.
Don't spend much time on your skills, they're essentially meaningless. Remember, skills are a claim, not a resume. The resume is the credentials.
Make sure everything you write comes back to "why, as an employer, are you more valuable to me because of this?" even when it's obvious. For instance:
-3 semesters experience as a teacher's assistant for Data Structures (CS301)
--Gained experience in reading other people's code, especially in diagnosing and debugging issues
--Gained experience in instantly recognizing and fixing common errors
--Due to the essential nature of the course, this position helped give me extremely solid fundamentals
Etc. It should be immediately obvious why being a TA would be a valuable trait for a prospective employee, but I still explained some of the various benefits it provided, specifically.
Try using your words.
Doing the thing where i put, like "Summer 2008" or "September to November 2014"... is that good?
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This may not officially be best practice, but I would recommend putting something like "Fall 2014" instead of September - November. It's true that they might be wondering why it wasn't a full semester-long internship. "April - May" definitely isn't doing you an favors. As long as you're able to discuss what you did there and make it clear that it was a fixed-term position, you should be ok.
No they aren't. And I work in the IT field, vetting IT CVs/resumes.
Address shouldn't be on there. I'll show you why: imagine you are applying to your dream job in a different state or country. Your address tells the recruiter that you are likely to come with problems such as relocation (costs and time) possibly visas (costs and time) and likely aren't available to start immediately (time). Any of those is a reason for them to put you in the reject pile before they read any further.
They could well have a hundred or more to choose from. Don't ever give them an easy reason to reject you.
I dislike this, because it doesn't demonstrate where you used the skills or how. Recruiters are going to use a keyword search as a filter. So you have the keywords and pass the first hurdle, the automated system. But then I start reading and can't see quickly any application of those skills. I have another thirty of these to get through. Where are you going? That reject pile again.
Use the profile section to highlight a few key things. But a CSL of skills is a bad format.
I like that you didn't include high school, but I would flesh out that education section a little more. If you are fresh out of university and don't have any external qualifications, include your thesis/dissertation topic. If it is relevant and/or memorable it will be useful in the interview. I recently had a guy come through with a thesis on SSL vulnerabilities which was spot on for a Web Security position.
Sub bullets are good, and allow you to hit the keyword markers whilst highlighting performance.
• Exchange 2003 to Office 365 migration (Keywords)
o Co-ordinated the migration efforts between 9 countries across 4 continents, in batches with no data loss (Benefit, skill demonstration)
o Created the template for a single cohesive naming structure (Skill demonstration)
o 2,800 mailboxes from disparate 5 forests (Skill demonstration)
o POP3 feed-in boxes for automated systems using Plain Text Only (Benefit, skill demonstration)
o IMAP iCal accommodations for Thunderbird users (Benefit, skill demonstration)
I would include these in the work experience. That is why I label it Previous Work History. Keeping all work done in one section makes it easier to read and to follow. Imagine if you have 15 years worth of achievements in both sections, and both are in reverse chronological order. I am going to have to jump back and forth to work out the timeline of when you worked and when you did the side projects.
Anything that makes it harder for me to follow is a bad thing, and so more inclined to put it on the reject pile. "Well he has the skills, but if it's hard to read this what is his documentation like?"
I strongly disagree. Skills are the point of a resume. You can have plenty of credentials but if you don't have real-world application of them you are untested. I want to see qualifications and skills. Bonus points go to those who can show how those skills are of direct benefit to the employer.
You are right with that first point, but the bullets underneath could be better written. The last one in particular is too vague to be useful. "Extremely solid fundamentals" means what exactly. Fundamentals of coding? Teaching? Error correction? All of the above?
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Either is fine, but be prepared to explain gaps in the timeline. Fall 2014 papers over the gaps better, but also shows deliberate vagueness. If the rest of the resume is vague, I will make a point to ask about when you start and finish. It's an easy question, but if you stumble on it, doesn't bode well for the rest of the interview.
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Here's one from my CV which was a three month migration contract.
• Global shipping and custom supplier
• Exchange 2003 to Office 365 migration
o Co-ordinated the migration efforts between 9 countries across 4 continents, in batches with no data loss
o Created the template for a single cohesive naming structure
o 2,800 mailboxes from disparate 5 forests
o POP3 feed-in boxes for automated systems using Plain Text Only
o IMAP iCal accommodations for Thunderbird users
• Powershell import scripting through CSV files
• MessageOps Exchange Migrator
9 bullet points.
The largest one is also a 4 month contract, which has 36 bullet points.
If I see someone has worked at a place for 2 years and only lists 4 skills or achievements, it sets off alarms in my head. Either they really didn't do much in those two years, they can't recall what they did, or they can't be bothered writing it down. Any of those is a reason to go on the reject pile.
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1. Try to keep your criticisms relevant to the OP- I'm not the one asking for resume help here.
2. Regarding:
I don't go through these as part of my job (yet), but it was my understanding that the skills section at the top is for listing your proficiencies, and then demonstrating them should be done via your work history highlights/sub-bullets, etc. I mean, you say CS resumes aren't different from other ones, but on a CS resume I'm going to list pretty much every programming language I'm proficient with, which includes many, and also a lot of the fundamental skills (application programming, android framework, tools devleopment, things like that), and that is going to be a LONG list, especially long if I have to detail why each of those skills is relevant inline.
It is generally my understanding that everything except my bullets were for you to USE, and the bullets are for you to READ. My list of skills is so I pass the automated system and for you to basically check off, and the bullets are so you know I'm legit at them. Most job openings already have a list of necessary skills, the top is like saying "confirmed, I do have these skills."
"That is crazy, what are you talking about"
I've never heard of this minimum bullet point, I am confused as all fuck about why there's so much focus in this thread about it.
I'm not sure how different Canada is to the US, but generally you just list all relevant experience as a bullet point, there's no minimum to go after.
So if you've done an internship, you list all the major relevant things you've learned and done. Don't make note of minor things like "I learned how to use Excel" but rather, something like, "Balanced budgetary spreadsheets" and you'd list excel as a skill in the skills category.
I think there's far too much focus going on in the bullet point category. You list your job title, then specific things that you've done that have made the business perform better. If you just have generic job duties, list those last. But if you saved the company $10,000 because of a performance increase, or you find a missing budgetary item they weren't accounting for, make note of that shit!
For instance, with pedro's list with exchange, you'd want to make note of just how much money that saved the company, and how reducing overhead has helped with performance.
Might read better like:
The last two were superfluous, that's part of migrating an exchange. Obviously you want to find out those numbers, not just make them up. Should you include the iCal accommodations? Eh, maybe, but do you want to detract from your message about Exchange?
Make sure you hand it to a couple friends for proofreading to avoid any obvious errors in grammar or spelling.
Another thing I noticed in your post is that you have a gap of nothing between 2011 to 2014? Sometimes this cant be helped sure but did you do anything in this period that you can fill this gap in? Any education?
As with these things, it is a guideline, not a law. When people ask about writing a CV it's usually with "is this enough? Is this too much?" So a guideline for how much you should put depending on the length of time you are there is generally helpful.
Subway
• Sandwich artist
or
Subway
• Customer facing role
• Cashier, accurate to $0.01 in $2,000
• Prep-work was consistent yet efficient
• First-aid trained
One of these reads better than the other. Obviously you can go overboard, and embellishments will stand out. But it's better to have
• Powershell import scripting through CSV files
• MessageOps Exchange Migrator
Those two are the skills. Because there are different methods and tools available, highlighting the ones you are familiar with helps. If you have never used Quest, but something similar, it helps. As to the number of forests and mailboxes, when performing these frequently an oft-asked question is "how big an environment can you deal with?" and "how complex an environment can you handle?"
iCal and Thunderbird are rarity skills. They might not be requested often, but listing them does help.
I agree that cost savings would be good there (I said before that listing benefits to an employer/client is preferable) but those numbers aren't always available.
I was merely using what you posted as an example.
The CSL will get you past the keyword filters, but once a human has to read it, they may not want to duplicate effort. They find the skill in the CSL and then have to read the rest to find where and how you used it. By rolling the CSL into the main body of the CV, it will pass the keyword filter and still be easier to read for the squishy meatsack at step two of the process and beyond.
TL;DR Make it as easy as possible for the recruiter to see you fill the criteria and add you to the Yes pile.
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1) Your resume should not be a list of random things you did, adjust it and make it topical to the job you're applying for.
2) A good resume doesn't just list responsibilities, it also lists accomplishments
3) I graduated undergrad a long time ago, so my resume focuses more on work experience and less on coursework, you will probably want to do the opposite, and list your education and any relevant coursework first. This could include any interesting special projects you did as well.
4) Present things in the most favorable light possible while still being honest. Like my resume shows some really large numbers with regard to user registrations and transactions per user. That's because our website was total shit before I implemented the site reboot.
5) Be prepared to give specific examples to back up any claim you make about yourself or your accomplishments.
6) The goal of your resume is to paint a compelling picture of yourself as someone who fits the job requirements.
Edit: Removed screenshot of resume and all that, don't want it randomly floating around on the internet super easy to find.
Am I on the right track?
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One of them was a month-long thing I had to do to get my college diploma, the current one is merely because I could not get a paying job. Dunno how typical or strange that is, honestly.
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Well, I had good reasons for the gaps... just not good answers.
The reason was that I had severe depression and anxiety issues.
The answer is probably gonna be that I focused my attention on my studies... dunno if that's a particularly good answer.
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A better response is:
"There was a family issue that I needed to attend to during that period."
If pressed, just state that someone in your immediate family was in poor health and you were tasked as caretaker.
Don't give away personal health details unless you absolutely need to.
Yeah, I am a terrible, terrible liar...
Edit: I did have classes, save for a one-year period between college and university...
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Gaps really only become an issue when you start your career track but then have big gaps - a gap between college and your first career job or gaps while getting your education normally don't warrant a second thought. It looks like 21st didn't have any big gaps where he was out of school, and if he did have a semester or two off it can be papered over with a '2011-2014'.
I will note on his employment history bullet points, he shouldn't be telling the employer what the COMPANY did. He's not trying to sell 'An outsourced marketing, sales, etc firm' or 'A small firm selling woodworking equipment', he's trying to sell what he did there.
Basically, if he's doing generic administrative work that carries from one industry to another, list what he did, not what the company does. If the work is unique / industry specific, the company name will suffice.
Also, some of the bullet points are superfluous - 'Called applicants to answer questions and schedule preliminary interviews', 'Managed interview schedules, cancellations, and interview reminders', and 'Greeted the candidates before interviews' all basically say the same thing and could be combined into a single item or at least separated into more distinct items. Make each item a distinct selling point. 'Conducted preliminary question / answer sessions by phone with potential hires' and 'Managed all scheduling duties for over 75 interviews using Outlook' is two distinct and independent selling points. EDIT - 'Implemented revised scheduling and contact process for potential hires' may be another bullet point if he made any significant changes to the process.
Remember, you are trying to sell yourself and provide as many points as you can that sell you. A concise resume that shows your value is going to be more useful than a longer resume that's simply padded out by saying the same thing over and over.
I'll also note that your 'Profile' section should be minimal - no more than a line or two. Remove 'Young' - that reads as 'inexperienced'. I'd say 'Bilingual Challenge Motivated Recruitment Agent and Human Resource Specialist' or something similar.
You should generally have a cover letter for each application that has sells you - basically, think of what you would say if you were given a minute or two to speak about yourself before the interview begins. Who are you, what do you bring that's unique, why are you applying for this job, what do you hope to accomplish, etc. Try to avoid describing yourself personally (and definitely avoid words like 'young' that could have a negative connotation) and instead play to your strengths.
No.
This is MY thread.
MINE!
(I'm pretty sure everyone would be okay with helping you, Darlan.
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The following is mine for the moment, it's certainly in a different style, but all suggestions are welcome, including changing it be more like 21stCentury's stylistically.
(I've already fixed that errant comma). I'm particularly interested in thoughts on how to frame the limited time spent in law school: what I can say, I found the work uninteresting and was just seeing everyone who graduated go to work at coffee shops and clerk jobs that do not pay very well, while being saddled with private law school levels of debt. Seemed like a bad idea to continue, but it also feels like a big black mark on my resume.
I also worked at a sandwich shop in high school and got pretty good grades if that's something that should be on there, but I imagine no one cares about that stuff. I am still employed at the latest job listed here, but am actively looking for something more challenging and interesting, and there are pretty strong signs of another round of outsourcing coming up, so I'm back on the market, but have not received many responses--thus the request.
Also, please don't' forget to continue giving suggestions to 21stCentury's resume after I post this.
Edit: Reading it like this outside of Microsoft Word's editing view, I'm already thinking it might be best to switch around education and work experience here.
At this point, I'd put my work experience before education, particularly if you're looking for new work in a field similar to what you're currently doing. I wouldn't write anything about your pre-law coursework if it's not applicable to what you want to do. Up to you if you want to use full sentences or bullets. One thing to consider is that most HR/recruiter types don't spend more than 15 seconds looking at any given resume. The more sentences there are in your resume, the more time it takes them to read it, the less likely they're going to bother going through the whole thing.
My advice, and take it with a grain of salt - it's certainly a lot of ideas but my own opinions.
First, I would move your Work Experience above Education. Break your individual items down into bullet points rather than sentenced. The 'Application Analyst' portion is great for a cover letter, but a HR department doesn't want to read paragraphs. For example, assuming what you've said in your paragraphs is exhaustive:
App Analyst 2012 - Present (drop the 'March' - this is the only place your date format gives a month, and it was a long enough range the months don't really matter)
* Provided onsite technical assistance for Allscripts Electronic Health Record to Des Moines area clinics and hospitals
* Lead administrator for Dragon Network Enterprise Edition dictation software
* Extensive experience in general onsite technical support as well as authoring supporting documentation
* Experience supporting PPMS project management application
Campus Conservation Partner 2009-2010
* Organized database and scheduling for 'Campus Conservation Partner Program' meetings
* Provided technical assistance for University (of whatever) ESL Department (what is ESL? unless this is a standard definition for your field, spell it out)
* Maintained databases containing sensitive personal identifying information such as discipline and plagiarism records
* Prepared technical documentation for teacher and instructor use.
Etc.
Drop the 'somes' and 'left due to...' - the some is a bit negative as it undermines your experience. Use modifiers like 'extensive' or 'expert level' type descriptions where applicable, but go neutral with no modifiers otherwise.
For your 'Education' section:
First one is pretty good - I would break 'Graduated with Honors' and 'Completed thesis project on <Whatever>' into two separate bullet points.
The second one I would just do:
<School>
2011
* Pursued coursework in legal education
If they want to know why you left that school, you can tell them in the interview and say something like 'Pursuing further coursework in the legal field legal education didn't align with my interests and career goals, and friends who went into this field found it very unsatisfying. I decided to return to the field that I found both enjoyable and satisfying'.
Skills is generally pretty good, I would say the 'various audio / video / image editing suites including <one or two suites you have most experience in>' and possibly break that item out into its own bullet point. Same thing with Active Directory user management, depending on the job you're trying to get hired for. Maybe also say 'Microsoft Windows' instead of breaking down to XP / 7.
I'd leave 'Skilled in general computer maintenance and troubleshooting' at that - most people know what that means and unless you're doing something special / out of the ordinary you won't need a list. Not to mention you mention your technical support role earlier (don't need to restrict it to 'desktop support' in the resume.
I'd turn 'self educated' into 'General familiarity with <whatever DB - Oracle, MySQL, etc> SQL database queries.'SQL database queries'.
Again, this is just what I would do, not necessarily what is best for you personally. You need to make sure you're comfortable with what you put out and your language, since the resume is about you. Just never sell yourself short - always go with positives, never thing like 'some' or 'limited'. If you can't say 'experience' or 'familiarity', bring up the skill in the interview. The exception is if that's a specific skill called for in the job description / requirements and you still should aim for the most positive modifiers you can come up with.
I updated my resume with your advice, is it better? Am I on the right track?
Thanks in advance.
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