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Am I doing this right? (Getting a Job)
Uncle Long
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Alright, I'm nearing my 150th Resume mailed/e-mailed. I graduated from Michigan State University this last May with my B.A. in English Language/ Literature. Given that this isn't by any means a technical degree nor is it business or HR I've had to be a bit imaginative with my job searches and with how I present myself in my Resumes and Cover Letters.
I've been looking into getting into publishing (Assistant Editor and the likes) but I expect rejection from this field.
In addition to publishing I've been looking into Administrative Assistant/ Executive Assistant/ Project Management and similar positions. I'm looking at these due to the requisite excellent communication skills .
I tend to present my Liberal Arts degree as an asset and indicator of excellent communication skills and I then go on to present my position as Mentor (Resident Advisor) in my school days as leadership experience.
I've got a decent range of technical expertise but I don't have a degree or a minor in any technical field, nor do I have MS certification or anything of that sort.
So far as Resumes go I've been tailoring them to the specific company. I've made a master Resume and I pick and place the parts I think go best with what I'm trying for. Here's the Master Resume without name (if this is too much information to be posting please let me know). This is, obviously, not how it looks in Word, but you'll get an idea of what I've got going on. Like I said, I pick what I think fits and usually send out a one page document with what appears to be the most pertinent information.
TheLong
AnEmailaddress@gmail.com
My House in Michigan
My Phone Number
Education Bachelor of Arts, May 2007
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Major: English
Cognates: French, Anthropology
GPA: 3.5/4.0
Relevant Mentor: Fall 2005 through spring 2007 Wilson Hall, MSU
∑ Responsible for over 100 residents over two years
∑ Facilitated Roommate, Significant Other, Parental, Emotional and physical conflicts directly in over twenty incidents
∑ Maintained GPA and met Residence Life requirements while taking up to eighteen credits a semester.
Contract Billing and Sales: Summer 2007 Muskegon MI
∑ Drawing up and mailing of proposals for local contractor and developer.
∑ Drawing up Bills of Sale and maintaining account records.
Study Abroad: Summer 2006 located in Ireland
∑ Maintained a 4.0 GPA while taking ten credits within the six-week period.
∑ Quickly learned layout of cities and countryside and successfully led fellow students to grocery stores, restaurants, historical sites and program specific study areas.
Tutor, English as a Second Language: Fall and spring 2004 and 2005, Teaching Assistant Program, Michigan State University.
∑ Create lesson plans and worked directly with prospective Teaching Assistant candidate for over four hours a week.
∑ Improved student’s fluency in spoken English to a visible extent on Required Test of Spoken English.
Poetry Reader: Fall and spring 2006 and 2007
Red Cedar Review, East Lansing MI.
∑ Responsible for primary readings of poetry submissions.
∑ Taking leadership initiative in reading submissions in absence of genre editor.
Food Service: Summer 2006,
Spring Lake Country Club, Spring Lake MI.
∑ Service, Hosting, Cocktail and Banquet Service.
∑ Responsible for occasional child-care.
∑ Set-up and reset of dining room.
Retail: Fall 2001 through Spring 2003
Hot Topic Inc, Muskegon MI.
∑ Sales and Customer Service.
∑ Maintained an average of two items purchased per customer.
∑ Consistently stationed at Point of Sales terminal due to selling ability; raised average items per customer by .25 items per customer.
Grocery: Summer 2003 through Winter 2005
Orchard Market, Spring Lake MI.
∑ Cashier responsible for customer service and satisfaction.
∑ Moved to liquor and tobacco counter due to outstanding customer service, reliability and a consistently exact till.
∑ Bagging duties included store to car service as well as deliveries to nearby retirement home.
Performance: Spring 1999 through winter 2002
Mackinaw Kite Co., Grand Haven MI.
∑ Yo-yo instructor and demonstrator.
∑ Demonstrated product and advertised to crowds of over 200 as well as crowds as small as five.
∑ Taught lessons attended by children and parents also aimed at sales.
∑ Responsible for sales well over $1,000 in Yo-yo’s and Yo-yo related merchandise.
Skills Information Technology:
∑ Mac: TextEdit, NeoOffice, Adobe CS, Office X Suite.
∑ PC:, Office Suite, Visual Basic, DC++, AutoCAD,
∑ Both: Hardware installation and repair, Wired and Wireless Networking and maintenance.
Language:
∑ Fourth year/ senior level fluency in spoken and written French
Other:
∑ Typing speed: 70 WPM
∑ Word Processor speed: 40 WPM
∑ Dictation: 70 WPM
tl;dr
Is there something I'm not doing or something I could be doing better or something that is egregiously incorrect here? Is there something I could add or represent in a different way?
I'm not looking for my dream job, but I am looking for a job that will get me out of my parent's house and enable me to support myself while looking for my dream job and working on my writing.
Thanks.
I've been looking into getting into publishing (Assistant Editor and the likes) but I expect rejection from this field.
In addition to publishing I've been looking into Administrative Assistant/ Executive Assistant/ Project Management and similar positions. I'm looking at these due to the requisite excellent communication skills .
I tend to present my Liberal Arts degree as an asset and indicator of excellent communication skills and I then go on to present my position as Mentor (Resident Advisor) in my school days as leadership experience.
I've got a decent range of technical expertise but I don't have a degree or a minor in any technical field, nor do I have MS certification or anything of that sort.
So far as Resumes go I've been tailoring them to the specific company. I've made a master Resume and I pick and place the parts I think go best with what I'm trying for. Here's the Master Resume without name (if this is too much information to be posting please let me know). This is, obviously, not how it looks in Word, but you'll get an idea of what I've got going on. Like I said, I pick what I think fits and usually send out a one page document with what appears to be the most pertinent information.
TheLong
AnEmailaddress@gmail.com
My House in Michigan
My Phone Number
Education Bachelor of Arts, May 2007
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Major: English
Cognates: French, Anthropology
GPA: 3.5/4.0
Relevant Mentor: Fall 2005 through spring 2007 Wilson Hall, MSU
∑ Responsible for over 100 residents over two years
∑ Facilitated Roommate, Significant Other, Parental, Emotional and physical conflicts directly in over twenty incidents
∑ Maintained GPA and met Residence Life requirements while taking up to eighteen credits a semester.
Contract Billing and Sales: Summer 2007 Muskegon MI
∑ Drawing up and mailing of proposals for local contractor and developer.
∑ Drawing up Bills of Sale and maintaining account records.
Study Abroad: Summer 2006 located in Ireland
∑ Maintained a 4.0 GPA while taking ten credits within the six-week period.
∑ Quickly learned layout of cities and countryside and successfully led fellow students to grocery stores, restaurants, historical sites and program specific study areas.
Tutor, English as a Second Language: Fall and spring 2004 and 2005, Teaching Assistant Program, Michigan State University.
∑ Create lesson plans and worked directly with prospective Teaching Assistant candidate for over four hours a week.
∑ Improved student’s fluency in spoken English to a visible extent on Required Test of Spoken English.
Poetry Reader: Fall and spring 2006 and 2007
Red Cedar Review, East Lansing MI.
∑ Responsible for primary readings of poetry submissions.
∑ Taking leadership initiative in reading submissions in absence of genre editor.
Food Service: Summer 2006,
Spring Lake Country Club, Spring Lake MI.
∑ Service, Hosting, Cocktail and Banquet Service.
∑ Responsible for occasional child-care.
∑ Set-up and reset of dining room.
Retail: Fall 2001 through Spring 2003
Hot Topic Inc, Muskegon MI.
∑ Sales and Customer Service.
∑ Maintained an average of two items purchased per customer.
∑ Consistently stationed at Point of Sales terminal due to selling ability; raised average items per customer by .25 items per customer.
Grocery: Summer 2003 through Winter 2005
Orchard Market, Spring Lake MI.
∑ Cashier responsible for customer service and satisfaction.
∑ Moved to liquor and tobacco counter due to outstanding customer service, reliability and a consistently exact till.
∑ Bagging duties included store to car service as well as deliveries to nearby retirement home.
Performance: Spring 1999 through winter 2002
Mackinaw Kite Co., Grand Haven MI.
∑ Yo-yo instructor and demonstrator.
∑ Demonstrated product and advertised to crowds of over 200 as well as crowds as small as five.
∑ Taught lessons attended by children and parents also aimed at sales.
∑ Responsible for sales well over $1,000 in Yo-yo’s and Yo-yo related merchandise.
Skills Information Technology:
∑ Mac: TextEdit, NeoOffice, Adobe CS, Office X Suite.
∑ PC:, Office Suite, Visual Basic, DC++, AutoCAD,
∑ Both: Hardware installation and repair, Wired and Wireless Networking and maintenance.
Language:
∑ Fourth year/ senior level fluency in spoken and written French
Other:
∑ Typing speed: 70 WPM
∑ Word Processor speed: 40 WPM
∑ Dictation: 70 WPM
tl;dr
Is there something I'm not doing or something I could be doing better or something that is egregiously incorrect here? Is there something I could add or represent in a different way?
I'm not looking for my dream job, but I am looking for a job that will get me out of my parent's house and enable me to support myself while looking for my dream job and working on my writing.
Thanks.
Uncle Long on
0
Posts
You said you're picking and choosing what would go with each specific job, which is good. Make sure you're putting the most impressive/pertinent item right at the top (after the contact info) so it's the first thing they notice.
Also, are you sending cover letters with your resume?
There is a ton and a half websites out there that help you with the whole resume/CV/interview crap, so I would google that a bit if you feel lost.
Most important points of a resume in my expirience are as follows:
1) make your strongest points jump out of your resume immediately. Alot of time the HR department just glances at your resume so see if you qualify. So make sure your strengths jump out at a quick scan.
2)make sure your formatting translates into plain text wel, as a lot of companies just input them into a database. So a lot of times fancy formatting can bite you in the ass.
3) keep mailing tose reumes. Dont mail unsolicited. Monster and CareerBuilder can be your best friends.
Yeah, It's formatted. all of the Epsilons are bullets. Things like "Relevant" are in Bold and then the sub-categories like "Retail are near the center with the bulleted points beneath them. Yes, I'm sending out cover letters along with the Resume. I'm writing those with each new Resume I send out but they follow the "Hello. This is why I'm Writing. This is Why I'd be good for your company. Here are a few of my better qualities. Please look at my Resume for further details. Thank you for your consideration," format. I'll post a pic of the resume in just a moment.
About the pertinent information: I guess I'm not entirely sure which of those little packets of information is most important. I think it is my Mentor Job as it was job experience dealing with many of the close quarter problems and leadership experience situations that may come up in an office.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
Yeah, I've been using Spartantrak which is free for about a year for recent graduates from MSU (it's through Monster.com)
Anyway, here's an image of my resume and its formatting
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
In there it will explain why exactly formatting and emailing a shit ton of resumes doesn't really get you anywhere. I'll sum up a bit:
Essentially email makes it extremely easy for someone to ignore you without feeling bad. They can delete your email and it's just gone. No fuss, no guilt. Not to mention scams, spam and viruses. Many employers are wary of those so that compounds the problem some.
The worst part is that you feel like you're "Out" there and looking hard for work by shooting out a thousand resumes when in fact they're not really doing you a lot of good. They get ignored for the most part and passed over in under 8 seconds (The book says that this has been proven to be fairly average).
Right this minute you're starting to get depressed and thinking that there's something wrong with YOU.
And it's not you. It's our socially accepted way of job hunting that has to change.
These days it's much much much much more WHO you know, not WHAT you know that gets you a job. More often than not companies are looking for employees who will be profitable when it comes to the bottom line, and the best way of proving that is from an immediate second-hand source to you.
Try to network within your field if you can. Get to know some people that do what you want to do. Ask them if you can ask questions, or maybe even job shadow them. Then ask if they know of any openings in your field.
It's not the easiest thing to do, just approach someone out of the blue, but it does seem to offer the highest chance of success.
I graduated in May with a double major in marketing and international business (German), and was a Summa Cum Laude graduate with proven work experience, although not in marketing. My resume was fine tuned by a senior Dell HR official as well as my mentor from School who worked for IBM for 30 years. I have extra-curricular activities, sports, and international experience; the only thing I didn't have was an internship (which I tried to get but wanting to graduate in 4 years with a double major took precedence).
I've sent out 100 resumes as well, and until last night heard absolutely nothing, not even a "we're sorry, you suck." I finally received two rejections last night for positions I applied to in early April.
Just have something else to do during the day, and send out resumes at night. I'm working right now just to stock up some cash so that when I finally do get a job, I'll have my head pretty high above waters.
Seriously, your resume is sound, the only thing I can recommend is list your objective at the top, in order for people to look at immediately to decide whether they want to continue reading or not. Also list your core competencies, such as programs, skills, languages, etc.
Also, look for a book called Winning Through Intimidation. My Dad gave me the book to read for my final semester, and it really helps in positioning yourself so you don't feel like you have to take whatever scraps are thrown your way, that you are able to get what you want if only you present yourself as someone who doesn't need that job. It was written in the '70s, but the message still works today (it might be revised for now, but I was reading the first edition)
I'm doing essentially the same thing, you're right. I've got a 'day' job (it's really at night) at a local convenience store which, since I never really spend money and bike everywhere within a twenty mile radius, has been really helping with that whole "I'm a loser," feeling as well as padding the bank account. I'll take a look at that book when I get a chance (probably tomorrow) as well as the other suggested by endomatic.
Thanks for the advice so far everyone.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
Another point, to whom are you sending your résumé exactly ? A very common mistake is thinking that bulk mailing it will net greater results. Oh no, it doesn't. really. Try at least to pinpoint companies that have a real interest / need of someone junior in the position that you're looking for.
Also, have you considered looking through temp work? stuff like Manpower ? The work won't be the greatest evah, but it usually offers solid experience to add to your résumé.
Anyway best of luck in your search.
Look into getting on with a temp agency and let them know what kinds of jobs you are looking into.
Try to submit Hard Copy resumes printed on nice paper if there are local places you would like to work at.
Networking with people in your same field is almost more important than the experience you have - if you don't know anyone in your field, then try to find online or local groups that you can get into to meet people. Sadly, it is true that it matters a lot more who you know than what you know.
stout's Amazon Wishlist | my lastFM
Better to know than not. If they ask you what their company does and you don't know, or don't know enough, that might bury you.
Yeah, this is part of the problem. There is really nothing around. There are a few factories and foundries but nothing in the way of a publishing house, print industry, or the like within a really feasible distance, so networking with anyone in these industries is just kind of tough. So far as Office Administration and Administrative Assistant networking goes I don't really know quite where to start with that, but I'll be looking around. I have friends in various places but when asked about opportunities with their companies they tend to grow a bit quiet.
I'm looking to move and willing to relocate most anywhere (I'd prefer either the East or the West coasts).
I'm using a sight that is offered for free by my University that works through Monster as well as Craigslist for local jobs and even (actually, mostly) some long distance openings.
Temp Agency is something I have had on the back burner for a little while and I guess I should rethink it. If nothing else it will at least give me something relatable for the Resume.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
Or at least a pre-amble in the email you send as well?
You should include a short letter that thanks them for the time reading your resume, what their company does that interests you and why they should hire you (ie. relavent skills).
Satans..... hints.....
Blaket: Yes, I have a cover letter but I write it fresh for each Resume and I do use the "why I'm interested, what I'm looking for, what I have to offer, please look at my Resume and thank you for your time," spiel.
Thanks for the input everyone. My mother busted her hip about five hours ago and I've been at the hospital ever since so I haven't had much of a chance to check posts or respond; so sorry if I haven't been quick. But, seriously, I'm really thankful for the interested help.
Cheers.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
So fucking true.
A few suggestions:
- If you can expand or elaborate in any way on skills and experience relevant to the position, do so. Drop less important info if the resume starts to look crowded.
- I notice you don't really have any details on coursework in the resume. If you took any classes that would seem to relate to the position being applied for, you'll definitely want to bring those up.
- Consider government work. Might be a false impression, but I get the sense that government HR departments aren't allowed to just toss out resumes for no good reason. Even if that's not the case, it wouldn't hurt to look. Check USAJobs.com for openings. (I should warn you though that the government employment process works at a glacial pace)
Good luck with the job search. My best suggestion for your current situation is to try and get a position that may not be quite as high paying or high profile as you would like. Anything to get the ball rolling, because unless you have a crazy-impressive resume, no relevant work experience is a major hurdle to overcome, and the more time that passes between graduation and landing that job, the harder it is going to get.
Make a list of the places you sent your resume to with the deadline and a contact email noted. Then follow up after the deadline has passed. Just shoot the HR person an email letting them know you submitted a resume and asking if a decision has been made yet. Makes you seem eager and stand out a bit. May even net you an interview.
Don't get discouraged.
took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like rootbeer
You need to get an internship in publishing or something related. Hell, even an entirely unrelated intership would at least be office experience. This will probably be hard because potential employers will realize that you were too lazy or uninterested in their field to have done it while you were in school, but it’s really the only chance you have to dig up some relevant experience. It might be too late to find a good summer internship, so look for something ongoing or contact companies to see if they need to replace the outgoing interns in September.
Consider going straight into grad school and studying something useful. At the very least a teaching degree would let you do something with that English degree. It would also give you a chance to work through one or two good internships over the summers, which will allow you to make up for not doing so the first time you were in school.
It takes time and if you have a part time job, thats fine for you in the mean while. Don't expect them to jump out on you, you have to make time and jump on them.
that isn't going to get you anwyhere. The people who really matter aren't going to open up a random attachment. The only time email works is if
1) you have an in with a person in the company, and you state this in the body of the email -- though better yet, you have that person pass your resume along, or
2) you're emailing a basic text document (not a word) and it has the keywords that an automatic database script grabs for you.
You better be mailing or faxing that sucker.
Also I would put your SKILLS first before your experience. I look at your resume and I see a degree, and that degree IMMEDIATELY makes me think 'what skills does this guy have that make me want to hire him?"... and then I see some experience, and I don't know why it's relevant (despite it saying 'Relevant' on the side).
And flesh out that skills section. Don't worry if you're adding skills which should be self-evident from any experience you have -- it's ok to put down a 'skill', and then later have a job which uses that skill. It just backs up that you aren't bullshitting.
I was thinking about this right before I went to bed, actually.
Would it be a good idea to start with skills and list the various experience I had under each of the sub-sections?
I was going to do something along the lines of:
Skills: Leadership
-xxxx
Communication
-xxxx
Adaptability
-xxxx
Essentially put this in place of the "Experience" section I have now. Is this a feasible idea or no? I'll try to put something together shortly and post it so you get a better idea of what I mean.
Cyberjackal: Yes, I'm considering government work. I've applied to a number of positions already. Their system is a little strange and their sites are a bit buggy. This is one of the places I have a very minor in but the in is pushing for me to enlist in the Air Force. And, while I'm not too opposed to duty in the armed services I think I would lean more towards the Navy if it came down to it.
Proto: I've been sending letters after Interviews but not after Resume deadlines. I had not considered this and will definitely start doing so now. Thanks.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
but here's a hint: leadership should not be a skill. it should be a skill section. If I saw a resume that said skill: leadership, I'd immediately think 'this guy has no leadership skills'.
I forgot to respond to this point you made from your earlier post:
I'm sending out my cover letter as the body of the e-mail with the Resume as a Word attachment. Are you suggesting I send both within the body of the e-mail?
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
No, your cover letter should be the body of your email and attach the resume. I suppose you could attach a cover letter to it as well.
In regard to this part specifically (I think you've got plenty of good advice from others about the resume). I'm a PjM for a dot.com and I'm pretty familiar with the admins and assistants that work for this company too. To be honest, if I were hiring a junior PjM or admin/assistant for my company, I wouldn't be going for your resume.
You don't have any project management experience. I'd be looking for someone with good scheduling, MS Project and resource management history (either in their schooling subjects or previous work experience).
Admin assistants at my company have a history of working their way up from general office duties and phone skills to being the admin for a department, then moving onto an exec (inside or outside the company). That's when I'd feel confident assigning them to a manager or above within the company.
I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk, I just think you might want to try for something more entry-level.
If you attach the resume as a word document, the likelihood of anyone looking at that thing is slim to none. Think about the process of someone receiving random application emails...
1. open email -- "Oh hey an application"
2. file into random folder
3. never see again
If you're lucky and it's a bigger company, there might be a step in there where your resume gets added to a database for automatic searching and parsing. WORD documents can not be added to databases for searching and parsing.
Also consider that many companies don't even let word docs into the email system due to virus threats.
Once you put yourself in the hirers shoes, your strategy will change. Mail or fax your applications as well as email, as then SOMEONE will have to actually HANDLE your application at somepoint (which is HUGE), and hey if there hand slips, they see your resume as well as your cover letter already. On this note, hardcopies of your resume should have something EYE CATCHING, some useless fluff so when that persons hand slips (cause they are taking your hardcopy resume from an envelope or fax machine and going to recycle it -- i'm a pessimist or a realist, you pick), they see somethign neat and get interested away from the monotonous office job.
Example: The top section of my resume, where my name/contact info is, is in a shaded coloured box and I get compliments on it ALL the time cause its different, eye catching, sharp ... and importantly for this type of strategy, NOT distracting and NOT offensive or tacky.
So basically, I mail/fax my REAL application, but I MIGHT (maybe) also email an application. this will have a VERY short cover letter (the body of the email), it will have a TXT with NO FORMATTING version of my resume in the body of the email, it will have that same resume attached as a .TXT file as well -- anything to make the automated boring process of getting my resume into their database easier and more likely to happen. I MIGHT consider also attached a PDF or two (NOT a word *.doc, DO NOT send these as some companies have filters on email which don't even let them open docs due to viruses) , which would be a 'real' cover letter and a 'real' resume.
Anyways.
Suffice to say, I only only ONLY EVER email in addition to sending out a hardcopy.
I graduated last May and had a job by July. Took a while, sending out 15 resumes a day on monster / careebuilder / etc, but I got it. In Mid-Michigan. Terribly lucky :P
Well, see now, I'm not sure if it's applicable, but for the last two years of my time at MSU I was a Mentor. Now, I know a lot of the job is just dealing with policy issues and residents but the other part is programming large-scale, as well as small scale events for an according number of residents. I've lead projects and programs that were designed to accommodate up to 3,000 students, including dealing with food service/catering, fund-raising, drawing up hall government proposals and organizing labor and lining up charitable institutions. I know that's not office management necessarily, but can that be played off as some kind of experience in that area?
Since you've noticed my thread and you're in the position of someone at least acquainted with what I'm trying to get into, what do you propose I should do instead of applying directly for Admin or Exec assistant positions? What do you mean "more entry level?"
Drez; right, absolutely. It's on that master list as it represents at least a little bit of experience in the publishing industry; I obviously wouldn't tell HR that I was a poetry reader if I were applying for a more administrative position. But, for publishing, it's something kind of useful.
Muggins: Why do I have DC++ on there? Subtract a D (while I'm no pro I do have a minor and basic training in the language).
Serpent: More paper copies eh? I think I can do that. I've purchased some decent paper just for this purpose. I tend to take extra Resumes along to interviews. I will most certainly see what I can do about sending out more hard-copies.
Sorry I haven't been here for the last few hours. That part-time job I mentioned, had to, you know, work it.
Anyway, I don't think I mentioned this in the OP but my main objective is to support myself while I'm working on my writing. To those who have mentioned the uselessness associated with my degree: "You're right, it's not a technical degree nor is it a job specific training." However, it is the degree one would want if they were looking into getting into literary publishing, so it's more the experience and networking I lack, which, I understand, is really to my disadvantage at the moment. However, I don't regret the decision.
I wish I could have had time for an internship. I went through everything in three years and I thought I would just head right out and get a job after I graduated. Of course this wasn't the case. If I had gone a full four year route I would have had my internship this summer. This much I regret. But, then again, saving around 16,000 by not going another year is a bit of an incentive which I will smile kindly upon when I finally do get a job.
Ryan M Long Photography
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Probably not, but if you get creative with your resume (remember, nobody checks on this shit 99% of the time) you could list it as two jobs and turn that into event planning experience. If any of those events involved raising money, you also have fundraising experience. Pad that resume up like Oprah in a heavy flow week.
I went through everything in three years and I thought I would just head right out and get a job after I graduated.
You need to find a way to work that into your cover letters. Not many people will look at the dates and infer that. But you can use that to your advantage by writing about how dedicated, hard-working, and motivated you are.
If you really want to get into publishing, start making calls about fall internships. With all the paper mills in that part of the country there must be some publishing offices around, but also look at New York and the San Francisco–Sacramento publishing corridor. And of course, my neighborhood, Washington DC, is the best place in the world to find an easy internship.
I really think I am going to have to start looking into fall internships, as you suggest. I get the feeling that landing a position with a publishing house of any sort of repute cold-turkey is nigh on impossible.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
Don't put down Mentor then, put down something so when they see it they say, hey wow, large organisational abilities.
Mentor sounds like you enjoy giving people hugs.
Satans..... hints.....
Alright, I did it, just to see how it would look. I've also taken a few other suggestions. Let me know what you think about this:
Ryan M Long Photography
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Is this alright? Too much? Too little?
I guess no one ever took me by the hand about this kind of thing so everything I know is through my own research. If there's something I'm really doing wrong here please let me know.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
Put more space / cut the unnecessary in your new Résumé. Right now that's just too much, as in the reaction you'll likely get is "oookay i'm not gonna read this one".
You don't have any experience in the job you're looking for. Fine. No need to put a ton of what you're able to do to cover it.
Once again, ultimately what's in your résumé doesn't matter much, as long as the presentation is ok. I would know, an old of mine had the ugliest typo birightly visible, and it still worked. You'll realize that most of the time (more like 99% actually) the people you're gonna talk haven't even read it fully.
The most important part of your search is :
1) Finding suitable companies (known for internships, accepting juniors, that someone may know or ave worked there)
2) Looking through alternative routes. You have no job experience, that means a potentialy large field is open. Don't limit your search on what you absolutely want to do, and that means looking throug ads that maybe doesn't look good, but where you'll have a beter chance of an answer.
3) Once again. Temp agency are great for juniors, you can sometimes land a job w/o interviews or anything if the agency feels you'll do the trick.
You still need to drop the extraneous crap like Autocad, Visual Basic, networking, and your typing speed. Your resume needs to make you look like someone well-qualified and interested in a job within that industry. Right now it makes you look like a desperate job-hunter filling a page with stuff that might turn up in a search query.
Here's the kinds of keywords and skills that I would expect from a junior PjM:
1. Scheduling meetings (you've got that)
2. Scheduling timetables with multiple resources (resources are people or computers, rooms, equipment). Some event management stuff will help with this.
3. Project management here requires good knowledge of MS Project and Sharepoint (still not sure if you're familiar with these. Project is not like learning Word or Excel, I found the learning curve quite steep)
4. Technical writing skills (I'd be confident from your resume that you'd be able to pick this up)
5. Requirement writing for products - assess stakeholders, talk to them about what they need, write it up in a way a developer can understand (we enter some product roles sometimes - so this depends on the company you pick)
6. Roadmap scheduling and product scoping timelines. (If you know what these words mean and know how to use MS Project, you're fine).
Here are the skills for an admin assistant, most of which I just pulled off the current open position:
1. Good proven history with travel planning and bookings.
2. Good phone skills (as a receptionist)
3. Scheduling, timesheets, and booking meetings and great organizational / forward thinking skills.
4. You need to know PowerPoint and be pretty good with 'positive happy presentations'.
5. Budgeting and employee recognition programs experience and/or creative skills.
6. For an actual assignment to a manager, I wouldn't hire anyone that hadn't done admin work before at a departmental / secretarial level. If you were applying for a departmental admin though the skills above and relevant certificates would be fine.
7. Working knowledge of suply ordering, electronic filing systems and business writing skills.
EDIT: Entry level for PjM's here is people that already have some process improvement (six sigma) qualifications, or analytical skills such as a previous job with workforce management, resource management, or event management background. We also hire in-house from HR, WFM, Customer Support (believe it or not) and all analytic-departments when we know the persons skills.
Entry level for admins is not exec assistant but departmental admin or front desk.
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