Stark State College | community college in North Canton, Ohio



Transcript Slide 1 – How to Develop a ResumeThis tutorial is brought to you by the Career Development Office of Stark State College. Our goal is to assist you in developing a resume that will get you noticed by future employers.Make sure your speakers are turned on for this presentation!Slide 2 – What is a Resume?A resume is often the first piece of advertising an employer sees of you. When you think about ads, you’ll notice that they’re crafted to make you think you need that product. That is exactly what your resume needs to do too. It needs to be targeted and focused on the employer and the position, and show that you’re the candidate they need. It’s not an exhaustive list of everything you’ve ever done; but rather, a selective list of your most relevant experiences and skills that will assist you in doing a great job for the company. Refer to the job posting to see the kind of person the company is looking for. Use that knowledge to select which of your skills and experiences are most important to highlight on your resume. The resume needs to be perfect, yet there is not ONE right way to write a resume. What do I mean by that? In terms of accuracy, aesthetics, grammar, spelling, punctuation, spacing, and consistency, the resume should be perfect. A recruiter reading a poorly crafted resume will assume that the applicant lacks attention to detail. But whether or not you have an objective or an awards section, or if you put your education towards the bottom or the top, is an individual decision based on your specific situation. HOW you state things is also very important. For example, when describing work experience for a customer service representative, which sounds better? “Provided customer service,” or “Provided customer service to approximately 100 customers a day requiring assistance with online orders.” The purpose of a resume is to highlight an applicant’s skills and experiences in an accurate and appealing way that entices the employer to invite them for an interview.When writing a resume, we encourage you NOT to use templates. Templates can sometimes make your resume look like a cookie cutter resume and some employers are turned off when they see one that follows a template. Also, templates can make editing your resume difficult.Slide 3 – Resume BasicsThere is not one “right” way to write a resume BUT there are some basics you should always follow. Click on the icons below to learn more.Resume Basics Slide 2 - Formatting Basics?Use a simple font when typing your resume - nothing fancy?Arial, Times New Roman or a standard typewriter style font?Your font size should be between 10-12. Only your name can be larger than a 12 font.?Most companies have you apply online, so paper is not an issue. However, you do want to have several printed copies if you attend a job fair or if you have an interview. Standard white copier paper is fine. Employers focus more on the content of your resume than they do on the kind of paper it is on. However, if you decide to purchase special paper, keep the following in mind: ?Use 8-1/2 x 11 paper?Use white, light gray or cream colored paper only?Print on one side. No double sided printing?Start with one inch margins on all sides. If you need to stretch your margins, do not go out further than ? inch. If you do, you run the risk of having some of your content cut off if it is scanned or faxed by the employer.Many times we get questions about how long a resume should be. In general, the amount of experience you have related to the position for which you are applying, will determine how long your resume should be. If you are applying for an entry level position or you are new to the field - a one page resume is sufficient.If you have a lot of work experience related to the position - a two page resume is acceptable. If you are applying for the academic world, you may be asked to write a CV or Curriculum Vitae. These are longer and contain additional sections such as research experience, publications and presentations. Resume Basics Slide 3 - Writing Basics?Leave off personal, non-job related items - employers should be evaluating you based on your professional skills and abilities. Do not include personal information such as age, marital status, number of children, religious affiliation or a photo of yourself. Sharing too much personal information is not professional and could result in an employer learning something that may stop them from considering you for the position. ?Prepare carefully - AVOID TYPOS! Even if you use spellcheck, we recommend you also give it to another person to review with a fresh set of eyes. Make sure to do this BEFORE you run off multiple copies and waste paper.?Be brief AND concise. You do not want your resume to run on and on. It needs to share the HIGHLIGHTS. Most resumes are scanned at first, so you want to use bullets to draw the reader’s attention to the skills that are relevant to the position. You can talk about your bullets in more detail if you receive an interview. Slide 4 – Types of ResumesThere are several different formats in which you can write a resume. Regardless of which you choose, the common practice is to highlight experiences within the last 10-15 years. We will cover two formats that are typically used. Click on each resume, to find out more.Types of Resumes Slide 2 - Chronological ResumeA chronological resume is the most common type of resume. List education and experiences, starting with the current or most recent one, and work backwards. Click on the resume to enlarge it. Types of Resumes Slide 3 - Skills ResumeA skills resume may be used when you have minimal experience in the field or if you have held the same type of job at multiple employers. Highlight your skills that transfer well into the new field or company. Click on the resume to enlarge it. Types of Resumes Slide 4 – Scannable ResumeRegardless of how you choose to organize your resume, it needs to be scannable. This means that a person, or in the case of some larger companies, a computer, should see keywords from the job posting mentioned throughout your resume. It shows that you have read the posting, know what/who the company is looking for, and you fit that description. Statements on a resume should focus on relevant experience related to the job posting.Slide 5 – Common Sections of a ResumeNow we will discuss some of the more common sections of a resume and describe each of them in detail. An important thing to remember is that you do NOT have to have all of these sections in your own resume if they do not apply. And, you’re free to add other sections not listed here that may pertain to you or your field. If a particular section does not apply, just leave it mon Sections of a Resume Slide 2 – Contact InformationAt the top of most resumes is a section called Contact Information. It is important because it gives the employer the information they need to contact you if they’d like to invite you for an interview. Include your name, address, phone number, and email address. Some job seekers only include their city, state and zip code to reduce their risk of identity theft. This is your decision and you include what’s comfortable for you. You may also include a website where your professional e-portfolio is available, if you have one.Regarding your name, you have several options. You can use your full name; first and last name; first name, middle initial, and last name. Just make sure it is professional. If your name is Nicole and you always go by Nikki, you can write Nikki on your resume, but do not use nicknames of a more personal nature. A professional email address should be used on your resume. Taylorsmommy@ or luvbug22@ are NOT professional email addresses. Having a cutesy email address may stop an employer from taking you seriously. If your current email address is not professional, we suggest creating a new, free one using gmail, to use as your job search email address. An email address based on your name is the safest way to go. Also, check your spam folders for communications from the employer that your email service provider may have sent to spam.When an employer calls your phone number, they may have to leave you a message.? You should also have a professionally appropriate voicemail message that either identifies you or your number. “Hello, you have reached Joe Thompson” or “Hello, you have reached (330) 555-1234” are suggested. Any music that plays while callers wait for you to answer needs to be professional or removed during your job search. Let anyone who answers your phone (such as family or friends) know that you’re applying for jobs and are expecting important calls. Ensure that these people know how to take messages and will actually pass those messages along to you. Common Sections of a Resume Slide 3 – ObjectiveThe Objective is an optional section to have on a resume. For some people, it makes sense to have an objective. Examples would be someone new to the field or a person whose past experience has been in a different field than the one they’re applying for. For others, who have worked in the field for a number of years, an objective may not be necessary. You may see resumes with an objective, with a candidate profile, a summary of qualifications or with none of these. Ultimately, the decision to include or leave off this section is yours.If you DO choose to have an Objective, it usually follows the Contact Information and generally should be no longer than one or two lines. Its purpose is to clarify and connect the skills you list on your resume with your specific career path. The objective should be tailored to each position you’re applying for. An objective usually contains the position being applied for, the preferred work environment, and a skill or two you’d like to utilize in that position. Be as specific as possible.An example Objective statement is: “Seeking an administrative assistant position that will utilize my skills in customer service, organization, and interpersonal communications”Common Sections of a Resume Slide 4 – Skills SummaryA Skills Summary is an option to include on your resume if you want to directly address some of the items the employer is looking for in the form of several brief bullet points prior to getting into the specifics of your experience. If you include a Skills Summary, it should be near the top as it is intended to be an attention grabber. As mentioned before, it is important to review the job posting to determine what the employer is looking for. Choose items that seem important to the employer and that you’re strong mon Sections of a Resume Slide 5 – EducationIn the Education section, it is important to list all relevant degrees, beginning with the most recent. Include the degree you received, what your major/minor and emphases were, the name, city and state of your school, and the month and year of graduation, whether expected or already completed. Take care to list degrees and programs accurately. You may include your grade point average (GPA) in the Education section, but only if it will impress the employer rather than raise doubts in the employer’s mind about your abilities. Fields differ greatly in the weight they assign to GPA so in general, a GPA of B or better is a safe bet to list. There are some categories that correspond with education which you can either list as sub-headings under Education or as headings of their own. These include things like Coursework in Major or Related Coursework; Relevant Skills; Honors and Awards; and Licensure and Certification. These can be broken up as you like. For example, Licensure can be its own heading and so can Certification. If you list scholarships, only list merit-based scholarships, not need-based scholarships. When determining whether or not to include some of these categories, remember to consider the relevance to the position you’re applying for. Ask yourself, as you should throughout your resume: “Will including this increase my chances of getting an interview?” Do not include something just to take up space. Also, it is usually not necessary to include high school on a resume once you have received or are pursuing a college degree. The only exception is if the diploma is specialized and DIRECTLY related to the mon Sections of a Resume Slide 6 – ExperienceThe Experience section is where you want to list paid work, paid or unpaid internships, and volunteer experiences related to the position you’re applying for.Many people find it beneficial to divide Experience into two separate headings: Related/Relevant Experience and Other/Additional Experience. If you divide it, put the Related or Relevant Experience first as it is more important to an employer. For each experience listed, include the title of your position, the name of the company, the city and state, and the dates. You can shift the order of those around, just be consistent in the order and format you use for every experience listed. There is some flexibility, but 3-5 bullet points for each experience is ideal.Consider using bullet points rather than paragraphs because employers want to quickly scan a resume from top to bottom without having to read a paragraph or every line word for word. Put the most important/impressive information toward the top or within the first two bullet points of a particular experience, where it’s most likely to be read if someone is scanning briefly. Do NOT use subject words such as I. You wouldn’t want your resume to read: “I created a system….” Start each bullet point with a strong action verb, ensuring that verb tense fits whether it is something you currently are doing (present tense) or is something you did in the past (past tense). It’s okay to use the jargon of your field in these bullet points, but don’t over-do it; keep it natural. Keep in mind, the strongest bullet points are ones that not only state what you did, but also what the outcome or positive results mon Sections of a Resume Slide 7 – Activities, Memberships, etc.As mentioned earlier, some resume headings are pretty universal (contact info, education, and experience), while others are optional and should only be included if they pertain to you and the position you’re applying for. For some who have been involved on campus or in the community, it will benefit them to have a section on Activities, Organizations or Involvement. Under that heading, list your activity or membership in a particular school or community organization. In this category, only list your affiliations with organizations and associations that relate to your field or the company. Memberships that are not professional should be left off.Slide 13 – Reference PageThe Reference page should look like it goes with your resume; format your Contact Information the same way on both. Write “References” in the same format as you wrote the headings on your resume, then follow that with your actual references.Three to five references is what is most commonly requested by employers. Include the person’s name, title, company, work phone number and address. The best references are people who know you and your work, and think highly of both. These are most often professors, past employers and supervisors. Keep in mind, some companies have policies on when a manager or supervisor can and cannot be a reference. Poor references include family members, friends, and generally anyone who knows you outside the academic or professional setting. In determining who you ask to be references, ask yourself who knows you and your work and will speak highly of both. Be sure to ask your references if they are willing and ABLE to be a positive reference for you in your job search. If they say yes, you may include them on this list and give them a copy of your resume. Talk to them about what kind of jobs you are applying for, and update them on your job search from time to time (especially if it is taking longer than you thought). This is important so that they can be prepared rather than caught off-guard by a reference call.Slide 14 – The Career Development Office Can Help You!The Stark State College Career Development Office is happy to review your resume with you. Contact us with questions or to make an appointment. Walk-ins are seen if someone is available.You can also find sample resume templates in our Resume and Job Search Manual that can be found on the Career Development portion of the Stark State website. ................
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