STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
stylethread site home page -> stylethread forum -> career & education -> resume lay-out
Post Info TOPIC: resume lay-out
bex


Chanel

Status: Offline
Posts: 3194
Date:
resume lay-out
Permalink Closed

a friend of mine gave me her resume to look at and offer advice- she has been looking (unsuccessfully) for a job for over a year.


i think her layout is funky... and she is a chronic job hopper.  it screams that at me as soon as i open it.  anyway to offset that?


her lay out goes like this:


Name, Address, etc.


HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALIFICATIONS basically highlights her skill sets


EDUCATION


RELEVANT EXPERIENCE (under this she just has headers of the following:)

Public Relations, Sales and Employee Benefit Planning, Special Event Planning


and under each of these she has skills she has from each of her jobs but all lumped under each of the three subheadings


EMPLOYMENT HISTORY/TIMELINE


literally every year she has switched jobs. 


COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS & ACTIVITIES


can't take this away b/c she is really proud of all the affliations that she belongs to- and there are at least 10!


I don't want to hurt her feelings- but she has been in sales for the past 2 years and she has NO numbers/percentages of growth that she has made to her company, etc. listed in her resume.  instead she has things like "delivered successful sales presentations".  a trained monkey can do that- i want to know how many of those "successful sales presentations" she closed the deal on...


am i being harsh?  i just think that she has 10+ years experience in the sales field.  Plus- I feel bad b/c she and I started looking a for a job at the same time last year- I had resume help from a seasonsed sales professional who had me list lots of numbers, etc. and she did not.  I landed a job about a year ago and she hasn't landed one yet.  i want to help her make her resume better... but i don't want to hurt her feelings when i tear the whole thing apart.


help!!!!!!!



__________________
kenzie


Chanel

Status: Offline
Posts: 4919
Date:
Permalink Closed

Hmmm...it sounds like her formatting is a skills format, rather than chronological. In itself this isn't a bad format. In fact, it's recommended for career changers and those who could be viewed as 'job-hoppers' (at least according to the gazillion resume books I've read). 


I don't have any other input regarding the formatting (clearly, I'm not the expert), however, I think that you should try to be honest with her.  If she wants a job, she needs an honest opinion.  I know that when I give someone my resume to look over, I want to know if there is something wrong so that I can fix it. I'm not an expert resume writer, so any advice others have is fine with me.  I would hope that your friend would be the same. 



__________________
poptart


Coach

Status: Offline
Posts: 1764
Date:
Permalink Closed

I am not an expert either, but since she has tried this format and it hasn't worked (and Nyla is right - it is usually recommended for job hoppers) I think she should change it. First and foremost, I think she should remove the timeline. I don't have dates of employment on my resume and it has never been a problem for me. If people want to know, they usually ask.


For your friend, I would say she should include the last several relevant positions (depending on her age, I'd guess anywhere from 3 to 6) and include those in a traditional chronological format, W/O DATES. Like this:


Company X, Sales Manager


-Achieved blah


-Blah


-And blah


 


Company Y, Event Planner


-Achieved blah


-blah


-and blah


 


And then I would help her work on some sort of objective statement that ties all of the types of jobs together and makes it seem like she was working toward an ultimate goal and all of these jobs were giving her a "piece" of the expertise she needed for that goal. If possible.


Last but not least, I would recommend that she focuses on writing strong cover letters. A strong, focused cover letter sets the tone for the resume and can help disguise potential red flags on a resume and get her in for an interview.


JMO - hope this helps!  



__________________
Forget, forgive, conclude, and be agreed. - Shakespeare
kenzie


Chanel

Status: Offline
Posts: 4919
Date:
Permalink Closed

Lisa wrote:

 First and foremost, I think she should remove the timeline. I don't have dates of employment on my resume and it has never been a problem for me. If people want to know, they usually ask.

Really?? I've never tried that. I've had a million different resume formats and the skills format seems to get me the most interviews b/c it downplays my crapa$$ retail experience.  Whenever I send out a chronological style, I get no responses.  I've never gone without employment dates. Maybe I should try that.


I have had people get testy with me b/c they think I've had alot of jobs for a short amount of time (they were referring to my internships, which are clearly labeled as such) and I was like, 'uh, internships only last for a few months.'  Whatever.



__________________
bex


Chanel

Status: Offline
Posts: 3194
Date:
Permalink Closed

thanks guys for your input.  i am going to review it with her and suggest she removes the dates of her employment history- take a few of them off too.


also, i am going to suggest very STRONGLY that she add numbers and figures into her data.


thanks again!  you gave me a starting point to start tearing it apart and help her put together something that makes more sense.



__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
stylethread site home page -> stylethread forum -> career & education -> resume lay-out
Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse 		Powered by ActiveBoard