Page 1 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Building Your Resume from the Ground Up David McMahon ’69 Associate Director Experiential Education

Page 2 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up "I would have started looking for jobs earlier.“ "I would have actually networked.” "I would have taken on a job or an internship in addition to my course load." "I would have gotten more involved in career-relevant extracurricular activities." "I would have applied to more jobs." The 10 Worst Mistakes of First-Time Job Hunters Kelly Eggers, Career Advice, Oct 11, 2011

Page 3 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up "I would have focused more on becoming 'professional.'" "I would have done more to figure out what my career goals were." "I would have gone to the career center." "I would have kept better track of my achievements." "I would have focused more on developing relevant skills." The 10 Worst Mistakes of First-Time Job Hunters Kelly Eggers, Career Advice, Oct 11, 2011

Page 4 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up The First Question “Why Should I walk away from my Customer to Interview You?”

Page 5 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Purpose of a Resume A Marketing Tool: To convince an employer To call you For an interview You’ve got 10 seconds!!!

Page 6 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Steps to Building a Resume Laying the foundation. Building the resume. Polishing the resume.

Page 7 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up How Employers “Grade” TAMU Students

Page 8 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Laying the Foundation Assess Yourself on Computer/Paper What are your Objectives? Kind of job you are looking for and when you are available What have you accomplished? Skills, Abilities, Work Experience, and Extracurricular Activities/Leadership

Page 9 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up What Makes a Good Employee?? 1. Integrity - Ability to work with people - Responsibility - Judgment - Motivation to succeed - Work ethic - Intelligence - Creativity/enthusiasm - Communications skills 10. Technical competence Laying the Foundation

Page 10 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Laying the Foundation What Resume Format is most appropriate? Chronological Organized by date in reverse date order Most commonly used type and more acceptable by employers Functional Grouped by status areas Useful for employment gaps Less acceptable by employers Combination Chronological/functional types combined

Page 11 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Building the Resume Tell the Employer…… The Mostest, The Fastest

Page 12 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Building the Resume Personal Data Section Objective Education Section Work Experience Skills Activities and Honors Work Authorization (Int’l Students) Do Not List References

Page 13 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Personal Data Section Examples Example #1 Ima T. Aggie 1234 High St West Way College Station, TX Kingsland, TX (979) xxx-xxxx (325) xxx-xxxx Example #2 Ima T. Aggie 1234 High St. College Station, TX Home: (979) xxx-xxxx Cell : (979) xxx-xxxx Building the Resume

Page 14 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Personal Data Section Examples Example #3 Ima T. Aggie 1234 High St. (979) xxx-xxxx College Station, TX Example #4 Ima T. Aggie 1234 High St., College Station, TX   (979) xxx-xxxx Building the Resume

Page 15 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Building the Resume Career Direction/Objective What brings that sparkle to your eye or fire in your belly? What are the 3 to 5 things you see yourself doing with your degree for my company? What in my job description excited you, that you see yourself doing? Why are you the best person to fill my job, not just qualified to do my job? 15

Page 16 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Building the Resume Objective Type of Job - CO-OP, Intern, Full-time? Specific Ideas, Not Vague and Fluffy Operations, Business, Sales, Design, R&D, Consulting? CO-OPs and Interns – start date Education University, Location, Graduation Date, Degree in Major, Minors, Certificates, Major GPR, Overall GPR % Paid by Work, Scholarships, Loans Senior Design Project, Study Abroad, Graduate Research, Related Coursework

Page 17 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Building the Resume Work Experience Job Title, Company Name, Location, Dates of employment Job Description – Statements (not sentences) Using action words and showing results Be Positive, Be Concise, Be Persuasive Activities Professional/Student organizations Leadership positions Skills Computer software/systems, foreign languages Security clearance

Page 18 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Honors Scholarships,Dean’s List, etc. Work Authorization “Eligible for Optional Practical Training (or Curricular Practical Training)” Bottom of resume References Do not list on resume Bring separate page to interview Building the Resume

Page 19 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Building the Resume Present most marketable information first Use brief, descriptive phrases No personal pronouns Use action verbs to describe experiences and accomplishments Be Positive Be Truthful You Have the Right to Remain Silent

Page 20 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Polishing the Resume Be Concise Show results Top Heavy Reader Friendly

Page 21 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Polishing the Resume Avoiding common mistakes Broad generalization statements Spelling and grammatical errors Formatting, fonts, length, paper quality Translate “Aggie speak” to business English Don’t overdue it Can’t explain every statement Too long No picture Don’t include references

Page 22 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Polishing the Resume Use white or off-white paper (checkout resume paper at area copy centers, i.e. Kinkos, Copy Corner, or Graphics Center on campus) Use 8 ½ x11-inch paper Use a font size of 10 to 14 points Black ink only Do not fold or staple your resume If you must mail your resume, put it in a large envelope

Page 23 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Polishing the Resume Resume Critique and Advice Career Center Advisor Academic Advisor Mentor Roommate Employer

Page 24 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up She was very disappointed, and not a little embarrassed, because many of the students she met at career fairs this year had really bad resumes. By “bad” she meant typos, grammatical errors, incomplete bullets, verb tense issues and formatting problems. Those didn’t make the cut for interviews, regardless of grade point. For the ones who did get interviews, several had great difficulty articulating concise thoughts when answering a question and explaining their contribution to group projects. Fall 2013 Employer Comments

Page 25 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Employer Comments  Stick to 1 page. We had several students give us 2 (and in one case 3) page resumes. After 8 years in the industry, I can still highlight all necessary and pertinent information on my resume in a single page.  Clearly state GPR. Several students played games with the GPR by giving us only their in-major GPR because the overall was significantly lower. Another presented only the last 2 years because the first two years were very bad. Some gave no GPR. It does not reflect well on students to manipulate their resumes in this fashion before we even interview them. Employers who went to A&M can very easily review an A&M transcript and see who is playing games. Spring 2011

Page 26 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Employer Comments  Several of the students had not updated their "Job Objective" knowing that the interview that our company conducted was for a sales position. Examples were: A manufacturing career; Plant flow organization.  One person did not spell check their resume.  Another, the formatting was off and not consistent. Fall 2011

Page 27 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up What not to do…. “After thinking it over I would like (you) to disregard my application I sent this past week out for recruitment for “Big Bank” securities. Looking at my resume again I realize I can do way way better than “Big Bank” and I don't want to settle for less. Please don't take it personally. Thanks for your time. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving holiday.” Forwarded 26 times in 24 hours 27

Page 28 Building Your Resume from the Ground Up In Conclusion…. Did You Tell the Employer The Mostest, The Fastest ??????