The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Creating Your Own Dynamic Resume \

The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Functions of a Resume Initiate contact with a potential employer Provide concise summary of education, skills, and results Entice employer to invite you for an interview Facilitate Interview The interviewer will use the information you provide in your resume to ask questions. Be able to elaborate further.

First Steps in Building your Resume The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center First Steps in Building your Resume Assess yourself: interests, skills and values- be able to articulate these Collect details of work, volunteer, academic, and research “life” Research potential employers/ organizations This is pretty self explanatory

WHAT GOES ON YOUR RESUME? Optional/Additional Sections: Essential Sections: Identification & Contact Information Objective (*) Education Experience Activities/Involvement Honors & Awards Study Abroad Volunteer Work Special Skills Relevant Coursework Presentations Affiliations/Professional Memberships “Which sections do I use?” -You can use all, or some of these sections. It depends on your situation.

WHAT DOESN’T GO ON YOUR RESUME? Personal Data Including marital status, weight, height, religion, ethnicity, nationality, children, etc. Photographs High School Including high school diploma, high school activities and awards

Note: This style of heading is especially appropriate for Accounting and Finance Majors

Note: This kind of heading is ONLY appropriate for creative majors such as Marketing or Advertising.

The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Patricia Lynn Mahone Pmahone@uiowa.edu Present Address Permanent Address 105 South Maple 123 Oak Drive Coralville, IA 52242 Skokie, IL 60000 319-645-0001 708-333-4444

Writing Your Objective The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Writing Your Objective Specific for each position applied Skills you wish to use What can you offer them, NOT what they can offer you This will ALWAYS change for each job

The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Education Name of institution granting you a degree Location Degree (s) obtained Graduation month/year Major/Minor Certificates GPA, if above a 3.0 A standard format for your education makes it easy for your potential employer to skim your resume and quickly grasp what degree you have /will have You only need to list institutions from which you received a DEGREE from

The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Examples Example 1: Example 2:

Optional Designations Under Education The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Optional Designations Under Education Course Highlights 3-6 related course titles are most appropriate for internship resumes International Experience List name, location and emphasis of study License / Certifications Name/type Make sure and list the name of the granting organization and date received % of Education YOU Financed Shows responsibility Only if more than 50% Special Projects BREIF description Related to area of potential employment Educational Honors Granting organization and date If you have room / or if it adds to your resume in light of a specific job you are applying for

The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Work Experience Section (reverse chronological order) Job Title Company Name City/State of Employment Date Employed (month/year) Job Description – Quantify, give skills used and gained, and successes that occurred Most recent first. Calling it “experience” vs. “work experience” allows you to list more things such as unpaid internships or volunteer experiences Your job title is always more transferable than where you worked or for how long

The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Example Public Relations Intern, Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas Tribune Jan. 2005 to May 2005 Wrote and disseminated 5 newsletters, 3 media advisories, and 10 news releases for clients Planned and facilitated 2 marketing events for new client Developed a new public relations reporting mechanism used to track and record client data daily Make sure and use the same format throughout your resume

Skills Section Summarize your academic skills, along with any related work skills in a “Skills” section on your resume. This will quickly show an employer a qualitative summary of the skills and experience you have to offer. Additional Skills Research skills, collect and analyze data utilizing SPSS for various Departmental child development research projects Foreign Language skills, Intermediate level in Spanish Only list if you are fluent Computer skills, proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Front page.

Multiple Experience Sections The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Multiple Experience Sections Don’t be afraid to use several different experience sections Examples include: Related Experience Internship Experience Leadership Experience Volunteer Experience Other Work Experience Remember the “experience” does not equal “paid”

Additional Sections Community Outreach Civic Engagement Campus Activities & Awards Study Abroad Shows you’ve challenged yourself to function in a different culture, & have understanding of diversity issues Relate to international clients Honors and Awards Dean’s List, Membership in Academic Honorary,

VOLUNTEER Demonstrates commitment to community May be relevant to future career Make sure you list the activity and date Be honest Organized through a second party? EX: SOS, Relay for Life, Dance Marathon- all sponsored by USF Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement NO ABBREVIATIONS

ACTIVITIES Involvement in: academic clubs/organizations student government, sororities, fraternities athletics Many employers specifically seek out athletes. WHY? social organizations Include offices held or other positions of leadership Describe position and responsibilities or duties.

A Word About Bullet Points The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center A Word About Bullet Points Describe more than just your duties Include what IMPACT or CONTRIBUTION your actions had Turn DUTIES into SKILLS The more that a past experiences is related to the work you are seeking the more space you should allot to its description. When possible, note any achievements or key lessons learned from your experiences. Highlight what you have done in a concise, powerful, action-oriented way. Since position titles usually do not do justice to the work performed, it is advisable to highlight the functions for which you were responsible.

How to Write Bullet Points The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center How to Write Bullet Points WHO – Who did your job help? The company? Clients? Customers? WHAT – What happened with the results of the job? If you did research was that information published? If you had to do a report what was done with that information? WHEN – When did this happen? Daily? Weekly, Monthly? Talking about how often you did something is an easy way to show productivity in your job. Correct Tense no longer employed- past tense currently employed- present tense Try to answer as many of these questions for each bullet point. We understand that it is not possible for every bullet point, but the more you answer, the more descriptive the bullet point.

Bullet Points (cont.) WHERE – Where did your duties occur? Did you have to travel for a job? Were you responsible for interacting with people outside of your organization? WHY & HOW– Why did you do this? How did your job duties help or add to the organizations ability to function.

The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Bullet Points (cont.) One of the best things you can do is QUANTIFY Adding numbers – whether it be money, number of times you did something, or how much of something you accomplished – shows productivity. PRODUCTIVITY IS ALWAYS TRANSFERRABLE!

The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Bullet Points (cont.) TIP: If you get stumped on how to write your bullet point, break it into its basic duty and then use the “Power Verbs” attachment Example – if one of your job duties was about communication then you go to that section and pick the appropriate word to start your bullet point

Examples of Bullet points The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Examples of Bullet points This Kept inventory Called prospective customers Coordinated volunteers Turns into THIS Kept daily inventory of over 1000 classifications of medical supplies Built client base from 0 to 70 within two months by effectively using cold calling techniques Coordinated over 50 volunteers and tabulated donations during fundraisers

Consider the following… Receptionist ABC… Answered phone Greeted plant visitors Made appointments Sorted incoming mail

Better would be Receptionist XYZ… Received incoming calls on three business lines, determined the nature of the call, and effectively transferred caller to destination with 99% accuracy Maintained log of phone calls, time of call, nature of business and person called upon Greeted visitors to plant and issued visitor passes when necessary Arranged future appointments for staff upon request

Employers Look For… Skim left hand margin of resume for key words “Do I want to invest in reading the entire thing?” Active verbs that catch attention Can you use something other than “Responsible for” or “Provided”? Thesaurus can be your best friend! (Created, Improved, Spearheaded, Increased, etc) Spend approx. 30-45 seconds skimming a resume Should be quick, easy to read

The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Tailoring Each Resume Generate a “Master Resume” that includes bullet points for all experience Include volunteer, leadership, and part-time experiences Cut and paste the document to create the order to fit the position Prioritize information Identify the skills and qualifications the employer is seeking and place the most relevant experience first

Overall Appearance Length (1 page, 2 at most) Format Margins Paper (Resume paper) Printer Headings Font/Size/Style Proofread

FINAL POINTERS Essential you use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Do not use abbreviations sparingly. Use a serif font for a traditional resume. Don’t switch fonts Present similar information consistently (dates, headers, etc.) Use capitalization, underlining, spacing & white space creatively to emphasize the most important points- but don’t overdo it. Get your point across quickly & clearly. It will be read an average of 30-45 seconds.

FINAL POINTERS continued… Never use pronouns (I, me, my, mine, etc.) Use bullet statements Don’t ever lie on a resume Begin each statement with an action verb Eliminate as many prepositions as possible (a, and, the, as, etc) Don’t list high school (by end of second year of college, high school should be replaced by college activities)

The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center Questions?