Building Your Resume from the Ground Up Building Your Resume from the Ground Up David McMahon ’69 Associate Director Experiential Education The following notes are not intended to be used as speaker notes! Please read through these notes to familiarize yourself with the content, then compose your own notes to use during the actual presentation. Ideas for a “attention grabbing introduction.” Use a Quote! Nearly 50 hiring professionals were asked what they look for in a resumé. “The consensus: The ideal resumé is easy to read (i.e., well-organized), professionally presented, concise, results-oriented, and tailored to the requirements of the job being applied for. They cited sloppiness — typos, poor grammar and misspellings — and wordiness as the major resumé killers. If you can't take the time to carefully proof your own work, they assume you won't be any more conscientious on the job.” As cited from “Tips for a Great Resume” on Studentadvantage.com Use Your Own Story! Have a favorite resume story? Use it as your introduction! Ask Questions! You can begin the presentation by asking the students questions to get them involved. Building Your Resume from the Ground Up

“Why Should I walk away from my Customer to Interview You?” The First Question “Why Should I walk away from my Customer to Interview You?”

Purpose of a Resume To convince an employer To call you A Marketing Tool: To convince an employer To call you For an interview You’ve got 30 seconds!!!

Resume Myths “I don’t need one until I’m ready to look for a job.” “I can use one standard resume for the rest of my life.” “I’m too young, there’s nothing to put on a resume.” “My resume will get the job for me.”

Steps to Building a Resume Laying the foundation. Building the resume. Finishing the resume. This is part of your introduction. After your "attention getting" story, quote, statistic, etc., provide some general overview of the purpose of the presentation and what you will cover. DO NOT GO INTO DETAIL! This is just a "roadmap" of what's to come.

Laying the Foundation Assess Yourself on 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 Laying the Foundation... Objectives....What are you trying to convey? Talk about the general purpose of a resume. (Interactive exercise opportunity (IEO)....ask the students what they think a resume used for.) Experience and skills...What have you accomplished? Encourage the participants to list out any and all prior work experience when preparing to write their resume. (IEO...give an example of a typical summer job and ask the students to provide typical duties as a brainstorming exercise.) Stress the importance of including everything...even if it seems insignificant. Resume Formats...Which is most appropriate? Go over the differences between a functional and chronological resume. Provide examples of which is more appropriate for different situations.

Laying the Foundation 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 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

Building the Resume Personal Data Section Objective Education Section Work Experience Activities and Honors Do Not List References

Personal Data Section Examples Building the Resume Personal Data Section Examples Example #1 Ima T. Aggie 1234 High St. 4321 West Way College Station, TX 77840 Kingsland, TX 78639 Home: (979) xxx-xxxx (325) xxx-xxxx Cell : (979) xxx-xxxx ita@tamu.edu Example #2 1234 High St. College Station, TX 77840 Home: (979) xxx-xxxx Cell : (979) xxx-xxxx ita@tamu.edu

Building the Resume Objective Education Work Experience CO-OP, Intern, Full-time? Operations, Business, Sales, Design, R&D, Consulting? CO-OPs and Interns – start date Education Degree in Major, GPR, Graduation Date 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 Education...Formatting and the GPR debate. Go over formatting educational experience, i.e. most recent first, including city, state, major, minor, graduation date. Talk about when to include the GPR, when to omit. Also talk about alternatives to listing one's overall GPR. Experience...Using action words and showing results. Go over how to turn the "brainstorming" from the preparation phase into full job experience statements. Explain how employers like to see "results" in past jobs. (IEO...take one of the examples of experience you received in the first phase and help the participants turn it into a resume quality statement.) Affiliations/Honors....What to include, what to disregard. Explain what students should include and what they can omit. Give examples. Emphasize the importance of leadership!

Building the Resume Activities and Honors References Student/Professional organizations Leadership positions Scholarships,Dean’s List, etc. Foreign languages, international experiences, security clearance References Do not list on resume Bring separate page when you are interviewed

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

Finishing the Resume Be Concise Show results Top Heavy Reader Friendly

Finishing the Resume Avoiding common mistakes Spelling and grammatical errors. Formatting, fonts, length, paper quality. Translate “Aggie speak” to business English LIES Too long Don’t include references. Avoiding common mistakes...speak about the importance of proof-reading and getting a second opinion before the resume is sent out. Also touch on formatting, fonts, recommended length, using quality paper, etc. (IEO…show the participants an example of a resume with a lot of errors. Ask the participants to find the errors and then show them a “new and improved version.”) Including references...Although they are usually not included on the resume itself, talk about how it is important to have them available on a separate sheet of paper. Give examples of the types of people employers would like to see as references...remind the students to contact the reference and ask permission before listing them. Including cover letters...explain the importance of cover letters. Emphasize how it "completes the package" and "highlights" the resume. Do not go into detail about writing the letter itself, but do recommend resources for the student to use. (You may want to bring the cover letter handout to your presentation as well.)

Finishing 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 Use non-decorative typefaces Choose one typeface and stick to it Avoid italics, script, and underlined words No horizontal or vertical lines, graphics, or shading Do not fold or staple your resume If you must mail your resume, put it in a large envelope

Finishing the Resume Resume Critique and Advice Career Center Advisor Academic Advisor Mentor Roommate Employer

In Conclusion…. Congratulations! You Did It! Laying the foundation… Building the resume… Finishing your resume… Congratulations! You Did It! Summarize your presentation by reviewing your key points. Make reference to the Career Center guide for resume writing as a tool for further guidance. Also remind the students that the Career Center offers resume critiques on an ongoing basis. Finish the presentation with a question and answer session. You might want to bring a few t-shirts or other freebies to give away throughout the presentation. (Maybe as a reward for the IEO’s????)