Your First Resume
Posted By Amanda Collins on May 19, 2013
In the Phoenix area, Arizona State University had graduation last week. Across the country, other colleges and high schools will be following their lead, sending tons of young people out into the world of work, many of them unprepared for even the first steps. This is a great time to get those graduates in the right frame of mind with a fantastic resume. Whether they’re headed to college, grad school, or a professional position, that first resume lays the groundwork for a lifetime.
If you were lucky, you had some education in high school or college about how to build a resume, but what we’re teaching our young people is often 10+ years old and not appropriate for this marketplace. I can’t tell you how many resumes I review that have an old-school objective on them! Starting your document with, “To obtain a position in which I can …” serves no one! Also, many older style resumes are loaded with bullets and focused on tasks rather than accomplishments. These young people need our help!
Although it may seem daunting to write your first resume (or one for your child), the same rules apply here as they do for an experienced executive.
Start with a Title
Objectives are passe. In actuality, they’re more about you than they are about the employer. Instead of an objective, start with a succinct, clear title. If you’re not exactly sure what you want to do, put something that’s a little more generic for cold applications (such as a resume for a job fair), and then change the title for each position for which you apply.
Summarize Yourself
Too often, I see new grads (and others!) missing the vital marketing component of their resumes: the summary. A summary truly answers the question, “Why should I hire you?” Without this, I have no idea why you’re the best candidate for my position. Remember to include this brief section right after the title so you set the tone for what the reader should expect. Also, add in a keywords section so the resume registers on applicant tracking systems (ATS).
Remember Accomplishments
A resume’s strengths lie in its accomplishments. Once you’ve set the tone of the document with a title and solid summary, keep the momentum with accomplishments. On your first resume, you may be at a bit of a loss as to what your accomplishments are, but I’m pretty sure you’ll still have them. You may need to get out of the traditional chronological format to really think about those ways you’ve added value in the past, and don’t get stuck on just paid positions; volunteering and school clubs are great places to accrue accomplishments.
Writing a first resume can feel like a big task, but getting started on the right foot will set you up for future successes. If you’re curious if your resume stacks up, send it to info@grammardocs.com for a complimentary review.
Happy New Year! As you work off the hangover, dehydration, and lack of sleep from the celebrations of December 31, in the back of your mind, you might be thinking about resolutions. It’s part of the tradition that happens every year to make promises to ourselves, the kind that by April we seem to have completely forgotten. But why not change that in 2013? It’s time for a new year, new job!
We are now fully immersed in the holiday season, and if you’re a job seeker, you may think that the rest of the month is a waste for your search. For many employers, though, this is their final push in their fiscal year, and they need to hire now. For you, holiday job searching may be the very best time for you to transform unemployed into employed.
Although nothing short of an interview can share all of the stories and information you want a potential employer to know, you have to get that interview somehow. And that’s what a resume is designed to do. But what if you are attending career fairs and workshops or a networking event? You could pass out a two-page resume and overwhelm people, use a business card with little to no information on it, or you can wow potential employers with a one-page info sheet that presents your key points in a quick and easy read.
Look around and you’ll realize that the job market has improved. I’m not talking about the rhetoric associated with the presidential election; I mean real-world examples of people getting jobs. But how are they doing it? These employment tips will get you on the road to improving your job search and landing a great position.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not much of a phone person. I always feel like I’m intruding on people when I call them. So when I call someone and hear, “Please enjoy this music while your party is reached,” I’m ready to hang up. What generally follows is some loud, hard-to-decipher music (using that term loosely) that makes my ears hurt. If you’re a job seeker, this little ringback tone may lose you an opportunity before the employer even has the chance to speak with you.
Recently, I came across a blog on 
Often, when I’m out in the community reviewing résumés, job searchers proudly boast, “I have about 50 versions of my résumé; I just brought one with me today.”
It’s coming from everywhere these days: Many employers are only looking for candidates who are currently employed. Others are willing to expand their nets to those who have been unemployed six months or less. But I know, as a résumé writer and reviewer, a huge amount of job seekers don’t fall into that category. If you need to have a job to get a job, what do you do if you’re in the category of folks who have been without for six months or more?
Everything changes. It’s part of life. And, like everything else, your résumé needs to update to keep up with the times and what employers are expecting from applicants. When I started writing résumés 15 years ago, they consisted of a series of bullets saying what you did in those positions of the past. Strategy was not included, and a résumé amounted to little more than an extended job application.