Job Searches

Lesson 1: In the Beginning there was the Resume

Slowly and surely, section by section, font by font.

Hopefully you have a grasp now of the different styles. Don’t worry about which one is for you just yet. Did you notice the resume was divided into sections (Education, Work History, Special Skills, etc) and that not all resumes followed the same order? Good! While each section is necessary, most of the time their order is not. And it is in this section that I’ll give you the tips of the actually working force.

Header – this is your personal information: name, address, phone/fax/email. You may have observed that most of the ones in both books use at least 3 lines for this information, and a large portion of the resume is left for this section. DON’T. If possible, use only two lines – one line for your name, and one line for your address, etc. Your name should be bigger than your address line.

To start with, you have to decide on your font – that refers to the style or shape of the actual text. There are two styles – serif (fancy or with a tail) and sans serif (without a tail). This font I am using is sans serif – it’s called Arial. Notice the letters are plain. This is an example of serif called Times New Roman (actually, on this page it is really called typewriter style); notice the tail on the t’s and r’s – the text is fancier. This type is used in legal documents.

Take a look at your local newspapers – you’ll notice that the Business paper uses a serif and the tabloid uses a sans serif. Many newspapers often just use the serif now for headlines. Notice in the above paragraph the Arial is easier on the eyes and easier to read than the Times New Roman font. When you work on a Word Processor you'll see that when both are set to the same point (this refers to the size of the text), the Arial is larger than the Times New Roman.

Start playing with the fonts and sizes in your word processing package – you’ll be using it to create your resume so you should have an idea of the fonts you like best.

Personally, I prefer the sans serif such as Arial and Technical (from Word 2000) as they are so much easier to read than the serif font, and don’t forget that the initial recruiter or person going through the resumes will have to sift through hundreds. If you do prefer to use a serif, no problem – just make the font a LITTLE larger (ie 13 for Times - notice how this now almost matches the Arial at 12?). No choice for 13 – just change the number from 12 to 13 in the drop down box on your toolbar for your word processor).

Which brings us back to size – how big, how little. Your name should be about 14 – 16 and can be bolded, etc. Your address can be as low as 9 or 10 AS LONG AS IT IS STILL EASILY READABLE. Use one line for the address –

101 Main Street, Any City, Any Prov/State ZIP/PC Phone email.

Not enough room for your email? Place it on the same line as your name, but on the right margin (use a right tab at the end of the margin) and of course in a size to match your address. I recommend you bold your name and your telephone number for easy recognition. As I put my email on the same line as my name, I also bold my email for balance.

For a really crisp look put in a graphic line after your address – your choice as to style – play around with what you like. Yes, color is acceptable, but remember then you’ll have to print each resume individually. In Word – use the border option.

WORKING TIP:

I called this a Header for a reason. A Header is something that appears on every page of a document or book at the top or head of the page. Place your Name/Address in the Header of your word processor (Hint – first type and play around til you like your work, THEN place in Header). Now, when you have two pages for your resume, both pages have the same personal information.

Why?

Saying “Smith Resume – pg 2” isn’t enough if the resume gets separated – no one is going to waste their time trying to sort your resume from others if the pile gets separated – and don’t count on staples!

(This is where books don’t match the real world at times; offhand I can’t find one example of a resume with a proper Personal Header in the books.)

Not only that, but you will eventually need a cover letter. If you save your document with just your Personal Header in it, you now have your own letterhead for cover letters, faxes, thank you letters, follow up letters, etc. You are showing them your professionalism and computer skills.

Other Sections:

Objective: This states what it is you are looking for. Yes, we all know you are looking for a job, and there are many resume advisors that tell you to forget this section. We’ll go into this further in the next lesson – for now, try to decide what it is you want. Not just a job as an accounts payable clerk – what kind of office, large, small, medium – what area – do you care if it is downtown? What about your responsibilities – what do you really want to do – ie handling customer/account complaints, ensuring paper flow runs smoothly to help the company, starting at the bottom and working into the Account Client department? BE DETAILED. Do you want to work for a growing progressive company? Do you want to be in a more small, family oriented business? Figure out what you want, then put it in your objective.

Education, Employment/Experience, Skill Section: The order of these doesn’t matter as much as long as it suits you and your accomplishments. Take a look at the different resumes in both books, or on the web.

Education: If you are a new college or university graduate, or have returned to school for a change of career – put this first. It lets the employer know up front that you have devoted your time to furthering your education. New graduates of High school only – stress your other talents and skills; consider this section AFTER your list of skills/accomplishments. Not comfortable with that? Just put it after your Objective and get on with your resume. Remember, you must feel that the resume reflects you, not someone telling you what to do.

Employment/Experience: Here’s where you list all your employment. Call it Work History or Employment or Experience or another word of your choice. The main thing is that the company name (and city if you like) should be listed, your job title, and the month/day of start and end. The order? Which do you prefer?

As a rule, the job title is more important than the dates. I advise people to put the title first, Company next, and dates at the end of the line. Use tabs or table to set things up properly. Don’t like that? Mix and match, see what works for you. I prefer that dates are at the end, so that the employer does not just follow the list and miss reading your information. The dates aren’t as important as what you did, so please try to keep them at the right margin.

WORKING TIP:

Skill Section: A very important part to the resume – here’s where you list your soft skills, technical skills, and anything else. By putting this in a separate section, you are drawing the recruiter’s attention to your computer skills and teamwork. Technical skills can and will include not just computer skills (and list the programs!) but dicta machines, typing speed, machine operation. High school students – know how to use the copier machine and fax? Then write that you have office machine skills and list them – this lets the company know they don’t have to waste time training you in the basic operation, just on the specifics of their equipment. What about the telephone – can you answer and take messages effectively? It may sound silly, but an employer who has just had an improper message given to him/her will appreciate this bit of information.

Soft skills are in great demand, and yes, you have them if you can deal with day to day life and people. Soft skills are the ones like teamwork, dedication, works independently, team leader, dependable, on time, loyal, etc. You get the picture, and employers want to know that you HAVE these skills. How are your communication skills – can you talk and say what you need to and have others understand you? Can you write that information down and get it out to others? Then you have communication skills, both oral and written, and you tell them if it is good or excellent. Can you work with a team, and have you? Are you better as a leader but work fine as a team member? DO NOT LIE, but do realize that you can effectively do things you didn’t think you could!

Some resumes show a Personal Section or Personal activities/interests. Some resume guiders say to put in this section as it shows you are a well rounded person. If you have to strain to put something in, or feel this is too personal – skip it. You can handle this at the interview. My view? Unless it shows an accomplishment or an absolute passion (you ride and train horses which shows dedication) this can be used against you (you love skiing – will you take off too much time at work to pursue this activity?). As well, you are sending out a resume, not a personal ad to find someone with like interests. Most employers will ask at an interview about interests – you can tell them then.

IMPORTANT:

The final line of a resume should be “References supplied at interview”. DO NOT give out your references BEFORE you know the job and company. If a company asks for references BEFORE the interview – what are they hiding? Remember, your references should be called by YOU before they are called by the prospective employer. If you list your references on your resume, you lose that control. Also, you won’t really know if your resume made it to the top, and your references will finally stop giving you a reference. Think about it...you will probably send at least 20 resumes a month if you are out of work...so if your references are called 20 times, how long do you think they will want to be your reference for?

Take your references with you to the interview, but don’t feel you have to give them. If you don’t like the job or something about the company – why give them the references? If you are not sure, you can always fax it to them. Personally, I always take mine but rarely if ever hand them over. I explain that I will fax them the references that afternoon/next day; that I always wait til after the interview to ensure a proper match. Now that I have met the company and some of the workers, I am comfortable with handing them my references. You are showing the employer your concern for your references and your integrity. Do you really want to work for a company that does not respect you? How long do you think you’ll last there?

Love the sound of the job? Hand them the references! (I’ve done this twice, both on long term contracts, and the results have been great; two clients that I still deal with as of today).

SET UP OF SECTIONS:

Keep the title of the section in the left margin, but set tabs/indent or table for the information to be more in the center or at least one inch in from the section heading. This keeps a white margin in the left for the interviewer and recruiter to write down points, questions, etc. The title should be bold or underlined or capped or a small combination – don’t do all effects, caps and bold do nicely. Don’t bold dates – you want to emphasize skill, not time. Don’t bold a company name; bold or emphasize your job title. This is your resume, not an ad for another company!

And don’t go nuts – keep it simple, not a lot of effects or graphics unless you are in that field and have designed your own. We’ve all seen the graphics that come with your computer or photoshop or whatever so often, a resume with one of them immediately becomes tedious instead of standing out. Make your resume stand out with the information or set up.

LENGTH:

How long or how short should your resume be? No, not as long as necessary. But unless you are in a very technical field (Engineer, Medical) DON’T take up more that TWO pages. One page is fine if your information is that concise.

There are a few ways to keep it to two pages. Shorten your top and bottom margins, widen your left and right margins, change your font and/or font size.

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