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Lesson 1: In the Beginning there was the Resume

Taking Stock and Inventory - Your accomplishments

Now comes the hard part. Only you can really create your own resume. Others can guide, lead and suggest.

One of the hardest but best ways to begin is to take pen and paper (or computer) and start listing your accomplishments and skills. Too difficult? Then start with a chronological list of what has happened in your life – graduated high school in 19xx; met partner of dreams in xx; worked in department store while in school so could take music lessons; went to college/university and finished two years or graduated; took courses in English, etc. Got married, had kids in xx, etc.

The idea is to break down your life into chunks so you can look at them as pieces that make up the puzzle of you. Make sure you leave room so you can expand and put in pointers on each item in your list.

Now that you’ve got the list – start putting on paper (or scroll) what you did at that time – ie – got married – did you move from your parent’s house into life with your partner or did you move from being on your own into life with your partner? Why? Either way, you had to adjust to living (working) and making decisions with someone else (teamwork). Had kids? How do you deal with them, how did life change (was responsible for department of 3; time management skills became paramount to deal with small kids and keep living environment clean and neat). Finished only part of higher education? (completed one or two years of college; managed attending classes and getting research completed on time while working part-time at local supermarket – again time management skills).

Get the idea? First, remember what you did, put it on paper, then expand it. Usually I suggest to people to create your list first as complete as possible, then expand it.

If you can follow the three categories from 101 (job related, transferable and self-management) then do it that way.

Step back, and decide – what did you really do? This is more helpful for the actual job you held. Think about your day to day routine – what did you accomplish? Got the mail for the department? Made coffee? (both team work examples) Ensured deadlines were met? (office proficiency).

Yes, you can get silly here, and have some fun. The idea is to get it on paper, then we can slice and dice to fit you and the employer! No, you won’t use a lot of the silly stuff, but it helps you to see with a critical eye what you have accomplished. Remember to be your own promoter. And you’re going to have to THINK, so take some time.

Once you have the list expanded, place the expansions into appropriate sections – is it a job related skill? Soft or transferable?

Now the harder part – use this information to create your resume. Start with the header or personal information, and just have it on the first page for now if you have trouble creating a true resume. Then set up according to the style you think you like. Remember, you can change it anytime without too much fuss, but you can’t change what you haven’t done – SO DO IT!

Links:

E Resume Writing
JobWeb
Resumania - Career Tips

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