Archive for the ‘Student’ Category

Student Resumes

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

It’s the student resume season at ResumeEdge.com, and I often get asked what makes for a winning student resume? The kind that will entice admissions directors to seriously consider the student for the college or university of his/her choice.

Although resumes are as varied as candidates, effective student resumes have certain things in common:

1. The resume is professional in appearance and content.  Now isn’t the time to save a few dollars by doing it yourself. If you have no idea how to construct an attractive/compelling resume, leave it to the experts.

2. The document is as long as it needs to be within the guidelines of the school you’re targeting. The first thing any applicant should consider are the college’s or university’s guidelines in terms of length. If the targeted school insists on one page, then you must adhere to that rule. If there is no set page length, then the resume is as long as it needs to be, provided it contains only that information that will enhance your candidacy (nothing extraneous).

3. The data must show why you would be an asset to the school or its programs. This isn’t only about your aspirations, it’s about giving a seat to someone who deserves it. Schools and teachers don’t want to waste their time with an individual who isn’t there to learn and to enhance the school’s reputation.

4. It should give a glimpse into the kind of person you are. Unlike a resume used to obtain a job, a student resume should give the admissions committee an idea about who you are. Therefore, volunteer work and interests are often included in this type of resume.

As with any other resume, a student resume should show you to your best advantage, making certain to be accomplishment-focused with data that’s relevant to the school program you’re seeking.

When Your Professional Experience is Lacking

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Recent high school graduates, some stay-at-home moms, and those individuals who are just starting trade school or vocational college are faced with extra challenges in creating a resume that will prove their worth. As with all resume content, it’s imperative to focus on what you do have to offer, rather than what you lack. All it takes is a creative approach in putting your best foot forward.

1.  USE A FUNCTIONAL FORMAT THAT STRESSES SKILLS, RATHER THAN EXPERIENCE:

Unlike the popular reverse-chronological format that details employers, titles, dates of employment, and job duties, the functional format showcases what you know.

For a recent high school graduate or those just entering trade school, that may mean clerical skills such as typing (including words per minute), computer proficiency (list software), data entry, 10-key, some bookkeeping, tailoring (sewing), cooking (home economics skills), or whatever was learned in high school that can be applied to a real job.

In the case of a stay-at-home mom, everyday tasks such as managing a household budget, paying bills (bookkeeping in the corporate world), childcare, scheduling pediatrician visits (appointment setting in the corporate world), planning children’s birthday parties or family get-togethers (event planning in the corporate world), can all have value in a professional environment, especially in an administrative assistant role.

2. USE VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE IN LIEU OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Many individuals erroneously believe that if they weren’t paid for work, then it has no value in the corporate world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Skills in fundraising, event planning & coordination, media relations (either speaking with the press or authoring newsletters), activities planning, and community outreach (providing after school activities for at-risk youth, organizing a soup kitchen, etc.) can be stated as skills on a resume so long as the volunteer work is relevant to the current job search. It’s equally important to indicate how these skills transfer to a corporate environment – eg: event/activities planning may be valuable in an administrative assistant position when clerical support is needed to make travel/lodging arrangements for an executive or when a corporate party needs to be organized.

3.  SEARCH ONLINE JOBS (HOTJOBS.COM, ETC.) TO DETERMINE HOW YOUR SKILLS MATCH THOSE QUALIFICATIONS MOST WANTED BY EMPLOYERS:

Even a basic entry-level position such as reception requires skill in answering phones and greeting the public. Determine what employers generally want in an employee, through online searches, then dovetail your strengths with their needs.

For example, a recent high school graduate is seeking a job as a receptionist. The information to highlight on this individual’s resume is any school activity that would tell the hiring manager this is a people-person, with a pleasant demeanor, who is always willing to help. Information that might relay this would be functioning as a hostess at a school-sponsored Las Vegas night or a fundraising supper, or perhaps this individual represented the school to prospective students during campus visits and tours.

The Most Important Section of Your Resume

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

A Qualifications Summary is your first and best chance to make a favorable impression on a hiring manager. It is a marketing tool that sells your unique skills to the targeted company.

To be effective, a Qualifications Summary must:

1. Provide a snapshot of you as the ideal candidate for the position.

2. Be concise and to the point, addressing what expertise you can bring to the job to benefit the prospective employer.

3. Address pertinent qualifications in the job posting.

4. List your most stellar and recent quantified accomplishment that pertains to your current job search.

5. Provide additional data that enhances your candidacy, including:
A. Linguistic capabilities in foreign languages
B. Certifications
C. Licensure
D. Willingness to travel or to relocate for the new position

6. State specific skills, such as computer proficiencies (if applicable)

7. List your past employers if they are well known, eg: Boeing, Wall Street Journal, Macy’s, AT&T, etc.

8. Work Permits or Green Card data for foreign nationals.

Reverse-chronological versus functional or combination resumes

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

The skills and experience information in modern resumes can be listed using three separate formats:

1. Reverse chronological

2. Functional

3. A combination of the two

Reverse chronological

Generally speaking, hiring managers prefer that employment data is provided with the most recent job listed first, followed by the next most recent, and so on.  In that way, it’s easy to see career progression from an entry-level position to a more senior status. It’s also easy to detect gaps in dates of employment.  It’s these gaps that cause candidates to select functional formats.

Functional

Functional formats stress what skills you have, rather than where and when you used them.  These formats are best for students who have just graduated from college and have little “real-world” experience; those who have been out of the workforce for long periods because they were raising children; or job seekers who are transitioning from one career or industry to another.  However, sometimes joining a functional with a reverse chronological format makes the most sense – these are called combination resumes.

Combination

With this format, skills that are relevant to the current job search are placed in a special section by function, while the Professional History or Work Experience is presented in a standard, reverse-chronological format. This format offers the best of both worlds, and is highly popular with job seekers and hiring managers.

For more information and to see our samples: http://www.resumeedge.com/resume-writing/resumes/resume-types/index.php?nav=rc.rc