BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE RESUME Presented by Scott Mortensen InComm Director of Communications Version 3.0
SESSION GOALS Together, we are going to: Generate some GOOD IDEAS to include on your resume. Examine the COMPONENTS on a typical resume. Practice avoiding COMMON MISTAKES that sometimes appear on resumes. Develop content using LANGUAGE that s appropriate for resumes. Mention TEMPLATES and LinkedIn. 2 CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY
WHY ALL THIS TALK ABOUT BRANDS? When creating a RESUME When building a NETWORK of contacts When interviewing with a prospective EMPLOYER THE BRAND IS YOU! AND YOU ONLY HAVE SECONDS (!) TO MAKE A POSITIVE IMPRESSION. 3
DISCOVERING YOUR TALENTS & SKILLS 1. What are you most PROUD of? 2. What DIFFICULTIES have you overcome? 3. What PRAISE or acknowledgment have you gotten from your teachers? 4. How do you HELP OUT your mom, dad, siblings, or grandparents? 5. What have you DESIGNED, BUILT or FIXED that gave you a sense of accomplishment? 6. List five or six QUALITIES of other people whom you admire? 7. Name a PROBLEM that you encountered that you have overcome. What did you do? 8. Which subjects do you enjoy in SCHOOL? 9. What do you know so well that you could TEACH others? 10.What CREATIVE things have you done that you feel good about? 4
TALENTS & SKILLS WORKSHEET 5 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
SAMPLE RESUME 6
COMPONENT SKILLS SUMMARY Note that a SKILLS SUMMARY is not shown on the example on the previous slide. A skills summary allows you to quickly highlight your talents and skills, encouraging the reader to take a closer look at the your complete resume. Use three to five bullet points. In some cases, you may want to customize your skills summary to demonstrate how your skills align with the job requirements of the open position. 7
EXAMPLES OF SKILLS SUMMARIES Quick learner with excellent verbal and written communication skills. Committed to using my skills to become an exceptional developer. Self-motivated with the ability to manage multiple tasks and competing priorities. Proficient in Java and SQL programming. 20+ years of experience in counseling, conducting interviews & assessments with individuals and families in a variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and homes. Committed to providing quality, supportive care to clients. Proficient at quickly building rapport and trust with clients. Strong written communication skills; extensive experience writing clinical assessments, psycho-social histories, and case plans. Exceptionally skilled at multi-tasking while maintaining attention to detail. 8
IDEA PROMPTS FOR SKILLS SUMMARIES Accurate Cheerful Customer Service- Oriented Dependable Collaborative Communicative Computer-Savvy Courteous Dependable Energetic Enthusiastic Fast Worker Flexible Friendly Good Listener Guest Services Focus Hard Working Helpful Strong Initiative Innovative Interpersonal Leadership Focus Fast Learner Math Skills Microsoft Office Knowledge Multi-tasking Organized People-Oriented Positive Attitude Punctual Strong Reading Abilities Reliable Research Responsible Role Model Social Media Savvy Team Player Able to Quickly Learn New Technologies Willing to Learn Strong Written Communications Skills Strong Verbal Communications Skills 9
COMPONENT EDUCATION School Applicable courses to the job Projected graduation date GPA (if over 3.0) 10
COMPONENT WORK EXPERIENCE Work Experience should include: Position Location Start and End Dates Description of Responsibilities 11
COMPONENT ACTIVITIES & AWARDS School Athletics Church Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts Community organizations Creative arts Certifications (such as CPR, First Aid, Drivers Education, etc.) 12
COMPONENT REFERENCES Ideal references: Teachers Coaches Church leaders Community leaders Always ask if the person would be willing to serve as a reference for you AHEAD of time. 13
AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES (I) What are the FOUR issues with the example below? Sprint Customer Service Represntative 12/2012 March 2013 Responsibilities included: Educating customers on pacific hardware features. Refreshing devices to update network settings Resetting network passwords to help with data connection of devices. Manually programmed cell phones after device swaps. Educating customers on system updates and network outages. 14
AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES (II) What are the issues with the example below? IT Intern Responsibilities include: 11/2013 - Present Completing training with development team to further knowledge of Java development Worked with a team of six to make sure deadlines and deliverables are being met. Offering assistance with tasks and/or documentation Keeping stakeholders up to date on progress of the project. Building and implementing a Server Request form into ServiceNow, creating training material for requesting new servers. I was in charge of pulling and analyzing licenses on each server to see how the company can organize a standard package install for all new servers! 15
AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES (III) What are the issues with the example below? SKILLS SUMMARY I m SUPER-friendly. I was voted the most Friendly person in my class last year. Wicked-awesome football skills!!!!! My hot ride blows away ALL the competition because I ve customized it beyond belief and believe it or not I did all of the work myself. Last summer, my vacation was awful. Every day, all I did was watch my aggravating little sister. 16
EXERCISE INSTRUCTIONS Now it s time to turn your good ideas into language that s appropriate for a resume. RECOMMENDATION: Using the worksheet on the next slide, begin developing your resume s (1.) Skills Summary and/or (2.) Work Experience. The ACTION WORDS on the subsequent slides can help. 17 CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY
EXERCISE WORKSHEET 1. SKILLS SUMMARY 2. EXPERIENCE 18 CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY
ACTION WORDS (1) 19 Managing accomplished analyzed attained conducted consolidated contacted coordinated developed directed established evaluated exceeded headed improved increased initiated organized oversaw planned prioritized produced scheduled strengthened trimmed Technical assembled built calculated computed configured designed determined devised eliminated enhanced fabricated installed maintained operated overhauled programmed reduced refined remodeled repaired retrieved solved trained upgraded Clerical approved arranged catalogued classified collected compared compiled completed distributed enlarged implemented inspected monitored operated organized prepared processed recorded retrieved screened specified sorted tabulated validated Communicating addressed arranged convinced corresponded developed directed drafted edited enlisted influenced interpreted negotiated participated persuaded presented promoted proposed related secured sold spoke translated wrote
ACTION WORDS (2) 20 Researching collected consulted evaluated examined experimented identified inspected interpreted interviewed investigated obtained organized reviewed searched summarized surveyed Teaching advised clarified coached communicated coordinated corrected developed enabled encouraged evaluated explained guided informed initiated instructed persuaded set goals trained Helping assisted clarified coached counseled demonstrated educated guided motivated referred supported Creating acted conceived created customized designed developed established fashioned illustrated improved initiated introduced invented originated performed planned redesigned reshaped revitalized shaped
TEMPLATES Review examples on the internet for ideas. Keep it simple. Maintain consistent formatting (font size, font type, line spacing, etc.). Limit your resume to a single page. (Later, as you gain more experience and skills, it s perfectly acceptable to create multi-page resumes. For now, all content should easily fit on one page.) Ask yourself, Does EVERYTHING about this resume demonstrate professionalism and attention to detail? 21
THE NEXT GENERATION RESUME 22