12-1McGraw-Hill/Irwin ©2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2013 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 12Chapter 12

Building Résumés

Definition Job Hunting Personal Branding Cautions about

Social Networks

Guidelines Kinds of Résumés Résumé Information Electronic Résumé Honesty

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Résumé Definition

@ Persuasive summary of qualifications for employment Makes you look well organized, prepared Highlights your unique qualifications Helps you try for an even better job Shows you how to prepare for job market

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Job Hunting

@ Check services of career placement office

@ Join extracurricular organizations

@ Find jobs/internships that give you experience

@ Note which courses you like

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Job Hunting, continued…

@ Conduct a self-assessment Take personality and aptitude tests Ask yourself some questions:

What skills and strengths do I have? What achievements have given satisfaction? What work conditions do I like? Do I prefer firm deadlines or flexibility? What kind of work/life balance do I want? Where do I want to live?

@ Use the Internet to research jobs

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Personal Branding

@ Marketing yourself

@ Use a variety of tools to do so: LinkedIn Personal web page Blogs Facebook Twitter Professional forums Cover letter

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Cautions about Social Networking

@ Remove any unprofessional material

@ Remove negative comments about current or past employers and teachers

@ Remove political or social rants

@ Remove any personal information that might embarrass you

@ Remove inappropriate material posted by friends, family, relatives

@ Check blog for writing aptitude

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How Employers Use Résumés

@ To decide whom to interview

@ To screen applicants by scanning or skimming

@ To assess what they assume is your best work

@ To prepare for job interviews

@ To get final approval for selected applicants

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Guidelines: Length

@ Fill at least one page

@ Average résumé these days: 2 pages Put most important

information on page 1 Put at least 10 lines on page 2 Include Name and Page 2

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Guidelines: Emphasis

@ Emphasize your achievements That are most relevant to position applied for That show superiority to other applicants That are recent

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Guidelines: Emphasis, continued…

@ To emphasize information: Put it at top or bottom of page Set it off with white space Give it in a vertical and/or bulleted list Include it in an informative heading

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Guidelines: Details

@ Give evidence to support your claims

@ Convince reader

@ Separate you from other applicants

@ Use numbers and descriptions

@ Omit details that add no value

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Guidelines: Writing Style

@ Be concise (brief, but complete)

@ Use phrases and sentence fragments

@ Never use I; use me or my if you must

@ Use more action verbs than nouns

@ List items in parallel form

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Guidelines: Key Words

@ Use words or phrases that employers will have the computer seek

@ May include: Software programs Job titles Types of degrees Job-specific skills, buzzwords, jargon Professional organizations Honor societies Personality traits

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Guidelines: Layout and Design

@ Experiment with layout, fonts, and spacing

@ Consider creating letterhead to use for your résumé and application letter

@ Use headings for reading ease

@ Avoid templates

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Guidelines: Layout and Design, continued…

@ Work with fonts, bullets, and spacing to highlight information Use no more than three fonts Use color sparingly Use at least 10-pt type Use white space to group items

@ Select good quality 8 ½ x 11 paper

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Kinds of Résumés: Chronological

@ Summarizes what you did in time line

@ Starts with most recent events, uses reverse chronology

@ Includes degrees, job titles, dates

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Kinds of Résumés: Chronological, continued…

@ When to use— Your education, experience closely related

to job for which you’re applying You have impressive job titles, offices, or

honors

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Kinds of Résumés: Skills

@ Emphasizes skills you’ve used, rather than the job in which you used them or the date

@ De-emphasizes job titles, employment history, dates

a.k.a. functional résumé

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Kinds of Résumé: Skills, continued…

@ When to use— Your education and experience not usual

route to applied job You’re changing fields You want to show broad experience from

Paid jobs Volunteer work Extracurricular activities College courses

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Résumé Information

@ Essential Name and contact information Education Experience

@ Omit unfavorable information

Always separate categories

For over 7 items,use subheading

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Résumé Information, continued…

@ Optional Career Objective Summary of

Qualifications Honors and Awards Activities References Portfolio

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Résumé Information: Contact Info

@ Use full name, even if you have a nickname

@ Center one address; type two side by side

@ Provide professional e-mail address

@ Provide phone (cell or land) where you can be reached during the day

@ Omit age, marital status, race, sex, and health

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Résumé Information: Career Objective

@ Make it sound like employers’ job descriptions

@ Make it brief—2 lines at most

@ Tell what you want to do, level of responsibility you want

@ Targeted to a job at a specific company

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Résumé Information: Summary of Qualifications

@ Show knowledge of specialized technology in your field

@ List accomplishments Be specific; include numbers and amounts Include as many keywords as you can

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Résumé Information: Education

@ First main category in these cases— Earn new degree Need degree for job you’re seeking Can present the information briefly

@ Put it later in these cases— Need page 1 for another category Lack degree that other applicants may have

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Résumé Information: Education, continued…

@ Cover 4-year and graduate degrees Include junior college if it gave you other

expertise Include study abroad, even non-credit

courses Give degrees, dates, schools, and cities

@ May list short, descriptive course titles

@ Include GPA—if it’s good—and what it’s based on: 3.4/4.0

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Résumé Information: Honors and Awards

@ New college graduates put on page 1

@ Include Honors and Awards if listing more than three items

@ Use Honors and Activities if listing fewer than three items

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Résumé Information: Honors and Awards, continued…

@ Include entries that add to your professional image Fellowships and scholarships Awards from professional societies Major awards from civic groups Academic honor societies Varsity letters

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Résumé Information: Experience

@ Use heading that works best for you

@ Include this information for each job held— Position or job title Organization City and state Dates of employment Job duties; other details

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Résumé Information: Activities

@ Critical for new college graduates

@ Include this kind of information— Volunteer work and student organizations Professional associations Activities involving talent or responsibility Varsity or intramural athletics Leadership roles

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Résumé Information: References

@ Usually omit from résumé

@ Omit “References Available Upon Request”

@ Line up 3 to 5 people New graduates include 1 professor, 1 employer

or adviser—minimum Choose persons who can comment on work

habits, leadership skills Don’t list relatives even if you worked for them Omit personal or character references

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Résumé Information: References, continued…

@ Ask the person’s permission Jog their memory of your work

@ Keep list up-to-date

@ List this information— Name and title Organization City and state E-mail and phone number

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Résumé Information: What to Omit

@ Personal information

@ Controversial activities or associations

@ High school facts

@ Trivial items

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Electronic Résumés

Basic guidelines of email job hunting etiquette:

@Don’t use your current employer’s email

@Set up a free, Internet-based email account

@Avoid using silly or cryptic email addresses

@Write a simple subject line

@Test how résumé looks before sending

@Send only one résumé

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Electronic Résumés, continued…

When sending résumé in text of email

@Start all lines on left margin

@Do not use bold, underlining, tabs, or unusual fonts

@Put headings in all caps, but use sparingly

@To avoid awkward line breaks, shorten line lengths to 65 characters and spaces

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Honesty

ALWAYS BE HONEST ON

YOUR RÉSUMÉ !!!