I have never had a resume in my life. My mother got me a job at a stereo store at 12. At 15 i was working at a liquor store nearby and the stereo store. At 18 full time at the stereo store. At 19 two full time jobs as a security guard and delivery guy...someone got me both jobs...on and off at a hot dog joint for a few years and full time at my current job for over 20 years.

I am helping my girlfriend put together a resume and i have a few questions for those of you who look at resumes.

#1. Do you want to see a photo of the person? Why or why not?

Example...



#2. What about an About Me section? I thought this would be a short section to talk about her parents who met in the military and interesting facts like she was born in Manhattan and spent 10 years of her childhood living in Puerto Rico before moving to Chicago. Also shes heavily involved in animal rescue.

#3. For work history im just going to include the company names in chronological order (most recent listed at top) with what she did there so like...

Business Name
Cash Applications Specialist

Business Name
Assistant Manager

Any real need to provide phone numbers to previous employers? I feel like its a waste of time because no one ever calls to check on sub $75k per year employees. Obviously if you were applying for an important job i think it matters.

Any other advice?

Thanks.

absolutely no picture...

no what about me section.

that format you showed is terrible.

Agreed...i was just giving an example of a photo on a resume. That was the first one i found at google.

I guess it all depends on the industry. I've hired a lot of people. I think only one has handed me a resume. I don't really give a shit about your resume. I want to have a real conversation with a potential employee where I get them to great out of "their applicant persona" and just talk.

It very much depends on industry and job level.

Typical resume sections (again depending on industry and level) include:
- contact information
- summary
- objective
- job experience
- education
- certifications
- skills
- hobbies and interests

Job Experience is almost always expected, and the exact syntax/content/format for entries in this section varies by industry and job level. One thing that is consistent across the board is to go in reverse chronological order. Content always includes company, position and dates. It may also include responsibilities and/or achievements.

For high level jobs, you can go to multiple pages. Otherwise, keep it to one page.

Have 5 people proof read the final version for spelling, grammar and consistency of formatting/syntax.

Definitely do not put any phone number on a resume except your own.

Having seen some resumes by the HR person I can tell a number of things. The HR person would often consult staff of a given area because they are not versed on all aspects of a given company. What might sound impressive to an HR person might not be to the people that work in that area. Those people can usually tell what is BS and what is not. HR is usually good about narrowing choices and getting the backgrounds before bringing candidates to the staff. Here is what I learned from HR about resumes.

First I don't know if the picture would help or not. It may or may not. I never seen a resume with one. I know in mid to large companies the HR personnel see a LOT of resumes and something that might make it stick out may help. It may not. I just don't know.

Second, no need for more than one page. They basically glance at these and look for things to catch their eye. If they do they read further they will start doing their background info.

Each resume your girlfriend does should be customized for the company and position she is considering. Do not make a blanket resume that covers her experience, education, etc. Blah, blah, blah! They see this all the time.

For instance, say you girlfriend is a nurse and is trying for a job in the pediatrics section of a hospital. Well for the last few years she has been working in a nursing home and worked in a doctor's office before that. You need to emphasize the doctor's office even if you only seen 1 kid a month there. You need to tell them why you are good fit for pediatrics. You can state all your duties as a nurse in the nursing home but it might not help much. The number of years as a nurse their and basic duties will be fine for that part of the experience. They know what nurses do. Customize each resume to the career you are considering. Never say the word job in the resume or cover letter.

A personal section of the resume often helps. I wouldn't call it about me but personal life or hobbies is fine. Again, this needs to be customized and if you know something about the personnel there then emphasize the things that are similar to them. Companies aren't just about skills they want to see if you will fit in with their team. A personal section can often help.

Things not to talk about in most personal areas. Kids and family! It shows you have other obligations. An exception might be a company specialized in selling goods or services to families. But, in general leave that out. List things you like to do travel, exercise, sports, dungeons and dragons, etc. The last one I would only list if you are trying to work for a company that makes role playing games.

You get the idea. Everything on the resume needs to be customized for that company and position. Good luck and let Ernie check your grammar:-)

No picture.

I don’t care about her family history. A very brief ‘about me’ is ok...ie charity work, couple hobbies, that’s it. Unless it directly relates to the position; it’s just noise. She has to know her audience and tailor the resume accordingly. A resume for a receptionist will be vastly different than VP level.

Work history should start with the most recent and work back. It should include dates (month/year), title, brief description of responsibilities, goals met, awards, etc. If she is a serial job seeker, limit the jobs to five that are applicable to the job. You don’t want to seem like you hop job to job every few months. Every resume I’ve reviewed from a serial job seeker went right in the trash.

If she has a letter of recommendation, include that.

Thanks for the advice so far.

Shes basically office personnel. Receptionist. Data entry. "Cash applications" meaning she assists the book keepers. No exceptional skills to list. Only software experience is MS Office and typical officer person software. This will be a $30-$40k job. We bought a house December 23 2016 and then my brother got sick and 2017 was basically spent going to the hospital and then dealing with the aftermath when he died so now that we finally have a chance to catch our breath we decided she would just apply at every small business within a 20 minute walk from our house. Not interested in 1 hour commutes to make a dollar or two more per hour.

So far this is where i am...

I am keeping it one page with this info.

• Name
• Contact Info Phone | Email | Address (just city, state and zip no house #)
• Education
• Work Experience (she has worked at 5 companies. all are listed)

Still on the fence with the About Me section. I asked 10 business owners i know personally and i got 6-4 against it. The 4 who were in favor said that they like to see what people have to say about themselves.

The consensus on the Photo is NO. A few people brought up that it might be okay for a person in fashion/actor etc or "creative type" photographer or illustrator who could use their photo to show off their craft.

I just feel like the page needs an anchor like a company logo. Maybe i can do a monogram with initials something like this...








What are your thoughts?
 

My wife used to hire for her company. She always said each resume gets about 30 seconds to decide if it's worth reading in its entirety. So lead with what's most pertinent to the job. That would likely be either education or experience.

As far as picture goes I would recommend not. It could help or hinder and she has no way of knowing which. Maybe the company has a mandate to hire visible minorities to match a demographic or something, maybe the person reading the resume is racist POS. The person hiring could be a feminist, or maybe not. You never know but for sure the first impression should be based on skills/education/experience.

Finally, in that example resume the writer says "cutting edge" merchandiser. Buzz words and colourful language, even embellishment, and worse out right lies are common on resumes. When she gets to an interview (phone or in person) she will likely be asked to elaborate on some of this stuff with examples, especially if it's something awesome. Maybe that's what gets her picked from the pile so she best be ready to back each item up with an example that matches the impressiveness of the statement.

For example the "cutting edge merchandising". I would ask what do you do that's so cutting edge? If the person answered, "I rearranged some clearance clothing to be in a more prominent location, improved signage and created un-obstructed sight lines from the store entry, resulting in an increased sales of that clearance product by 20%". I would be impressed. If they said, " I always make sure the hangars on the rack are facing to the right.", I would not be impressed.

It might be worthwhile having her resume prepared by a pro.

Craig

No pic....
If you use a monogram use the first one.
I don't mind the About Me section.  As long as it's honest and a paragraph long.  When I was hiring techs, these are the things I actually wanted to know. Because the other stuff is BS anyway. 

Good luck to you guys!

 

Search for 'killer resume' and you should find what you're looking for.

Here's one-

[Link: monster.com]

When my wife used to have to look at them, spelling and gammar mistakes would send them to the trash bin. No further reading required.
Most of us would think people would check, or have someone else check, something so important. You would be surprised at how many she would toss.

Proper spelling and grammar are a given when writing a resume. People are too accustomed to texting, Facebook posts, etc and some of the formalities get lost. I’m guilty of it too...I use Slack and text all day long. After she has it spell checked by Word or whatever, print it out and hand it to a few smart people for a closer check. Software spell checks aren’t always reliable. The word ‘too’ is spelled correctly, but the context may warrant the spelling of ‘to’...the checker may not pick up on that. That’s a big deal to me.

I agree, after a serial job seeker the next thing, after closer inspection, that causes the resume to end in the trash is poor spelling and grammar. This is especially important since she is applying at professional offices.

This is the final layout. I am going to print it on white and off white "resume paper" to see what looks best. The theme i created is supposed to "say" Retro Invoice. Something you might get from a trucking company in 1930? I don't know. I just wanted something that will stand out from the sea of text only resumes without going overboard visually like the example i posted above.

Name with monogram at the top. Small monogram at the bottom.

Contact info/Education/About Me on the left. The About Me is all the way at the bottom so its there for those who care about it and out of the way for those who dont.

Work experience in a larger column to the right. Each entry will have the name of the company, job title while there and any skills related to the job.

Thats it...no fluff.




Thanks for all the advice.

I like it Mac.