Your (Professional) Life on Paper

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RESUMES

• Your (Professional) Life on Paper

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Resume Fast Facts

• Most employers review a resume for an average of
  10-30 seconds
• Employers receive hundreds of resumes and
  consider very few resumes to be excellent
• 80 of screening happens with the resume
• Spelling errors and typos leave the highest
  negative impression with employers
• 84 of employers say that a resume should only be
  one page if you have less than 5 years
  experience

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• How do I sell me?

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What Do I Have to Offer?
What experience do I have to offer?
- Work Experience - Internships - Job Shadowing
- Volunteer Work - Community Service
What educational preparations have I made?
- Study abroad or international study -
Internships - Research
What qualities or capabilities do I possess that
will benefit an employer?

• - Leadership (clubs/organizations)
• - Management (coaching, tutoring, etc)
• - Multilingual

- Flexibility - Creativity
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What Type of Job Do I Want?

• What types of jobs am I interested in?
• Would I be interested in management?
• What is my career plan?
• Am I willing to relocate?
• Do I like to work individually? or in groups?
• Do I like routine, repetitive work? or variety?

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• How Do I Look on Paper?

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Types of Resumes

• Chronological (preferred)
• In date order (most recent first)
• Use when career has an upward path and/or there
  are no long unemployment stretches
• Functional (least preferred)
• Least Preferred
• Focuses on skills youve attained
• Use when career lacks an upwardly mobile path
  and/or there are gaps in employment history
• ChronoFunctional
• Focuses on skills attained while providing a
  chronological listing of jobs
• Use when you want to stress the skills obtained
  in various jobs rather than the positions
  themselves or the employment progression

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Format, Format, Format . . .
Name, Contact Information Objective or Summary of
Skills Education and Work whichever is more
impressive first (Include military service in
work experience) Personal Details honors/activit
ies/skills References referred to but not
listed here
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The Heading

• Name
• slightly larger font
• Address
• permanent
• may include school address
• Telephone
• home and/or cell
• make outgoing message appropriate
• Email address
• Make it professional!

Example Jane M. Jones 500 Good University
Road Good City, NC 89999 [phone] jane.jones
_at_good.edu
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Objective

• Job objectives tell readers exactly what kind of
  job you are looking for.
• concise current
• what job do you want?
• at what company? or what kind of company?
• no clichés or flowery wording
• more general for posted résumés

Example A junior position in market research
Summary of Qualifications

• This section allows you to show off your
  achievements that set you apart from the sea of
  other applicants.
• years of experience
• technical skills
• proven leadership
• no more than four points

Example Nine years of chemical industry
experience Proven sales success for chemical
products such as XYZ Bachelors degree in
Chemistry Masters degree in Sales
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Education

• List most recent school or degree first.
• Do not list high school.
• List institution name, location, years
  attended, and degree.
• Graduation date should include year and
  semester.
• For degrees in progress Anticipated
  Completion Date ____
• Degree may be written out or abbreviated.
• (Be sure to use the accurate degree
  designation/title.)
• List GPA and/or relevant courses if
  advantageous.

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Work Experience

• List most recent first
• Include company name, job title, and dates
• Be specific about job functions and
  accomplishments
• Use action verbs
• Use present tense for current and past tense for
  previous jobs
• No sentences or paragraphs

EXAMPLE WORK EXPERIENCE June 2001 - Present
Smith Arts and Crafts Monroe,
LA Sales Associate Specialize in customer
service Handle money as cashier Order
merchandise March 2001 - June 2001 Smith and
Jones Law Office Monroe, LA Office
Courier Delivered legal documents to
courthouse, other law offices, and post
office Filed legal documents Performed light
computer system maintenance
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Other

• What Makes You Stand Out?
• Computer Skills
• Honors
• Activities, etc.
• References
• Use a separate page to list (or write Available
  upon request)
• Always use a complimentary title (Mr., Ms., Dr.)
• List organization, job title, complete address,
  phone, and email

EXAMPLE PERSONAL DETAILS Computer
Skills Windows 95/98/XP, Windows Server 2003,
Oracle, Visual Basic .NET, Microsoft Visual
Studio .NET 2003,
Office 2000 (Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, Access)
Honors Tuition Scholarship, University of
Louisiana at Monroe, 2001-2002. Academic
Scholarship, University of Louisiana at Monroe,
2001-2003.   ACTIVITIES
Served as Vice President of student chapter of
Association of Information Technology
Professionals. Presently working on database
and web page projects for Monroe, LA, Police
Department and for Louisiana
Plumbers
Association. REFERENCES See attached page.
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Dos and Donts

• Do
• Use 24-lb., 100 cotton, white or off-white paper
• Print in black ink
• Use 10-12 point font
• Use action verbs
• Align lists exactly
• Keep current and applicable
• Include a cover letter
• Proofread!

• Dont
• Use colored or printed paper
• Include hobbies
• Include personal information (religion, marital
  status, etc.)
• Put the word Resume at the top
• Include salary information
• Include reasons for leaving jobs
• Include references on the same page as the resume
• Include the word I, sentences, or paragraphs
• Lie
• Have any typos!

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ULM Career Connections Experiential
Education Visit our website at www.ulm.edu/careerc
onnections Call us at 318-342-5338 or visit us at
Library 314
Ann Bloxom Smith,Director Academic Internships
Brenda Allen, DirectorCareer Connections and
Experiential Education
Alberta Brown Green,Career Advisor
Roslynn PogueStudent Employment Administrator
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Thank you for attending this session and good
luck with your job search!