I need serious help with a resume, are there any resume buffs on here?

[Bojangles69]

Boring I know. But look this is important and I'm noticing a pattern of my resume being my weak spot.
Either its too long, I'm putting the wrong things, or I'm just an idiot and have no idea how to make one "professional".

This has also been going on for a while now and I'm applying for positions that are all entry level so I'm not sure wtf they're looking for. These last 2 places were just to get in as an intern.
How it usually goes. Only a couple a months ago did I realize when my harddrive crashed and I was forced to use my brothers laptop that I can get responses 90% of the time just by calling on phone, or even typing out a sort of cover letter w/out actually sending my resume (I explained to them my computer had crashed).

Every single time I have talked on the phone, or messaged through email, these people write sentences with exclamation points, they sound excited as shit. We get along great on the phone. I'm able to "sell myself" really well in that regard. I'm a performer and its what I do lol.
However, at some point they ask for my resume, I send it, and bam! No response.
Call back to follow up, no call back.

Yet it seems the longer I keep my resume out of it, the more and more interested they get lol. This has not just happened once too at first I sent my resume to about 40 places, got no responses at all.
Afterwards I said fvck this I won't send a resume at all and I'll just try to sell myself. I can't understand why the employers act soooo interested, and like I'm perfect for the position, then they see my resume and pull a dissappearing act.

I know for a fact I DO NOT KNOW how to write a good resume. I merely wrote it a few years ago trying to use ideas from other peoples resumes. But I know it looks like a rookie did it, and theres lots of skills I have I don't know how to put in there.
It was also incredibly long when I made and people told me to get it down to one page, but I don't know what information to take out and what to leave. I also own my own business, which is somewhat related to the position I'm going for now (social marketing) and people told me one of the best things you can put in a resume is you own/owned your own business. It shows you take initiative or whatever.
I also know photoshop inside and out, dreamweaver, can do basic html/css programming, can write/edit blogs, know facebook, twitter, myspace. I know a lot of things related to social marketing. Shit I even know a fair share about SEO and how to optimize code for sites, graphics, ANYTHING sound related. The problem is these are all things I learned on my own for my own business. How do I write that shit in a resume so it looks professional?

Is there anyone who knows how to write a solid resume? I don't want to post it here but I'll send it as a link in pm if you just post in this thread. Right now I know its too long, and I have a lot of irrelevant info and am missing some important info. I just literally do not know what to leave and what to take out. Any help I'd really appreciate! Thanks guys.

[MACHINE5150]

You can really get away with just doing a google search of "sample resumes" in the image section and see the layout and necessary info.. Just make sure that you keep it short and simple. Also, employers hate job hoppers.. so listing a bunch of different jobs you worked at for only one year and left will get you DQ'ed right away. I always included my club sports being played to prove i can work as a team.

[Ernst]

The resumé should be specific to the job you are applying for. I will write a new cover letter for each time I apply anywhere. A unique yet bold and easily legible font and quality weight off-white paper will assure they at least glimpse at it before throwing in the round file. Mine is three pages.

Header (Name, address, phone number, and email) & Cover letter (Intro and a few well-tailored paragraphs-- remember, they'll probably be reading a lot of these, so make it short and sweet) *At the end "thank you", and always sign the cover letter at the bottom above your printed name.

Education (Completed education only, if you're multilingual mention it here) & Job History (Place, address & phone #, position held, dates- might include supervisor names as well)

Professional & Personal References
(3 Professional, their current position and place of employment and phone number. Bonus if they are in the field you are trying to get hired in! 3 Personal, their town and state of residence and phone number)

If you did the cover letter right, you'll get the chance to speak to them. It's as simple as that. Be careful of abusing industry jargon, especially if this is going to be read by a clueless Human Resources secretary first. They usually won't bother actually checking anything until they are considering hiring you. It just needs to look good. My cover letter will convey that I am experienced, comfortable in the job environment, and confident of success. Your cover letter should emphasize experience and passion. Read it aloud. It should sound like you are speaking to them in your own (well chosen) words, not constructed.

[terraj]

ATM I'm looking to hire professional service for mine.

[Ernst]

I might point out that if you have a first name that often confuses people include an easy nickname in quotations if not just substituting it altogether. Make sure this name is also on your answering machine...

That's a tip from another member here.

[terraj]

I've not spoken with either of these, they come recommended by an exec friend of mine.

http://www.superiorresume.com/

http://www.e-resume.net/

[JC.1987]

Funny how this topic just came up... i literally had my resume redone 3 days ago. Apparently my previous resume was a piece of trash... which is why no employers even contacted me back in the last 4 months (I just graduated last april and am seeking an entry level job aswell). PM me if you want, i have a few things i can send you to help you out, and even collaborate on a few ideas if you want. I had a lady who does resume's, help me with mine, so i can probubly pass on a few thing i learned to you aswell.

[Bojangles69]

Damn this whole paying for help idea is new to me. I thought $150 was expensive then I come to find some places charge as much as $800 for an hours help.
That is insane I think I might just say fvck looking for work and become a professional resume maker myself lol.

I did look through a lot of templates on google. Some are real shitty while others are really impressive.
I knew how important resumes were when I went to a program at school about it, but I never realized how absolutely horrible mine was.

It was originally 2 pages, I had my dates all listed backwards. For w/e reason I thought you list old to recent not recent to old.
And from the advice I'm seeing here putting every job I've ever worked was another horrendous idea. I had 1 job in there that was 6 months
long and another a couple months longer. No wonder noones getting back to me all the time I wasted submitting this thing and I could have
been working on a better one.

I do have some questions though that I can't find an answer for.
Someone in here said completed education only. I have 128 credits and have fullfilled all my college requirements for a BA, however my
internship for school ran past jan graduation and I'm not technically graduating till next may now. So I don't technically have the papers
although I'm done. Should I put on the resume that I have my BA or not? I have nothing left to do for my degree but like I said haven't
graduated yet.

Also, something else worries me about taking jobs out. I'm going to wind up taking 3 out all together. 2 for being a short span of time,
one for when I did landscaping. It was 2 years and Id rather not put landscaping on my resume.
The issue is though now I have a lot of gaps of time in between the jobs. Is the human resources person going to think I wasn't working
and was lazy or something?

Last question I promise. I am currently running my own business. Its not licensed though. But the job I'm applying for is for marketing,
and showing that I own my own business I can write in the resume a lot of marketing related skills. It would likely be smart to add
that in place as one of my most recent jobs right? Even if its small and unlicensed? I'm not really sure.
Fvck and one more thing. I worked at a company where I underwent 6 months training for sales. I learned a lot of things relative to
the place I'm applying for, and also did a lot of advertising for the owner. Problem is, literally 2 weeks before I would have started
collecting commision and going out on my own, the company sank and went out of business. Should I just omit the job completely
and just write the skills I learned in a seperate "skills" section? Right now I have 2 brief skills sections. One is computer skills and
another is professional skills. I figure I can just put it in the professional skills section.

Now I see why people charge for this shit lol. As I'm writing questions I'm thinking of so many more but I'll leave it at that for now.
Answer only if someones bored and feels like helping, because I'm going to get help tommorow anyway and will likely clear some
of this shit up. Thanks!

[Bojangles69]

Funny how this topic just came up... i literally had my resume redone 3 days ago. Apparently my previous resume was a piece of trash... which is why no employers even contacted me back in the last 4 months (I just graduated last april and am seeking an entry level job aswell). PM me if you want, i have a few things i can send you to help you out, and even collaborate on a few ideas if you want. I had a lady who does resume's, help me with mine, so i can probubly pass on a few thing i learned to you aswell.

Yeh I'm going to definitely take you up on that tommorow. I'm going to first redo my old one and then I'll send you the revised one to see if you see any problems
with it. I just finished school myself and had the SAME issue. I was just ignorant to how bad my resume actually was and I think I honestly sent it out to at least
40 different employeers and not a single one got back to me. This last week I've been contacting places w/out a resume, and oddly I'm 3 out 4 right now for
responses. Problem is they all want a resume and I know damn well if I send my old one I'm fvcked. This 1 position specifically I don't want to screw up, and its
already been 24 hours since she asked for my resume so at latest I wanna finish this tommorow. Will definitely hit you up then!

[JC.1987]

Job market is tough man. At this point, I've sent out maybe 50 resumes... not one call back. I guess we will see how my new resume does, but I should start going to places to apply. As of current, I've only been using online job boards like monster and workopolis. What field are you trying to get into?

[Ernst]

I say completed education only because you want to present the image of someone who finishes what they start, as well as someone who will be wholly dedicated to their soon-to-be job-- not some aimless professional part-time student. If you have in fact completed your degree I would definitely mention it. You may choose to say that you have completed all coursework and will receive your degree in May when the next degrees are awarded. If your transcripts are very good you might consider offering them as proof. Until you actually have the degree, don't say you do.

I have one short-span job on my resumé (granted everything else lasted years). I simply explain I tried something different for x reason and it was not for me. You do want to avoid large gaps in employment history, though some here and there are nothing to worry about. You had money saved up and enjoyed a long vacation, or concentrated on school for a while. Nothing wrong there. I'd definitely include the landscaping job. It shows steady employment and is easily explained as something that worked well with your schedule while you attended college (or helped you save for college). As for the 6 month sales position... I say write it in, provided you can give them a former supervisor or the like to prove the place existed. It is relevant experience.

As for this "skills" section... I just fold that stuff into my cover letter. That's where I tell them why I am their perfect candidate. Everything that follows is just formality.

[D7M]

Damn this whole paying for help idea is new to me. I thought $150 was expensive then I come to find some places charge as much as $800 for an hours help.
That is insane I think I might just say fvck looking for work and become a professional resume maker myself lol.

I did look through a lot of templates on google. Some are real shitty while others are really impressive.
I knew how important resumes were when I went to a program at school about it, but I never realized how absolutely horrible mine was.

It was originally 2 pages, I had my dates all listed backwards. For w/e reason I thought you list old to recent not recent to old.
And from the advice I'm seeing here putting every job I've ever worked was another horrendous idea. I had 1 job in there that was 6 months
long and another a couple months longer. No wonder noones getting back to me all the time I wasted submitting this thing and I could have
been working on a better one.

I do have some questions though that I can't find an answer for.
Someone in here said completed education only. I have 128 credits and have fullfilled all my college requirements for a BA, however my
internship for school ran past jan graduation and I'm not technically graduating till next may now. So I don't technically have the papers
although I'm done. Should I put on the resume that I have my BA or not? I have nothing left to do for my degree but like I said haven't
graduated yet.

Also, something else worries me about taking jobs out. I'm going to wind up taking 3 out all together. 2 for being a short span of time,
one for when I did landscaping. It was 2 years and Id rather not put landscaping on my resume.
The issue is though now I have a lot of gaps of time in between the jobs. Is the human resources person going to think I wasn't working
and was lazy or something?

Last question I promise. I am currently running my own business. Its not licensed though. But the job I'm applying for is for marketing,
and showing that I own my own business I can write in the resume a lot of marketing related skills. It would likely be smart to add
that in place as one of my most recent jobs right? Even if its small and unlicensed? I'm not really sure.
Fvck and one more thing. I worked at a company where I underwent 6 months training for sales. I learned a lot of things relative to
the place I'm applying for, and also did a lot of advertising for the owner. Problem is, literally 2 weeks before I would have started
collecting commision and going out on my own, the company sank and went out of business. Should I just omit the job completely
and just write the skills I learned in a seperate "skills" section? Right now I have 2 brief skills sections. One is computer skills and
another is professional skills. I figure I can just put it in the professional skills section.

Now I see why people charge for this shit lol. As I'm writing questions I'm thinking of so many more but I'll leave it at that for now.
Answer only if someones bored and feels like helping, because I'm going to get help tommorow anyway and will likely clear some
of this shit up. Thanks!

You can say you completed the BA. Walking doesn't mean shit. That's not how universities decide if you "graduated" I never walked for any of my degrees (except one). Anyway, if you've fulfilled the requirements, you can say you have the BA.

You can PM me the resume if you want.

The first college I taught at I was on the hiring committee. Fvck, you should've seen the amount of shitty resumes we got! And I'd imagine it's like that in a lot of fields now. When you get so many resumes, you have to just skim them and make decisions based off the "look" of the resume, or else we'd be there all day with them.

[dec11]

im considering getting mine done pro aswell, im not getting replies back for jobs im over qualified for and could do with my fookin eys shut.
my last job was as a doorman for 1yr, while i finished off my degree, and i dont know if i should include it or not anymore? on one side it shows people management, customer service and under pressure decisions, but on the flip side im wondering do some ditzy HR's see me as being a possible violent thug who delights in spoiling ppls fun????

[MACHINE5150]

im considering getting mine done pro aswell, im not getting replies back for jobs im over qualified for and could do with my fookin eys shut.
my last job was as a doorman for 1yr, while i finished off my degree, and i dont know if i should include it or not anymore? on one side it shows people management, customer service and under pressure decisions, but on the flip side im wondering do some ditzy HR's see me as being a possible violent thug who delights in spoiling ppls fun????

I wouldn't mention it. Say that you were a private personal trainer.. one look at you and they will not doubt you.. if they ask what the story is with it tell them you only did it to pay the bills while gonig to college.. Working security is not worth mentioning if you are trying to get into the professional world.. if you were applying as a restraunt manager or something blue collar leave it on.. but not in the shirt and tie world, it is run by pussies.

[dec11]

I wouldn't mention it. Say that you were a private personal trainer.. one look at you and they will not doubt you.. if they ask what the story is with it tell them you only did it to pay the bills while gonig to college.. Working security is not worth mentioning if you are trying to get into the professional world.. if you were applying as a restraunt manager or something blue collar leave it on.. but not in the [B]shirt and tie world, it is run by pussies.

who, unsurprisingly gave the most shit at the venue i worked at. you'll prob know it, Dicey's on harcourt st. man, i worked as an accountant for a long time but i never though i was superior to anyone else unlike some of those a'holes!

[MACHINE5150]

who, unsurprisingly gave the most shit at the venue i worked at. you'll prob know it, Dicey's on harcourt st. man, i worked as an accountant for a long time but i never though i was superior to anyone else unlike some of those a'holes!

Dicey's draws in the young professional wanna be douches from time to time.. nice place though, been there a few times.. Crystal is the one full of cvnts.. plus most large companies contract thier HR out to firms full of ditsy bimbo's who gock at the idea of a level headed bouncer.. best to leave it out and replace it with PT as a side job.

[dec11]

Dicey's draws in the young professional wanna be douches from time to time.. nice place though, been there a few times.. Crystal is the one full of cvnts.. plus most large companies contract thier HR out to firms full of ditsy bimbo's who gock at the idea of a level headed bouncer.. best to leave it out and replace it with PT as a side job.

yeah, alot of politics and back slapping at play in that place, fookin did my nut in. if you cant be arsed with the office w@nkers, avoid it on a thurs nite, its full of tossers from the 2 major local accountancy firms. when they gave me the old 'im beta than you routine' i delighted in telling them i did their shitty job for 13yrs and knew exactly what kind of money they made and tht i made more money barring them from this club lol.

i spose i could always put down i was finishing my degree for tht year

[Times Roman]

I was a division controller for a large food manufacturing company a few years ago.... they realigned the divisions, and since I was the newb, my division got chopped.... they paid $5k for an employment counsiller for me... they revamped my resume, and now I have an award winning template..... if anyone is interested, just PM me?

[Times Roman]

You can really get away with just doing a google search of "sample resumes" in the image section and see the layout and necessary info.. Just make sure that you keep it short and simple. Also, employers hate job hoppers.. so listing a bunch of different jobs you worked at for only one year and left will get you DQ'ed right away. I always included my club sports being played to prove i can work as a team.

googling resume templates isn't the best idea.... there are so many, it's confusing, and hard to tell from a lay perspective which works and which doesn't

[Times Roman]

The resumé should be specific to the job you are applying for. I will write a new cover letter for each time I apply anywhere. A unique yet bold and easily legible font and quality weight off-white paper will assure they at least glimpse at it before throwing in the round file. Mine is three pages.

Header (Name, address, phone number, and email) & Cover letter (Intro and a few well-tailored paragraphs-- remember, they'll probably be reading a lot of these, so make it short and sweet) *At the end "thank you", and always sign the cover letter at the bottom above your printed name.

Education (Completed education only, if you're multilingual mention it here) & Job History (Place, address & phone #, position held, dates- might include supervisor names as well)

Professional & Personal References
(3 Professional, their current position and place of employment and phone number. Bonus if they are in the field you are trying to get hired in! 3 Personal, their town and state of residence and phone number)

If you did the cover letter right, you'll get the chance to speak to them. It's as simple as that. Be careful of abusing industry jargon, especially if this is going to be read by a clueless Human Resources secretary first. They usually won't bother actually checking anything until they are considering hiring you. It just needs to look good. My cover letter will convey that I am experienced, comfortable in the job environment, and confident of success. Your cover letter should emphasize experience and passion. Read it aloud. It should sound like you are speaking to them in your own (well chosen) words, not constructed.

the cover is EXTREMELY important! what I do is look at the job requirements and respond to them point by point in my cover.... I tailor my cover and customize it every time.... the resume I jiggle it a little bit, but not nearly as much as the cover.... there is a book called 60 seconds and you are hired.... when you interview, you have to have memorized a 60 second "sales presentation"... answer the interview questions cold, once you have answered, then you stop talking.... be very concise, answer the call of the question.... after reading the book, and adhereing to it's principals... landed the first job i interviewed for... not bad for a $100k+ job?

[Ernst]

You can say you completed the BA. Walking doesn't mean shit. That's not how universities decide if you "graduated" I never walked for any of my degrees (except one). Anyway, if you've fulfilled the requirements, you can say you have the BA.

You can PM me the resume if you want.

The first college I taught at I was on the hiring committee. Fvck, you should've seen the amount of shitty resumes we got! And I'd imagine it's like that in a lot of fields now. When you get so many resumes, you have to just skim them and make decisions based off the "look" of the resume, or else we'd be there all day with them.

Where I went to school walking didn't mean shit, but unless you petitioned to graduate then you didn't have a degree; just lots of credits...

Yeah, you should see the crappy resumés we get! There's a pile of them in the office at any given time. One that came in on the top of the pile the other day was poorly written in Helvetica on one piece of cheap white computer paper and loaded with obvious spelling mistakes. I've seen ones written by hand in pen where these idiots have scratched stuff out to make corrections. How you could walk in and hand something like that to a guy/woman in an office with a suit on is completely beyond me.

[Bojangles69]

Handwritten resumes? I can't for the life of me get that past my head.
I did notice if you use google and look at a wealth of resumes at once, some stick out like someone in here said just based on its "look". Not arty or crazy
borders and what not but you can just tell the person put an enormous amount of time into it. And they organize the info in a way that just makes it stand
out more.
I've got most of the details in and now I'm just playing around with the organization. I'm also rewording things just so they sound more powerful. Not by
using "professional" words but things that read in an almost poetic fashion. You really can show what type of person you are I think just by how much time
you put into your resume, and I can't get over how shitty my other one is so this has now turned into a bit of an OCD case.

And roman I'm pm'n you right now for that template. I likely won't even use it but seeing as though your company splurged like that I'm definitely thinking
it would be smart to integrate some ideas from it. I've also been looking for more perspective on this so I'm gonna go over to borders tommorow and check
out that book. Great info in here guys thanks a lot!

[Times Roman]

resumes I get here from the locals are funny.....
they totally overstate their qualifications...

there is a language proficiency area where they rank their skills as minimal to fluent
this one bloke walks in, says he is totally fluent in English... too bad i couldn't understand him or he I....

[SlimmerMe]

Good paper quality so when someone holds your resume in their hand it feels top drawer.
Plus not too white and not too creamy. Just right.