Do you think a resume can make or break you?

[Nocturnal]

What's your opinion?

 

[jagec]

well DUH...if they don't have any other criteria, the resume's what they use...

 

Um, yes? Of course it can.

 

[Babbles]

Yeah!

Why in the hell wouldn't it? Geez, so often your resume is the only thing recruiters or employers will ever see.

 

[Taigan]

Absolutely. Companies scan resumes pretty quickly (a lot of them even have software for this, further limiting the amount of attention paid to your resume), and make descisions based on initial impressions. Your resume needs to be as impressive and to the point as you can make it. You can't rely on a crappy resume getting you in the door, so that you can impress them during your interview. If your resume sucks, you won't even get an interview.

 

[nageov3t]

little bit of #1 and a lot of #3

 

[Nocturnal]

What is the best way to make an impressive resume? Should I go back and re-take more English courses at my community college to help me with the grammar aspect and sentence structure portion of resume building?

 

[Zenmervolt]

What did you think a resume was for?

Honestly though, these days the resume gets you a phone screening. The phone screening gets you the interview. The first interview gets you a second interview. The second interview either gets you the job, or gets you a final interview depending on the company and position.

And this has just been my experience out of college. There are probably numerous variations on this when one starts handing out his resume directly to higher-ups.

ZV

 

[Taigan]

If you're really concerned, there are entire companies built around arranging resumes. I've never used one (cause I'm going to be a student FOREVER), but I hear they work really well.

And regardless of what they charge, it's probably still cheaper than taking more English courses.

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

Duh. Comapnies always get crappy resumes and can sort out who they actually spend the time interviewing.

 

[FoBoT]

Of course it can

 

[AmigaMan]

get a couple books. Also should really consider cover letters to go with your resume. I'm going through this process now and have a pretty decent resume but I'm still trying to work out my cover letter. I do have an interview next week so I'm doing something right...

 

[SpunkyJones]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
What is the best way to make an impressive resume? Should I go back and re-take more English courses at my community college to help me with the grammar aspect and sentence structure portion of resume building?

Have it done profesionally. Issue resolved.

 

[Triumph]

Can they make or break you? What the heck do you think a resume is for?

There's no reason NOT to have a nearly perfect resume. I say nearly perfect because everyone's ideas are different. But one thing NO resume should have is spelling or grammatical errors. If you can't be bothered to spend the time to proofread your resume, why should I waste my time reading it?

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

of course.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
What's your opinion?

ABSOLUTELY. If they haven't seen or met you before, all they have is a piece of paper... and if it's a large company, your resume could be one of hundreds, if not thousands. Just don't anything stupid like neon colored paper (they'll skip those). Personally, i found that going to your local newsgroup job channel to be a great place to find people (usually freelancers) who make professional resumes for you... $50 to land a job interview is more than worth it imo, and you can reuse the resume of course.

 

[mexkn]

1 and 3, but much more 3 than 1

 

[Jassi]

Where can I find companies that make resumes?

 

[AreaCode707]

I'm in recruiting, and of course it can. The resume is all the recruiter/hiring manager has to make a decision about talking to you.

Resume guidelines:
1. Spelled properly and formatted consistently.
2. Simple layout, chronological experience section.
3. Bullets for main experience points.
4. Short concise objective/goal/summary section at the top.

The recruiter/HM is looking to see if you match up with the job description as they understand it. The more points match exactly, the more likely they'll give you a call.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: Jassi
Where can I find companies that make resumes?

Type in "resume" on google and check out the ads on the side.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Jassi
Where can I find companies that make resumes?

I found that local job newsgroups to be great places. I had an old lady did mine, and it was FANTASTIC... books will help you get the layout and HOW to write it, but to make it sound eloquently is a gift. I'm sure a google search will find some for you, but the lady that helped me spoke to me for a good 15 mins getting as much detail as she could (and i emailed her the resume i made) about me and jobs i've had in the past and what i'm looking for etc.

Before with my own resume... in 6 months, how many interviews did i get? 1. In 2 weeks after using the one she made me... 4, and got hired by 2 of them (i jumped on the first one that hired me, but after a week when i got hired by the 2nd company, i jumped ship and went with the 2nd). And i spent HOURS on the internet reading resume guides... but like i said, to write eloquently is a gift (or lots of years of experience).

 

[Looney]

Oh, and in addition, i applied to the one company twice, and never got a response from them. But the resume she made for me, i got, and accepted the job (the 2nd job.. the one i'm still at).

 

[DJFuji]

A resume CAN get your foot in the door but remember that the majority of people still get jobs through people they know -- not thru classified ads.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: DJFuji
A resume CAN get your foot in the door but remember that the majority of people still get jobs through people they know -- not thru classified ads.

Um, sort of. We hired into the 5 digits last year, and while about 40% of our external hires were employee referrals, that only means that they knew someone at the company who asked them to put their resume in our database. Unless the person you know is high up or does the job or a related job to the one you want to get, the networking thing doesn't apply so much.

 

[DJFuji]

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: DJFuji
A resume CAN get your foot in the door but remember that the majority of people still get jobs through people they know -- not thru classified ads.

Um, sort of. We hired into the 5 digits last year, and while about 40% of our external hires were employee referrals, that only means that they knew someone at the company who asked them to put their resume in our database. Unless the person you know is high up or does the job or a related job to the one you want to get, the networking thing doesn't apply so much.

Your company, while large, is not necessarily indicative of the entire job market. Networking is extremely powerful in the majority of job finding cases because people often know people who know other people who can get them in the door. Consider what experts have to say about it:

"...nearly half of all jobhunters, obtain their jobs through referrals -- that is word of mouth. How do they get referrals and find out about jobs through word of mouth? By networking. "
-quintcareers.com

"Because approximately 75 percent of the jobs are found via the informal job market through networking, that's where you should spend 75 percent of your time."
-Find Law Career Center @ Infirmation.com

"What's the most popular way to find jobs - or employees? According to 2001 survey conducted jointly by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Careerjournal.com, the answer is networking...According to the poll, 95 percent of each group use personal contacts and networking to find job candidates or a job."
-CareerKnowhow.com