Please BASH my NEW resume

[necine]

Resume - PDF

NEW RESUME

Well it seriously looks like I need a new job.

Please rip it to shreds and tell me what I need to do to fix it.

Thanks!

 

[veggz]

1. Did you intentionally omit your GPA because it was low? You will probably get asked about it if you are looking for a job right out of college.
2. Coursework: list specific relevant courses as opposed to the fields of every course you have ever taken
3. Bullets seem a bit wordy, and you should probably limit the number of bullets to three or four max per job
4. Way too much white space- try including activities you participated in on campus, leadership roles, etc.
5. Consider replacing "knowledge of" with "proficient in"
6. Take out "myriad other programs," employers do not like seeing etc. etc.

Just a few off the top of my head.

 

[AreaCode707]

My credentials: HR professional with several years in Recruiting

- Layout is too busy - keep it nice and simple, get rid of all the lines.
- Put employment above education.
- The "courses included" portion is unusual and fairly unnecessary. Keep it if you want, but it doesn't add very much.
- Under employment, include the months in your dates worked, not just the years
- Don't end bullets with periods
- Include a few more specifics - how many users did you support, how many calls did you make in a day, how did you assist in maintenance of the servers, how successful were you in sales, how many staff did you train and in what specifically and in what ways (training meetings, did you produce training documentation, etc.)
- Under skills, don't say "myriad of other programs" - too abstract. Include the relevant programs and don't let it trail off.
- Change awards to Academic Awards possibly?

Otherwise, decent resume. Don't keep it in PDF when you send it. For one, you'll often be asked to cut and paste a resume to submit it. Secondly, recruiters will often cut and paste it to send to hiring managers, etc. PDF is too stiff for (frequently tech illiterate) recruiters to use easily.

 

[Zugzwang152]

I agree with HotChic. I like horizontal rules, but maybe just a single underline instead of top and bottom of every heading.

Courses included doesn't add much, because they don't reinforce your technical work experience.

I'd even suggest taking out Rutgers altogether. You're not pursuing a degree there anymore, and didn't receive anything tangible... Your work experience covers that time period, as well, so there's no gaps. Why bother putting it unless you received something tangible, such as academic awards, or top-of-class honors, etc?

I like making a single sentence summarizing the job duties and then 2-3 bullets on your most significant achievements or contributions. 7 bullets for just job duties seems excessive and a waste of space.


HotChic, please analyze my recommendations. Some of the stuff I mentioned above applied to early revisions of my own resume, which were shot down in the beginning by a career advisor who helped me out.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
I agree with HotChic. I like horizontal rules, but maybe just a single underline instead of top and bottom of every heading.

Courses included doesn't add much, because they don't reinforce your technical work experience.

I'd even suggest taking out Rutgers altogether. You're not pursuing a degree there anymore, and didn't receive anything tangible... Your work experience covers that time period, as well, so there's no gaps. Why bother putting it unless you received something tangible, such as academic awards, or top-of-class honors, etc?

I like making a single sentence summarizing the job duties and then 2-3 bullets on your most significant achievements or contributions. 7 bullets for just job duties seems excessive and a waste of space.


HotChic, please analyze my recommendations. Some of the stuff I mentioned above applied to early revisions of my own resume, which were shot down in the beginning by a career advisor who helped me out.

I think your suggestions about Rutgers and the bullets are a matter of taste. I'm in favor of however many bullets it takes to appropriately expand on your role.

 

[Zugzwang152]

Originally posted by: HotChic
I think your suggestions about Rutgers and the bullets are a matter of taste. I'm in favor of however many bullets it takes to appropriately expand on your role.

I thought it was usual procedure after a certain amount of bullets to condense the information or make a paragraph or something.

 

[shortylickens]

I went to a seminar on resume writing and dont have the time or energy to teach you everything I learned.

I will say: Go online and look up "functional resume". It may be better for your situation.
Chronological resumes are considered a big fat waste of space by some companies.
Another tip: Most employers only spend 20 seconds on a resume, even less if they cant find the important stuff easily, (up high).

Give me your email and I'll show you my resume.
(I just got hired with a big company. )

EDIT: Also, HotChic had some excellent tips.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152

Originally posted by: HotChic
I think your suggestions about Rutgers and the bullets are a matter of taste. I'm in favor of however many bullets it takes to appropriately expand on your role.

I thought it was usual procedure after a certain amount of bullets to condense the information or make a paragraph or something.

Bottom line, the recruiter cares about getting the relevant information quickly. Whatever you do to communicate that (and that includes sticking with a typical resume layout so they know where to look for the data they want) is best. The college career counselor type advice (such as, you MUST have a one page resume) really doesn't mean much in the corporate recruiting world.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I went to a seminar on resume writing and dont have the time or energy to teach you everything I learned.

I will say: Go online and look up "functional resume". It may be better for your situation.
Chronological resumes are considered a big fat waste of space by some companies.
Another tip: Most employers only spend 20 seconds on a resume, even less if they cant find the important stuff easily, (up high).

Give me your email and I'll show you my resume.
(I just got hired with a big company. )

Gah, I can't stand functional resumes. All that tells me is that you don't have enough experience for anything but entry level and you're trying to bullshit your way in.

[edit] Top article on Google about functional resumes says, "It's true that functional formats have been the subject of some employer backlash is recent years. Some employers are unaccustomed to the functional format, and they may become confused or even irritated by functional resumes. Recruiters/headhunters particularly disdain functional formats, so this approach should never be used if you are primarily targeting recruiters with your job search. Employers in conservative fields, such as banking, finance, and law are not big fans of functional formats, nor are international employers. Functional formats also are not acceptable on many online job boards."

 

[Zugzwang152]

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152

Originally posted by: HotChic
I think your suggestions about Rutgers and the bullets are a matter of taste. I'm in favor of however many bullets it takes to appropriately expand on your role.

I thought it was usual procedure after a certain amount of bullets to condense the information or make a paragraph or something.

The college career counselor type advice (such as, you MUST have a one page resume) really doesn't mean much in the corporate recruiting world.

I was never given bogus advice like that, I guess I was lucky.

 

[Lyfer]

Your resume sucks.

 

[HamSupLo]

why aren't you at Rutgers anymore?

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I went to a seminar on resume writing and dont have the time or energy to teach you everything I learned.

I will say: Go online and look up "functional resume". It may be better for your situation.
Chronological resumes are considered a big fat waste of space by some companies.
Another tip: Most employers only spend 20 seconds on a resume, even less if they cant find the important stuff easily, (up high).

Give me your email and I'll show you my resume.
(I just got hired with a big company. )

Gah, I can't stand functional resumes. All that tells me is that you don't have enough experience for anything but entry level and you're trying to bullshit your way in.

[edit] Top article on Google about functional resumes says, "It's true that functional formats have been the subject of some employer backlash is recent years. Some employers are unaccustomed to the functional format, and they may become confused or even irritated by functional resumes. Recruiters/headhunters particularly disdain functional formats, so this approach should never be used if you are primarily targeting recruiters with your job search. Employers in conservative fields, such as banking, finance, and law are not big fans of functional formats, nor are international employers. Functional formats also are not acceptable on many online job boards."

If you honestly believe your own bullshit then fine. You have already passed over some excellent cantidates, I promise.
As for the top google article: I can find just as many and more that say the exact opposite. Not sure I trust the internet anymore for good facts. Seems to just be a tighter collection of opinions than before.
And I have dealt with many headhunters/recruiters. They all said functional was a lot better, ESPECIALLY if you have real experience.
For someone who claims to be so knowledgeable you seem to be ignorant of one very important fact: Resumes do NOT get you a job. They get you an interview. The interview is what gets you the job. If you've been hiring people based on a piece of paper I dont think I would want the jobs you have to offer.

If the employer actually wants to know what day you did exactly what, they will call you in and ask you. That one sheet of paper isnt supposed to detail your entire life the moment you left high school.

I've just read your post for the third time and it amazes me someone like you can be so wrong and out of touch.
Good lord, have you been in the forest so long you cant see the trees?

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: shortylickens

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I went to a seminar on resume writing and dont have the time or energy to teach you everything I learned.

I will say: Go online and look up "functional resume". It may be better for your situation.
Chronological resumes are considered a big fat waste of space by some companies.
Another tip: Most employers only spend 20 seconds on a resume, even less if they cant find the important stuff easily, (up high).

Give me your email and I'll show you my resume.
(I just got hired with a big company. )

Gah, I can't stand functional resumes. All that tells me is that you don't have enough experience for anything but entry level and you're trying to bullshit your way in.

[edit] Top article on Google about functional resumes says, "It's true that functional formats have been the subject of some employer backlash is recent years. Some employers are unaccustomed to the functional format, and they may become confused or even irritated by functional resumes. Recruiters/headhunters particularly disdain functional formats, so this approach should never be used if you are primarily targeting recruiters with your job search. Employers in conservative fields, such as banking, finance, and law are not big fans of functional formats, nor are international employers. Functional formats also are not acceptable on many online job boards."

If you honestly believe your own bullshit then fine. You have already passed over some excellent cantidates, I promise.
As for the top google article: I can find just as many and more that say the exact opposite. Not sure I trust the internet anymore for good facts. Seems to just be a tighter collection of opinions than before.
And I have dealt with many headhunters/recruiters. They all said functional was a lot better, ESPECIALLY if you have real experience.
For someone who claims to be so knowledgeable you seem to be ignorant of one very important fact: Resumes do NOT get you a job. They get you an interview. The interview is what gets you the job. If you've been hiring people based on a piece of paper I dont think I would want the jobs you have to offer.

If the employer actually wants to know what day you did exactly what, they will call you in and ask you. That one sheet of paper isnt supposed to detail your entire life the moment you left high school.

I've just read your post for the third time and it amazes me someone like you can be so wrong and out of touch.
Good lord, have you been in the forest so long you cant see the trees?

The thing about functional resumes is that most people (unfortunately) don't hire on skill, they hire on experience. If I was the hiring manager, I would do it differently, but the fact is that most people want to see that you've done the job and done it successfully. In particular that's true in this job market.

You also don't need to be so aggrevated by something that was an impersonal remark. No reason to take it personally. As far as being out of touch, I'm one of the highest regarded people in my department in a large company, have won company awards, etc. Commentary on an internet board as to my personal observations of recruiter preferences doesn't much affect my bonus or review.

 

[Zugzwang152]

from the first google link:

* Those with very diverse experiences that don't add up to a clear-cut career path.
* College students with minimal experience and/or experience unrelated to their chosen career field.
* Career-changers who wish to enter a field very different from what all their previous experience points to.
* Those with gaps in their work history, such as homemakers who took time to raise and family and now wish to return to the workplace. For them, a chronological format can draw undue attention to those gaps, while a functional resume enables them to portray transferable skills attained through such activities as domestic management and volunteer work.
* Military transitioners entering a different field from the work they did in the military.
* Job-seekers whose predominate or most relevant experience has been unpaid, such as volunteer work or college activities (coursework, class projects, extracurricular organizations, and sports).
* Those who performed very similar activities throughout their past jobs who want to avoid repeating those activities in a chronological job listing.
* Job-seekers looking for a position for which a chronological listing would make them look "overqualified."
* Older workers seeking to deemphasize a lengthy job history.

ed: those that might consider functional resumes.

 

[necine]

Originally posted by: HamSupLo
why aren't you at Rutgers anymore?

My grandmom got sick and needed 24 hour care. I took a leave of absence so I could help out and stay with her at night. It ended up being just under a year. She past in Feb. and I just decided to stay at ACCC until I finish my associates (very soon). I'll be going to another 4 year university soon.

 

[yllus]

I just looked up a functional resume example, and - speaking as someone who's not and never has been a recruiter - it screams, "No job experience!" to me. That's also what most sites seem to indicate it's meant for:

JobStar Central:
Works Best For:
The functional resume might be thought of as a "problem solving" format. The functional resume gives you latitude to "make sense" of your work history and match up skills and accomplishments that might not be obvious to the employer in a traditional chronological format. If any of the descriptions below apply to you, you may want to investigate the functional format:

* You have a "mixed bag" work history: no clear thread uniting positions held.
* You are a new graduate or entering the workforce. You must show how the skills you have used in the past (in volunteer or coursework) apply to the job you are seeking.
* Your job titles, such as such as "Administrative Assistant" or "Marketing Coordinator," do not clearly reflect the level of skills you used.
* You are making a career change--either changing industry (from Hospitals to Pharmaceuticals) or changing occupation (from Manufacturing Technician to Sales Representative.)

Unless the HR guy is rather desperate for candidates, I'd bet you that submitting a functional resume means getting passed over.

necine: I don't know about layout, defer to HotChic and others on that side of things. I will say though that you're using your written space ineffectively.

Example: While it's a good point that you "assisted in maintenance of Unix and Windows based servers," that information is actually sort of useless because of its general nature. What distro of Unix? Debian, RedHat? Windows 2000 or 2003 Server? These specifics matter greatly, and also help your resume get picked up by keyword searches.

Personally, I'd remove the dates from your "Education" section and list Rutgers U first above Atlantic Cape. Rutgers is a better-known/'impressive' university, and your goal put your best foot forward to start things off.

Skills section has the same issues: What kind of knowledge of Windows NT/wk/XP do you have - use, administration, both? Be specific. Also remove the useless parts of that sentence (nobody cares about 95/98) and name each version of Windows fully - Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP.

Lastly, I'd expand on the Awards section - why did you win each of those scholarships? For academic excellence (high grades)? If so, include that as the reason. Every bit of proof and explanation that you did well in school is a pro.

 

[Skiddex]

haha, i used the same template for mine! here is a preview

 

[dullard]

[*]What job are you looking for? A job in math or a technical/support job? That answer would tell me what to put first on the resume. Since you don't have a math degree yet, I assume you are looking for another technical/support job. And thus, you should put your extensive working experience first over your lacking education.

[*]Can you be a bit less wordy? Visually, I don't like bullets on resumes to be more than one line.

[*]I am picky, but I don't visually like "2k" as the abbreviation for "2000" because all other Windows operating systems use capital letters. At least use "2K" instead if you must improperly abbreviate it.

[*]Are those scholarships actually awards? At this point it looks more like you were just given free cash and as an employee it doesn't make you look any better.

[*]Be consistant with periods. Most of your bullets have them, but your last two don't have periods.

[*]Do a google search for resume privacy. Remember that resumes are seen by people who shouldn't see them, are sold to other companies, and often somehow make their way onto the internet. Thus, if you put your name, address, phone number, and email address on it, you have now shared all that information with the world. Many people suggest creating a specific email just for resumes to avoid spam or a PO Box to avoid identity theft.

[*]The courses taken really doesn't seem to help unless you want a job specifically in one of the areas not otherwise mentioned on your resume. Remember, they'll have your transcript to see what courses you've taken.

 

[lokiju]

You should have a the very top a title explaining what you offer such as...

"Website designer with expertise in the follow"

-xyz1

-xyz2

-xyz3

Qualifications should go next!

Experience after

Education next


This is the same advice I was given from a hiring manager for a very large company, I took this advice to the "T" and have had amazing results compared to how it was prior to doing so.

 

[SagaLore]

Your education is incomplete, and won't help much in meeting job requirements. I would move that to the bottom.

Have any more skills that aren't necessarily hardware or software related? Mabye "Personal", "Managerial", or "Customer Service"?

Have any professional references?

Any examples of sites you worked on?

 

[necine]

Originally posted by: Skiddex
haha, i used the same template for mine! here is a preview

=) it's a good template!

 

[Jawo]

I used Excel to format my resume, then inported into Word, and adjusted to fit the most info on.
Use action verbs when describing everything.
I would put experience first since it is more relevant than your education at this point.
Flesh out your details and don't say "myraid of other software" LIST OUT!!

 

[necine]

updated in OP

 

[Savarak]

Originally posted by: Skiddex
haha, i used the same template for mine! here is a preview

way to go with the obvious editing resume.pdf, hehe