Resume building

[Fayd]

I've recently come to the conclusion that i can't write an objective statement.

I've been thinking of replacing the objective with a summary statement, which would increase the suitability of the resume across fields, and would make it read better.(imo).

however, my father told me to just leave both off. (he has done hiring, but not at entry level. so i'm not sure how relevant his experience is. for instance, his resume is something like 4 pages long. 0.o)

i'd think the resume would look almost naked at that point. it'd just have education, experience, and skillset not defined above.

or is that what i use the cover letter for? to point out where in the resume is applicable for any specific job?

anyone have any comments? tell me to shut up? career counselors are ---->?(something like that) etc.

 

[Farang]

I'm unemployed so don't listen to me, but..

I don't use an objective statement. Anything related to that I would say in my cover letter so it is useless. The point is to get them to read the good stuff first and not waste their time reading shit you already said in the cover letter.

 

[DaveSimmons]

What field?

I've only read resumes for hiring software developers, but the objective statement wasn't needed for us, the cover letter was enough.

i'd think the resume would look almost naked at that point. it'd just have education, experience, and skillset not defined above.

How much experience do you have? If this is your first job after college it might be OK to list a project or class that relates directly to the work of the company you're applying to.

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
What field?

I've only read resumes for hiring software developers, but the objective statement wasn't needed for us, the cover letter was enough.

i'd think the resume would look almost naked at that point. it'd just have education, experience, and skillset not defined above.

How much experience do you have? If this is your first job after college it might be OK to list a project or class that relates directly to the work of the company you're applying to.

i'm looking in any type of financial/legal field that will hire me.

(BA in Econ)

it is my first job after college, and my experience thus far consists of an internship at an office, and temping for a former boss of my mother.

 

[duragezic]

Yeah I think projects from school can be worth mentioning. For example one I listed was senior design. For a college graduate job, employers want to hear how you handled various situations. Say you were gonna go with approach A for your project, some showstopper came up, how did you deal with it, how did it turn out, etc. My resume was an objective, college, project experience, work experience, skills (software, languages, and such). You're right, it might seem a bit naked without, because I think the couple of projects in the section I listed added enough to where it was a fairly full but not cluttered one page resume, and showed various aspects of me.

 

[Tiamat]

I'm in the engineering field, so I dunno if my advice would apply...

I don't use a resume summary or objective statement. I insert this briefly in the cover letter. I have been told many times that the resume should be able to be read in 8 seconds. That means, that you want the reader to know the important points about you immediately and on first glance of the resume.

I typically bold specific terms that are important to the company I am applying to while at the same time, being specific about the tasks that you did, why you performed those tasks.

Here is a slice from my resume as an example...


? Developed method for growth of vertical multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process for use in FEDs
? Developed patterns for electron-beam lithography using Nanopattern generation system (NPGS) software
? Performed ultra-thin deposition of various metals including Nickel and Chromium via thermal evaporation and DC Microwave sputtering using Denton Vacuum DV-502A
? Analyzed samples using Veeco Dimension 3000 atomic force microscope (AFM), Hitachi S-4700 field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and Zeiss Supra 25 FE-SEM


In the job description, it asked for nanofab experience, cvd, thin-film, microscopy. When they called me for phone interview, they specifically mentioned that they needed someone with experience with all the equipment that I had bolded within my resume. Only problem was they ran out of funding and couldn't hire me. They had to instead, layoff 5% of their workforce.

 

[jinduy]

when i had no experience, i used an objective as filler. i don't ever recall employers asking anything about my objective... so it seems kind of useless to me unless you need to fill some white space.

 

[rcxEric]

ymmv, but i'z found that the peeps who read that always skip to da fish brains of resume first, and if that looks good, then they'll read the rest, like reading the back of a book before u decide u gonna spend time reading it, just like u did in math class. also, 4 pages may work for someone who work as long like ur dad, but if u do it it'll piss them off. if ur fresh out of school and got good grades, it helps including it. experience is important, and the golden rule is if ya shootin blanks my friend, add some water if u no wat i mean. it may be unethical to make believe a bit, but if u know u can do the position well then no hurt feelings, u win, employer win. just make sure u got the right answers when they ask about it.

getting job in business might take a while, what iz did was work at mcd's, mabe get manager, while u send out resumes. constant supply of cash, tho not a lot, free food, and u can quit when ya hook a job. good luck

 

[AreaCode7O7]

Include a 2-3 sentence objective. List the top two qualities you bring to the company (tech support and project management, team-building and marketing), the type of environment you'd work best in (challenging or laid back, etc), and a summary of the type of job you'd fit best in.

You basically want to give a tiny impression of your character and give the recruiter the idea that you'd fit right into the job you're applying for.

The cover letter does the same thing but in a more expanded fashion. Cover letters don't always follow resumes everywhere they go, and half the time I was in recruiting they didn't even get read.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: rcxEric
ymmv, but i'z found that the peeps who read that always skip to da fish brains of resume first, and if that looks good, then they'll read the rest, like reading the back of a book before u decide u gonna spend time reading it, just like u did in math class. also, 4 pages may work for someone who work as long like ur dad, but if u do it it'll piss them off. if ur fresh out of school and got good grades, it helps including it. experience is important, and the golden rule is if ya shootin blanks my friend, add some water if u no wat i mean. it may be unethical to make believe a bit, but if u know u can do the position well then no hurt feelings, u win, employer win. just make sure u got the right answers when they ask about it.

getting job in business might take a while, what iz did was work at mcd's, mabe get manager, while u send out resumes. constant supply of cash, tho not a lot, free food, and u can quit when ya hook a job. good luck

4 sho.. brotha not enuf of us heer cuz foreeldo, hit me up aight

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: rcxEric
ymmv, but i'z found that the peeps who read that always skip to da fish brains of resume first, and if that looks good, then they'll read the rest, like reading the back of a book before u decide u gonna spend time reading it, just like u did in math class. also, 4 pages may work for someone who work as long like ur dad, but if u do it it'll piss them off. if ur fresh out of school and got good grades, it helps including it. experience is important, and the golden rule is if ya shootin blanks my friend, add some water if u no wat i mean. it may be unethical to make believe a bit, but if u know u can do the position well then no hurt feelings, u win, employer win. just make sure u got the right answers when they ask about it.

getting job in business might take a while, what iz did was work at mcd's, mabe get manager, while u send out resumes. constant supply of cash, tho not a lot, free food, and u can quit when ya hook a job. good luck

....

 

[pontifex]

i think putting in an objective is stupid. i mean, you're sending out your resume so you must be looking for a job. isn't that enough of an objective. i don't put one in my resume.

 

[imported_Imp]

I dumped the objective statement a while ago. The ones I used were pointless anyways (e.g. looking for entry-level position, looking to be hired as summer student, bla bla). The fact that I'm appliyng for that position should be enough objective. Unless of course, they want to know my career aspirations, then they should interview me.

That bolding idea sounds great. I'll try it the next time I send something out that needs specific things.

 

[AreaCode7O7]

Originally posted by: Imp
I dumped the objective statement a while ago. The ones I used were pointless anyways (e.g. looking for entry-level position, looking to be hired as summer student, bla bla). The fact that I'm appliyng for that position should be enough objective. Unless of course, they want to know my career aspirations, then they should interview me.

That bolding idea sounds great. I'll try it the next time I send something out that needs specific things.

Bolding is redundant for the most part. Recruiter-side searching on Monster and in proprietary applicant tracking system highlights the returned search term, like Google cache results. If they're interested in your term, it's already highlighted. If they're not, no point bolding it.

It doesn't hurt anything but it doesn't add my either in my experience.

 

[AreaCode7O7]

Originally posted by: pontifex
i think putting in an objective is stupid. i mean, you're sending out your resume so you must be looking for a job. isn't that enough of an objective. i don't put one in my resume.

With the spray and pray method, not really. One job can garner hundreds of resumes. If you applied for sr. manager, marketing and your objective says sales, or if you lack an objective but have a bunch of tech skill, you'll be passed over. Objective is where your skills meet the job. Like I said, cover letters often get trashed, so this should be your mini summary of the cover letter.

 

[CRXican]

objective statements are "old school"

as you mentioned, the cover letter is what's important

 

[Fayd]

in a job fair, where cover letters are impossible, would a summary statement do me better than nothing?

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Fayd
in a job fair, where cover letters are impossible, would a summary statement do me better than nothing?

I say not really. I just go and converse with the HR representative and say to them what my objectives are. That is typically much more powerful than some words on a resume that they don't have a lot of time to read later (since they have probably 500+ more to read through).