Resume styling ... bullet points vs mini summary?

[LuckyTaxi]

With the New Year around the corner I'm looking to spruce up with resume a bit. It's been over 5yrs since I've changed the style. I feel like bullet points don't convey what I have to offer. I don't want to write long paragraphs, but I've seen sample resumes where it gets straight to the point. Obviously you're not going to be able to list everything you know but focusing on the major points is what I'm after.

Thoughts?

If it helps, I work in IT.

 

[Ruptga]

Low level or experienced? If you're low level nobody gives a fuck, use bullet points. Otherwise they might care, but still be succinct.

 

[core2slow]

I work in IT as well and i use bullet point sentences. I fail to see how using bulletpoint sentences don't convey what you have to offer as oppose to a 3-4 sentence summary...when you're working in a TECHNICAL field. Sure, a summary might be sufficient if you're applying for a manager or data entry/helpdesk/phone tech position, but if you're thinking of engineer/architect/senior level IT position, i'd advise going with the bulletpoint route. I've done my fair share of combing through candidates and i skip those resumes with colorful sentences about what they did in their current/past jobs, that neither tells me what your skillsets are or what you've accomplished. More often that not, when i give them a shot for an interview and start questioning them on what they've done/havent done, things start to fall flat.

Make known of what your skillsets are and what you're capable of doing, don't just gloss over details (even when you think it's obvious).

 

[Cappuccino]

I wouldn't mind checking your resume. Send me pm if you want.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Bulletpoints are fine I find... especially when doing something like listing skills. How do you write all the coding languages, programs, etc... without bullet points? What are you going to do, make a bullshit sentence for every software package you know?

John Doe has exceptional advanced skills in the art of the Microsoft Office genre of products.

At the end of the day, all of that statement is bullshit. You're way better off just writing Microsoft Office as a bullet point then all the other babble. Why? Because anyone outside of HR doesn't have time for the bullshit and they don't care about the bullshit. They want to know what skills you have that apply to the job, not how eloquently you can present it on a piece of paper.

Personally I list all my past positions with some summary based bullet points of what my position was, what I did, etc... Then at the bottom I have a skills section that simply lists out all my skills in bullet points. No sentence. No summary. Just a listing of my skills.

 

[John Connor]

ONLY! use bullet points to bring attention to specific areas of interest. Don't over use them. I mean think about it. You're an employer and see a resume come across your desk with a shit ton of bullet points. I would just toss it.

My resume has been praised by many of my employers. Yeah, these ain't fortune 500 employers, but it goes to show you I know what I'm saying and have built great resumes all by my self. Of course I went to Job Corp which helped me on that endeavor.

 

[dullard]

I've interviewed people for a half dozen job openings that we've had at the company that I work with. Not once have I nor anyone else on the hiring committees commented on bullet points vs no bullet points. It doesn't matter.

What does matter is that your resume is clear, legible, technically correct, sufficiently succinct while at the same time being impressive, (and for one member on the hiring committee, it must not have spelling mistakes).

If in 3 minutes I cannot tell what you would bring to my company, then you probably aren't going to get hired. Bullet points make that easy, but they aren't the only way to do so.

 

[John Connor]

• I'm good at this.
• I'm good at that.
• I like this.
• Worked at Hooters for three months.
• Have some blow job experience.
• Was a varsity Cheerleader.
• Gets along well with others.
• Can suck start a weed eater.
• Is this annoying yet?
• How am I doing?
• Did I say I worked at Hooters?
• No, I don't have any criminal violations.
  
• I smoke weed in my spare time.

 

[dullard]

• I'm good at this.
• I'm good at that.
• I like this.
• Worked at Hooters for three months.
• Have some blow job experience.
• Was a varsity Cheerleader.
• Gets along well with others.
• Can suck start a weed eater.
• Is this annoying yet?
• How am I doing?
• Did I say I worked at Hooters?
• No, I don't have any criminal violations.
  
• I smoke weed in my spare time.

I'm good at this. I'm good at that. I like this. Worked at Hooters for three months. Have some blow job experience. Was a varsity Cheerleader. Gets along well with others. Can suck start a weed eater. Is this annoying yet? How am I doing? Did I say I worked at Hooters? No, I don't have any criminal violations. I smoke weed in my spare time.

Neither format works, because the content sucks.

 

[Zeze]

Why not both? My resume looks aesthetically sexy as hell:

Zeze, 123 Hello St. Your mom, CA

A very small paragraph of my work 'summary'. This is a quick pitch of my experience in few sentences. This is where I list my highlights of exp, certs I may have, and your mom. It's about 3-4 rows: I think just enough to convey message without losing the reader. This is a filler, hello, this is a filler. Why did the chicken cross the road, because fack you that's why.

A header of my job title, company name, address + duration

• Crap I did, I did this, merged that, collaborated that, hello'd this. I make each bullet at least 2 rows to make them seem quite 'significant' than a simple 1 liner.
• Crap I did 2, filler, lame, conference line, meetings. AdWords display ads appear on over two million websites and in over 650,000 apps, so your ad can show up wherever your audience is.
• Crap I did 3, •Best Buy.com has Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 Speaker System w/ Subwoofer (KLIPSCH PRO) on sale for $99.99. Shipping is free, alternatively store pickup is free if stock permits.

A header of my job title 2, company name, address + duration

• Crap I did
• Crap I did 2
• Crap I did 3

A header of my additional accomplishments non-specific to any positions I held

• Mgmt class training I received
• Certs I hold and how they were applied
• Another filler about how great I am

A header of my edumacation

• Degree, college, showing off my meaningless double major.

 

[John Connor]

I'm good at this. I'm good at that. I like this. Worked at Hooters for three months. Have some blow job experience. Was a varsity Cheerleader. Gets along well with others. Can suck start a weed eater. Is this annoying yet? How am I doing? Did I say I worked at Hooters? No, I don't have any criminal violations. I smoke weed in my spare time.

Neither format works, because the content sucks.

The point I'm trying to make is that you shouldn't over use them. Just use them to note certain qualifications that you want to stand out.

 

[John Connor]

But I digress. My resume is a business card.

 

[sourceninja]

...

 

[gorcorps]

With the New Year around the corner I'm looking to spruce up with resume a bit. It's been over 5yrs since I've changed the style. I feel like bullet points don't convey what I have to offer. I don't want to write long paragraphs, but I've seen sample resumes where it gets straight to the point. Obviously you're not going to be able to list everything you know but focusing on the major points is what I'm after.

Thoughts?

If it helps, I work in IT.

You'd have to provide some sort of examples. It sounds like you basically just want to eliminate the actual bullet points, which is a formatting change and usually fine (as long as the spacing still allows me to read it without issue). If you're changing the content though and writing more than the reader thinks is necessary, that can work against you. Again, post some examples of changes you were thinking of making.

 

[Rifter]

I generally use actual bullet holes i shoot in the paper with my 1911