What else to add in my resume

[invidia]

Is one page good enough? I don't have work experience and no honors, so I'm at less than half a page of stuff. So far I have:

Name, current address, education/graduation date, computer skills.


I avoided fancy fonts but I'm stuck at a half of page of stuff and there's a half of page of emptiness. I can't stop laughing at how pitiful my resume is compared to the sample ones I see from recent college grads.


If you want a copy of my resume, PM me.

 

[Injury]

Unless you've been in the working world for quite some time, one page is the maximum you should have. And employer looking at entry-level resumes usually ignores extra pages.


Do you have any work experience?

 

[Drakkon]

what are you looking to do? computer hardware? programming? something else?

 

[invidia]

Originally posted by: Injury
Unless you've been in the working world for quite some time, one page is the maximum you should have. And employer looking at entry-level resumes usually ignores extra pages.


Do you have any work experience?

Yeah, but it was a student job that is completely unrelated to my major or my intended career. I just did it for the money. Should I put that down nonetheless how unrelated it is to the position I'm applying for?

Originally posted by: Drakkon
what are you looking to do? computer hardware? programming? something else?

I have a physics degree and want to go into computer/EE engineering. I have the basic knowledge of circuit designs and theory. Including digital/analog electronics. But employers won't know I have that knowledge/academic experience when they look at my physics degree, even when every school has a different curriculum. Should I put down courses related to my position?


Also, should I put down skills/personal traits that I have? I see other people do it, but it could just be a bunch of BSing.

 

[herm0016]

put the job down. also put a list of software and hardware you know, along with skills like digital signal processers or whatever you know. also any stuff you did in the past, awards, honor role, research anything.

 

[IronWing]

Prepare more than one resume. Ideally you would tailer a resume for each potential employer, emphasizing the experiences/skills most suited to the particular position. Also, prepare a kitchen sink resume if you decide to apply for government jobs as you don't get points for being brief or concise.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: invidia
Yeah, but it was a student job that is completely unrelated to my major or my intended career. I just did it for the money. Should I put that down nonetheless how unrelated it is to the position I'm applying for?

Yes. There are a lot of assumptions that can be made about someone that hasn't worked a day in their life when they are in their 20's. (As I assume you are.)

Originally posted by: invidia
I have a physics degree and want to go into computer/EE engineering. I have the basic knowledge of circuit designs and theory. Including digital/analog electronics. But employers won't know I have that knowledge/academic experience when they look at my physics degree, even when every school has a different curriculum. Should I put down courses related to my position?


Also, should I put down skills/personal traits that I have? I see other people do it, but it could just be a bunch of BSing.

You can either list the key courses you may have taken -- anything that might be a useful class in your desired field (pretty much no Gen-Eds or Intro classes) OR you can list some of the specific things outside of the expected curriculum that you may have learned. Save a version both ways and have some friends or family members look at it and see which one makes more sense to them.

APPLICABLE skills only. Nobody cares that you can cook a mean cheeseburger but they MIGHT be looking for someone with a slight skillset outside of the job they are hiring for. IE: I got the job I'm in because outside of graphic design I can also do web design. It just so happened the company I'm working for was in need of some updates for their website and figured that choosing me over another person would mean that they didn't have to hire or pay someone to make their site changes.

Personal traits = No. Personal traits are mostly a matter of BSing or opinion. To say something like "Dependable worker" means different things to different people and should be an expectation of any candidate.


Most of all just keep in mind that it IS okay if you don't fill a page as long as you say what needs to be said. A potential employer would rather see some blank space instead of having to sift through fluff and BS.