Can someone look at my resume and help me fix it and finish it?

crnd

2012-03-05 12:58:00 UTC

In general:

1. You can never have "the" resume - a resume is specific to a purpose. If used to support a job application, it needs to be tailored to that specific job. If it's an office job - you can safely leave off things like "fire and contamination control" and "search and rescue". They don't care. If it's a job in a fire department - they'll care very much about those things. For each version of your resume, you need to focus on your intended audience and the things they care about. It's not "one size fits all".

2. More impact statements. Don't just list what you did - list how well you did it and why it matters. Something like "organized and rearranged books" can become "independently organized and cataloged library resources to improve customer experience in locating holdings". Pretty sure they say the same thing, but what sounds better to you?

3. Get rid of low impact, low skill stuff. Bagged groceries? Unless you're still 14, no one cares. Core values communication - unless the reader is in the Coast Guard (which I happen to be), they have no idea what that means. Expound or delete. EEO and sexual harassment training? That's day one of any new employee training anywhere, no one cares.

4. More details about the stuff that matters. What's your college major? What year are you (freshman?), what's your major? Include GPA if it's decent (conveniently leave it out if it's not). In the Coast Guard, what rating (or rank) did you achieve? Did you get to go to "A" school? Security clearance is a big deal, and that alone can be enough to get you hired in some jobs - spell out what level (Secret, or something higher?) and when it expires. Junk like "able to make difficult decisions and meet deadlines in highly stressful environments" sounds like you pulled it out of a generic phrase book somewhere, which I'm assuming you did. Give examples, include details, illustrate how you did that. Computer skills with basic programs - list them out by name. Microsoft Office Suite, any others that you may be proficient with. Include details and examples for stuff like "extremely self-motivated" and "great leadership qualities". Without detail and examples, that stuff means nothing. With details and examples, it means everything.

5. Proofread, proofread, and proofread some more. Simple grammar or spelling mistakes, while not a big deal in e-mail or Yahoo posts, can often be a deal-breaker on a resume. It's "qualities", not "quality's". "personnel", not "Personal". "bagged" would be capitalized, "Groceries" would not. Pay attention to detail. It counts. A lot.

Good luck!

?

2012-03-05 00:10:59 UTC

a little different than i would have set it up. i have worked for over 30 years so my perspective is probably a little different from yours. 10 of those years i was in management and hired/fired my own staff. here is how i would set up a resume

name (left justified) Resume (centered) Birth date: month day, year (right justified)

street address (left) marital status, if married number of children (right)

city, state, zip code (left) health status (right, keep it simple one word)

home phone (left) email address (right)

Summary

I am looking for employment that will allow me to utilize the skills and training I received while serving in the United States Coast Guard/

Work Experience

United States Coast Guard month 2011 to month 2012

Lodging/Administration: Supervised and Trained Personal in a variety of Administrative and lodging work. Scheduling room reservations, inspections, appointments with military accountants.

Commissary at Keesler Air Force Base month 2009 to month 2011

bagged Groceries for customers

Library in o**********, MS volunteer summers of 2007-2008

Supervised the children’s summer reading program. Organized and rearranged books.

Education

Mississippi *********** ******** College month 2010 to month 2011

degree obtained and field of study, or a brief statement what you studied

o********* High School month year started month 2010

High school Diploma

Additional Relevant Information

Leadership, Core Values Communication, Equal Opportunity, and Sexual Harassment training; Fire and Contamination Control; CPR training; Search and Rescue training; and U.S. Government Security Clearance

References and Letters of Commendation

Furnished on request - or just references if you don't have any letters

if you can keep it to one page. two pages if you have too anything over two pages may not get looked at

escapedmelodies

2012-03-05 00:25:46 UTC

(This is gonna be hard to do on YA, but I'll try)

First, your name and contact info: it should be centered, with your name in bold letters and 18 point font. Make sure your email is a professional one (not "ilovepuppies@hotmail.com')

You don't need a summary.

(Next I'm just going to give an outline of what your resume should look like)

Education

___ High School Month/year-Month/year

High school diploma

Experience (start from your most recent employer and work backward)

United States Coast Guard Month/year-Month/year

Lodging/administration

-List responsibilites with bullet points

Keesler Air Force Base Month/year-Month/year

Commissary

-List responsibilites with bullet points

Library Summer 2007-2008

Volunteer

-List responsibilities with bullet points

Skills

Certifications

References

-Available upon request

A few notes: bold each section heading and adjust the margins in order to use most of the paper. Keep your resume to a page if possible.

Here's a sample high school resume. It looks a little different from what I outlined, but it's basically the same thing:

http://jobsearch.about.com/library/samples/blhsresume.htm

?

2012-03-05 00:12:36 UTC

Here's a place where you can take sample CVs for free

http://www.cvtemplate.co.uk/default.aspx

Your last line - qualities, not quality's

4th to last line - it's repetitive, maybe put Great teamwork skills and leave it at that.

Also when you mention bagging groceries, put in Experience with customer relations.

for Summary - I am an experienced and highly-trained programmer (y/n?) with X years experience in that field, as well as xxx years experience in the Coast Guard. I am applying for a position as xxx with your firm.

You need to put line spaces after headings like Coast Guard.

I just noticed - at the 3rd line from bottom, should that be basic or Basic?

Good luck!