Resume Writing 101 February 28, 2009

I went to school for Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Central Florida’s Nicholson School of Communication. My professors were amazing industry veterans who taught us as much as they could to get us ready for the ‘real world.’ As our first assignment in one of our classes we were to develop our resume. Later, when it came time for us to apply for internships, they brought in the HR director from the Orlando Sentinel to give us tips and some constructive criticism on our resumes. So, out of college I had a great resume (according to those who saw it).

Now that it is time for me to start applying for positions that are no longer entry level I thought a quick revision was needed. WRONG! Complete overhaul time!

After consulting with some other industry professionals, here are some of the updates I made to my resume along with tips and some of my own observations:

1. Add links to your social networking sites (LinkedIn, Twitter, your Web site). Try under your contact info.
2. I like using a summary instead of an objective to start off my resume. In my opinion, your objective is laid out more clearly in your cover letter. And a summary of your strongest characteristics is a strong way to begin your professional profile (what a resume is).
3. Next I move to career experience, because that’s the most important thing employers want to know about you. Remember to use past tense action words and do not use “I” it should be understood. Other than the obvious company name (which I started linking to the company’s Web site), position and dates employed, how do you lay out the rest?
   1. Since I am from out of state most of my experience, professional and volunteer, are with unfamiliar places. Therefore I have added a one-line description under the first line (who, what and when). Example: “Small public relations and political communication firm with strong crisis communication specialty; rated #1 PR firm in Orlando.”
   2. Next, I realized that simply listing responsibilities and only hinting at the fact that I was successful in these responsibilities was not what employers were looking for. Therefore I separated my experience at a specific place into responsibilities and achievements. Don’t just tell a prospective employer that you were in charge of a project, tell them how awesome you were at it by giving them as specific as possible results you achieved. For example, you planned an event and pitched media? OK, how many media pick-ups did you get? Did any come to cover the event live? Etc. Remember it is best to bullet point these points, for responsibility and achievement sections.
4. What are your skills? Only those that are applicable to the job you are applying for. Computer programs, online skills, writing and communication skills, etc. Again, bullet point this list. Use synonyms to describe how skilled your are: familiar, savvy, proficient, skilled.
5. Education is always important. Depending how long ago you graduated makes how you list your schooling. Never list anything before college. If you graduated many years ago a simple college, degree and year of graduation is all that is needed. However, since I graduated more recently, I still list my involvement and awards. Personally I do this because I like to show how invested and involved I’ve been with my industry from the beginning.
6. My last resume section is my professional activities. Here I also had to add a one-line explanation of the organization. I also bullet pointed my experience due to board positions I held and the events I planned (of course including results).

Now I’ve always heard that unless you have 10+ years experience, your resume should not be over one page. Well, if you can’t get your expertise across for your 5-10 years of experience then it may be necessary for you to break this rule, which is what I’ve had to do. However, I would caution you to not exceed two pages if you have less than 10 years of experience. If you do, prospective employers are going to get lost in your extra long explanations.

Other things to do: ensure styling is the same throughout (bullet style and alignment, font size, etc.), spell check, and have 2-3 other people proof it for you.

Last step: Adding your personal brand. You need to make sure your resume is scannable, since so many large company scan resumes into HR databases to be able to find qualified applicants, but try to add your own version of branding. There are many ways to do this so I’d rather not give advice. Just remember to not over do it, don’t get to the tacky/unnecessary point, or make your resume unreadable to employers.

Good luck!

If you’d like to see my resume send me an email.