Lecture Business and administrative communication: Chapter 12 - Kitty O. Locker, Donna S. Kienzler

Chapter 12 - Building résumés. In this chapter, students will be able to understand: Prepare a detailed time line for your job search, conduct an effective job search, prepare a résumé that makes you look attractive to employers, deal with common difficulties that arise during job searches, handle the online portion of job searches, keep your résumé honest.

Chapter 12 Building Résumés Copyright © 2015 McGraw­Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw­Hill Education Job Hunting 12­2 Personal Branding Marketing yourself  Use a variety of tools:         LinkedIn Personal web page Blogs Facebook Twitter Professional forums Cover letter Social Networking Cautions •Remove any unprofessional material •Remove negative comments about current or past employers and teachers •Remove political or social rants •Remove any personal information that might embarrass you •Remove inappropriate material posted by friends, family, relatives •Check blog for writing aptitude 12­3 Guidelines: Length  Fill at least one page  Average résumé these days: pages  Put most important information on page  Put at least 10 lines on page  Include Name and Page 12­4 Guidelines: Emphasis  Emphasize your achievements  That are most relevant to position applied for  That show superiority to other applicants  That are recent  To emphasize information:     Put it at top or bottom of page Set it off with white space Give it in a vertical and/or bulleted list Include it in an informative heading 12­5 Guidelines: Details      Give evidence to support your claims Convince reader Separate you from other applicants Use numbers and descriptions Omit details that add no value 12­6 Guidelines: Writing Style  Be concise (brief, but complete)  Use phrases and sentence fragments  Never use I; use me or my if you must  Use more action verbs than nouns  List items in parallel form 12­7 Guidelines: Key Words Use words or phrases that employers will have the computer seek  May include:         Software programs Job titles Types of degrees Job-specific skills, buzzwords, jargon Professional organizations Honor societies Personality traits 12­8 Guidelines: Layout and Design  Experiment with layout, fonts, and spacing to highlight information     Use no more than three fonts Use color sparingly Use at least 10-pt type Use white space to group items  Consider creating letterhead to use for your résumé and application letter  Use headings for reading ease  Avoid templates  Select good quality ½ x 11 paper 12­9 Kinds of Résumés: Chronological  Summarizes what you did in time line  Starts with most recent events, uses reverse chronology  Includes degrees, job titles, dates  When to use—  Your education, experience closely related to job for which you’re applying  You have impressive job titles, offices, or honors 12­10 Kinds of Résumés: Skills    Emphasizes skills you’ve used, rather than the job in which you used them or the date De-emphasizes job titles, employment history, dates When to use—  Your education and experience not usual route to applied job  You’re changing fields  You want to show broad experience 12­11 Résumé Information: Name and  Contact Info Use full name, even if you have a nickname  Center one address; type two side by side  Provide professional e-mail address  Provide phone number  12­12 Résumé Information: Education  First main category in these cases—  Earn new degree  Need degree for job you’re seeking  Can present the information briefly  Put it later in these cases—  Need page for another category  Lack degree that other applicants may have  Cover 4-year and graduate degrees  Include junior college if it gave you other expertise  Include study abroad, even non-credit courses  Give degrees, dates, schools, and cities  May list short, descriptive course titles  Include GPA—if it’s good—and what it’s based on: 3.4/4.0 12­13 Résumé Information: Experience  Include this information for each job held      Position or job title Organization City and state Dates of employment Job duties; other details 12­14 Résumé Information: Career  Objective Make it sound like employers’ job descriptions  Make it brief—2 lines at most  Tell what you want to do, level of responsibility you want  Targeted to a job at a specific company  12­15 Résumé Information: Summary of  Qualifications Show knowledge of specialized technology in your field  List accomplishments    Be specific; include numbers and amounts Include as many keywords as you can 12­16 Résumé Information: Honors and  Awards  New college graduates put on page  Include Honors and Awards if listing more than three items  Use Honors and Activities if listing fewer than three items  Include entries that add to your professional image  Fellowships and scholarships  Awards from professional societies  Major awards from civic groups  Academic honor societies  Varsity letters 12­17 Résumé Information: Activities Critical for new college graduates  Include this kind of information—       Volunteer work and student organizations Professional associations Activities involving talent or responsibility Varsity or intramural athletics Leadership roles 12­18 Résumé Information: References 12­19 Résumé Information: What to Omit Personal information  Controversial activities or associations  High school facts  Trivial items  12­20 Electronic Résumés Basic guidelines of email job hunting etiquette: Don’t use your current employer’s email Set up a free, Internet-based email account Avoid using silly or cryptic email addresses Write a simple subject line Test how résumé looks before sending Send only one résumé When sending résumé in text of email Start all lines on left margin Do not use bold, underlining, tabs, or unusual fonts Put headings in all caps, but use sparingly 12­21 Honesty ALWAYS BE HONEST ON YOUR RÉSUMÉ !!! 12­22 ... traits 12? ?8 Guidelines: Layout? ?and? ?Design  Experiment with layout, fonts, and spacing to highlight information     Use no more than three fonts Use color sparingly Use at least 10-pt type... have  Cover 4-year and graduate degrees  Include junior college if it gave you other expertise  Include study abroad, even non-credit courses  Give degrees, dates, schools, and cities  May... keywords as you can 12? ?16 Résumé Information: Honors? ?and? ? Awards  New college graduates put on page  Include Honors and Awards if listing more than three items  Use Honors and Activities if