lilazngrl4o8

I tend to be the ones editing people's resume for wording, tenses, formatting etc. I just recently went to an interview and was given compliments on my resume.

I don't mind looking over your resume and giving you some feedback.

RMurphy

Web sites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com have great information on resume writing and cover letter writing. Definitely go there and read what they have about constructing a decent resume! I interview for technicians and I have read *many* resumes. Believe me when I tell you that you can not have a complete appreciation for what goes into a good resume until you have spent time sitting on the other side of the table reading the resumes people send you for advertised open positions.

Here are some of the key points that come to mind:
- Follow directions. If the ad says, "send resume in .doc format," send it in ONLY .doc format. Do NOT think you are being smart by sending it in PDF.
- Keep the resume to 2 pages. I don't care how much you've done in your life, keep the resume to 2 pages. Put emphasis on the experience you have that is most applicable to the job for which you are applying.
- SPELL CHECK!!!!! Read that thing upside down, inside out, front to back, back to front and make sure you have NO spelling mistakes.
- Be honest. Know what you are good at and make sure you present that positively and well, but never say you know something that you don't.
- Always include a cover letter. If you don't know what one is, read about it on monster.com or careerbuilder. ALWAYS customize it and keep it to two or three paragraphs of no more than four to six sentences each paragraph. Remember that your interviewer has been inundated with resumes. Your cover letter will tell them briefly what your resume's facts and figures can't: why you feel you are a a uniquely good fit for the job as advertised. It shows the interviewer you actually *read* the ad carefully, believe you are a good fit, and have reasonable skills in articulating why.
- Do not assume the hiring manager is male or female. Stay gender neutral. It's okay to say, "Dear Sir or Madam," or "Dear Hiring Manager."
- Never cut and paste from a web page into Word unless you are excellent at cleaning up the formatting. I am always unimpressed when I get an obvious cookie cutter form cover letter with font all in Times New Roman black and then the title of the job I advertised pasted in in Verdana burgundy (the font and color we use on our web site) obviously cut and pasted into the letter. It just tells me this person isn't paying attention to detail, just wants any job, has taken a bolt it on approach to the task at hand, and is spamming the world with their resume.
- Take a second and read the company web site to see if it's the kind of firm you would like working for. Would you fit in well? That will come through when you write your cover letter.

When we advertise, we always list what we want the tech to know. So let's say our ad is for a net admin for oh... a fictious aftermarket car parts supplier and installer. And let's say they want a net admin with Cisco router experience. And let's say our applicant doesn't have real world experience with the routers, but took some training. He's got all the other skills though. And he went to our web site and read about us, the fictitious GoFast company. So here's a good cover letter example:

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am responding to your July 9th advertisement on Monster.com for a network administrator at Fictitious GoFast Parts, Inc. After reviewing the requirements of the position and reading further about your company's goals in providing exceptional customer service and quality aftermarket performance products, I feel I would be an excellent addition to your team.

In my most recent job as junior network administrator I was a key team member responsible for supporting 150 end user's desktops as well as the SQL server and Exchange email services. My responsibilities were very similar to those described in your advertisement. I am particularly interested in learning new technology and branching into network switch and router support. I believe my training in Cisco routers will be put to good use in your environment. Additionally, I have excellent communication skills and can work well with other IT professionals as well as end users.

Thank you for considering my resume and I look forward to speaking with you soon. I am available for telephone or in-person interview at your convenience. My contact information is below.

Sincerely,
Joe Tech
JTech@notsomecheezyemailserver.com
(888) 555-1212

Hope this helps. Good luck!!

edspecR

subscribed

its funny, im a manager too that usually looks at resumes... but i realized i have little idea of how to write my own, if the time came haha.

and the time has come!

Juice Steez

Good stuff, I'm in the market to find a better job and my resume has been lacking. This gave me some ideas and good pointers thanks community

Gatsbee13

RMurphy, thanks for that write-up.. and of course to everyone else that offered to help.

NoBottleJustThrottle

I got bombarded with people asking for help. If you are one of those people I am more than happy to help, and I promise I will get to yours. Please just be patient with me. As much as I am on S2ki, I am actually pretty busy at work.

Good, and very useful info in this thread My only argument to the info posted above is to keep your resume to one page! If I print out a resume and it requires a staple to hold it together, then it normally ends up in the trash. Find a way to effectively put your experience, and info onto one page. Believe me, when a hiring manager has 100+ resumes to review, the last thing they want to do is read over a multiple page resume. No, I'm not just lazy. You will find if you ask many hiring managers that they feel the same way.

Gatsbee13

AZDavid

RMurphy

[QUOTE=NoBottleJustThrottle,Jul 9 2010, 01:47 PM] ... My only argument to the info posted above is to keep your resume to one page!

xdavieexx

Definitely give your resume some life and personality. You don't want your resume to sound like a machine typed it up.

Also what I've seen on resumes are the margins are not being extended out all the way. By doing this you can get more info on one page and make your resume look "fuller". Try using .4-.5 margins all the way around