Help a Doper Write a Resume

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I was about to publish an “I’m unemployed” rant. But we’ve seen enough of those. What I really need is some help with my resume. I understand those in the know may not want to give out their services for free. But I just realized I’ve mispelled “Skills” on my last version, so any bit of help counts. I’ve been applying for about ten jobs a day (I’m willing to work just about anywhere in the US), and so far I’ve only heard back from one of them (a rejection, of course) I’m looking at jobs in publishing, video, and journalism.

Here is a doperized version of my standard cover letter. I’ll post my resume next:

Dear Sir or Madam,

As a Bob’s House of Learning senior who will be graduating in June of 2003, I am interested in your editorial assistant position. I believe my mix of experience, talent and interests will be a perfect match for this position.

During my time as film and digital media major with a production concentration, I learned many skills that will translate well in a publishing environment. In my production classes I was required to coordinate my own video and Internet based projects, drawing on resources both within the university and in the outside community. My documentary work, especially, shows a strong sense of organization, community contact and careful planning. I was expected to meet many very tight deadlines, and I discovered that I thrive in a fast-paced and challenging environment.

My digital media coursework shows a consistent record of excellence. These writing intensive classes gave me a chance to explore my lifelong fascination with technology. I even took several related classes outside of my major, such as Introduction to Digital Arts and Politics of the Internet. My writing in all of my classes was consistently evaluated as among the best in the class.

Finally, I have extensive experience in publishing environments. Throughout high school I worked as an editorial assistant at the Bob’s Big Newspaper. My responsibilities were varied and provided me with experience researching, assisting writers and the editor, doing basic office duties and working directly with our advertisers and customers. I hope to advance this experience into a career in publishing.

As you can see, I am qualified, driven and hard working. I fit perfectly into this position and I look forward to hearing from you so that we may schedule an interview.

Sincerely,

Even Sven

2

Objective:
Bob’s House of Learning senior who will graduate with honors in June of 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in Film and Digital Media and a production emphasis perusing a career in journalism. Strong theoretical and technical background in video production and editing, as well as excellent writing skills. A dedicated and enthusiastic worker with the skills and work ethic to succeed.
Seeking to work in an entry level or intern position in publishing.

Salary Requirements:
20,000-35,000 negotiable

Education:
Bob’s House of Learning
Santa Cruz, CA

I will graduate with honors with a BA in Film and Digital Media and a production emphasis

Throughout my education I have received excellent evaluations on my work. I will graduate with the equivalent of a 3.6 GPA. My evaluations place special emphasis on my writing skills, which are consistently rated as “excellent”. My coursework has an emphasis on video production and editing. I have also taken many writing-intensive classes both within and outside of the major.
During my production work in college, I produced and directed several of my own video projects. I was responsible for meeting many deadlines In a high pressure environment. I also worked on many of my classmates’ productions, and gained experience in all aspects of video production, including lighting, sound, camera operation and non-linear editing.
My non-production film classes provide a strong background in film and video history and theory with an emphasis on writing about film and digital media. Additionally, I have taken many digital media classes which emphasize the creation and economics of digital arts. My overall education has given me a varied background with a strong understanding of theoretical issues in film and video, and its digital future, as well as technical experience and expertise.

Employment:

Bob’s House of Video 6/2001 - 8/2001
Customer Service Representative
• Provided customer service
• Resolved problems with customer records and accounts
• Facilitated cash transactions with customers
• Maintained organization of stock in store

Bob’s Scene Shop 9/1999 - 12/1999
Student Assistant
•Consulted with directors and production managers to discern their needs
•Designed and constructed theatrical sets for student productions
•Used hand and power tools safely and efficiently
•Maintained a safe and ordered environment in theaters and scene shop
•Actively learned new skills by assisting lighting and sound engineers

Bob’s Big Newspaper 6/1997 – 8/1999
Editors Assistant
•Conducted research under the purview of the editor
•Sold subscriptions and advertisements
•Handled customer complaints and difficulties with subscription database
•Maintained contacts for writing staff and editor
•Entered data at an unprecedented rate of over 1500 entries a day, setting a new record for the company

Skills:

Digital Video Camera Operation

Adobe Illustrator• Adobe Photoshop • Adobe Premier • Final Cut Pro • Media Cleaner
Microsoft Word• Microsoft Access• Microsoft Excel

3

Don’t put salary in a resume, ever, and keep it out of your cover letter if you can avoid it. By publisshing it, you lose any chance of negotiating.

4

Boy, that Bob guy sure is busy…

Just a few things. Note - I’m coming from a tech point of view and I’m not sure what employers in your field look for in a resume.

Also, recently I have gone the “Bigger is Better” approach to resumes. It’s been my experience that in large companies, resumes go into a database without being read and keyword searches are done to flag resumes with potential. More keywords=more chance to be seen. YMMV.

Flesh out your skills. All those software titles… PC or Mac? Both? even better! Make sure you mention the OS version. Drivers license? Valid passport? Military service? All great additions in my opinion.

Hope this helps a little.

AC - unemployed in 16 days, and sending out resume like mad.

5

even sven, I don’t have the time to critique and edit your cover letter, but in general my initial reaction is that it’s a bit too long and a bit too informal. Perhaps if I have time later I’ll come back and make some recommendations. In the meantime, I did a once-over on your resume (I used to do work in the job placement field as a recruiter, so I have quite a bit of experience with this). Here are my suggestions and a sample outline…

The “Objective” is too long and wordy, and most of it’s not really your objective. The only thing that’s really your objective is the last sentence. (And just fyi, you aren’t “perusing” a career in journalism, you’re “pursuing” one. Were I a prospective employer seeking to hire a journalist, I would immediately discard the résumé of anyone who showed they couldn’t (or didn’t) use words correctly. Sorry. Also, watch for proper punctuation – you weren’t an Editors Assistant, you were an Editor’s Assistant. This type of error can be very costly, especially in the particular career you’re seeking!)

As previously mentioned, never put your salary requirements in your résumé.

Your job-related skills are misplaced at the bottom and should be moved to a more prominent position near the top. Also, consider titling it “Skills & Qualifications” and list additional things that would qualify you for the position you’re seeking besides hardware and software type things.

The entire section under education is, again, way too wordy and not really resume appropriate in the format presented. However, you don’t want to exclude all of it, it should just be formatted differently – perhaps in the same way you format your work experience with bullet points, etc. Also, list the specific courses you took that qualify you for the position you’re seeking. At this stage of your career hunt, your educational experience is more important and relevant than your actual work experience, so make it more prominent and more readable.

When listing your employment, put the position you held before the company you worked for. Also, list your responsibilities in sentence form and bullet-point your accomplishments. Prospective employers want to know how hiring you will benefit them. Showing how you’ve been an asset to previous employers will give them a sense of confidence that you’ll bring the same attitude towards the company’s goals to the position if you’re hired. Here’s a really good list of “action words” to work from when composing your accomplishments.

Also, because your focus has been on education and not employment for the past several years, the dates of your employ are not terribly relevant – everyone knows students work part-time, short-term jobs during school. Besides, leaving that information off will give them something to ask you in an interview, and give you an opportunity to explain why you were only at Bob’s Video for 2 months. Also, put them in order of relevance towards your career goal instead of chronologically (especially since you aren’t listing the dates).

So here’s how I would suggest reformatting your resume (consider centering the section titles)…

Objective

Film and Digital Media major seeking to work in an entry level or intern position in Publishing.

Skills & Qualifications

Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premier, Final Cut Pro, Media Cleaner, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Digital Video Camera Operation, Other Stuff That Would Be Relevant or Qualify You For The Job You’re Seeking, Heed Anonymous Coward about PC, Mac, OS, etc., DO SOME RESEARCH – look for job postings and see what skills and qualifications employers are seeking in a candidate in your field. If you have or can do any of those things and they aren’t listed here, add them!

Education

Bob’s House of Learning, Santa Cruz, CA

Degree: BA in Film and Digital Media with an emphasis in Production.

Relevant Coursework:

• Film Editing 101 • How To Make The Best Damn Movie In The Universe • Kickass Writing For The 21st Century • And So On

Accomplishments:

• Graduating June 2003 with honors and the equivalent of a 3.6 GPA. (If you can be more specific about your honors, do so here. Dean’s List? Magna cum Laude?)
• Produced and directed several video projects, gaining experience in all aspects of video production; including lighting, sound, camera operation and non-linear editing. (You might even want to consider listing video projects individually, emphasizing something unique you did or learned doing each project.)
• Did any of your professors or instructors ever single you out for a leadership role on any projects or to assist them in class?
• Did you work on the student paper or yearbook?

Work Experience

Editor’s Assistant; Bob’s Big Newspaper

Responsibilities: research, subscription sales, advertising sales, customer service, contract maintenance

Accomplishments:
• How did you save your editor time, or enhance a particular piece based on your research?
• Put a number in, even if you have to make one up based on a reasonable guess, as to how many dollars in advertising revenue you generated.
• Put in a reasonable guess as to how many subscriptions you sold – how did that compare to co-workers (did you outperform everyone on staff during your tenure, etc.)
• Entered data at an unprecedented rate of over 1500 entries a day, setting a new record for the company. (This is EXCELLENT – exactly the kind of phrasing you’re going for!)

Customer Service Representative; Bob’s House of Video

Responsibilities: customer service, register transactions, stocking.

Accomplishments:
• Quick and friendly problem resolution, resulting in more satisfied customers and long-term customer retention.
• Think up something about how clean you kept the store or how much time you saved everyone from having to work late or something.

Student Assistant; Bob’s Scene Shop

Responsibilities: theatrical set design and construction, lighting and sound engineering assistance, etc.

Accomplishments:
• Designed and constructed a set for X production, using lighter but more durable materials, easing the burden for the set movers and allowing more flexibility for the director.
• Maintained a safe and ordered environment in theaters and scene shop

Additional Information (only IF you have something significant to mention that doesn’t fit into a category above)
• List any Memberships in any organizations such as a Film Society, etc., even if they’re past memberships
• Are you fluent in more than one language?
• This is where you can mention that references are available upon request.

I hope this was helpful. Feel free to use or reject any of my suggestions at your own discretion. Best of luck!

6

Goodness Shayna, thank you so much! I can’t thank you enough!

I’ve been flying pretty blind with all of this. Monster.com’s “resume help” section can only take me so far. What they taught me in high school about how to make a resume just doesn’t cut it anymore. How does anyone get into the job market when all this resume information is so important but so unspoken? I have a couple more questions…

My university gives evaluations instead of grades. I’ve gotten some really really really spectacular ones- is there any way I could work some quotes in? Is it appropriate to include short workshops I’ve participated in (maybe under skills?) Where would I include that one of my movies has been screened at a film festival? How well should you know software before you include it? Should I include stuff like “Word” that everyone knows how to use?

And once again, thank you thank you thank you. I’ll let you all know when I finally find a job!

7

I like all of Shayna’s comments, but I would make a few small observations.

Any scholarships? Mention them in “Education”. Mention graduation with honors, and maybe GPA.

I’d put foreign languages closer to the top, probably under “Skills”.

An “Additional Information” section is great, but be careful what you put there. Don’t mention your church, or your NRA membership, or anything that someone might object to. Aside from stuff like that, you don’t want to list dangerous hobbies. (I was talking to an HR Manager who said he threw out the resume of someone who said he did hang-gliding, rock climbing and cave diving. “He could die on me! I don’t need that.”) And don’t list too many hobbies, or they’ll think you won’t have time to actually do the job. Neutral, good citizen stuff and any organizations relating to the job you want.

Finally, people read resumes very quickly (statistics say about 30 seconds). Put your best stuff at the top.

Hope this helps.

TLB

8

Alright, here is a reworked version. I did center the major sections, but my formatting won’t show in this post:

Objective:

Film and Digital Media major seeking to work in an entry level or intern position in Publishing

Education:
Bob’s House of Learning
Santa Cruz, California

Degree: Film and Digital Media with Production Emphasis

Accomplishments:
•Graduating June 2003 with honors in major.
•Earned consistently excellent evaluations with an equivalent GPA of 3.6.
•Produced and directed several narrative digital video projects, gaining experience in all aspects of video production; including budgeting, lighting, sound, camera operation and non-linear editing.
•Produced and directive several documentary digital video projects, gaining experience in research, community involvement, publicity and journalistic ethics.
•Participated on a team to create student recommendations regarding new faculty hires.

Skills and Qualifications

Excellent writing skills

Digital Video Camera Operation• Non-Linear Editing

Macintosh OS X • Windows 2000 • Windows XP • Adobe After Effects • Adobe Photoshop • Adobe Premier • Final Cut Pro • Media Cleaner

Employment:

Editor’s Assistant; Bob’s Big Newspaper

Responsibilities: research, subscription sales, customer service, contract maintenance, technical support for related website, data entry

Accomplishments:

•Conducted in-depth research on campaign contributions by political action committees in California state elections, discovering new trends.
•Researched public official salary statistics for publication, resulting in the most popular issue of the newspaper.
•Developed new research techniques, improving relationships with government agencies and simplifying the research process.
•Sold over 300 subscriptions to individuals and government agencies.
•Entered data at an unprecedented rate of over 1500 entries a day, setting a new record for the company.
•Hired temporary office support staff for special events and assisted in the hiring process for permanent staff.

Customer Service Representative; Bob’s House of Video

Responsibilities: customer service, register transactions, stocking.

Accomplishments:
•Quick and friendly problem resolution, resulting in more satisfied customers and long-term customer retention.
•Implemented new organization systems for the storage spaces.
•Reduced overtime costs by maintaining a clean and well organized work area.
•Used creative and innovative techniques to prevent fraud and collect on long overdue accounts.
•Provided supplemental training for new employees.
Student Assistant; Bob’s Scene Shop

Responsibilities: theatrical set design and construction, lighting and sound engineering assistance, maintenance of scene shop and three theaters.

Accomplishments:
•Provided critical support to lighting and sound engineers during A Dream Play allowing them to meet deadlines without sacrificing quality.
•Maintained a clean and accident free environment for construction staff, actors and audiences.
•Collaborated with the director of a production of ‘Night Mother and cultivated a closer relationship between the technical workers in the scene shop and the directors of student productions, increasing satisfaction all around.

Additional Information

Wrote, Produced and Directed “Life Gourd”, A short stop motion animated video screened at the Tower of Youth Film Festival 1999.

References available upon request

9

Good, BUT…

You asked if you should include “stuff like “Word” that everyone knows how to use?”

HAHAHAHA! Silly college student! Let me assure you that out here in the real world, everyone does NOT know how to use WORD. An alarmingly high percentage of the workforce is not particularly computer literate, having entered the workworld before the popularization of the PC. As such, if you know WORD (or any other software well enough to use it to create a finished document), then it is an ability valued by employers and by all means you should mention it prominently. Furthermore, not mentioning your MSWORD abilities sticks out like a sore thumb, and makes an employer wonder how you managed to get a degree in today’s world without gaining this skill.

10

Very Excellent re-write, even sven! I love, love, love your accomplishments. Great Job!

And I completely agree with cybersnark – include all your software skills. You would be amazed at how many people out in the workforce have no clue how to use computers.

I took over the job I have now from a woman who’d been here for 7 years. She calculated quarterly pro rata fees due from tenants on an adding machine, hand-wrote the results on a legal pad, then typed them up in Word. Sure, she had Excel on the computer, but she had no idea how to use it! Checks were hand-written from a gigantic ledger-style binder. Transactions were entered into Quickbooks, but she never, ever, EVER used it to print checks, let alone create reports – instead, she photocopied the hand-written check stubs that coincided with the cleared checks from each bank statement and mailed those to the accountant every month. She kept the boss’s calendar by writing his appointments with pencil on a flip calendar on his desk, then duplicated the entries on a monthly calendar on her desk. She had a computer and the boss had a computer, but they weren’t connected to each other in any way, shape or form. She did not use email! The boss did not have a PDA. This woman was utterly, stunningly useless.

So put anything and everything that you think makes you a potentially valuable employee to any company you’d go to work for. Best of luck and go knock 'em dead!

11

To Whom It May Concern;

I want to direct porn.

My experiences are, but not limited too, many hours watching porn and masterbating to it. My recent film, Invasion of Privacy, was quite titilatting when it was shown in court at my trial.

I thank you for your time.
Even Sven
Hope this helps.

12

You’re hired.

13

I’m about to leave school myself, and having spoken to an endless number of recruiters, career counselors, and friends who’ve done the whole job search thing, here are some recommendations:
[ul]
[li]It is no longer preferred to include an “Objective.” This was standard to include up to maybe a few years ago, but no longer.[/li][li]Ditto for “References available upon request.” It’s assumed.[/li][li]Don’t make everything into a sentence or phrase. I’m thinking specifically about your GPA and other educational info. Your resume should be able to be gleaned quickly for details; putting too much stuff into sentences is likely to make whoever’s reading it not find the relevant info. So, I’d recommend formatting something like this (NB the extraneous wording I’ve removed – Keep it Simple, sven!):[/li]

[li]Try to scale back some of the accomplishments for each job to perhaps the 3-4 best (or even better, most relevant to the job you’re applying for) ones. And some of them are written too informally, or don’t make sense. For example,[/li][quote]
Researched public official salary statistics for publication, resulting in the most popular issue of the newspaper
[/quote]
So you’re saying your research made it the most popular issue ever, not the person who wrote it, or marketed it? It doesn’t make sense.
[li]Overall, you have a very strong resume in the making here. The key is to keep it simple and try to make things relevant to what you’re applying for. And please (PLEASE!), since you’re applying for journalistic work and claim to have “excellent” writing skills, make sure you don’t have any typos or other errors. Have as many people as you can look at it, and then look over it ten more times yourself.[/li][/ul]
Good luck!!

14

On the cover letter, start out telling the reader what YOU can do for THEM. Like it or not, that’s why they’re interested in you. Once you’ve established how much you want to increase revenue for them, illustrate how you’re qualified to do so.

I like peepthis’s changes on the resume. You want the most vital information stripped down, right up there at the top where the recruiter can find it.

I just finished school last month and landed a job (yessss!!) but in the sciences, so take this as you will. From my resume and application research, it seems the thing to do now instead of an objective is a summary of your resume right at the top. This would be about 3 concise sentences summarizing your education, skills, and outstanding attributes. Think of it as bait that will make the recruiter want to read the rest of your resume.

Running into more than one page is fine, but do make sure that the most vital info is on the first page. I tried to create a stand-alone resume on the first page, with a “supplemental” second page that had more text and detailed information.

Since you’re in a creative field, it might not hurt to experiment with something a little more unconventional in your resume. You want to demonstrate your talents. 'Fraid I can’t help you with that, but it’s a suggestion.

Formatting and effective use of white space are also important. If you’re not sure that your resume has “eye appeal” run it by a few other people. There are also plenty of good resume and cover letter books on the market that are certainly worth their cost if they help you land a job. I used 101 Best Resumes and Cover Letter Magic. You might also want to pick up an interview book to start reviewing; being prepared is what pulled job offers out of all my interviews for me, and the books were invaluable.

15

This is what will get you a job in the real world : My people skills come as quite a relief to many supervisors.