OK, I actually have a potential employment opportunity. Now, the last time I actually submitted a resume was when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the internet did not exist, and resumes were actually submitted as hard copy. Can someone direct me to web resources that tell me what a resume should look like including aesthetic details?
I’m an electrical engineer and applying for a technical position at a biomedical firm.
Am I correct to assume that Word .doc format is still the preferred format or is PDF preferred? I assume there is some way to lock the Word document to prevent any inadvertent changes.
I’ve got about 18 years of experience and an MSEE. I haven’t worked in ages, but that’s a whole other story, about which I hope I can give a credible rationale. I was pretty good as an undergrad and graduated with highest honors at a fairly decent university, making the dean’s list every single quarter. Should I mention this, or is this just meaningless puffery?
I’ve got a connection at this company, and it’s already been explained about why my employment record is odd.
One thing to look into is whether you actually submit even a softcopy resume or whether the firm uses an online application system that requires you to enter things in directly.
It is probably still a good idea to have a hardcopy/softcopy resume to hand around, though. Word, .pdf, and RTF are all good formats to have. Once you have one, it’s not hard to get the others, especially if you use RTF to create a simple master, dress up the formatting a tiny bit in Word, and print to .pdf. The main way to prevent inadvertent change is to use .pdf.
I wouldn’t go into detail on the undergrad stuff, but it’s OK to list your highest honors. That gets the message across. Just put BSEE, *summa cum laude *or whatever when you list your undergrad degree.
I’m sorry I don’t have a link to a good sample resume for you. There is a lot of crap that comes up on Google, so definitely don’t let the first thing you see be your guide. Since you have a connection at the company, maybe they can advise you. In general, less is more, especially when it comes to formatting. More can be more in terms of getting all the right keywords/ buzzwords in there. Since you apparently already have a job in mind, don’t waste space on an objective statement.
Compose it in Word, save it as a PDF. If your Word program doesn’t have a template for resumes you can easily find/use, look up a copy of the Bedford Handbook by Diana Hack (your library likely has one). She has many useful templates to copy.
It’s a bit like advertising.
You want to stick close to a familiar script but you want your skills to stand out.
The recruiter might have several dozen (or more) to go through and if you can’t “hook” them by the end of the first page you might not get a full hearing.
If you can speak with the HR department before hand, do so. It helps understand the emphasis on which skills they value most.
If they give you a list of skills & attributes they are seeking try to check off as many as you honestly can to get to the interview.
List your achievements/qualifications in reverse date order i.e. most recent first.
Keep your formatting as close to zero. No pretty fonts or graphics.
Word is near universal but save it as Word97-2003 format. Not everybody has 2007.
The more you have to deal with recruiters, the more you appreciate real estate agents, 
Whatever form you decide on make sure it’s friendly toward the concept of keywords. Many H/R people are getting resumes and hitting CTRL+F and using “Find” to get to certain keywords and ignoring content.
There are even programs that can scan your resume and give the H/R people, what the computer thinks, is a good match. So you want to use keywords and keep the design simple so that formatting isn’t going to be an issue.
It should look 100% readable as a .txt (notepad) document as that is just how it might wind up
Submit it in whichever format the potential employer wants. Strong second on the importance of keywords - when I was hiring I worked with HR on good queries to winnow the resumes I wanted from the ton I got, and there are no doubt more coming in now.
Make sure tools and methods you know are in the resume, as is the name of fields you are proficient in and any subfields.
Review your resume on line, and make sure it looks good to someone reading it on a screen.
Since you’ve been around for a while, ignore the advice of anyone who tells you it should be kept to one page.
Thanks for all the advice. I did keep it to a single font, and it looks fairly readable on line. My friend seems to think I’m overqualified for the position, so I cut out a bunch of stuff that she thought might hurt me on the overqualified end of things.
She recommended .doc, so I left it as such. I still haven’t submitted the final draft though. Now that I’m getting more into the swing of things, I’ll have several versions to work from that I can tailor to the particular requirements of the position.
Thanks again.
You need to know the qualifications of the position. Write a T letter.
In your resume, have the following categories:
Objective: “I want a position as a ______ and [stuff]”
Summary: A section with the most important qualifications. No details, just the 2 or 3 word description of the qual. So put, perhaps:
B.A. Communications
MS Office programs
Certificate of ______
[programs you can use]
X years as a _____, or X years in the ____ field
Skills: Basically list all the things you’ve picked up OJT like different programs and different disciplines within your field.
Education: Degrees, diplomas and certificates
Experience: Reverse chronologically, list your last jobs with the responsibilities you had. Show how you learned the skills you claim you have.
That’s it. I don’t know anyone that calls references anymore, so I don’t put those. Send it with a T letter and await your interview time.
You don’t necessarily want to fill two or more pages with experience that is preceded by “haven’t worked in ages.” That will just look odd. With a master’s degree and 10+ years of professional experience, even though I am usually a strong advocate of the 1 page resume, I would usually agree you were fine to go to 2 pages. But assuming that by “ages” you mean that your actual work experience is not what’s qualifying you for the job, by all means don’t belabor it. If by some odd chance they really are hiring you for the 18 years worth of whatever you did back then, I guess I can see it running to 2 pages. Keeping your resume brief will also make you look a little younger on paper.