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This is better suited to IMHO.
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exactly enough to get you an interview.
You might want to check this out. There’s lots of good guidance here:
http://resume.monster.com/
The resume` says what you can do. The cover letter informs why that is good for the company.
My terse reply was my own pathetic idea of a joke, so I’ll be more direct: if I don’t know what you know, I can’t know what you don’t know, and I really don’t want to write you a novel on getting a job.
If you want an answer with some time invested, you’ll be wise to invest some of your own first. Actually, this is a good note to make for life in general.
Name, address, contact phone numbers, centered in bold at the top of the resume.
Work history, including dates of employment and brief descriptions of your duties, starting with latest first. You do not have to list why you left the job. That may be covered in the interview.
Next, school history, including dates of graduation from college and major.
Finally, any service awards or volunteer work.
Do not list references. A simple “References furnished upon request” is best.
DO NOT go over a page.
DO look over for misspellings and poor grammar.
DO NOT list salary requirements. You can price yourself right out of a job.
I work with my director in filling vacancies in our department. We don’t have time to read each and every resume thoroughly. Keep it brief, descriptive, professional, and hook us so we will call you for an interview.
What ivylass said. Plus, when listing your work, education, and volunteer history on your resume, be sure to list relevant accomplishments and responsibilities. Don’t list every little thing, but do bring up the points you think will impress the potential employer. And by “impress,” I mean in a way relevant to the job you’re seeking. We had one applicant list all her gymnastics awards on her resume. Sure, they were impressive, but she was applying for an accounting position!
There’s some debate about whether one page is required or whether mulitple pages are okay. I would go with one page since some employers are put off by more (except in academia where they seem to have “CVs” rather than resumes and they can go on for pages and pages). No one is put off by a one page resume, but some are by multiple pages. Play it safe. If you have problems cutting it down to a page, remember that the resume will only get you the interview–it won’t get you the job. So pique the reader’s interest and expand on important points in the interview. And get a proof reader before sending out anything!
The cover letter should let the employer know what position you’re looking for and draw attention to key items on the resume. Again, put your best foot forward and get a proof reader!
Before putting together a resume and cover letter, I try to think of what one thing I want the reader to come away with. Then I make sure that comes through clearly in what I’ve written.
And (have I said it enough), get a proof reader! I am a firm believer that no one should be the only one proofing his or her own work for something as important as a resume!
I agree with MaddyStrut’s advice. From the resumes I’ve seen too many applicants for a specific position do not target the resume and the cover letter. I’d also recommend that you develop the resume and cover letter in a way that demonstrates that you can excel at this job. Without this, you could easily be screened out before an interview.
Get the books Resumes That Knock 'em Dead and Cover Letters That Knock 'em Dead . Lots of good info.
Some self-appointed resume experts encourage that you to quickly “hook” whomever reads your resume, using some sort of clever device.
This is tricky. Come across as glib, and you’ll be rejected in four seconds flat. The idea is to grab attention without flamboyance. Focus on accomplishments, not job responsibilities, communicating how your impressive track record might instantly transfer over to Company XYZ. Keep the cover letter short, maybe three tight paragraphs. Make each word count, each sentence build on the previous. The cover letter is a sales tool, so make your best case. Make sure someone else reads it first.
I used to hire people for highly technical work. In the past several companies I’ve been at, resumes are scanned in, or better, taken from an email. Cover letters don’t even make it to the resume database, so don’t bet anyone will even see it.
Don’t tell the hiring manager how you can help the company unless you know very well what he or she is looking for. The interview is a good place to do that.
What I liked to see in a resume was education, skills, jobs performed, and accomplishments at those jobs. In big companies resumes are sorted by pattern matching, so make sure you put in all relevant buzz words. You’ve got to be able to support that you know a skill, but it is okay to use a couple of synonyms throughout your resume.
If you are fresh out of school the one page rule might make sense, but if you have experience it doesn’t. I don’t mind long lists of publications, (that’s just me) but it might be better to list significant publications.
For the kinds of jobs I filled, I didn’t give a damn about volunteering. I can imagine some managers thinking it a negative, since it means you wouldn’t be able to work 12 hours a day during the crunch. I could see it being useful for other jobs, and very useful for someone with little work experience.
The whole point of a resume is to make it worth someone calling to phone screen you. After that, you’re on your own.