STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

Need to redesign resume, make less wordy

littlebean · Kate Spade

I think that this is a great idea! I used to be in a position where I read a lot of resumes and my #1 pet peeve was when someone (usually with not even that good credentials! which I'm sure that you have) would mess with the margins and the fonts and formats in such a way that his or her resume became impossible to read. If you have someone (friend, significant other, or best yet, a career services department where you went to school) who could read your resume and tell you what to take off, I think that would be the best way to do this. Personally, unless you're applying for an entry-level position, I wouldn't think that proficiency in Microsoft Word, etc., would be something worth mentioning.

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

See private message

NCshopper · Hermes

Do you have an Objective section on your resume? If so, I'd recommend taking it out. I've never quite understood the point and anything that you need to say about what you're looking for would be better suited to a cover letter, IMO.

My other suggestion would be that if you're looking at a few different types of jobs that you want to apply for, to make different versions of your resume that reflect the applicable skills to those jobs and then leave out (or majorly condense) some of the rest. Also, can you group some of those responsibilities together? You might be able to condense a little bit by putting like items together and editing from there. If you have had the same type of responsibility at Companies A, B, and C, say event planning, for example, then you might want to mention event planning under Company C, but leave it out under Companies A and B.

As far as software proficiency goes, I would expect that at this point, most professionals should know Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Publisher at a basic level. If you've been a professional in your field for years and everyone in that field needs to know how to use a certain type of software, then I'd leave that out too, because it would be assumed that you would know it. Just my two cents.

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

pj - I pm'ed you. Thanks!

NCshopper-
I do not have an objective section. I always thought that was silly too.

I have always done some slight customization depending on what the job requirements are. I'll rearrange items to move items they specify closer to the top of the section.

My mom has been going to these resume workshops at church, and has been giving me tips. I don't know that I agree with all they say. I feel like my resume is more cluttered that it was prior. While all the info anyone would ever want to know prior to hiring me is there, it also is a "big read" and doesn't really get the gist across, I don't feel.

At this point, I think it may be easier to scrap it an start over! ARG!!!!

-gd

XtinaStyles · Marc Jacobs

green diamond,

I think it would be hard to give you pointers without seeing your resume specifically. If you'd like, you can pm me and I will send you my email address for some advice. I often think its hard to correct your own resume but if you show someone else, they may be able to give you an unbiased opinion of what is troubling.

Suasoria · Chanel

Some of the best advice I've ever had was to leave anything off (either jobwise or skillswise) that you'd never want to do again.

So you may have had a receptionist or sales job in your 20s, but you don't want to do that type of work again, or it's otherwise irrelevant to your present field, you can skip it.

Or if you never want to use a specific software again, don't mention that you know it unless it's a requirement for the job.