by Dale Mayer
• If you received any awards or recognition, list them.
Setting up your notebook with simple sections like descriptions, training, and recognition will help you to create a rough list of the important elements to put in.
It will take you several tries to get this to look and sound right. Write a draft then rewrite. Don’t eliminate the rewriting step. It is important. Rewrite checking that you’ve used as many power words as you can. Chapter 6 discusses these types of words. Be sure to rewrite with an eye to tightening up the material.
After rewriting into paragraph form, move on from this section and then come back later. You will need to take a break from this section so you can see it with fresh eyes. Even better, have someone else read it over.
For the sake of clarity, let’s take a look at how to write dates on a résumé.
Dates
This is an area people have a tendency to tinker with, either to make it look like they were at a job longer than they were or avoiding putting the information down at all. Not everyone has twenty years at the same job. In today’s market, more often than not, people have four or five jobs listed on their résumé. For some people that number is much higher.
Make your dates clear and easy to read. Write them the same way throughout the résumé. You can choose to put down months and years or you can put down just years. You can also just put down the number of years that you worked at a job.
If your work history fits together nicely with steady job after job, then you can put down the full dates. If you have some months missing here and there or gaps in your employment history, then put down the number of years you worked there. This isn’t lying and makes the dates less obvious. This type of system may be questioned by an employer and you can answer the question in an interview.
Some people don’t like to put down dates because it might accent their age. This is particularly true if your education was 30 years ago or if you worked at the same company for 30 years. It’s easy for the employer to do the simple math. Dates from that long ago don’t need to be listed, particularly if you have a solid work history. Employers are generally more concerned about what you have done in the last five years.
The main issue with dates is consistency. Pick one way to write the date and stick with it throughout the résumé. Other than that, choose a method that suits your experience, the style of the résumé, and the space you have available. Write out the month or only put down the number. What matters is that you are honest in your attempt to list them. Options for style include:
March 2002 to December 2006
Mar. 2002 – Dec. 2006
Mar 2002 – Dec 2006
3/02 – 12/06
Also consider placing the numbers on the right hand side of the page if you don’t want to highlight the dates. Readers put more emphasis on what’s on the left hand side of the page as we read from the left to the right.
Skills
This building block can be left as General Skills or subheadings can be used to separate off what you need to highlight. There are many subheadings to consider, such as: Strengths, Talents, Expertise, Core Competencies, Proficiency, and Key Qualifications.
For example, if you have excellent computer skills with proficiency in various aspects, then create a heading called Computer Skills. Your choice will be based upon the type of experience needed and the type of job you are applying for.
In order to best represent yourself in this section look to the section you completed on work experience. This is often easier if you have completed your work history first. In this section you need to consider:
• What type of skills stand out?
• What skills does the job need?
• What is important about you that the employer should know?
• Can you name your strengths?
• What skills or traits can you offer that another applicant might not?
• What skills did you learn at a previous job that you can offer to the new employer?
• What are you good at?
Writing this particular section can be hard. Again, don’t expect to write this section perfectly the first time. Try to get the ideas down first, then tweak the phrases to make them more powerful.
Remember to think in terms of the job and what you have to offer the employer. Consider everything here – the various experiences, the skills learned, the licenses, training, anything that shows the benefit of hiring you.
Transferable skills count here too. These are skills that move from one job to another, such as management or communication skills.
Once you have this large jumble of skills, try to organize them into groups. This makes them easier to identify. Examples of skill groups include clerical, computer, and management. After putting each of your skills into a group, add in more details.
If you have management skills, put down how long, over how many people, or even the size of the budget you handled.
If you were a switchboard operator, put down for how long and the number of lines you handled.
There are hundreds of applicable skills. They can be in many areas and you can break down your skills into subheadings as appropriate. Some of the more common subheadings include Technical, Clerical, Management, Research, Computer, Creative, Communication and even an Other category if you need.
When you are looking at what skills you have, consider:
• Analyzing performance
• Budget management
• Billing
• Bookkeeping
• Designing
• Implementing
• Lecturing
There is an incredible array of potential skills to put down in this category. Here a few websites that offer lists for you to consider:
• www.resumedictionary.com/resume-skills-checklist
• www.quintcareers.com/job_skills_values.html
• www.job-interview-site.com/resume-skills-list-of-skills-for-resume-sample-resume-skills-examples.html
I’m listing the full website instead of using hidden hyper list in case the pages change. This way you can still find the main websites.
From these lists, you should get a clearer idea of what type of skills you might have. Feel free to make your own subheading and list your skills below. Here’s an example:
Creative Skills
• Designing
• Developing
• Illustrating
• Inventing
• Performing
• Planning
You can have up to three columns across the page if you have three separate categories you need to put down. As always keep the information simple and easy to read. If you clutter up the space too much, the recruiter can’t see what they need to see.
It’s also possible to separate your skills into task-oriented and people-oriented skills.
• Task-oriented skills include things like being accurate, capable, creative, dedicated, efficient, and methodical.
• People-oriented skills include being diplomatic, helpful, outgoing, sensible, supportive, understanding and cooperative.
It’s these little details that set the skill in its place. If you just say great communication skills, that doesn’t tell the employer anything. If you say ‘two years of public speaking,’ then it gives them something clear and solid to understand.
Details count.
After you have the details down, see if you can revise the words in your sentence to offer more impact. Always rewrite with an eye to tightening up the wording.
Education
As mentioned earlier, the style of résumé you choose determines whether you put the education or experience building block first. Regardless of where it goes, the same information must be included.
Recent graduates should make this section heavy with their course work if this is their biggest selling point. Remember that you can change the heading to something that better represents what you have to put into this section. Consider alternative
headings such as Credentials, Degrees, Industry Training, Licenses, Certificates, and Academic Credentials.
In this section, be sure to include:
• Any degrees you have earned. Always list them in order with the most recent first. Also include any degrees that are in progress. For every degree, list the level and the major of your studies. If it’s applicable also list the minor or concentration. Keep to one line if possible. On the second line include the full name of the Institution where you studied, City, and State where the institution is located. Only include the short form of the university if famous, and even then, put it in parentheses after the full name.
• List other degrees next. You can put the degree in bold lettering if you wish.
• Next, include any career advancement course work undertaken.
• Then add any independent studies if they are applicable to the job.
• If you are an adult, don’t add in your high school education. It’s a given that if you have a degree, you had to have achieved a certain level. Once in graduate school, only list college and university level education.
This is a generalization. If you have a course or diploma that is pertinent to the job, but not at the same level, list it anyway. Remember to keep everything on the résumé relevant to the job you are applying for.
Publication & presentations
Publications are only listed on a résumé if they apply to the job in question. They are listed as part of a CV regardless of the job. In the case of a résumé, list all the articles, reports, and journals that have been published and carry your name.
Include the publisher’s name, date, the issue of the journal the article was published in, and the name that you used as the author. After the most recent published article, then list the second most recent. There are several correct ways to write this information. The example below is just one.
Most Recent Publications
• List title of paper followed by the date it was published, on the next line list where the publication was published, and by what publisher. Follow that with the issue, Journal name, ISBN Number. Last, list the name you wrote under and any co-authors.
• For presentations, include only events where you were the main presenter. You can include any presentations that you made professionally at any level. Don’t consider sales pitch presentations. We’re talking here about regional, national, or international level presentations. You can also use National and International as subheadings if you have a lot of presentations.
• Workshop presentation, “Title,” at (name event,) location (conference center, university etc.) City and date.
Professional associations
Professional associations, as long as they are pertinent to the type of position you are applying for are important to put down on your résumé. This is another one of those blocks that not everyone will have. It’s also another building block that could be changed to a number of other headings such as Affiliations, Leadership, Mentorship, Civic Involvement, Community Activities, Public Service, and Charitable Commitments.
Follow these guidelines when listing the information:
• Give a short explanation of the type of association if it’s not obvious by the name.
• Include your status with the organization if you hold a specific position. If you are a member only, don’t say member as that’s already understood by listing the organization.
• If you are actively involved, state the type of accomplishments you have achieved while being involved under the work experience section. This is another place to support your original Career Goal.
• Only list activities within the organization if it matters to the job you’re applying for and be sure to keep the information short and succinct.
• Only put down information that you are comfortable discussing in an interview.
• As a general rule, don’t put down political or religious associations.
Volunteer / community involvement
Volunteer work is very important. Not only does it give the employer an idea of what kind of person you are, it offers valuable work experience. Always include the full name and address of the organization as well as the length of your association with them.
As details are important, give a short description of the type of volunteering you participated in and where you volunteered. If the volunteer work is pertinent to the job, then be sure to expand on the details, such as listing any courses you needed to take or training that you were provided to allow you to take part.
List the associations you are currently volunteering with and ones from the past few years. It’s not necessary to go back as far as ten years unless that information is extremely relevant to the current job application.
Personal information
This building block is one that most people don’t know to add to their résumé. It’s more common with students who have little to no work experience to put on their résumé. It’s a great place to add extra information to help persuade an employer that you are the right person for the job.
It’s often called Interests, Hobbies, Honors, Background, Miscellaneous, Personal Data, Of Interest, and Other. All of these words can actually be their own headings. That’s something you can decide to do if you have several honors or awards achieved or if you have different interests from the honors received that are still relevant to your Career Goal and the job position.
However, if you only have one thing to mention here, it doesn’t require its own heading and you can place it with the other information in this same section.
Include:
• Activities that you take part in on a regular basis
• Any special training
• Athletic teams
• Awards and scholarships
• Travel experiences
Minor building blocks
As not everyone has the same skills and education to offer, there are always a few other sections that apply to some people and not others. The following are a few that are showing up more often.
Certifications
Having a certification heading on your résumé is a good idea if you need to have a particular license to do a specific job. If so, then put it above other sections that have less related information. It can be titled either Certifications or Licensure. List the date it was achieved and give a brief description if it will help the employer to understand its relevance to his posted job.
List various certifications in order of priority.
Course work
You could also call this section Courses or Relevant Courses. Including this on your résumé means the course(s) listed here are relevant enough to highlight on their own. If these are covered in other sections on the résumé, then don’t put them in a separate section here. In order for them to be separated into a category all their own, they have to add something new.
List them giving the title of the course, the institute, the date, and list in priority to the job you are applying for.
Work authorization
Many companies have strict hiring practices for security and legal reasons. They are not negotiable and they can’t be ignored.
Companies need to know what your legal status is in terms of being allowed to work in the United States. So if you have a green card or another type of authorized work permit, then state it here. You can expect to be asked if you can legally work in the United States or Canada.
Security clearance
If security clearance isn’t mentioned in a job description, then don’t put this section down on your résumé. Never include this type of information if you are going to do a mass mailing or post the résumé online.
If an employer needs you to have a certain level of security clearance, he will contact you to request it. This is something that is much better discussed in an interview. However, as it can be hard to get to that interview, and if it is required for the job position, then you can say that you have it or that you are willing t
o get that type of clearance if required.
During the interview, discuss the details of the clearance. Expect to have your information in this section verified, so be sure to tell the truth or risk losing the job.
Endorsements
This is a relatively new category and will only be applicable to a few people. Like the other categories, there are many alternative names such as Customer Testimonials, Complimentary Quotes, Customer Comments, Recommendations, and Testimonials. Don’t confuse this with references. They are similar but endorsements are like quotes from customers, vendors or even clients and coworkers. If you have a quote from a job evaluation, a happy customer, or a satisfied supervisor then put it down in quotes followed by the person’s name and location. It will look similar to this:
“Charles Smith led our fundraising drive to secure a half million in funds for our annual charity.” (John Doe, Children’s Hospital, Baltimore)
References
It used to be standard to put a line at the bottom of the last page stating ‘References available upon request.’
It’s not wrong to put this down, but it’s no longer required. It’s your choice, but be aware that having it there may give the recruiter the impression that you are older.
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