Thread: making a resume
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Old 02-08-2006, 09:14 PM
gambit
magic city writer
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: not where I want to be
Posts: 807
Re: making a resume
Generally, there are two routes for resumes: chronological or topical. Chronological will showcase your experience in, duh, chronological order, and topical will just showcase what's topical for the particular job. I'd recommend going with the topical format and play up what you've already mentioned here.

Start at the top and make your name large (but not too large because that will make it look like you're trying to fill up space) and follow it with all of your contact information (address, phone number(s), email, and website if you have one that showcases your work). Preferably you'll want to place this in the top right hand corner because as they're flipping through resumes, they'll be able to see your name easier. You can play with this, and if you find a nice design in Word, then you can move it around, but the top right hand corner is the best.

Then follow that with an "Objective:" line. This is easy; just say "To become a whatever at your place." Shows that you know what you want and also lets them know what job you're applying for in case they have multiple openings.

Then go with your experience or education. I'd probably go with education first, and I wouldn't suggest adding your high school education unless there was something there that would be relevant to the job you're applying for. From what you've told us, it sounds like the majority of your experience has come through classes, so I'd just skip splitting up education and experience and call it "Experience" and in chronological order list the classes you've been in and the other bits you've done over the years. Make sure to describe what you did in each thing you list, and use assertive action verbs to start your sentences (i.e. "Achieved This Degree," "Accomplished This Task," "Completed This Course").

Finally, add any relevant employment history and a list of references if you have space (and if you don't, just write "References available upon request"). If you need any help, just send me your resume, and I can help you with it. Same with your cover letter. I'm an English grad, so I know a thing or two about the written word.
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