Critique My Resume

[chrisjr]

Trying to keep it polished up for any appealing jobs that come available. Haven't worked on it much since graduation. Appreciate any & all comments.

*have replaced most names with an x to signify that will be changed*

[ATTACHMENT=2972]CV 2012 for review.docx (31k. docx file)[/ATTACHMENT]

 

[Stazy]

Not all your bullet points end with a period. Be consistent.

 

[GreenFrog]

I'd change the font of your headers.. they remind me of the font a Greek restaurant would use on their menu. Additionally, I'd move them up closer to the separator lines. The white gaps look especially awkward when you get to the 'comp proficiency' and 'special interests' sections.

Your verb tense also changes throughout your bullet points. Your first experience is 'current,' so make them all in the present tense.

Under your computer proficiency section, I'd use the bullet point format for consistency and keep them left justified. Same for your special interests section; have the different activities separated by commas.

 

[jarude]

no white space, it hurts my eyes to look at. stretch it to 2 pages if you can. not sure if its applicable to your field, but try to quantify what you've done - doing XYZ resulted in X% improvement/performance/cost saving

 

[GreenFrog]

Um. Definitely disagree with making it two pages.

 

[chrisjr]



Not all your bullet points end with a period. Be consistent.

Good point. Shows a lack of attention to detail. Thanks.

I'd change the font of your headers.. they remind me of the font a Greek restaurant would use on their menu. Additionally, I'd move them up closer to the separator lines. The white gaps look especially awkward when you get to the 'comp proficiency' and 'special interests' sections.
Your verb tense also changes throughout your bullet points. Your first experience is 'current,' so make them all in the present tense.
Under your computer proficiency section, I'd use the bullet point format for consistency and keep them left justified. Same for your special interests section; have the different activities separated by commas.

OK, I am open to other fonts as headers, might you have a suggestion or two? I had used the separator lines in order to reduce compression as it is already in small font and very compressed, and tried to keep it consistent throughout.
Thanks for the correction on the tenses, was struggling with adjusting that as I was plugging in my current job roles.
I'm not sure about the bullet point format for the last two, it would put the document over a page which i am trying my best to avoid.

no white space, it hurts my eyes to look at. stretch it to 2 pages if you can. not sure if its applicable to your field, but try to quantify what you've done - doing XYZ resulted in X% improvement/performance/cost saving

It looks a bit better when it's printed out IMO. As to your second point, we represent landlords and tenants in commercial real estate transactions and a huge part of our business is to quantify our value-add. I've worked on several large projects as a grunt so I will try to dig up some specific numbers without raising too many questions from management.
do you think i have to many/should eliminate some of the current job roles/responsibilities and replace them with examples of projects i've worked on?


Thanks all!

 

[jarude]



Um. Definitely disagree with making it two pages.

i work in recruitment + selection and a good part of my job is looking at resumes all day. it might be different in your field, but i find it its pretty tricky to accurately portray one's education, qualifications, experience, volunteer work etc in an aesthetically pleasing and appreciable manner in a single page. most resumes are viewed electronically and automatically filed as part as an e-database so 2 pages is quite legitimate. if the OP needs a physical copy it will either a) be ignored by the reception staff and he will be referred to an online application system anyways or b) he'll have it in an interview as part of a career portfolio, in which case one extra page in a portfolio is probably the last thing he should be worrying about.

with that being said, i work with jobs and not professions so all of this could be irrelevant. just curious, why do you feel 2 pages is unacceptable? is this particular to the legal profession?

Good point. Shows a lack of attention to detail. Thanks.
OK, I am open to other fonts as headers, might you have a suggestion or two? I had used the separator lines in order to reduce compression as it is already in small font and very compressed, and tried to keep it consistent throughout.
Thanks for the correction on the tenses, was struggling with adjusting that as I was plugging in my current job roles.
I'm not sure about the bullet point format for the last two, it would put the document over a page which i am trying my best to avoid.
It looks a bit better when it's printed out IMO. As to your second point, we represent landlords and tenants in commercial real estate transactions and a huge part of our business is to quantify our value-add. I've worked on several large projects as a grunt so I will try to dig up some specific numbers without raising too many questions from management.
do you think i have to many/should eliminate some of the current job roles/responsibilities and replace them with examples of projects i've worked on?
Thanks all!

i wouldn't necessarily axe anything in particular - all of it sounds quite professional. with that being said a statement like "Insightfully discuss and interpret results, identify key investment considerations and risks" is pretty fluffy and to me sounds like it is an unspoken part of the job - kind of like a labourer saying he puts things together. from a recruiting perspective, it sounds like "i did my job" instead of "look at how awesome i am at doing my job," which is where the quantifying comes into play. you don't necessarily need to go into extreme detail, just show how your actions directly resulted in some kind of benefit to the firm, or how you went a definite step above and beyond the call of duty in the position you were in. i know that ironically sounds fluffy after what i just said, but i think that's dependent on the context you're in at your company.

like i said before, i work in recruitment and selection for jobs, not professions, so take it with a grain of salt. job fit is easy to qualify - you either have the degree/qualifications/experience, or you dont. a statement like i highlighted before is a good example of you showing you have the job fit, whereas it should be evident you already have the job fit anyways through your education and experience. the culture/organization fit is much harder to determine, ultimately determines long-term success at the job and is largely based on behaviour so try to show how you have the right attitude, work ethic, etc. its one thing to say "im a hard worker with a good attitude" and its another to say "worked on X case as Y position and leveraged all available resources to ensure Z was completed resulting in ____."

coincidentally i interned at an hr consulting firm in toronto and the best lesson i learned from the ops manager mentoring me was how to speak management language - putting your skills and potential in terms of dollars and cents or quantifiable results will make management much more interested in you.

i hope it doesnt sound like im preaching or crapping on you, it looks really sharp and i wish ya the best of luck

 

[Joffrey]

My personal issues which are all formatting related:
1. Font is weird. Switch to something "normal" like Times New Roman or Arial
2. Font is too small. Actually in your font of choice it is. In TNR it's fine at 10pt'
3. There's too much stuff in your resume. More than one page is fine if you have experience that warrants it. You don't. Why do you need a Activities and Special Interests section? Your interest in skiing and military history&strategy won't make you good at your job. Since you're struggling fitting everything into a page, you have to cut out the fat. Also, why they Computer Proficiency section? Your semester at sea can be one line, people will get the idea you traveled around without mentioned the actual locations.

 

[chrisjr]



My personal issues which are all formatting related:
1. Font is weird. Switch to something "normal" like Times New Roman or Arial
2. Font is too small. Actually in your font of choice it is. In TNR it's fine at 10pt'
3. There's too much stuff in your resume. More than one page is fine if you have experience that warrants it. You don't. Why do you need a Activities and Special Interests section? Your interest in skiing and military history&strategy won't make you good at your job. Since you're struggling fitting everything into a page, you have to cut out the fat. Also, why they Computer Proficiency section? Your semester at sea can be one line, people will get the idea you traveled around without mentioned the actual locations.

Aye, good points. I appreciate you taking the time to respond and point out particulars.
Fonts were existing on the template I selected.
To your third point, I agree in part. I have received criticism on keeping my highschool on the resume, listing a political-party related job, and the things you mentioned. I keep the highschool on there is many people in the professional world in Toronto are alumnus of or send children to independent private schools in Toronto and can relate to that, as well it gives them the idea that you were raised in a particular manner with particular values. Rarely will they base the job decision on this but it assists in breaking the ice & setting a good first tone. That is the same reason why I listed special interests, as a way for the interviewer to easily grab onto something that we have in common and briefly discuss it before they dive into the nitty gritty stuff. Same reason with SAS i suppose, shows them (before i meet them and without them having to research the program online) the extent of the travels on the voyage.
Case in point I had target shooting on the CV when i applied to a number of securities firms last year and we had a great conversation at the end of the interview on where some good clubs were for him to take a group of clients skeet shooting.
With regards computer proficiency, that i simply in response to job postings requiring certain skills in the office suite and ARGUS. "Create and maintain financial models using Argus and Excel software for asset management, IFRS, and various variance analysis"

I'm going to play around with it this afternoon and either submit it around 4 or shoot it our Monday morning.

 

[chrisjr]



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

i work in recruitment + selection and a good part of my job is looking at resumes all day. it might be different in your field, but i find it its pretty tricky to accurately portray one's education, qualifications, experience, volunteer work etc in an aesthetically pleasing and appreciable manner in a single page. most resumes are viewed electronically and automatically filed as part as an e-database so 2 pages is quite legitimate. if the OP needs a physical copy it will either a) be ignored by the reception staff and he will be referred to an online application system anyways or b) he'll have it in an interview as part of a career portfolio, in which case one extra page in a portfolio is probably the last thing he should be worrying about.
with that being said, i work with jobs and not professions so all of this could be irrelevant. just curious, why do you feel 2 pages is unacceptable? is this particular to the legal profession?
i wouldn't necessarily axe anything in particular - all of it sounds quite professional. with that being said a statement like "Insightfully discuss and interpret results, identify key investment considerations and risks" is pretty fluffy and to me sounds like it is an unspoken part of the job - kind of like a labourer saying he puts things together. from a recruiting perspective, it sounds like "i did my job" instead of "look at how awesome i am at doing my job," which is where the quantifying comes into play. you don't necessarily need to go into extreme detail, just show how your actions directly resulted in some kind of benefit to the firm, or how you went a definite step above and beyond the call of duty in the position you were in. i know that ironically sounds fluffy after what i just said, but i think that's dependent on the context you're in at your company.
like i said before, i work in recruitment and selection for jobs, not professions, so take it with a grain of salt. job fit is easy to qualify - you either have the degree/qualifications/experience, or you dont. a statement like i highlighted before is a good example of you showing you have the job fit, whereas it should be evident you already have the job fit anyways through your education and experience. the culture/organization fit is much harder to determine, ultimately determines long-term success at the job and is largely based on behaviour so try to show how you have the right attitude, work ethic, etc. its one thing to say "im a hard worker with a good attitude" and its another to say "worked on X case as Y position and leveraged all available resources to ensure Z was completed resulting in ____."
coincidentally i interned at an hr consulting firm in toronto and the best lesson i learned from the ops manager mentoring me was how to speak management language - putting your skills and potential in terms of dollars and cents or quantifiable results will make management much more interested in you.
i hope it doesnt sound like im preaching or crapping on you, it looks really sharp and i wish ya the best of luck

It would be an application for a job in a professional office, so i greatly appreciate your perspective.
The line you picked out, funnily enough (and it is probably a bad idea to do this), was taken verbatim from another job posting for a more senior position (associate instead of the analyst level). You are right, it sounds fluffy & will be removed.
I'm still working towards being versed in management language. Interesting that you are in HR, are most determined people in that field pleased with climbing the corp ladder and aiming to attain a, say, COO position some day?

 

[jarude]



It would be an application for a job in a professional office, so i greatly appreciate your perspective.
The line you picked out, funnily enough (and it is probably a bad idea to do this), was taken verbatim from another job posting for a more senior position (associate instead of the analyst level). You are right, it sounds fluffy & will be removed.
I'm still working towards being versed in management language. Interesting that you are in HR, are most determined people in that field pleased with climbing the corp ladder and aiming to attain a, say, COO position some day?

no problem - i have somewhat of a limited perspective on things so im just passing on what has helped me. it really depends on what industry HR workers are in to answer that question. in classical organizations (manufacturing), i wouldn't say that most determined people in the field aim for a COO position - most A types are probably in sales or something less clerical/administrative, whereas the B types are quite content doing the filing and other busywork that HR is awash in. the go-getters in classical workplaces aren't necessarily driven to climb the ladder - they're more likely to get their thrills from stuff like enforcing occupational health and safety legislation compliance or butting heads with the unions. not to mention HR is pretty much totally separated from the ops side of things in nearly all organizations so the opportunities for getting to the top are pretty limited.

in more high-involvement and non-traditional workplaces (technology), an organization is going to be more reliant on high-performance work practices, talent management, etc. to improve which is up to HR. you'll find a lot of A-types whose job it is to essentially sell extremely expensive high-performance work practices to management; its hard trying to convince the boss that flextime, telecommuting, free catered lunches/gym memberships/etc, cafeteria benefit packages are worth it. given that HR is more integral to the company in that case and not in a totally separate structure, you'll have more HR aspiring to directing roles as their work has a more tangible effect on the wellbeing of the company.

 

[GreenFrog]

I disagree with having more than one page for a resume because at his age and experience level, he doesn't have enough significant experience to warrant two pages. Hell, I'm only 23 and will stick to a 1-page resume for at least another 3-4 years, probably.

 

[Ebichuman]

Plenty of good comments above and I would add one suggestion: for the sake of some white space and keeping it to one page - consider deleting the Special Interests section. I also find that stating computer literacy is trite. If you have advanced skills, please put them on by creating a Word doc or Excel table doesn't need to be on a resume these days.

If you want to highlight your financial or real estate knowledge consider moving the CSC and OREA to the top of education (if most recent) - that will make it/them stand out more.

It's a good resume so just make sure you tailor it to the postings you're applying and good luck.

 

[jrd617]

SPECIAL INTERESTS

Squash & Tennis Cycling Skiing Military History & Strategy Scuba Diving

This is odd. Take it out. No one wants to pay you to play squash for them. And military history? Do you plan on working for DoD?

 

[plei89]

I would remove relevant coursework. I never understood the need for that, mostly freshmen and sophomores in college put that stuff to fill up white space. In thiscse, you have too little white space.

Just my opinion though.