Critique My Resume

[bringusingoodale]

You can tighten a lot of things.

Thing about resumes is that the cliches do matter: keep it short, make it readable, people will read it quickly, mostly scanning.

I recommend this book Gallery of Best Resumes libraries usually have them so check it out and just make copies of resumes you like. It showcases resumes categorized under specific career fields. Browse through the whole book to steal ideas and buzzwords. It really does help.

 

[chrisjr]



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

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.

very interesting perspective, i found that second paragraph particularly informative. best of luck to you out there.

 

[chrisjr]



You can tighten a lot of things.
Thing about resumes is that the cliches do matter: keep it short, make it readable, people will read it quickly, mostly scanning.
I recommend this book Gallery of Best Resumes libraries usually have them so check it out and just make copies of resumes you like. It showcases resumes categorized under specific career fields. Browse through the whole book to steal ideas and buzzwords. It really does help.

Thanks for the tip. I found a pdf of it here.
Ended up submitting it yesterday for consideration. Will be interesting to see if i get a call back.
Thanks for the tips all, hope others can use this thread to receive feedback on their resumes as well.

This was the most recent non-personalized version. opted for Times New Roman + Garamond. Will probably get rid of the special interests section going forward but i still see some value in it so the interviewer/manager can get a better idea of what i do with my time outside of the office and hopefully believe i am a well rounded individual.
[ATTACHMENT=3004]CV 2012 for review.docx (31k. docx file)[/ATTACHMENT]

 

[Stazy]

For what it`s worth, I attended a resume workshop yesterday and the recruiter specifically mentioned that they like the "interests" section because it gives them a feel of what type of person you are outside of the cubicle and if you'll fit in with the company culture. As for relevant courses, she suggested only using courses that are unique and will differentiate you from your peers. Putting accounting 101 when you're applying for an accounting position is useless because everyone has it. On the other hand, a wine tasting course gives you the chance to talk about how you're well-versed in proper etiquette and dealing with clients.

 

[GreenFrog]

Yup I fully support the inclusion of an interests section. I've had good, casual conversations as a result of my interests, both during my interviews and after when I accepted my offer and started working.

I became "famous" for wearing raw denim and everyone would ask me what it was while some of the more fashionable people (women) knew what it is and would talk to me about clothes in general. This led to their observation that I have well-fitting shirts and pants and some of the senior guys would ask me where I got my clothes.

So all in all good idea to include interests, IME.

 

[plei89]



Yup I fully support the inclusion of an interests section. I've had good, casual conversations as a result of my interests, both during my interviews and after when I accepted my offer and started working.
I became "famous" for wearing raw denim and everyone would ask me what it was while some of the more fashionable people (women) knew what it is and would talk to me about clothes in general. This led to their observation that I have well-fitting shirts and pants and some of the senior guys would ask me where I got my clothes.
So all in all good idea to include interests, IME.

You included fashion in your interests? I always felt that would be weird to bring up, especially during an interview.

 

[GreenFrog]



You included fashion in your interests? I always felt that would be weird to bring up, especially during an interview.

Lol no. I would never put "fashion" as an interest. I put "raw denim" and at the end of interviews they'd be like "okay, so what exactly is raw denim now? Ive been itching to ask you."

And then I'd tell them.

 

[plei89]



Lol no. I would never put "fashion" as an interest. I put "raw denim" and at the end of interviews they'd be like "okay, so what exactly is raw denim now? Ive been itching to ask you."
And then I'd tell them.

I would never have the balls to do that.

What industry are you working/looking to work in out of curiosity?

 

[GreenFrog]

I'm in management consulting.

 

[chrisjr]

so we're split on the value of "special interests" on a resume (is that what you call it on your resume, GF?).
also, i hate cover letters.

 

[Joffrey]

Yeah, Cover Letters suck but I always do them even if it's a short email with my resume attached.

 

[GreenFrog]

I just label it "Interests."

 

[imschatz]

RE: Cover Letters:

I saw a huge increase in interviews once I switched from a traditional paragraph style cover letter, to this format:
http://www.workopolis.com/content/a...w-style-that-makes-writing-cover-letters-easy

I went from getting maybe 1 interview for every 10 applications I sent out .. to almost a 100% interview/application rate .. and landed a job with my dream company within 3 months of switching.

 

[jrd617]



RE: Cover Letters:
I saw a huge increase in interviews once I switched from a traditional paragraph style cover letter, to this format:
http://www.workopolis.com/content/a...w-style-that-makes-writing-cover-letters-easy
I went from getting maybe 1 interview for every 10 applications I sent out .. to almost a 100% interview/application rate .. and landed a job with my dream company within 3 months of switching.

Thought this was a spam post till I saw the post count.

But I could see that grabbing the attention of hiring managers in sales. (A lot of emphasis on past results).

Were all these applications you sent out for sales jobs?

 

[chrisjr]



RE: Cover Letters:
I saw a huge increase in interviews once I switched from a traditional paragraph style cover letter, to this format:
http://www.workopolis.com/content/a...w-style-that-makes-writing-cover-letters-easy
I went from getting maybe 1 interview for every 10 applications I sent out .. to almost a 100% interview/application rate .. and landed a job with my dream company within 3 months of switching.

That's a nice format, have you got a word template?
Cheers