May 10, 2000

Resume Workshop

Writing a resume is a task that most of us dread when faced with our next career move. Many people tend to look back on their lives with either too much humility or unfounded conceit when attempting to capture their educational and professional background for prospective employers. No matter which side of the coin you tend to fall on, there are some basic questions you can use to prepare yourself for this effort.

What sort of transition are you making?

• Are you going for your first job in a particular field?
• Have you recently graduated from school or completed a professional certification?
• Is this a "lateral" or "vertical" move for you?

What job are you looking for?

• Forget the job market! What's your dream job?
• What field are you trying to get into? Or are you in your chosen field already?
• What skills are employers looking for to fill that role? (If you don't know, look around!)

Who is the employer of your dreams?

• Do you get bored at the thought of working for a big company? Or do larger employers provide you with a sense of security and comfort?
• Is the mission of an organization important to you? Or is a job just a job to you?
• Do you prefer routine and structure? Or is extreme flexibility of primary importance in your work schedule?
• What employment benefits matter the most to you? What are they?

What do you want out of your next job?

• More money?
• More interesting work?
• More play time?
• Meaning and fulfillment?

The Nitty Gritty of Getting it Written
Now that you've answered those questions, you should have a better of idea of what job you want and which sort of employer you want to work for.

OK, OK, maybe you knew the basics of that already. However, spelling it out for yourself will only help you focus on the aspects of your educational and work history that are most important for your audience.

Yes, I just used the word "audience." Anyone who has taken any sort of Journalism, Communications, or a Creative Writing class knows that this is key to writing effectively.

Know your audience — in the case of a resume, your audience is your prospective employer. This piece of advice applies to everyone regardless of your professional training and background. Each of you gets to be a marketing writer when you create your resume.

Resume Formats
There are as many different specific formats out there as there are jobs to be had. Let your sense of style be your guide, but use a style guide like Chicago, Strunk and White or Merriam-Webster to help you use punctuation and verb tenses correctly.

Most resumes tend to fall into one of three basic formats:

One page or as many as it takes?
That depends on where you're applying. A one page resume is usually enough to grab a corporate employer's attention if it is packed with details that are relevant to your successes in school or work. Larger institutions, such as the University of Washington and Microsoft, may require that you provide a more complete and chronological work history.

Do your homework. Learn as much as you can about what works for the employer you are targeting before you write your resume. You'd be surprised what you can find out from networking a little. Insider advice can be golden when you're trying to get noticed for an opening.

"Dot-com" It
Whether you know what you're seeking or not, it never hurts to submit information to reputable online resume databases. Many recruiters have turned to using Web resources — like Techies.com, Monster.com, or Headhunter.com to name a few — to locate promising candidates.

If the thought of writing a traditional paper resume still gives you "the fear," try using one of these services. Most are free and provide tools that will walk you through the process of recording your work history in their preferred format.

Going to the "Cattle Calls?"
Get creative. Use colors. Put your computer skills at the top. Keep it short and packed with power words. Run off fifty copies of your resume and hit the job fairs. Even if you don't expect to get a nibble at such an event, these are great opportunities to talk with people from a wide variety of companies in our area. They can be a great place to begin doing your homework.

You didn't get a call? So what! If you spent a few minutes talking with a company representative while you gathered their giveaways, you learned something about their culture and hiring practices as well. Great ammunition for a resume rewrite!

One Last Bit of Advice
Any writer who has read her own material over and over again will miss seeing misspellings and grammatical errors. Have a friend check your resume for typos and the like before you send it out. Small mistakes can cost you that interview you deserve.

Jenny Neill has spent her entire professional career doing various forms of writing and editing. After working for larger employers like Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Washington, and contracting for Microsoft, she decided to try her luck at a dot-com. She currently works as a Health Content Architect at CVS.com, a wholly owned subsidiary of CVS/pharmacy, the nation's largest retail provider of prescriptions. Jenny is also a founding member of Seattle Writergrrls, a professional network for women writing and working in current and emerging media.