Anyone really good with resume's?

[N2CHX]

I got a referral to a guy who owns a business here and he asked me for a resume when I talked to him last week, but he said he didn't have any openings. I hadn't sent him one yet because I didn't think time was of the essence. Well, I get an email from him today and apparently he now has an opening and really wants my resume.

I want to make sure what I send him is top-notch. Anyone want to critique and give me a little help with this?

[N8YX]

Summarize.

Keep it to a couple pages maximum.

Strongest skill-set closest to top of first page. If they're looking, for, say, a transmitter engineer we don't place two paragraphs of antenna phasing hardware-design experience up front...

[n2ize]

Yeah, thats basically what I've been told. Keep it relatively brief and focus on your strongest skills. If you have been out of work for a while make the resume skill oriented as opposed to chronological,

[N2CHX]

I tweaked my resume a little and sent it. Long story I'll try to condense. A guy came into my store last week and we talked for quite a while. He is a business consultant. He was asking me about how business was and we were talking about jobs. He then asked me for my contact info because he wanted to give me some leads on a good-paying tech job. He did, and I contacted one guy who owns a rather large IT business here in BUF. He said send a resume but he didn't have any openings right now. So I wanted to tweak my resume anyway and I put off sending the resume. I get an email this morning from the guy asking about my resume. That's when I posted this thread. I didn't really get a response at first so I sent off a resume with the tweaks I made. About three hours ago this guy walks in and guess who it was? You got it, the guy who owns the IT business. We talked for about an hour and it looks like he may hire me in January to fill in the gap -- pretty much do whatever is needed, from coding to cabling, fixing a server or whatever is needed at the time. He says he doesn't have enough of one particular need to give me a position that is narrowly defined, but a "go-between" is definitely needed for now.

His walking in to my store today really threw me off! But I am happy....

[NQ6U]

Great news, Kelli! Hope it all works out okay for you.

[N2CHX]

I still want help with tweaking the resume because if this doesn't work out I am still looking. I'll be getting back to those who contacted me willing to help. I really appreciate it.

[KG4CGC]

Excellent! That's fantastic and I hope things continue to look up for you.

[suddenseer]

Way cool Kelli. I keep my resume' to one page. I use chronological list of companies, and positions held. Use lots of verbs, id est 'directed, designed, built, repaired' describing what i performed. I put the education at the bottom. I put B.S degree with some post graduate work. I don't mention it's a degree in Systematic Theology that will not work for the tech jobs I have had. Every HR person who contacted me mentioned the resume' caught their attention.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

For all of its faults, one thing Texas does have is an excellent resume builder, and it is on line.
http://www.twc.state.tx.us/jobs/job.html

[NQ6U]

Hello.

For all of its faults, one thing Texas does have is an excellent resume builder, and it is on line.

The problem is, it only build resumes for cowboys.

[W5GA]

Way to go, Kelli...that's awesome!

[KC2UGV]

Excellent Kelli! Can't wait to hear the details :)

[K7SGJ]

Way to go Kelli. Actually, I was happiest when I was doing different things every day. Being confined to one discipline can get very old, very quickly. As mentioned above, try to keep it to one page and as brief as possible. Most human resource types get bored reading overly detailed resumes. Just whet their appetite, make it so that after reading it, they are curious enough to want you to go in for an interview so they can find out more detail about you and your experience. Or as Grandma used to tell me, if you can't impress them with your knowledge, dazzle them with your bullshit. Good luck.

[KA5PIU]

The problem is, it only build resumes for cowboys.

Hello.

Try it, if it can take something like GW and help sell him to an entire nation of dittoheads it has to be good!!!

[NQ6U]

Try it, if it can take something like GW and help sell him to an entire nation of dittoheads it has to be good!!!

That had nothing to do with his resumé and everything to do with his Daddy.

[N7RJD]

Hello.

For all of its faults, one thing Texas does have is an excellent resume builder, and it is on line.
http://www.twc.state.tx.us/jobs/job.html


The problem is, it only build resumes for cowboys.

Cowboys and Executioners.

[W3WN]

I still want help with tweaking the resume because if this doesn't work out I am still looking. I'll be getting back to those who contacted me willing to help. I really appreciate it.

Tell you what, send it over, I'll take a look at it and give you my opinion. Feel free to use any, all, or no suggestions.

I've had enough practice on mine and my wife's. Take that for what it's worth as well... :evil:

In general:
Keep it short -- 1 or 2 pages max. More than that doesn't usually get read.
Keep it concise -- hit the high points. And stay on point, don't go off on tangents.
Keep it honest -- don't lie or exagerate. If you get found out, you could get disqualified or lose the job.
Keep it neat -- simple layout, relatively uncluttered. No fancy fonts, no fancy graphics. Make it easy on the eyes to read; you don't want the reader to set it aside in favor someone else.

And... don't volunteer what you don't have to. Employers are not by law allowed to ask certain questions. Don't accidentally provide information that they're not entitled to.

[W3WN]

Hello.

Try it, if it can take something like GW and help sell him to an entire nation of dittoheads it has to be good!!!
That's only because when he talked about being a Texas Ranger, people thought he was in law enforcement, not the part owner of a professional baseball team. And help from daddy didn't hurt, either.

[KA5PIU]

That's only because when he talked about being a Texas Ranger, people thought he was in law enforcement, not the part owner of a professional baseball team. And help from daddy didn't hurt, either.

Hello.

Actually, he did hold a Texas special ranger commission.
I have held a reserve peace officer commission in the past.
To hold such a position really means very little, as even convicted felons have been appointed in the past.

[n2ize]

I have found that by and large resumes don't work. The best way to find a job is by networking and meeting people. I've found more professional jobs via talking to people in bars and/or be meeting people in various venues. I get the job ipso facto and the resume is usually an after the fact formality,

[KA5PIU]

I have found that by and large resumes don't work. The best way to find a job is by networking and meeting people. I've found more professional jobs via talking to people in bars and/or be meeting people in various venues. I get the job ipso facto and the resume is usually an after the fact formality,

Hello.

With the exception of large companies you usually do indeed get hired by the people in the field.
When I worked at Olmos Mr. Moynahan would always make sure I got a spot, not that he liked me, far from it, but that I did my job well.
He died and there was no longer someone to tell the brass that I not only did not want to move into another department, I could not, I am too emotionally unavailable to have the kind of relations that are common in an office setting, nobody wins.
I could, and did, repair lasers and move phones and terminals, rainy day work.
But I needed time to myself.
That is real hard to explain on paper.
Anyone who actually knows me or of me has no trouble whatsoever, as this is very common in both trucking and construction.

[KC2UGV]

Kelli, don't forget to target resumes as well. If you are sending the same one out to everyone, you're doing it wrong. Look at the description of the job, and work every entry over highlighting skills pertinent to that position.

[N2CHX]

Kelli, don't forget to target resumes as well. If you are sending the same one out to everyone, you're doing it wrong. Look at the description of the job, and work every entry over highlighting skills pertinent to that position.

I actually have an entire directory labeled "job hunt" on my netbook. In it are dozens of subdirectories labeled with the name of the company I sent them to and in the directory are the resume and cover letter sent to that company and the date. I have about five different versions of my resume, tailored for everything from broadcast engineering to coding to dog grooming.

[W3WN]

Hello.

Actually, he did hold a Texas special ranger commission.
I have held a reserve peace officer commission in the past.
To hold such a position really means very little, as even convicted felons have been appointed in the past.
Killjoy.

[KC2UGV]

I actually have an entire directory labeled "job hunt" on my netbook. In it are dozens of subdirectories labeled with the name of the company I sent them to and in the directory are the resume and cover letter sent to that company and the date. I have about five different versions of my resume, tailored for everything from broadcast engineering to coding to dog grooming.

urdoinitrite :D

[n2ize]

Kelli, don't forget to target resumes as well.

I targeted my resume. The first arrow went right through the center of it.

[WV6Z]

Good luck Kelli. I have also decided to not give up getting my career back on track. Oh and FWIW, I do get some RF Engineer positions emailed to me once in a while, I will try to find a way to pass them on to you here via PM when I get 'em.

[W3MIV]

My career is not only off the track, but they came through a couple of years back and pulled the rails and ties. My roadbed is now weeds.

[NQ6U]

My career is not only off the track, but they came through a couple of years back and pulled the rails and ties. My roadbed is now weeds.

My "career", if you want to call it that, never had any track. It just kind of meandered all over the place.

[KG4CGC]

One of the things about resumes is that no one cares if you were in 4H or any kind of scouting program.
Always remember to use extra punctuation because it shows that you are always on top of everything.

[W1GUH]

To anyone writing a resume for a hi-tech engineering job. Forget brevity! Seriously. That's for BS management jobs, where BS beats science. If you are going for an engineering job reporting to engineering management, what they want is detail, detail, detail,and do not worry about the number of pages in your resume.

What engineering managers and engineers want to see is actual, detailed stuff that you've done so that they can assess your ability to engineer solutions, and you can't do that with a BS "brief" resume. So put lots of detail in it.

Where you should "summarize" is in a section of you resume (close to the top) called something like "qualifications in brief." That's where you hook 'em to read into the later detail. Remember that it's an engineering manager reading your resume....someone who's worked in hi-tech LOTS and has dealt with lots of BS from unqualified candidates. For someone like that, the best thing to do is get very detailed about what you've done so you give him/her a good feeling that your resume isn't COMPLETE BS, and that you ARE very, very qualified for that job.

[W4RLR]

My career is not only off the track, but they came through a couple of years back and pulled the rails and ties. My roadbed is now weeds.Ditto. I was replaced by a satellite receiver and a Ku band dish.