Interview Fundas

Tip 1 - Use Titles or Headings That Match The Jobs You Want

With employers receiving hundreds of resumes you must make sure that your resume hooks an employer's attention within a 5-second glance. A great way to do this is to use job titles and skill headings that relate to and match the jobs you want

Tip 2 - Use Design That Grabs Attention

Employers make snap judgments when glancing at your resume. If they see unrelated job titles or skills the likelihood is very high that they will make an immediate assumption that you are not qualified for the job you want. Adding to this problem is the fact that employers don't have the time to read through each of your job descriptions to determine if you have the skills they need.

1. Resume Essentials

Before you write, take time to do a self-assessment on paper. Outline your skills and abilities as well as your work experience and extracurricular activities. This will make it easier to prepare a thorough resume.

2. The Content of Your Resume

• Name, address, telephone, e-mail address, web site address.

• All your contact information should go at the top of your resume.

• Avoid nicknames.

• Use a permanent address. Use your parents' address, a friend's address, or the address you plan to use after graduation.

• Use a permanent telephone number and include the area code. If you have an answering machine, record a neutral greeting.

• Add your e-mail address. Many employers will find it useful. (Note: Choose an e-mail address that sounds professional.)

• Include your web site address only if the web page reflects your professional ambitions.

• Objective or Summary. An objective tells potential employers the sort of work you're hoping to do.Tailor your objective to each employer you target/every job you seek.

• Be specific about the job you want. For example: To obtain an entry-level position within a financial institution requiring strong analytical and organizational skills.

• Education

• New graduates without a lot of work experience should list their educational information first. Alumni can list it after the work experience section.

• Your most recent educational information is listed first.
  - Include your degree (A.S., B.S., B.A., etc.), major, institution attended, minor/concentration.
  - Add your grade point average (GPA) if it is higher than 3.0.
  - Mention academic honors.
  

• Work Experience
  - Briefly give the employer an overview of work that has taught you skills. Use action words to describe your job duties. Include your work experience in reverse chronological order—that is, put your last job first and work backward to your first, relevant job.
  Include:
  - Title of position,
  - Name of organization
  - Location of work (town, state)
  - Dates of employment
  - Describe your work responsibilities with emphasis on specific skills and achievements.
  - Other information
  

• A staff member at your career services office can advise you on other information to add to your resume. You may want to add:
  - Key or special skills or competencies,
  - Leadership experience in volunteer organizations,
  - Participation in sports.
  - References

• Ask people if they are willing to serve as references before you give their names to a potential employer.

• Do not include your reference information on your resume. You may note at the bottom of your resume: "References furnished on request."

3. Resume Checkup

You've written your resume. It's time to have it reviewed and critiqued by a career counselor. You can also take the following steps to ensure quality:

• Content:
  
  - Run a spell check on your computer before anyone sees your resume.
  - Get a friend (an English major would do nicely) to do a grammar review.
  - Ask another friend to proofread. The more people who see your resume, the more likely that misspelled - - - words and awkward phrases will be seen (and corrected).
  
  

• Design:
  
  These tips will make your resume easier to read and/or scan into an employer's data base.
  - Use white or off-white paper.
  - Use 8-1/2- x 11-inch paper.
  - Print on one side of the paper.
  - Use a font size of 10 to 14 points.
  - Use nondecorative typefaces.
  - Choose one typeface and stick to it.
  - Avoid italics, script, and underlined words.
  - Do not use horizontal or vertical lines, graphics, or shading.
  - Do not fold or staple your resume.
  - If you must mail your resume, put it in a large envelope.

The goal, of course, is to identify matches between the two columns. Once you have identified some matches, you can begin developing each of these qualifications in your resume. For example, if you listed good communication skills in both columns, then you'd start listing different experiences you've had that prove you have these skills. Maybe you worked as a customer service representative or took a class in business writing. In either case, you'll want to start listing the details of these experiences. Try to answer all the "journalistic questions" for each experience.

Use the journalistic questions

who?
write down position titles, names of your supervisors, leaders, etc.

what?
list your responsibilities and duties, special projects, etc.; describe the nature of your experience (volunteer, intern, academic, work, etc.)

where?
indicate place where you acquired such experience (the organization, program, department, division, etc.)

when?
write down important dates (starting date, ending date, dates of promotion, etc.)

why?
write down the goals--personal, professional, or organizational--you were trying to achieve

how?
itemize different procedures, techniques, technologies, etc. you used to achieve goals

Use the skills list

Another way to generate content for your resume is to look over the skills list. Go through the entire list of action words and put a checkmark next to all those that apply to you. Next go through the list again and check all those you think are most desired by employers hiring in your field. All those skills checked twice are the ones you want to develop and emphasize most in your resume. Apply the journalistic questions (above) to each skills word that was double-checked.

Designing Your Resume :

After you have developed some content for your resume and begun organizing your sections, you'll want to start experimenting with page design to help draw the eye to the right places and make your resume easy to read.

By force of habit, most readers begin reading in the top left corner of a page. So how can you improve the chances that something on your resume will be seen? Simply place it toward the top and/or left of your page (or of a specific section of your page).

Using the page design strategies listed below, you can draw the eye to other parts of your page as well:

Creating a visual hierarchy :

Using Cosistent Format:

No matter which combination of page design strategies you use, try to use it consistently for all sections of your resume. Create a template for your resume or simply jot down your design choices for

Major Headings

Subheadings (and sub-subheadings, if used)

Text/Body Sections (and subsections, if used)

For example, you may decide you want to use 11pt. Helvetica Boldface Caps for major headings, 10pt. Palatino Underline for subheadings, and 10pt. Palatino Normal Indented for Text/Body Sections. In a similar vein, if you use bulleted lists for Text/Body Sections, then you'll want to do so for all sections that contain similar lists. Also, if you are using columns in more than one section of your resume, make sure they are aligned across sections, if at all possible.

With so many design choices, it's easy to make mistakes here and there, accidentally switching font sizes, using boldface on a bullet, indenting a space too much, etc. When you proofread your resume, checking for spelling and accuracy overall, don't forget to proofread for page design as well.

Using Whole Page:

When resumes fill only three-quarters or half a page, leaving white space to the right or bottom of the page, they seem underdeveloped. By using the whole page, you give prospective employers the impression you have much to offer. However, if you put too much on your page, readers will likely get frustrated trying to read it. With the one-page resume now nearly standard, your challenge is to get the most into an 8 1/2" X 11" space without bogging down your reader.

Try the following test: fold your resume draft from top to bottom and then from left to right. Your page will now be divided into four equal sections or quadrants, like this:

Each of these quadrants should be as "full" as possible without appearing crowded. If you find, for example, that quadrants 3 and 4 are mostly white space, you may need to work on developing content (see above) or designing your page so that information is distributed more evenly. What are some strategies for balancing your page?

The single best strategy is to use columns. You might use one narrow column for headings, for instance, and a wide column for the body of your resume.

Or you may use columns within sections that include lists of information.

Note: Depending on the word-processing program you are using, you may find it easier to set up columns by inserting a table (with no borders).

Choosing Right Paper:

You may want to purchase a special paper for your resume. While white and off-white colors are fairly standard, other papers may work as long as they do not distract from the text of your resume. If you use a textured paper or one with a background pattern, check to see what your resume looks like photocopied. (Some papers photocopy very poorly). One last tip: try to coordinate your resume paper with your cover letter paper (and envelope) for a more professional application.