It's been a while but I finally have time to fix it up! Let me know what you think. I'll have 2 different versions of my resume, and the only difference is my office description is travel or office related depending on what I'm applying for.
Office Assistant – Travel version
"Company Name"
Serve as backup/overflow Executive Assistant.
Arrange complex travel itineraries for the CEO that involved back to back meetings in different continents.
Research and book the most cost-effective travel arrangements for CEO’s family and friends.
Research and track hotels and car rental prices for best rate and value.
Research and interview tour guides to find someone who can provide the best travel experiences.
Communicate with airline staff to arrange alternative flights for CEO when there are delays.
Keep track and update of over 20 frequent flyer and hotel loyalty accounts.
Developed travel manual to streamline corporate bookings.
Train new employees on travel procedures.
Office Assistant – EA version
"Company Name"
Serve as backup/overflow Executive Assistant.
Manage all aspects of rapidly-changing executive schedule.
Schedule and manage staff for the office.
Manage CEO’s trips to help lower cost by price tracking.
Developed travel manual to streamline corporate bookings.
Developed phone “cheat sheet” and train employees on new phone system.
Train new employees on office procedures (phones, emails, CEO’s travels).
Assistant Manager/Server
"Company Name"
Managed staff to ensure food safety compliance and timely and excellent service.
Solved customers’ issues while maintaining customer satisfaction and restaurant bottom lines.
Physically managed the restaurant on owner’s behalf (opening, closing, receiving inventory, paying vendors).
Computer Lab Assistant
"College Name"
Assisted students and faculty with basic tasks and inquiries.
Set up and clean classrooms for lectures.
Manage front office reception area by cleaning and organizing desk and visitor lobby.
Sales Associate, promoted from Intern
"Company Name"
Organized shelves and store displays to reflect current promotions.
Assisted customers with inquiries, purchases, and returns.
Approached customers and made recommendations based on their interest.
Education
B.S. in Criminal Justice. Graduated 2014
Skills
Microsoft Office. Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, and Gmail. Dropbox. Skype for Business. FreeConferenceCalls (and similar programs).
Your resume as it stands isn't terrible, but it doesn't make you stand out in any way. I would not personally bring you in for an interview, let along hire you after reading it over. These are the reasons why:
- Start the resume with a short/simple mission statement about what your best qualities are and why you'll be good at the job you're targeting. This is a 1-2 line teaser to highlight what you bring to an employer that's awesome.
- Two different paragraphs are OK . . . but I think that you should have two completely separate resumes, one that targets a travel job only and one that targets an executive assistant job only. Dig up shit from those old jobs that is beneficial to the job you're applying for.
- Skills should have years of experience next to them, and your work experience should reflect where the skills were used.
- "(and similar programs)" is lazy. List them if you have experience with them, or don't list them at all. Don't make the person reading your resume guess.
- I find that it usually makes more sense to put your skills before your work experience.
- Your have descriptions of what you did for your past jobs . . . but you don't really say what you did
well. You don't say
why this should matter to the person currently reading the resume. Give examples that specifically show qualities you want to tell the employer about. Are you good with people? Are you enthusiastic and hard working? Are you detail and technical oriented? These are words that should be in your mission statement at the top of the resume. The job description section should prove through your experience that you weren't just blowing smoke up my ass.
- Don't just claim to have done things, back it up with hard data and examples:
Don't say "Research and book the most cost-effective travel arrangements for CEO’s family and friends."
Say "Researched and booked the most cost-effective travel arrangements for CEO’s family and friends, saving on average 20% per trip."
Don't say "Arrange complex travel itineraries for the CEO that involved back to back meetings in different continents."
Say "Arranged complex travel itineraries for the CEO that involved back to back meetings in five different countries and twelve cities on different continents over a one week time frame."
Don't say "Research and track hotels and car rental prices for best rate and value."
Say "Developed a spreadsheet and tracking metrics that covered both online prices and followed reward programs/coupons to always ensure that the best rate and value for hotel and car rental prices could be found instantly.
etc.
- Pick a tense and stay with it! "
Arrange (present tense) complex travel itineraries for the CEO that
involved (past tense) back to back meetings in different continents." FWIW - my preference would be to use past tense throughout your resume. These are old jobs/duties your are describing and you are aiming for a new one.
- You list Microsoft Office in your skills list. How much experience do you really have managing relational databases in Access? Be specific about what you have experience with (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.). This avoids awkward questions in interviews.
- There's no problem including interests and hobbies on a resume. The interests and hobbies must be related to the job you're looking for though. Employers don't care about who you are as a person . . . only about what you can do for the company. An interest in travel (for example) could well be useful if you want to work in a travel company, as long as you explain why:
I have an interest in travel - useless on a resume
I enjoy the planning aspect of travel and have first hand experience developing itineraries, booking flights/trains/buses and dealing with different languages/customs - beneficial on a resume
That's just my two cents though.