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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: gentmach on November 20, 2014, 01:55:37 PM

Title: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: gentmach on November 20, 2014, 01:55:37 PM
So I was having lunch with a friend of the family's and he said "The reason you don't have a job is that you mope around and don't present yourself well. You sabotage yourself before you even get in the door when you do that." Now, I will admit that I am slow. I do drag my feet (literally. I will try to adjust my walking style.)

But the comment still irked me, because with the advent of the Internet, you don't actually go to the businesses anymore so how could they see me? But he raised a valid point. I have only ever had 4 job interviews. But I have had 3 jobs though so 75% success rate.

I am now figuring that it is my resume that needs to be polished up. I have attached it below in Open Office Format. I took out the identifying stuff but from the rest of it, how does it look?
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: shotgunwilly on November 20, 2014, 02:07:07 PM
Oh man.... that needs A Lot of work. (Unless Microsoft Office Word is screwing up the format when I open it.)  I suggest you go find online resume resources.  Format needs to be completely changed, and you need to read about the wording that should go into a resume.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: Future Lazy on November 20, 2014, 03:28:01 PM
shotgunwilly is right, it does need better formatting. I opened it in libreoffice, and it's a bit weird. Open office formatting doesn't translate well to other programs, and that could be part of the issue.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vfV68z9Y1kVNyDuWbECBDYiX2M1IKdFQfa3DwntRoAs/edit?usp=sharing

There's mine, with the more personal bits removed. I like using google drive because I can send it to my potential employer via link and they can download it in their preferred format, including PDF - or I can attach it as a PDF by downloading it myself.

Here's my DH's example:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HvbCXJfx7qH6fc53DerEGqkIbnbgnGTN8TeoWUewFkQ/edit?usp=sharing

I like this format because it gives qualities first, and then employment history, and then education. Remember, a resume is an advertisement for you. Most people only read the first half of the page before they've decided if they want to talk to you or not.

But the comment still irked me, because with the advent of the Internet, you don't actually go to the businesses anymore so how could they see me?

It is valid, but in this day and age, job coaches etc will still encourage you to go in and talk to a manager after you apply. Show up like you're ready to be interviewed and put yourself out there. My DH also suffers from the slouchies and obviously-don't-wanna-be-theres. Just practice standing up straight, making eye contact and smiling - do it in the mirror until you don't feel weird about it anymore, and then go for a walk in a mall or something and practice walking around with good posture and making eye contact with strangers. Count how many smile back at you.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: kkbmustang on November 24, 2014, 05:18:36 PM
You want honesty, Gentmach? I've been in a position to hire a lot of people throughout my career, and I have. I've gone to bat for candidates I felt very strongly about (after interviews) and I've outright refused to give my yes vote for people I felt strongly would not be helpful or a positive addition to my team. If your resume had made it through the wall of two executive assistants, a recruiting manager and my staff/associates doing the first/second/third round of resume reviews, I'd be having a discussion with them. And not in a good way.

And I'm not being mean. I'm sure all of those people in the declined pile are nice people. But I don't want to hire people that are merely nice. If I have to work with someone 40, 50, or 60 hours each week, review all of their work, correct their mistakes, and teach them how to be professionally successful and mentor them, they'd better be a heck of a lot more than nice. They need to be smart, amenable to learning, willing to convince me why their position is right, organized, thoughtful, engaging and not embarrass me in front of my clients.

Your resume is the only way you can get through those barriers (aside from knowing someone who knows the person responsible for making a hiring decision) and convince me that you can do all of those things. Your resume doesn't really tell me anything about you, your skills, or what you would bring to the table.

What kind of job are you seeking? What skills do you have that would be beneficial to an organization with that position? What did you accomplish in your former positions? What problems did you solve for either your supervisor/manager or the end client?

I've agreed to review some resumes for people on here before. If you PM me and let me know you want me to do so, I'm happy to review your resume for you and give you more concrete comments. But I don't hold back and feedback is usually much more brutal via text/email than it would be if delivered in person.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: Spudd on November 24, 2014, 05:35:43 PM
As a potential employer looking at this, my first question is why do you have your first two employers as references, but not your latest one? Did you get fired from your latest?

For the references you will want to put the people's names. That way, if they want to call, they can ask for "Bob Jones" or whatever, instead of asking for "Veterans of Foreign Wars Treasurer".

I agree with kkbmustang that the information about your previous jobs should describe things you accomplished. "Used office equipment" is not very impressive. Honestly, anyone can use office equipment. You should provide more details about things you achieved. What tasks were you assigned that you were able to complete?

For the Burger King job, what is "expedite"? I worked fast food and I don't have a clue what that means.

Finally, you'll want to tailor your resume to whatever type of job you're applying for. For example, if you're applying for another fast food job, then you'll want to expand the Burger King entry to talk about customer service, quick food preparation, cleanliness, reliability. You can also talk about customer service in your office job description, etc. On the other hand, if you're applying for another machine shop job, you will want to focus on skills relevant to that.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: mozar on November 24, 2014, 07:55:33 PM
There is a free option for Microsoft Word now. It's important that format works when you send it. I didn't even want to open it.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: gentmach on November 30, 2014, 04:56:54 PM
Alright, we'll try this again. I used Word online to make a sure the format works.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: aschmidt2930 on November 30, 2014, 06:28:45 PM
This is way too cluttered, don't be afraid of a little whitespace.  I think you have too many bullets, and also find them way too broad.  Cut the number of bullets in half and be very specific with them.  Talk about specific projects you've worked on and any metrics you hit within them.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: netskyblue on November 30, 2014, 06:29:56 PM
Formatting could still use work.  Also, I'd for sure leave off your reason for leaving the most recent job (laid off).  They'll probably ask you, if you get to the interview stage, but you have a better opportunity to sell yourself at that time.

I took the liberty of putting your info into the same template I use, though you'll for sure need to read through it carefully and fill in/remove some stuff!  If you hate the look of it, that's fine, but maybe you'll find it helpful to look at, at least.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: southern granny on November 30, 2014, 06:36:12 PM
I was in a hiring position for many years, and this resume would not have gotten an interview with me.  It does look like you have some good abilities, but you need to do some work on the resume.  I would list most current job first and then backwards from there.  I would explain the gaps in your employment history (unless you were cooling your heels in the county jail).  Look at your capitalization of words. 

Other observations:  I would list your general qualifications after the job experiences.   Go into a little more detail on the job duties. If you had a good GPA, I would show it.  "Building and studying electronics", I'm not sure what this means.  Building what type of electronics?

I think someone else mentioned using a resume template.  I think that would be a good idea.   

Are you using the website "Indeed".  It was very helpful to my daughter when she was job looking.  They will email you job openings that match up to your qualifications.  Good luck to you.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: catccc on November 30, 2014, 07:04:14 PM
Wow, honestly, that is pretty bad.  (The updated one.)  I would pass this over without a second thought.   

Don't put the reason for leaving.  That is something you explain in the interview.

I personally like to see responsibilities, accomplishments, and "whys."  Any time you put down a duty, ask yourself "so what?"

IDK if this would help, but....

Like instead of:  "Cook"
Try:  "Food preparation, including maintenance of cold bar items in a timely manner, to meet changing customer demand."

In the first iteration of the duty, I see you standing at a grill, slowly flipping a burger.  In the second iteration of the job duties, I see you anticipating needs and quickly refilling the tomatoes (perhaps as you note that a soccer team has arrived), and you are glancing quickly at the screen and getting orders completed efficiently.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: Allie on November 30, 2014, 07:32:53 PM
I'll agree this needs some work.  I wouldn't want to list your trainings and specific competencies at the end.  When I was hiring, having the right license, education, and speciality was the first thing I would look for and would keep me reading.  Maybe this is different in more technical fields. 

Also, you should highlight the skills you utilized as opposed to the tasks you performed.  For example, I worked taking orders at a pizza place.  Yes, I wrote the orders, answered the phone, listened to people scream about the pizza being late, etc.  but on my resume for a job in human services I presented it as utilizing skills related to interpersonal interactions with consumers, deescalation of angry customers, managing the needs of multiple supervisors, etc. 

I can't tell you how to tailor your experiences to the type of job you want, but really think about how you contributed generalizable skills to your employers. 
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: Lia-Aimee on December 01, 2014, 01:36:36 PM
I'm your friendly neighborhood HR lady.  I'd also likely pass on your resume. Why?

Biggest red flag for me by far is the huge gap you've had between jobs.  If I'm reading it right, you had a 10-month gap between Burger King and Plastic Zippers (why did you quit BK before having another job lined up?) a 1.5-month gap between Zippers and Machine Shop (not bad) and now you've been unemployed for over 8 months? Perhaps I'm being unnecessarily harsh because I work in a very low-unemployment area, so if unemployment periods like that are normal where you live I apologize. If not, however, likely the very first impression the hiring manager hiring manager/recruiter likely has is that you either aren't very motivated to get/keep a job, or that clearly there is something undesireable about you that caused other managers to turn you down for a role. Is this fair? Probably not. But that's how it works.

Did you volunteer at all during those gaps? Stay home with your kids? If so, adding in your volunteer experience (chronologically, just as if it were a job) might be the way to get your foot into an interview. If not, your best bet may be to network a lot, see if a friend of yours can get you an interview.

Please do what catccc and Allie suggested in regards to showcasing your skills.  I personally like the format where each bullet point begins with a verb, such as "handled cash, including til opening and reconcilation; prepared both hot and cold food in a timely manner using safe food handling techniques."  Any accomplishments (ie. when you wrote set-up sheets for the machine shop, did that save time? Enhance productivity?) are great too.

I do disagree with catccc in that I think you do need to state the reasons for leaving...this wouldn't be necessary if you didn't have big gaps, but otherwise my assumption would definitely be that you were terminated with cause.


Depending on the culture of your industry, you could try walking in to speak with a manager - make that face to face connection.  Please be very respectful of the manager's time, however; hand her the resume, briefly speak of your interest in that role (1 min!) and then leave. If she wants to speak with you longer, interview you on the spot etc, she'll ask. Nothing irritates a manager more than having a plan to answer some emails between meetings and instead being waylaid by a desperate job seeker.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: gentmach on December 01, 2014, 04:02:27 PM
Actually, if my family had businesses I help with, would that help with the misconception that I was unemployed for a year? We remodeled the shop on our farm the year I was unemployed and the other business is seasonal lawn care. I also do the book keeping for the two businesses.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: Future Lazy on December 01, 2014, 04:38:59 PM
Actually, if my family had businesses I help with, would that help with the misconception that I was unemployed for a year? We remodeled the shop on our farm the year I was unemployed and the other business is seasonal lawn care. I also do the book keeping for the two businesses.


Yes yes yes yes yes add all of these skills yes.

Doing this kind of helping out while you're not officially employed shows that "rockstar go-getter work hard play hard" whatever type stuff that people always write about.   
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: southern granny on December 01, 2014, 09:15:15 PM
You have bookkeeping skills and you didn't even mention it?  You have so much more to offer than your resume shows.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: Lia-Aimee on December 02, 2014, 01:09:29 PM
Add in your fam business experience just like it was a job.  There is no need to mention on your resume that you were employed by family, that it was part time (if this is the case) and that there was only non-monetary compensation (if that was the case.)  If it matters, the interviewer will ask (exception: if you're filling out an employment application that asks compensation and number of hours etc., be honest.) 

Bookkeeping is great experience! However, since you have very varied experience, you will likely need to tailor your resume for specific job fields.  What type of role are you primarily looking for now?
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: gentmach on December 02, 2014, 04:31:19 PM
I am hoping for machinist.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: Lia-Aimee on December 03, 2014, 07:04:47 AM
In that case, make sure your family business job descriptions are geared more towards the use of tools and machines as opposed to bookkeeping (although don't leave the bookkeeping out!) I don't mean fabrication, as it's unlikely you've done that at the farm or landscaping, but tool use, any kind of fix-it tasks you've done (even simple unskilled labour fix-it tasks) and any machinery you've operated should definitely be underlined.  Feel free to PM me for additional help.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: Terrestrial on December 03, 2014, 07:25:16 AM
I regularly hire people...and like most others I would pass on this one, no offense.

In addition to the above comments....something I like to see is either a decent cover letter, or at minimum a statement on the resume with a brief explanation of what your career goals are, what type of position you're looking for, why you think my position will help you progress your career and why you are a good candidate that will be a good employee.  Something to set you apart, and at least get you in the door so you can sell yourself in person.  A good, focused, well written personal statement has gone a long way with me in getting an interview when the experience was less than stellar.  It doesn't have to be long, a few sentences at the top is sufficient.  Make it grab someone's interest and want to meet you.

Also try and tailor the resume as much as possible to the specific position you are applying for.  If it's machinist, slant your experience that way as much as possible (without lying/grossly exaggerating your abilities).  I HATE seeing resumes where it's clear the person sends the exact same one out every time, regardless of the type of job, and the resume they sent doesn't even look that applicable to my job opening, without any explanation why.  Make each employer feel that you really want THAT job.

Good luck!
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: Numbers Man on December 03, 2014, 11:06:06 AM
Formatting could still use work.  Also, I'd for sure leave off your reason for leaving the most recent job (laid off).  They'll probably ask you, if you get to the interview stage, but you have a better opportunity to sell yourself at that time.

I took the liberty of putting your info into the same template I use, though you'll for sure need to read through it carefully and fill in/remove some stuff!  If you hate the look of it, that's fine, but maybe you'll find it helpful to look at, at least.

That was an excellent job of rewriting that Resume. There's a lot of good advice on this thread from others as well.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: gentmach on December 03, 2014, 06:50:12 PM
So... If I put on a cover letter that I have no interest in becoming a manager at a company because I am interested in developing my own businesses, that would be acceptable?

Anyway, I used that template and here we go.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: Future Lazy on December 03, 2014, 07:01:27 PM
So... If I put on a cover letter that I have no interest in becoming a manager at a company because I am interested in developing my own businesses, that would be acceptable?

Anyway, I used that template and here we go.

Shouldn't the desire to start a business make you WANT to become a manager? All experience is good experience, including managerial experience.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: gentmach on December 03, 2014, 07:09:00 PM
Good point.
Title: Re: Resume Help (Would you Interview me?)
Post by: olivia on December 04, 2014, 07:35:05 AM
As a hiring manager I prefer to hire people who are interested in the field and plan to stay for a long time, or at least act that way.  Getting hired is all about selling yourself, and saying up front you don't plan to stay there forever (even though most people don't stay at jobs forever) isn't going to win you any points.