In my tenth grade year of high school, my English teacher helped me write my first resume. Fortunately for me, I had already held two jobs, including working at the convenient store at the end of my neighborhood and babysitting children in my neighborhood, and was able to include some minor accomplishments I had at that time. Since I had some experiences, but not too many, writing my first resume was just simply placing my experiences where they each fit. To this day, I use the same format I was taught in tenth grade and utilized it to obtain three different jobs and my internship. As my experience and accomplishments grow, though, I am constantly updating my resume to showcase my best and most impressive skills and accomplishments. Also, I am always looking for ways to better my resume. After all, a resume may be the only opportunity to land an interview. Thus, if my resume is not up to standard or not impressive, I may find it hard to find a job, especially after I graduate in the spring. Since I am hoping to find a career in the communications field, I took away some helpful tips from the book, "Resumes for Communication Careers".
To begin, it is always a good idea to put the most important information into a resume without making it very long. Additionally, there are some universal headings that are in many effective resumes, such as references, work experience, and education. Other special skills and accomplishments make for effective headings as well. A heading with contact information is another vital aspect of a resume. Along with the actual content in a resume, the language used is also very important. Using strong actin verbs may impress or interest the reader, which is a potential employer. After gathering information for the resume and rewriting it appropriately, assembling it in the right place is important. For example, my name and address should be at the top. Furthermore, certain things are optimal but optional, like a email address or cell phone number. For a communications career, email address may be very important, though. Electronic resumes are another type of resumes that may prove to be very beneficial in the communications world. Using links to a website I made or my blog may help to show my talent. Cover letters are also an important tool to showcase specific skills for a specific job. This could give me an opportunity to individualize a letter to an employee and may help to land an interview. Finally, proofreading EVERYTHING is one of the most important things to do when applying for a job. A resume needs to be completely error free so employers take me seriously.
Although I already have a decent existing resume, I can use these helpful tips to improve my resume to increase my chances of obtaining an interview. At my internship, I have learned the importance of proofreading anything that I do, especially when working for a company. If I send out an email that isn't fully proofread, I make the whole company look bad. These resume tips are also helpful in an everyday work environment.
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