Resume Help

[Edaarin]

I need a little help with my resume. Namely, do any of you who have hiring responsibilities have a template that you recommend using? I don't have a problem keeping it to a single page, because my work experience is sorely lacking (I've only had one job ever).

How far back should I go? Should I list my high school GPA? My SAT? High school awards?

I'm also somewhat hesitant to list my GPA, because honestly my first year of college I spent a lot of time messing around and having fun. It showed on my grade report. It didn't help either that I kept trying to do pre-med, but I suck at science. My GPA for my major is 3.593 (3.423 if I have to include the two prereqs that were needed to get into my major).

Lastly, should I include information specific to the company I'm applying to in the cover letter? Or use a general one for every company?

EDIT: To clarify, my overall GPA is still above 3.0, but nowhere near my major's.

[Edited on 12-29-2004 by Edaarin]

[Nakiro]

Three year work history is decent.

This may help:

http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/ecep/resume/step1.htm

[peam]

I don't include my high school information. It screams wet behind the ears.

[AnticorRifling]

Make the cover letter as personal as possible, it shows you did/do research and you're interested in the company.

Leave out high school like stated above.

Make sure it's white or off white paper of good stock.

I'll email you what my resume and cover letter looks like and you can see if you want to use that style.

Don't lie on the resume, you can embellish but don't lie. It is a chance to sell yourself but it's not a venue to tell straight out fabrications.

If you need help turning plain accomplishments into bs that sounds good let me know, I've got a BS in BS.

[Suppa Hobbit Mage]

What are you applying for?

[Jorddyn]

Originally posted by Edaarin
I'm also somewhat hesitant to list my GPA, because honestly my first year of college I spent a lot of time messing around and having fun. It showed on my grade report.

Sounds familiar. I say list your major GPA. If you're looking for a job as an engineer, few employers are going to care about the C- you got in French Poetry of the 19th Century (though it might help you get girls).


Lastly, should I include information specific to the company I'm applying to in the cover letter? Or use a general one for every company?

Make it company specific. You can write a form letter and adjust it based on the company you are applying to, just be very careful to replace all instances of "Company name" or "Contact name" or "industry" with the appropriate information, or you'll come off looking like a goof.

Good luck!

Jorddyn

[Wezas]

Don't forget to include a glossy of your recreational activities:

http://members.cox.net/legendwezas/nipplebite.jpg

[Doughboy]

Whenever somebody comes into my shop applying for a position, whatever it might be. I generally look for a one, possibly two page if you count the cover. Usually a three year history is pretty good. Listing your major gpa wont hurt much. Especially if it's dealing with the job your applying for. Generally, who dont fuck off the first year of college. Definatly dont lie on it at all. And try to make certain any references are actually good ones. Not people that are questionable. Not too many companies actually call the reference numbers, but some do. I for one do, I like knowing who works for me. Im sure I'll think of other crap later to add to this....

[Soulpieced]

I put high school on mine since I had a number of impressive awards and leadership qualities that would not have been shown otherwise. Also had a pretty good GPA, so I see nothing wrong with using high school if there isn't much else to embellish with. And look at me, I have a crappy low-paying government job :bouncy:

[Jazuela]

Back when I used to actually care about a career, I made a point of -not- putting an objective at the top of my resume. I usually got comments from interviewers on that...they'd ask what my objective is and why I omitted it from my resume. My response: My objective is to find a job. I thought that was obvious enough that I didn't need to put it on my resume.

If the potential employer chuckled, or indicated somehow that he found it refreshingly amusing, I'd know I was applying to the kind of company I wanted to work for. If he seemed offended, I knew that I wouldn't get the job, and that I wouldn't want it anyway.

Back then though, it was an employee's market. People were being hired off the streets to fill positions that had gone vacant for months. I was able to be picky, and it was not just the company interviewing me, it was me interviewing my potential employer. These days is a whole nuther ballgame, but try to keep things in perspective. Even though everyone is desperate for work, remember this:

No matter how much you need a job, you need a job that you can stick with even more. A sense of humor is CRUCIAL. Reflect it politely, express it tactfully, but definitely let your potential employer know that you have one, and try to find one that has one as well. When the shit hits the fan at work, you NEED to be able to laugh at yourself. And you need to know that your boss doesn't mind when you do so.

[Edaarin]

Basically, this is what I have to work with.

ACADEMIC INFO

Overall GPA: 3.158 (I bombed semesters 1 and 4, didn't do so great in semester 2 either)
Major GPA: 3.4233
Fall 2004: 3.5933

High school GPA: 3.75 (#1 public school in the country)
SAT I: 1520
SAT II: 800, 780, 740
AP Scholar with Distinction

University Achievement Award Scholarship recipient (4 years, full tuition)
Colgate-Darden Scholar (small scholarship)

Major: Commerce, concentrations in: Finance, Information Technology
Minor: Economics

WORK EXPERIENCE, ACTIVITIES:

Summer 2004 - Pharmacy Technician @ Giant Drug
Fall 2004-Spring 2005 - Resident Advisor
Fall 2003-Spring 2004 - Big Sibling Program

[Mistomeer]

Not sure if anyone mentioned, but I would recommend not using any kind of template like the ones built into Word. After looking over resumes, I get tired of seeing the ones generated through Office.