Gotta love that song by Donna Summer. That girl knew her stuff. Image via unknown.
I've been mentioning for a while now about a Resume class that I attended at my library. It was majorly helpful. Alot of people I know when I mentioned "Oh, I'm going to a resume class, IT'S FREE, so why don't you come with me?" they answered "Meh, I got one." or "Nah, it's okay, I'll figure something out." Maybe I just have an addiction to free classes?? Well I think that's obvious lately. At least it's not a strain on my bank account. Ironically only 7 people in a town of 15,000 people & a county of God knows how many attended. I'm still utterly shocked. AND i was the youngest one there by oh at least 15 years. What the hell? Who knows why?
For starters, I do actually have a job. However, I'm petrified of leaving my job. I get anxiety just thinking about it. I want to get something in my career of math or engineering but with those fields it's mostly a project basis and/or they want someone with the years of experience. It sucks. I basically need a company to give me a break and hire a recent graduate and give her a chance and not fire me in 6 months time. I've had friends that this happened too. My job now has basically become a safety net but I can't keep doing data entry forever. So I had to have my raining frog day and leap off in another direction. Ergo, I worked on my resume. A resume is going to be my foot in the door. I hope.
The instructor was actually the owner of
www.a-perfect-resume.com. His name is Greg Faherty.
GO TO THAT SITE!!! He actually will review a done resume for free and tell you what you need to do to fix it. That's not bad at all. The main thing he kept stressing was this is your advertisement so
Sell yourself to the company. If you can do it make sure you write that.
Here are a few pointers he taught us:1.) Keep Resume in a Positive Tone.
2.) If you are mailing in your Resume,
Do Not Fold it into a letter envelope. Place it in a manila folder and ship it in a large envelope to accommodate that size.
3.) Leave personality out of the Resume, make it
Facts only. Professional Tone.(Don't say, I'll be the captain of the job).
4.) NEED a
COVER LETTER!!! He said, "Odds are 50% won't read it, BUT you never know when it will be the other 50% that will get you in the door from the cover letter.
5.) Make it either 1 page or 2 pages. If you have to go to the 2nd page make sure it's at least half full. Don't do the 2-3 lines on the 2nd page n say you have a 2 page resume.
6.) Make sure you email address is a serious one. Perhaps a variation of your name.
7.) Companies want to know you can do the job so perhaps under the job description you did put 1 or 2 bullets of accomplishments. For example, "Produced 20% increase in sales."
8.)
Recent Graduates put education on top under the summary of what type of job your looking for. It shows you mean business about your education.
9.)
TOP HIRING MONTHS: September, October, February, March, & April. That's what the instructor said from his experience but he said keep sending out resumes as often as you can.
10.) Also list EVERY computer skill you have. Even Microsoft Office. It might seem basic but there are people who don't know it.
11.) Don't use any fancy graphics or fancy bullets on your Resume because it may not transfer good when a Human Resource rep opens the email!
12.) Dates of employment should actually go on the right. This way the eye automatically goes to what you did before the dates.
The economy sucks, nobody is hiring, but your resume can really help change things he said. I hope so. I never had a job where I actually truly needed a resume it's been only an application. This is all new to me. I feel like Tess McGee in the movie,
"Working Girl". She needed the right person to listen to her & give her a chance. I need that too please.
If I want to reach my goals I need to start taking steps. It's soo hard though. It is quite easier said then done. I keep saying that but it truly is. Part of me is like OHH Let's do this, let's go out and get that job. The other part is well if I stay at my current job I'll have X amount in my bank account and I could fall back on that. But if I don't leave I'll get stuck...........Ugh. I feel like I'm in a friend rut, a Mess rut (I love him dearly but eventually Mr. Brown-eyed Big is gunna be my destruction), a job rut, and a home rut. I need to move forward. One lil step at a time...Maybe fixing my resume from Mr. Faherty's tips will make me feel better, and give me some motivation to leave my job, not just yet, but soon. I can't just put it on the To Do List and never look at it again. Baby steps. Maybe just a lil every day...and build from there.
Somebody somewhere in high school or college really should tell people that your 20's are like one big Bi-Polar Disorder. Your mind races, you get confused, you seem lost, your head some days just hurts like hell, and then that shiny disco ball grabs your attention and off you go to something else. Oh and you feel like a mess some days. Baby steps. It's gotta be the way. Small lil steps, like a tight rope. Just PLEASE don't let me fall. Image is painting by Jean-Louis Forain, The Tight Rope Walker.
I hope maybe those 10 things can perhaps help one of you. It helped me, now I gotta write it. One step at a time. "Just breathe" - Ever After
I have a head for business and a bod for sin. Is there anything wrong with that?" - Melanie Griffith, Working girl, 1988. <3
