Applying to a permanent job when the longest jobs you've had were at uni

September 22, 2012 4:47 PM

I have 14 months' of post-grad experience across 6 temp jobs (all related to each other). I'm applying for the permanent job I'm currently temping in. The longest positions (employment and extracurricular) I've held have been at uni. What do I do with my resume?

I'm a pharmacist. In order to become a registered pharmacist, you need to have 12 months' practical training post-uni. The 14 months I'm talking about is after those 12 months. Therefore, I've technically been out of uni for more than 2 years.

Currently my resume looks like this:

EMPLOYMENT
- Locum (freelance) pharmacist, 14 months. Full description
- Graduate practical training, 12 months. Minimal description--only 2 things which I haven't done since becoming registered.
- Pharmacy assistant (while at uni), 2 years 2 months. Is listed only as has been entirely superseded by my work as a pharmacist

EDUCATION
- Degree. Is listed only.

EXTRACURRICULAR
- All the stuff I did at uni. Haven't done anything since. For duration of degree (4 years) with some interesting positions e.g. on pharmacy society committee, university ambassador, and mentoring positions (this last one is specifically what they're looking for, and I don't have anything more recent than that). Currently being described in full.

Do I:

- Leave off entirely any or all of the extracurricular stuff, graduate training and pharmacy assistant jobs?
- Cull full descriptions of extracurricular and simply list under the degree in the education section?
- Keep going with full descriptions of extracurricular stuff?
- Any other suggestions?

Thanks! Also, this is not me being a downer, but just being realistic. I expect this position to be very competitive so there is a very good chance I may not get it. If this is the case, I will continue temping as I *love* the lifestyle (this is the only permanent job I would consider applying for because I know exactly what I'm getting myself into). Do I then leave my resume as is, since evidence of tenacity is not such a big thing, or still make changes?

Thanks!

posted by glache to work & money (3 answers total)

The thing that you should do is look at the position description and make sure your resume hits where it needs to. Highlight any key words in the description they're looking for (competencies, skills, attributes) and ensure they're highlighted as skills in your resume. Things like self-starter, mentor, etc. For some HR departments, it's about seeing those words in the resume. Paint as clear a picture as you can that your experience matches what they're looking for.

If your resume is 1-2 pages, detail is okay. If it's over 2 pages now, cull what you need to get to that level. You want to represent yourself well without taking too much of the reader's time to understand you're a good candidate. Good luck!
posted by Rodrigo Lamaitre at 5:13 PM on September 22, 2012

Can you treat 'locum' as a single job (like consultant) then list your major responsibilities and accomplishments and then just name the 6 pharmacies (or say Pharmacies include A,B,C) It is almost like that one section is more of skills type resume within the larger traditional resume. It would also help with not having to repeat all the common elements of the 6 positions.
posted by metahawk at 5:26 PM on September 22, 2012

Even if you feel you need to list them separately, you can talk about them as being related in your cover letter.
posted by gryftir at 1:25 PM on September 23, 2012