Non-boilerplate resume help, on the double!
December 21, 2014 7:55 AM Subscribe
Yay! Almost a year after taking the NYS Civil Service/Professional exam, I finally got my first canvass letter, from the NYS Insurance Fund, asking me about my interest in being considered for a Personnel Administration traineeship. Going by my previous questions, you might imagine that I'm VERY, VERY interested.. They want a resume before they'll even consider an interview. That's a problem.
Mine sucks- it's a sparse, directionless mess, lacking any sort of cohesion. Are there online services or places in NYC I can go to for real, one-on-one guidance, keeping in mind that I have to remit everything by the first of the new year?I have no idea about what the position entails, and I've never really had much HR-type experience, or experience of any kind, really. I need a job, though, and my resume needs to reflect that I'm willing to learn whatever skills are necessary to perform at a decent level. Where can I go for advice on how to convey that message with what I have now?
Mine sucks- it's a sparse, directionless mess, lacking any sort of cohesion. Are there online services or places in NYC I can go to for real, one-on-one guidance, keeping in mind that I have to remit everything by the first of the new year?I have no idea about what the position entails, and I've never really had much HR-type experience, or experience of any kind, really. I need a job, though, and my resume needs to reflect that I'm willing to learn whatever skills are necessary to perform at a decent level. Where can I go for advice on how to convey that message with what I have now?
Best answer: I can't recommend a particular service to you, but I do want you to know that if you go to 4 different "professionals" for resume advice you will get 4 different "this is the One True Resume" pieces of instruction. While there are absolutely ways to make any resume better, I just don't want you to feel completely demoralized if you come back from someone and they have it marked up with red on every line. (Seriously a few years ago I took a professionalally composed resume to another career advising resume professional and they slashed the whole thing through and said it was terrible.) It's an art not a science.
First good stop would be the career advisement office at a good university. Staff won't necessarily be on vacation yet and their workload will be smaller while all the students are on break.
posted by phunniemee at 8:16 AM on December 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
First good stop would be the career advisement office at a good university. Staff won't necessarily be on vacation yet and their workload will be smaller while all the students are on break.
posted by phunniemee at 8:16 AM on December 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: if you go to 4 different "professionals" for resume advice you will get 4 different "this is the One True Resume" pieces of instruction.
Definitely finding that to be true. I just... and maybe this is my own lack of confidence talking, maybe not, don't feel like I've ever really 'solved a problem' or gained any concrete skills. At the same time though, I can't just go and say " PAY ME 4 LEARNZ". It's hard...
posted by marsbar77 at 9:15 AM on December 21, 2014
Definitely finding that to be true. I just... and maybe this is my own lack of confidence talking, maybe not, don't feel like I've ever really 'solved a problem' or gained any concrete skills. At the same time though, I can't just go and say " PAY ME 4 LEARNZ". It's hard...
posted by marsbar77 at 9:15 AM on December 21, 2014
Best answer: The public library has you covered, though getting an appointment might be hard. Dig through the entire job searching page and see what else you can find. (They also have resume workshops, but none before the 1st. It's probably worth registering for one anyway.)
Also, go to the public library and dig through their resume and job searching books. There will be books full of sample resumes. That's not so much what you want. You want the ones that talk about why a particular resume is the way it is. I particularly liked the "Knock 'em Dead" series and the "Career Coward" series for job hunting books generally.
posted by hoyland at 9:19 AM on December 21, 2014
Also, go to the public library and dig through their resume and job searching books. There will be books full of sample resumes. That's not so much what you want. You want the ones that talk about why a particular resume is the way it is. I particularly liked the "Knock 'em Dead" series and the "Career Coward" series for job hunting books generally.
posted by hoyland at 9:19 AM on December 21, 2014
There is a resume review group listed on the Metafilter Wiki. I've helped several members spruce up there resume. On my phone so I don't have the link handy,maybe somebody else can add it.
posted by COD at 10:15 AM on December 21, 2014
posted by COD at 10:15 AM on December 21, 2014
You've solved a problem if you updated the filing system, if you documented the steps you took to compile a report, if you scanned old paper documents.
Another thing you can do is to emphasize your skills. For example, Excel is a very deep product. If you're advanced, say: Advanced Excel usage including: Array formulas, Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts.
What you don't want to do is to list the obvious, prosaic parts of the job. For example, if you were a receptionist, you don't want to put: Answered phones, signed visitors in and fetched coffee. Those things are understood. What did you do in each job that wouldn't necessarily be obvious, but interesting to another employer.
I would also encourage you to leave off jobs where all you did was earn money. Working at McDonalds can teach a person a LOT, but very rarely does one learn specific skills that are transferable to a corporate job.
If its a recent grad program, they're not expecting a heck of a lot of experience, but they are expecting you to be able to identify what you've done in your work life that they would like to see in their candidate. List relevant office jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities, etc.
If you like, I'm off through the end of the year and bored out of my mind, memail me your resume and I'll do it up for you. Do you have a link to the job posting? I didn't see it on the world-wide webeverse.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:52 AM on December 21, 2014
Another thing you can do is to emphasize your skills. For example, Excel is a very deep product. If you're advanced, say: Advanced Excel usage including: Array formulas, Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts.
What you don't want to do is to list the obvious, prosaic parts of the job. For example, if you were a receptionist, you don't want to put: Answered phones, signed visitors in and fetched coffee. Those things are understood. What did you do in each job that wouldn't necessarily be obvious, but interesting to another employer.
I would also encourage you to leave off jobs where all you did was earn money. Working at McDonalds can teach a person a LOT, but very rarely does one learn specific skills that are transferable to a corporate job.
If its a recent grad program, they're not expecting a heck of a lot of experience, but they are expecting you to be able to identify what you've done in your work life that they would like to see in their candidate. List relevant office jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities, etc.
If you like, I'm off through the end of the year and bored out of my mind, memail me your resume and I'll do it up for you. Do you have a link to the job posting? I didn't see it on the world-wide webeverse.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:52 AM on December 21, 2014
Don't even think of starting to revise your resume -- to say the least of paying someone to help you -- until you have a comprehensive job description. Being a state job, it will have an elaborate (as in quite likely multi-page) description of duties, pay, rank, promotion opportunities, etc. Consider finding and appropriately assimilating this job description into your resume the first installment of your application process.
Once you have that, don't overcomplicate things. If you have minimum work experience but a BA, you put your education first on your resume. Where you went, what you majored in, honors if you got them, and GPA if high, and a few bullets for your extracurriculars. List every job thereafter from most recent to longest ago with three or four bullets each that stress things relevant to your potential to fulfill the job description with suitable additional training.
Don't omit just-get-a-check jobs (McDonalds etc) if doing so otherwise would leave a long gap where you appear not to have been engaged in employment, education or training. It is very hard to fire civil servants, even when they're on initial probation, and so responsible supervisors are extremely focused on avoiding people who are just looking for a "safe" job where they can slack off. They will (and should!) much prefer someone who hustled 25 hours a week for $8/hour while back living with mom and dad after college, to someone who spent that time on XBox while sending out resumes. Consider including such jobs even when you were in school if they showed any real moxie -- I have always looked extremely favorably on people who waited tables or tended bar while in college because those jobs require that you move fast and accurately and deal pleasantly with people for hours on end.
posted by MattD at 11:07 AM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Once you have that, don't overcomplicate things. If you have minimum work experience but a BA, you put your education first on your resume. Where you went, what you majored in, honors if you got them, and GPA if high, and a few bullets for your extracurriculars. List every job thereafter from most recent to longest ago with three or four bullets each that stress things relevant to your potential to fulfill the job description with suitable additional training.
Don't omit just-get-a-check jobs (McDonalds etc) if doing so otherwise would leave a long gap where you appear not to have been engaged in employment, education or training. It is very hard to fire civil servants, even when they're on initial probation, and so responsible supervisors are extremely focused on avoiding people who are just looking for a "safe" job where they can slack off. They will (and should!) much prefer someone who hustled 25 hours a week for $8/hour while back living with mom and dad after college, to someone who spent that time on XBox while sending out resumes. Consider including such jobs even when you were in school if they showed any real moxie -- I have always looked extremely favorably on people who waited tables or tended bar while in college because those jobs require that you move fast and accurately and deal pleasantly with people for hours on end.
posted by MattD at 11:07 AM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
I have recommended them so many times that I sound like a corporate shill, but I swear by Resume to Interviews. You could contact them to see how much extra they charge for rush service during the holidays. Keep in mind that *you* also need to be available during this time because it does involve a fair amount of work on your part, but that's actually ideal - it helps you understand your own experience a lot better, which will make you a way better interviewee.
posted by radioamy at 1:01 PM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by radioamy at 1:01 PM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Here's what I recommend
Profile
Succinct sentence outlining your total experience, for example:
Five years of Human Resources and Personnel Administrative experience with local governments and large corporations.
Followed by Bullet Points of Skills and Specific experience
- BA in Business Administration with focus on Human Resources and Organizational Behavior
- X years experience using specific HR software (list all)
- Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and other Database Management software
- Specific experience taken word for word from job posting #1
- Specific experience taken word for word from job posting #2
- Specific experience taken word for word from job postiong #3
Professional Experience
Company
Dates: Month Year to Month Year
Title
One sentence description of job: Human Resources Administrator supporting directors of talent acquisition, benefits and compensation.
- Bullet point demonstrating expertise in specific HR program
- Bullet point describing solving a business problem
- Bullet point describing initiative taken
- Bullet point describing something created during the job
Do this for each job.
Education
Degree, School, Major
Date
Achievements
Achievement, Company, Date (year)
Employee of the Month, XYZ Company, 2013
Good luck to you, this is actually pretty easy, once you get the hang of it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:15 AM on December 21, 2014 [4 favorites]