For my second Career Service Write-up I chose to attend a resume writing session that the career service had put on at the Tempe Campus.
The reason why I decided to go to this was because I was down about the lack of interest I got from people when I was applying to summer internships (see previous post). I felt like my resume was underwhelming and that's why employers showed no interest in my for their positions. So I attended the resume writing session with high hopes.
The class was short and pretty much to the point. They had a lot of helpers, ensuring that everyone got attention and were able to see each resume. I worked with a grad student named Quin on my resume. He said that I had a lot of really good work experience and the fact that I had been committed to all the jobs I have held (working there for 6+ months) shows a lot to future employers. Quin also pointed out that the level of responsibility I have had at those jobs is also very impressive and will get someone's attention eventually.
He did notice one glaring issue though. In my resume I used very mundane wording. A lot of "very," "exciting," "hardworking," and "smart," - generalized words. Quin gave me a sheet of paper with a list of replacement words that are more descriptive and aggressive than the words I had chosen to use.
I found this extremely helpful and he didn't make me feel bad about the original resume- just that it could be better.
I feel like that style of teaching is always best and encouraging. We rewrote my resume there during the session and it did seem more descriptive then the original. Hopefully now I can start getting more attention when applying to jobs after I graduate. I think I'll also go to classes that ASU offers on interviewing and professional conversation...so that if I do get an interview, I know what to say.
Thank you for the tips and I encourage you to keep plugging away at it. I recently attended a resume work shop for govt jobs. It was very informative..given by someone who does actual recruiting for the federal government. She gave similar tips to what you received and also very important to a resume is that you describe what you are able to do for a potential employer.
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Thank you for the tips and I encourage you to keep plugging away at it. I recently attended a resume work shop for govt jobs. It was very informative..given by someone who does actual recruiting for the federal government. She gave similar tips to what you received and also very important to a resume is that you describe what you are able to do for a potential employer.
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I also attended a resume writing career service event and found it to be very helpful! This event really helped me freshen up my resume that had not really been updated for a while. I was able to organize my "strengths" area of my resume with less generalized words, to words that had the ability to make me stand out. I think this will help give me an advantage and make me more personable.
ReplyDeleteI like how hands-on this event sounds. While one doesn't receive the personal attention that you mentioned and sounds like was the best part, I am hoping a resume writing session has been recorded and is available through the website. I'm glad you wrote about it because I know some topics are more beneficial than others via the career services webinars. I know what list you're speaking of and definitely need to take a look at it!!! I was fortunate to have a woman from the career services come into one of my classes and speak for an hour. I feel my resume is strong, but she certainly gave me some food for thought.
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ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very good career service event to attend I wish I would have taken advantage. I like how you described the learning experience as very hands-on. I am also preparing to graduate and it is definitely good to be as competitive as possible when entering the workforce. Good luck on your future aspirations!
That is unfortunate you did not have luck with attracting those employers for past positions, however, that is really great you took the initiative to make improvements and were open to critiquing. I took a professional writing english class, and I learned an up-to-date resume template. I had not updated the format of mine since high school, and the what employers are looking for has changed! I thought that was interesting. However, after updating the format of my resume, I actually got a job where the employer said he was immediately impressed by the professionalism of my resume! Good luck with the future use of your resume!
ReplyDeleteI found the list that had different words to use instead of the ones I was using very helpful! Sometimes I cannot think of how I want to say something and with the little list it makes everything easier! Glad you found it too!
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