Résumé help please!

[fihe]

In college, I studied to be a teacher but haven't had any luck getting a full-time position since I graduated in May 2012. I've only had five interviews this year (none last year) with no success. I'm certified to teach social studies but have been working as a substitute teacher and an extracurricular science instructor, so at least I have no gaps in my résumé. But I can't live on those jobs, so I'm wondering if I should look into other industries. I just hope any employer would consider me with my work experience!

I registered for a job fair this Tuesday, which specifies that it "invites all professionals with Sales/ Retail /Marketing and Management / Banking / Finance backgrounds", which I have very little of. I'm used to submitting résumés for teaching jobs, so I've had to modify my résumé while keeping it to a page, which is a real challenge!

I've made a copy of my full résumé here, which I realize is too long, and an abbreviated one which I plan to submit at the job fair, unless I could get some suggestions on how to make it better. The names have been changed for privacy reasons The reason why I specify "Professional Experience" as opposed to "Work Experience" is that many of the positions were unpaid.

Full Résumé

Short Résumé
(Even though the PDF shows it as going onto page 2, in Microsoft Word on my computer it was just one page.)

Last edited on 08/18 at 6:15pm: changed some wording, added useful descriptions, removed unnecessary/redundant information

Cliffs:
• OP has teaching background
• No full-time jobs in education; need to look into other fields
• Not much experience in anything besides education
• Attending job fair this Tuesday
• Needs help with résumé; links above

[acrawlingchaos]

Do you have a cover letter?

[fihe]

Do you have a cover letter?

I write each cover letter customized to the individual school district/company I'm applying to. However, the job fair only requires that I bring a résumé. It did not even disclose exactly what companies will be present!

[ACI]

For my resume for teaching (yay same boat)... I actually put two sub-headings under employment: Professional Development in Education (which has all my teaching experience - practicum, jobs, volunteering). And then I have Additional Employment (which has all my other employment that is NOT 10+ years old).

For all other jobs, I have a completely different resume.


I don't want to sound harsh, but I would jazz up your resume a bit.

I attached the resume I use for jobs (of course, altered to avoid personal information).

[fihe]

For my resume for teaching (yay same boat)... I actually put two sub-headings under employment: Professional Development in Education (which has all my teaching experience - practicum, jobs, volunteering). And then I have Additional Employment (which has all my other employment that is NOT 10+ years old).

For all other jobs, I have a completely different resume.


I don't want to sound harsh, but I would jazz up your resume a bit.

I attached the resume I use for jobs (of course, altered to avoid personal information).

Sounds interesting. Here, the only description I used was for my most recent job, although I think that it would be valuable for me to list what I did on the e-board of my sorority. In the 2.5 years I served, I was secretary, treasurer, Greek Council rep, subhouse rep, and president, plus I made some snazzy flyers (no actual position just for that). I usually had more than one position at a time, since we were a small chapter. But there's no room to list what I did there! :O I listed my experience for my most recent job only.

You listed your education all the way back to eighth grade? Well that's unusual. Is that typical of Canadian résumés? Here in the US most people only list their university education.

How could I jazz up my résumé? I don't have a lot of space :\

[ACI]

Sounds interesting. Here, the only description I used was for my most recent job, although I think that it would be valuable for me to list what I did on the e-board of my sorority. In the 2.5 years I served, I was secretary, treasurer, Greek Council rep, subhouse rep, and president, plus I made some snazzy flyers (no actual position just for that). I usually had more than one position at a time, since we were a small chapter. But there's no room to list what I did there! :O I listed my experience for my most recent job only.

You listed your education all the way back to eighth grade? Well that's unusual. Is that typical of Canadian résumés? Here in the US most people only list their university education.

How could I jazz up my résumé? I don't have a lot of space :\

I put just the High School Prep Program because it has "Time Management" to show that I've been trained in proper time management. During Careers Studies in grade 10 my teacher told us that putting your high school isn't a bad thing (granted.. I don't know if it's different in the US as in Canada. I don't even know if it's mandatory for you to take a Careers Studies class).

Size of font can be altered. Type of font. To get more space, put your name and contact information in the header, rather than below it. Play with the margins to be 1 inch all around. When you use bullets, indent those lines to make them look as part of the above information (like additional information) to make it easier to differentiate between information. Try putting a little bit of information about each job position (rather than just your position). I put PRESENT (my current position) in capital letters to stand out so they know exactly where I am right now.

[lotusdeva]

I would put your education last - you don't want your employer to think you just graduated from college yesterday. Also, I would modify it as follows:

1.
Add Objective section as your first section - what do you want to do in two sentences. Something like:

Objective
-------------
To obtain challenging position where I can further utilize my skills in blah, blah, blah (google it, here for example: http://jobmarketmonitor.com/2012/06/...sume-template/)

2.
Get rid of Other skills section. Computer skills are important in almost any position, so you want to highlight yours. Also, Adobe Acrobat is very easy to use, along with MS Word, Excel, etc. I would not use 'moderate proficiency' here. It just sounds strange. Did you use any other computer programs in college?


Computer Skills:
--------------------
MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint

Languages:
-----------------
Spanish

If you not going to get rid of Other section, at least change 'in the Spanish language' to 'in Spanish'

Honestly, your resume screams intern. If I was going for a position in sales, I would probably get rid of the following:

- sorority
- change fieldwork student to field worker in Wille Colon School
- get rid of Urban teaching academy - volunteer thing

Good luck!

[fihe]

I would put your education last - you don't want your employer to think you just graduated from college yesterday. Also, I would modify it as follows:

1.
Add Objective section as your first section - what do you want to do in two sentences. Something like:

Objective
-------------
To obtain challenging position where I can further utilize my skills in blah, blah, blah (google it, here for example: http://jobmarketmonitor.com/2012/06/...sume-template/)

2.
Get rid of Other skills section. Computer skills are important in almost any position, so you want to highlight yours. Also, Adobe Acrobat is very easy to use, along with MS Word, Excel, etc. I would not use 'moderate proficiency' here. It just sounds strange. Did you use any other computer programs in college?


Computer Skills:
--------------------
MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint

Languages:
-----------------
Spanish

If you not going to get rid of Other section, at least change 'in the Spanish language' to 'in Spanish'

Honestly, your resume screams intern. If I was going for a position in sales, I would probably get rid of the following:

- sorority
- change fieldwork student to field worker in Wille Colon School
- get rid of Urban teaching academy - volunteer thing

Good luck!

On the short résumé, I actually took out "fieldwork student" altogether since it's at the same school I did my student teaching at, and not of as much importance. The reason why I kept the UTA was because I thought maybe they would find it useful that I worked in urban areas, but I suppose that's not totally necessary either, especially because my entire student teaching experience was in such an area.

I'm reluctant to remove the sorority experience because it's probably the only time I've applied the computer and leadership skills that these companies are looking for. I had to do a lot of work with school administration and other school organizations! As the chapter secretary, I also made semesterly portfolios of our events and finances. I helped plan events and sometimes had to solicit donations. (That was difficult for me since I felt like I was bothering people.)

But I think if I remove the UTA thing, I should have a little more room to make those modifications to the "Other Skills" section. As for the computer skills, I have only ever used Dropbox besides those other programs, but that's pretty easy to use too. The reason why I specified "moderate proficiency" was so that they wouldn't think I'm super advanced, because I'm not -_- I wonder if they'd like to see some samples of the flyers I made for my sorority. Some of them were pretty good despite me not being a Photoshop expert. I also put "moderate proficiency" for Spanish because on LinkedIn they make you select what other languages you speak and your level of proficiency.

I'm not sure how to make my résumé look less like that of an intern. What do you mean? And do I really need an objective? I heard no one uses that anymore. Space is at a huge premium!

[ACI]

If you have completer and leadership skills, I would add it under a skills section and say you are proficient in (computer program/skills), well versed in team leadership, and fluent in Spanish (Speaking and Writing).

Adding a skills section also makes you put ALL this information in one line/area so they stand out much more.

[lotusdeva]

On the short résumé, I actually took out "fieldwork student" altogether since it's at the same school I did my student teaching at, and not of as much importance. The reason why I kept the UTA was because I thought maybe they would find it useful that I worked in urban areas, but I suppose that's not totally necessary either, especially because my entire student teaching experience was in such an area.

I'm reluctant to remove the sorority experience because it's probably the only time I've applied the computer and leadership skills that these companies are looking for. I had to do a lot of work with school administration and other school organizations! As the chapter secretary, I also made semesterly portfolios of our events and finances. I helped plan events and sometimes had to solicit donations. (That was difficult for me since I felt like I was bothering people.)

But I think if I remove the UTA thing, I should have a little more room to make those modifications to the "Other Skills" section. As for the computer skills, I have only ever used Dropbox besides those other programs, but that's pretty easy to use too. The reason why I specified "moderate proficiency" was so that they wouldn't think I'm super advanced, because I'm not -_- I wonder if they'd like to see some samples of the flyers I made for my sorority. Some of them were pretty good despite me not being a Photoshop expert. I also put "moderate proficiency" for Spanish because on LinkedIn they make you select what other languages you speak and your level of proficiency.

I'm not sure how to make my résumé look less like that of an intern. What do you mean? And do I really need an objective? I heard no one uses that anymore. Space is at a huge premium!

Intern meaning you just got out of school, you don't really have that much experience and you are willing to work for free. So, I would change it as I described Remove 'moderate proficiency' - if I saw that on your resume I would think something is not right there. Just being honest. MS Word is basic, you either can use it or you can't. If you graduated from college you should be able to use it pretty well Don't worry about being an expert. If it comes down to it and you don't know something you can always google it or look at some help guide. The most important quality that ANY employer is looking for is (IMXO) being resourceful - i.e. even if you don't know how to do something you will be able to figure it out.

Sorority experience - Event planner/organizer - maybe it sounds better?

2 page resume is pretty good, it doesn't have to be 1 page. I have not seen a resume without either Objective or Summary of Qualifications section. A person hiring you is looking at possibly hundreds resumes a day, you want them look at yours and get interested. So say they have a position to fill - Sales Rep, for example. They are going through your resume - college is first, then teaching jobs, then some irrelevant to this position stuff, they have to keep digging to get what they need out of it. If you have some catch phrase right from the beginning, exactly what they are looking for - you got their attention.

[Grant73]

I would list the job/career you are interested in and then list experiences in that field. Next I would have a heading called "key competencies" and list bullet points. Then I would go into professional experience. Write a brief summary of what your job entailed. Under that you can make a heading called professional highlights and list 3 to 4 important points. List what you accomplished. After that I would list formal education. Then awards and then skills.

You want to write your resume in an active voice.

[fihe]

2 page resume is pretty good, it doesn't have to be 1 page. I have not seen a resume without either Objective or Summary of Qualifications section. A person hiring you is looking at possibly hundreds resumes a day, you want them look at yours and get interested. So say they have a position to fill - Sales Rep, for example. They are going through your resume - college is first, then teaching jobs, then some irrelevant to this position stuff, they have to keep digging to get what they need out of it. If you have some catch phrase right from the beginning, exactly what they are looking for - you got their attention.

I heard that most employers will either only look at the first page or discard the application if the résumé is more than a page. That's my worry. I suppose I could put education after the work experience, but should it go before or after "Skills"?

The reason why I kept my teaching experience on there is because I thought they may find it at least moderately relevant to whatever position they may have. I could delete the student teaching, but some companies may find it valuable that I worked in the biggest city in the state, whose school system is one of only four in the state under state control. (They probably won't know that if they don't work in education, but the district/city is known to have a lot of "unique challenges".)

I would list the job/career you are interested in and then list experiences in that field. Next I would have a heading called "key competencies" and list bullet points. Then I would go into professional experience. Write a brief summary of what your job entailed. Under that you can make a heading called professional highlights and list 3 to 4 important points. List what you accomplished. After that I would list formal education. Then awards and then skills.

You want to write your resume in an active voice.

I would make it more specific, but I don't know who the employers are or the types of jobs being offered! I wish this information would be disclosed in advanced! But wouldn't "Key Competencies" be the same as "Skills"?

[Grant73]

I heard that most employers will either only look at the first page or discard the application if the résumé is more than a page. That's my worry. I suppose I could put education after the work experience, but should it go before or after "Skills"?

The reason why I kept my teaching experience on there is because I thought they may find it at least moderately relevant to whatever position they may have. I could delete the student teaching, but some companies may find it valuable that I worked in the school system of the biggest city in the state, whose school system is one of only four in the state under state control.



I would make it more specific, but I don't know who the employers are or the types of jobs being offered! I wish this information would be disclosed in advanced! But wouldn't "Key Competencies" be the same as "Skills"?

You could say key competencies and skills are the same.

Edit: I would treat them differently. Key Competencies would be job specific. Skills would be anything else like computer skills, microsoft office, or adobe or a foreign language.

[fihe]

You could say key competencies and skills are the same.

Edit: I would treat them differently. Key Competencies would be job specific. Skills would be anything else like computer skills, microsoft office, or adobe or a foreign language.

Ah, I see. I think I'll omit the "Key Competencies" because I don't even know what kinds of jobs will be present at this fair. They specified the industries but not the types of jobs.

[fihe]

Bump! I added some information to the "Executive Board Member" title. I hope it counts for something. I worked so hard and learned so much in my 2.5 years on the board!

As for my most recent job, maybe I don't need to be so specific and just say "Allow students to apply acquired knowledge through hands-on projects"?

[UnaChispita]

Do you want to teach?

Would you consider moving to another state/country to build your teaching resume?

[fihe]

Do you want to teach?

Yes, but there are insufficient jobs in my area.

Would you consider moving to another state/country to build your teaching resume?

Only as a very last resort. I first need to exhaust my possibilities where I am now.

But what would any random hiring manager think of my résumé?

[UnaChispita]

Yes, but there are insufficient jobs in my area.



Only as a very last resort. I first need to exhaust my possibilities where I am now.

But what would any random hiring manager think of my résumé?

Read the long one.

Personally, I don't like the formatting, nor the fact that you have written it in the present tense.

Also, you need to be more specific about your skills and qualifications. The adjectives and verbs are pretty vague. If you want to go into sales, what aspects of your previous employment would lend itself to that type of job? For example, in education, you work with students, parents and colleagues. What about that experience would crossover to the business setting? You need to think about what skills will be emphasized in this upcoming job fair. I'd go to the websites of various businesses that will be there and read up; print their home pages and mission statements/visions. Circle any words that seem important. Look to your resume to see where you can incorporate similar words or emphasize certain skills.

Since I don't know what jobs you're applying for, it is difficult for me to say for sure.

GL.

[fihe]

Read the long one.

Personally, I don't like the formatting, nor the fact that you have written it in the present tense.

Also, you need to be more specific about your skills and qualifications. The adjectives and verbs are pretty vague. If you want to go into sales, what aspects of your previous employment would lend itself to that type of job? For example, in education, you work with students, parents and colleagues. What about that experience would crossover to the business setting? You need to think about what skills will be emphasized in this upcoming job fair. I'd go to the websites of various businesses that will be there and read up; print their home pages and mission statements/visions. Circle any words that seem important. Look to your resume to see where you can incorporate similar words or emphasize certain skills.

Since I don't know what jobs you're applying for, it is difficult for me to say for sure.

GL.

I wrote about my current jobs in the present tense. Actually, I forgot to change the one for the After School Program Instructor to past tense since I stopped in June when the programs ended for the year, but I omitted that from the short résumé altogether since my current summer job is with the same company and involves more work. Now that I think about it, I wrote a new description for my Executive Board Member "job" that I forgot to edit in the full résumé. I'll get on that.

The problem is that I have no idea what companies will be at the job fair Although they said to bring 15-20 copies of your résumé, I hope a few will let me do so at a later date so that I can further customize it. To be honest, I don't even know what kinds of jobs are available in these industries. It is so new and different to me, but apparently limiting myself to teaching jobs is not working!

[bigfish18q]

You could do a lot of different things here. If you're hell bent on teaching, I think being open to the possibility of relocation is a must. If you're really wanting to stay where you are, you can do a multitude of different jobs with a bachelors. Look at any banks in your area. You could do just about anything for them as long as you're proficient in MS office. We have some people here (financial industry) that have a wide range of experience/education. One of the VP's I know actually does have a background in education. Keep your options open.

[fihe]

You could do a lot of different things here. If you're hell bent on teaching, I think being open to the possibility of relocation is a must. If you're really wanting to stay where you are, you can do a multitude of different jobs with a bachelors. Look at any banks in your area. You could do just about anything for them as long as you're proficient in MS office. We have some people here (financial industry) that have a wide range of experience/education. One of the VP's I know actually does have a background in education. Keep your options open.

I think for now I'll look in other industries, mainly because all of the teaching jobs for this coming academic year have been filled. I'll still see if there are any local long-term sub positions, however. It would not make sense to relocate for a temporary position! An international position may be a possibility though, since their academic year is probably different.

I did apply to a bank as a teller last year and actually got an interview, but I think the reason why I didn't get hired was because I expressed a bit of hesitation. They asked me about my other job options and I guess I made it sound like I would jump ship as soon as a teaching job offer came along :\

That's great that there are people with all kinds of backgrounds at your company. I hope I find a few companies at this job fair that seem like a good fit for me.

[SaraTheWoo]

I think for now I'll look in other industries, mainly because all of the teaching jobs for this coming academic year have been filled. I'll still see if there are any local long-term sub positions, however. It would not make sense to relocate for a temporary position! An international position may be a possibility though, since their academic year is probably different.

I did apply to a bank as a teller last year and actually got an interview, but I think the reason why I didn't get hired was because I expressed a bit of hesitation. They asked me about my other job options and I guess I made it sound like I would jump ship as soon as a teaching job offer came along :\

That's great that there are people with all kinds of backgrounds at your company. I hope I find a few companies at this job fair that seem like a good fit for me.

I think you've already identified part of your issue with getting a job: your interview skills.

The hiring process, even for entry level positions, costs most companies an average of $75k per position. As a hiring manager for the past seven years, if I get an inkling in the interview that the person is not coming on board for at least 2 years, I remove them from consideration. No exceptions. I don't have time to waste on a person that is going to leave me high and dry and it's my job not to waste my company's money.

I recommend practicing answering interview questions out loud. I also recommend putting yourself in the hiring manager's place; think about how your responses to his/her questions sound from that point of view.

Do your research, practice, and don’t get disheartened!

[fihe]

I think you've already identified part of your issue with getting a job: your interview skills.

The hiring process, even for entry level positions, costs most companies an average of $75k per position. As a hiring manager for the past seven years, if I get an inkling in the interview that the person is not coming on board for at least 2 years, I remove them from consideration. No exceptions. I don't have time to waste on a person that is going to leave me high and dry and it's my job not to waste my company's money.

I recommend practicing answering interview questions out loud. I also recommend putting yourself in the hiring manager's place; think about how your responses to his/her questions sound from that point of view.

Do your research, practice, and don’t get disheartened!

Thank you for sharing your experience. At this point, if I am considered by a company that I can see myself working with over the long term, I wouldn't mind choosing them over what I went to school for. At the time, I had just graduated from college a few months before and was so anxious to just get into the classroom and start teaching, but lately I've been more open-minded.

I spoke to a few company representatives today at the job fair, and I think I will need to do a lot of reading up on how to do well on an interview. I do have two books that offer application and interview help, but they are made especially for teachers. If I were to go to an interview for, say, a financial advisor position, I'd need to answer some very different questions. I wonder how specific they get, because teacher interviews ask some pretty specific questions!

[TheEngineerGirl]

I would put your college degree first, and put your GPA by it. Also, knowing Microsoft Office and Adobe are a given (if you knew a programming language it would be different) so I would not include that.

[bigfish18q]

I would put your college degree first, and put your GPA by it. Also, knowing Microsoft Office and Adobe are a given (if you knew a programming language it would be different) so I would not include that.

Eh, I usually leave a spot on my resume for program in which I'm proficient in. I always include MS office in this, just so there's no confusion lol

[TheEngineerGirl]

Eh, I usually leave a spot on my resume for program in which I'm proficient in. I always include MS office in this, just so there's no confusion lol

I have an engineering degree, so I just assume people know that I know this. I would also rather use that space saying that I know X-ray Diffraction or spectroscopy.