050405

What a résumé is

In school they never tell you what a résumé is, how to write one, or even why you need one. But everybody does. I’ve given a lot of though to résumé s ever since I left college. Every employer wants to see one, everyone expects you to have one, but what the heck is a résumé any way?

A résumé, also called a CV, or Curriculum Vitae, is a short, short, short summary of who you are. It’s purpose is not to get you a job (gasp!), but to get you an interview. If an employer likes what they see, they’ll schedule an interview and meet you face-to-face.

Since I’m just a recent grad with little more than zero job experience, deciding just what to put in the résumé is a little overwhelming. Obviously I should put my education first, since I paid for it and I supposedly spent more time studying hard than playing video games. So that’s worth something.

My job history is all over the map, but a potential employer will understand, since I’m just out of school. As long as I put things in chronological order, don’t leave anything out, and don’t lie, I should be fine. I’ve found it helps to list things simply and avoid big Latin-based words. You need to keep you job descriptions professional-sounding. Don’t sell yourself short in that respect. Instead of writing “Sandwich Delivery Boy”, just write “Delivery Driver”. It just sounds more professional. And for goodness sake, don’t call yourself a “Consumables Distribution Engineer.”

I’ve had a couple of professional friends critique my résumé , and one piece of advice they gave me was to include every bit of experience you have, no matter how small, because you never know what might resonate personally with a particular employer. I agree. That’s a good idea, but you shouldn’t distract from the purpose of your résumé. That means you can’t just list everything. If something is a minor point, list it as something minor. Put it towards the end and don’t devote a lot of space to it.

I’m looking for a job in journalism. My writing and administrative experience is more towards the front of my résumé and is a little more detailed than some of the other things. I’ve also beta tested software and done some web design. Since those are minor points I just list them briefly and put them towards the end.

Employers usually have a whole in-box full of résumé s for any given job; your résumé needs to be short and relevant. List you job history, education, interests and skills so an employer can tell at a glance exactly who you are and what kind of job you can do. Don’t sell yourself short, make yourself sound good. A résumé is like an advertisement.

And the most important thing about crafting a résumé is to know what type of job you’re trying to get. That determines how you write the whole thing: relevant stuff first, less relevant stuff last, and get rid of the things which have nothing to do with anything.