Comments on: The Bare Bones of a Basic Resume

By: SavingDiva

SavingDiva — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:06:34 +0000

I totally agree. I might include activities on my CV where I have more space, but I stick to basic info on my resume.

By: Mrs. Micah

Mrs. Micah — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:06:27 +0000

For cover letters I always draft out what I want to communicate, then have my husband go over and give tips for smoothing it out. Because I know what I want to say, but I run into all three of the problems you mention.

By: FabulouslyBroke.com

FabulouslyBroke.com — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:42:40 +0000

And another thought came to mind — if they are high school students applying to your jobs, then that's another story.

Of course they need to list all of the work experience they have, relevant or not

But I was targeting more towards people who have had many jobs, and can't figure out what to leave out and what to keep, to try and stick to a 1-pager.

But if they only have 3 jobs, then there's no point in leaving out anything, if they can list skills within those occupations.

Don't stop delurking!

I am not trying to alienate you — it's just that we had a miscommunication on the blog, which happens from time to time.

By: FabulouslyBroke.com

FabulouslyBroke.com — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:39:09 +0000

In that case, if you don't have much relevant job experience, pick out your past jobs that showcase what you do.

I wasn't suggesting that ANYONE remove ALL irrelevant job experience, but from my experience, I've held down about 7-8 jobs.. and not all of them are relevant.

So I just stick to the 2-3 that make sense, and leave the rest out.

No one needs to know I worked at a fast food restaurant for example.

You can also make a stronger statement, if you list "Essential Skills", and gather from all of your job experience those skills — then if you want to be detailed, back it up when they ask you where you learned those skills.

By: FabulouslyBroke.com

FabulouslyBroke.com — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:36:45 +0000

I also want to note that no one has ever asked me about my GPA, nor is it relevant AFTER you get work experience.

Maybe what you're referring to is right out of college rather than after 3-5 years in the business.

By: FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:34:20 +0000

See, that makes more sense to me — listing skills you got from other jobs, but not necessarily things like: “closed cash register and counted money at the end of the day”.

But all of that can be listed under “Essential Skills” and if they ask, you can reference to what jobs you learned those skills at.

I still am not convinced that putting ALL of your work experience on there is relevant unless you have nothing else to put (as you pointed out with the lack of work experience).

By: back to the nest

back to the nest — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:42:15 +0000

Always looking for res advice, and this couldn't have come at a better time. Thanks FB!!

By: Seriously

Seriously — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:42:54 +0000

Wow! I'm glad that you went to such a prestige university, and have the opportunity to have jobs handed to you. However, I think this post was more of a helpful goto guide for making sure your resume gets noticed for what you do in a work environment and not how much money you can give alumni to hand you a job.

FB does a good job at remembering her audience. I would assume you have no idea what an audience is with that post.

By: Kat G

Kat G — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:20:37 +0000

I've had a variety of jobs in the past. I always provide a resume that speaks to the position. I also offer a line that suggests a more detailed work history and additional references are available upon request. I've always believed that keeping it to one page and using keywords used in the job position ad is the key to a successful first encounter (ie. they actually read it).

What I struggle with is the (da da DUM!) the cover letter. Any tips on how to write a cover letter that doesn't make you sound 1. too uptight 2. like a sycophant 3. like a psycho

By: Mrs. Micah

Mrs. Micah — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:15:00 +0000

Wow. A number of people seem to have missed the "Bare Bones" and "Basic" part of this post. I think this is a great post for getting your resume started. Then I think people who read the title should flesh it out by researching their particular industry and the type of job they're looking into.

And re: the McDonald's stint, I'm with you FB. My manager & I were talking about my work experience and she had no idea about a couple of the short-term jobs I had and said that my focus on the years and years of library experience I had was great. She confessed that she might have been less likely to call me if I'd included the three semesters I spent working as a cleaner in college, even though I was damn good at my job (and I did it because of the hours/mental level required while I was writing my senior project & senior honors project). Always exceptions, of course, like if you've got 5 years exp moving up from fry-gal to manager at McD's and only a year of relevant work experience…