BEST RESUMES College for Students New Grads and Jump-Start Your Career! Third Edition Louise M. Kursmark 000i-00vi-Best_Resumes_College_Students-FM.indd 1 11/28/11 3:48 PM Best Resumes for College Students and New Grads, Third Edition © 2012 by Louise M. Kursmark Published by JIST Works, an imprint of JIST Publishing 875 Montreal Way St. Paul, MN 55102 Phone: 800-648-JIST E-mail: [email protected] Visit our website at www.jist.com for information on JIST, free job search tips, tables of contents, sample pages, and ordering instructions for our many products! Quantity discounts are available for JIST books. Please call our Sales Department at 800-648-5478 for a free catalog and more information. Development Editor: Heather Stith Cover Designers: Toi Davis and Leslie Anderson Page Layout: Toi Davis and Jack Ross Production Editor: Jeanne Clark Proofreader: Chuck Hutchinson Indexer: Joy Dean Lee Printed in the United States of America 16 15 14 13 12 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file with the Library of Congress. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews. Making copies of any part of this book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of United States copyright laws. For permission requests, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright. com or 978-750-8400. We have been careful to provide accurate information in this book, but it is possible that errors and omissions have been introduced. Please consider this in making any career plans or other important decisions. Trust your own judgment above all else and in all things. Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. ISBN 978-1-59357-887-9 000i-00vi-Best_Resumes_College_Students-FM.indd 2 11/28/11 3:48 PM About This Book You’re a soon-to-be college graduate. Or maybe you’re still in college, looking for a co-op job or internship. Perhaps you’re a nontraditional student, with years of work experience that’s only marginally related to your degree. Even if you’re finishing up an advanced degree, you’re probably a beginner in your career. Best Resumes for College Students and New Grads will help you make a successful move from college to the world of work. This step-by-step guide to writing an effective resume starts with some prep work (Chapter 1, “Proving Your Value to Employers”) that will help you pinpoint what it is about you that is interesting and valuable to employ- ers. Chapter 2, “Writing Your Resume,” provides easy-to-follow guidelines, worksheets, and examples to draft your own unique resume. Once you’ve learned how to write your resume, use Chapter 3, “Managing Your Job Search—Online and Off,” to gather the lat- est techniques on using social media and other online tools and resources to manage your job search and advance your career—now and into the future. Chapter 3 also has an in-depth discussion of traditional networking and other “old school” activities that you should include in your job search. Because you’ll need a variety of job search letters to go along with your resume, I’ve included an overview of the types of letters you’ll need and some good examples of each type (Chapter 4, “Writing Effective Job Search Letters”). Throughout these “how-to” chapters, I answer the questions and address the issues new grads raise most often. In Chapters 5 through 10, you can browse through 123 resumes to get ideas for strategy, organization, language, and formatting. All of the resumes were written by professional resume writers for real people in college or with newly earned degrees from associate to doctoral level. Each student had unique circumstances, educational and work experiences, career goals, and areas of strength and weakness. I’ve provided comments that will tell you such things as how the strengths were emphasized, how shortcomings were downplayed, or why a particular approach was taken for this resume—information that can help you strategize, write, organize, design, and format your own resume. As a professional resume writer, I believe wholeheartedly in the value of a good resume. But I’m well aware that the resume is only one piece of the puzzle—and maybe not even the most important piece. Learning how to look for a job is probably the most valuable skill you can acquire as you start your professional career. In addition to serving as a comprehensive guide to writing your resume, this book will also cover some job search essentials: ■ How and why to look at the job search from the employer’s perspective ■ How to extract meaningful information from education and experiences that seem unrelated to your career goals ■ How to make your resume and cover letters appealing to the “what’s in it for me” mentality of hiring authorities ■ Why networking is so important and how you can do it effectively This book is an early step in what will be a lifelong journey. Just as you pursued your major field of study in college, you should devote the time and energy to build a solid base of knowledge in the field of job search and career self-management. The knowledge and skills you develop will make it easier for you to land jobs that will provide intellectual chal- lenge, professional growth, financial reward, and personal satisfaction. 000i-00vi-Best_Resumes_College_Students-FM.indd 3 11/28/11 3:48 PM I n t r o d u c tIo n Fourteen Steps to an Effective Resume This book is built on the framework of 14 steps to writing an effective resume that will get you interviews for the jobs you want: 1. Identify Your Job Target and Write Job Target Statements (see Chapter 1) 2. Identify Your Core Job Qualifications (see Chapter 1) 3. Compile Evidence of Your Hard and Soft Skills (see Chapter 1) 4. Start Strongly with Well-Organized Contact Information (see Chapter 2) 5. Sell Your Strongest Qualifications in a Powerful Skills Summary (see Chapter 2) 6. Emphasize Education as a Key Credential (see Chapter 2) 7. Describe Your Work Experience with a Focus on Skills and Achievements (see Chapter 2) 8. Add the Extras to Give You a Competitive Advantage (see Chapter 2) 9. Format, Edit, and Polish Your Draft (see Chapter 2) 10. Cross-Check Your Evidence Against Core Job Qualifications (see Chapter 2) 11. Proofread Your Final Resume (see Chapter 2) 12. Convert Your Resume for an Online Job Search (see Chapter 3) 13. Make Networking Work for You (see Chapter 3) 14. Write a Great Cover Letter to Accompany Your Resume (see Chapter 4) 000i-00vi-Best_Resumes_College_Students-FM.indd 4 11/28/11 3:48 PM Contents Part 1: Working toward Your new career ...............................1 chapter 1: Proving Your Value to Employers .............................................3 STEP 1: Identify Your Job Target and Write Job Target Statements .........................3 STEP 2: Identify Your Core Job Qualifications ........................................................5 Understand Hard and Soft Skills ..........................................................................5 Find Job Qualifications ........................................................................................6 Know the Skills That Are Always Valuable ..........................................................8 Put Together Your Core Knowledge and Skills Checklist ....................................9 STEP 3: Compile Evidence of Your Hard and Soft Skills .......................................12 Consider All Sources for Evidence of Your Abilities ..........................................12 Draft Your Skills Proof Statements .....................................................................13 chapter 2: Writing Your resume ..............................................................23 STEP 4: Start Strongly with Well-Organized Contact Information .......................24 STEP 5: Sell Your Strongest Qualifications in a Powerful Skills Summary ............26 Write an Objective Statement ............................................................................26 Create a Simple Skills Summary ........................................................................27 Consider Objective and Skills Summary Alternatives .......................................29 STEP 6: Emphasize Education as a Key Credential ................................................30 STEP 7: Describe Your Work Experience with a Focus on Skills and Achievements ...............................................................................33 Write Your Work Experience Section .................................................................34 Sample Work Experience Phrasings ...................................................................34 STEP 8: Add the Extras to Give Yourself a Competitive Advantage ......................35 Write Your Extra Section(s) ................................................................................35 Use What Others Say About You .......................................................................36 STEP 9: Format, Edit, and Polish Your Draft ..........................................................36 Use Formatting to Guide the Reader .................................................................36 Use Type Creatively Yet Appropriately ..............................................................37 Keep It Short .......................................................................................................38 Write Using “Resume Language” .......................................................................38 STEP 10: Cross-Check Your Evidence Against Core Job Qualifications ................39 STEP 11: Proofread Your Final Resume ..................................................................40 v 000i-00vi-Best_Resumes_College_Students-FM.indd 5 11/28/11 3:48 PM Best Resumes for College Students and New Grads chapter 3: Managing Your Job Search—online and off ..........................41 STEP 12: Convert Your Resume for an Online Job Search ....................................41 Convert Your Resume to Text Format ...............................................................42 Convert Your Resume to PDF Format ................................................................46 Post Your Resume on the Internet .....................................................................46 Build Your Online Image ...................................................................................47 STEP 13: Make Networking Work for You .............................................................49 chapter 4: Writing Effective Job Search Letters .....................................53 STEP 14: Write a Great Cover Letter to Accompany Your Resume .......................53 A: Attention! .......................................................................................................54 B: Because… ......................................................................................................54 C: Close ..............................................................................................................54 Sample Cover Letter ...........................................................................................55 E-mail Cover Letters ...........................................................................................56 Make Contact Through Networking Letters ..........................................................57 Follow Up with Thank-You Letters ........................................................................57 Part 2: Sample resumes for college Students and Graduates .............................................................61 chapter 5: resumes for Associate degree Graduates .............................63 chapter 6: resumes for Internship and co-op Applicants ......................75 chapter 7: resumes for Graduates with Bachelor’s degrees ..................95 chapter 8: resumes for Graduates with Advanced degrees ................. 155 chapter 9: resumes for “Average” Students ........................................ 191 chapter 10: resumes and Strategies for nontraditional Students .......213 Appendix: resume development Worksheet .........................................227 Find a Professional resume Writer ........................................................230 Index ......................................................................................................232 vi © JIST Works. Duplication Prohibited 000i-00vi-Best_Resumes_College_Students-FM.indd 6 11/28/11 3:48 PM Part 1 Working Toward Your New Career Chapter 1: Proving Your Value to Employers Chapter 2: Writing Your Resume Chapter 3: Managing Your Job Search—Online and Off Chapter 4: Writing Effective Job Search Letters 1 0001-0002-Best_Resumes_College_Students-pt1.1.indd 1 11/28/11 12:51 PM 0001-0002-Best_Resumes_College_Students-pt1.1.indd 2 11/28/11 12:51 PM Chapter 1 Proving Your Value to Employers Why would a company want to hire you? Looking at hiring from an employer’s perspective is an essential first step in preparing your resume and launching your job search. Generally speaking, companies hire people who have the skills needed to do a particular job and the attributes that will make them a good employee, one who will contribute to the mission and goals of the organization. Don’t assume that your new college degree automatically qualifies you for a great job. Yes, you’ve worked hard, learned a lot, and feel prepared to launch your career. Now you must show employers that you have skills, attributes, and abilities that will help them be more successful, and your resume is the tool to use to do just that. The purpose of the resume is to motivate employers to call you for an interview to better determine whether you are, in fact, a good fit for their needs. Your resume must clearly relate your education, activities, and work experiences to specific job qualifications—both the “hard” and “soft” skills that together paint the picture of the ideal candidate. STEP 1: Identify Your Job Target and Write Job Target Statements Before you can create an effective resume—one that presents your skills, abilities, and poten- tial that will interest employers—you must know what kind of job you want. ? FAQ I’m not sure exactly what I want to do. I’m open to a lot of different jobs, and I’m afraid that if I pin down a position, I won’t be considered for others. Won’t that hurt my job search? Companies aren’t in business to help you figure out your career path. It’s not enough to present yourself and your spanking-new degree to a company and expect the employer to determine where (or if) you fit in. Businesses have specific hiring needs. If your resume shows skills and attributes that fit those needs, you’re likely to get an interview. But if your resume is vague and unfocused, the employer won’t make the connection (and doesn’t have time to try). Instead of being an attractive candidate for many opportunities, chances are you’ll be attractive for none. As you continue in this chapter, you’ll learn how to research job descriptions to find those that match your skills and education. And you’ll see that you don’t have to tailor your resume for a narrow target but can instead show yourself as a good candidate for a number of different jobs that call for similar skills. 3 0003-0022-Best_Resumes_College_Students-ch1.1.indd 3 11/28/11 12:51 PM