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Click here to read a detailed
description of the college student resume book.
RESUME WRITING TIPS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS & CAREER MOVES
When
we think about college students, most of us imagine young adults
in their early twenties who have little work experience and salaries
ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 per month. However, the median
age of today's college student is between 31 and 35, with incomes
ranging from $24,000 up to $50,000+. This workshop will address
both categories of college students and adults making career
moves.
Higher Salaries Demand Powerful Resumes
First we'll discuss job seekers who are changing careers and
wish to maintain higher salary levels and need powerful resumes
that show the full range of their experience. Resumes for individuals
in the $24,000 to $70,000 range need stronger skill headings
and content than someone applying for a $6 or $8 an hour position.
Every resume needs to be targeted to the salary level and career
field being sought.
Take
a look at the headings Sam used in his before resume below. Based
on these headings what salary range would you estimate that Sam
was at?
Headings in Sam's Before Resume
Customer Service / Office Skills
Office and People Skills
Now,
read the headings Sam used in his after resume. What salary range
would you put him at now?
Headings in Sam's After Resume
Branch
Administration and Support
Key Account Servicing
Computerized Office Applications
Training of Administrative Staff
Using his before resume, Sam had received a lot of interviews
- but they were for jobs in the $8 an hour range. His new resume
landed an Administrative Assistant position at his last salary
of $32,000.
Show The Depth of Your Experience To Control Your Image
As the skill headings in Sam's before example illustrate,
his first resume was extremely weak. I see this happen a lot
when people try to create resumes for career change. Many job
seekers think their past experience doesn't relate to the new
jobs or careers they want, so they leave it out of their resumes.
However, just like Sam most people can show how their background
does relate to their new job objective. For example, Sam was
a Loan Specialist for over 5 years. Many of the skills he had
developed in his job are transferable to an Administrative Assistant
position.
As a loan specialist, he had provided key account and loan services
for a department processing $1.5 million in loans monthly. His
duties included customer service, document preparation and coordination
with Department Managers. As an Administrative Assistant, Sam
will also be required to perform similar functions. Yet, content
like this was never included in his before resume. This is a powerful demonstration
of how important it is to control the image you present in your
resume. Make sure your resume reflects the depth of your experience
and creates an image that matches the level of position and salary
you want. This applies whether you're seeking an entry-level
position or one that requires years of experience.
Less Experienced College Student Seeking a New Career Position
Randy had completed a two year Associate of Arts program
at a community college. His prior work experience wasn't in the
career field he was seeking. So, Randy knew he needed a resume
that marketed the course work he completed in Accounting so that
he could combine it with his office experience--in order to land
a better paying job. Take a moment and look at the education
and work history sections from his before resume below. If Randy
wants an accounting position, how well does this information
market him? What hourly salary range does he look qualified for?
Before Resume:
____________________________________
EDUCATION:
1997,
A.A.S. in Accounting, Baylor Community College
RELATED TRAINING:
Accounting Courses
Computer Courses
Other Relations
WORK HISTORY:
1996, Clerk, Baylor Community College Library
1995, Office Assistant, Baylor Community College
____________________________________
Now
take a look a two shortened sections from Randy's new resume.
Do these sections present Randy as more qualified? Which resume
will generate more interviews and higher salary offers?
After Resume:
____________________________________
PARAPROFESSIONAL
CERTIFICATE IN ACCOUNTING
1,040
hours - Full Cycle Accounting (3.0 average) including:
Accounting
I, II
G/L,
A/P, A/R
Financial Statements
Depreciation, Debt & Equity |
Computer
Applications
Quarterly
Reports
Lotus, Excel, TurboTax
Word, WordPerfect |
Business
Math
Bank
Reconciliations
Percents / Discounts
10-Key by Touch |
RECORDKEEPING
& OFFICE ADMINISTRATION
Processing of Past Due Notices
Worked
under the direction of the Assistant Librarian, processing daily
past due notices, verifying grace periods, preparing tracking
cards and late notices.
Office Assistant
Served as assistant for college faculty and student body
of 3,000, providing reception to support over 40 departments.
Front Office Reception
Handled 5 incoming lines with 40 extensions, transferring
calls to Department Heads such as the Dean of Instruction and
Program Managers.
____________________________________
If
you have extensive experience and are seeking positions in the
$20,000 to $100,000+ range, then I recommend my newest resume book,
Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries.
It is written for higher income and experience levels and includes
over 2,000 skills and skill lists for 40 industries. You can
read a detailed, section by section description of this book
by clicking on Proven Resumes Book in the left column.
If you are a recent college graduate with little work experience and
prefer not to read a full-length book, then I recommend that
you purchase the 56-page college student resume book which is titled,
6
Easy Steps to Create Resumes and Cover Letters for College Students
and Career Moves. This booklet is written for job seekers
who need to learn how to market their college education and academic
training and combine it with past work experience to land positions
in the $8 to $12 range. This booklet contains 78 skill headings,
skills and 40 sample sentences to make creating an accounting
resume much easier along with skill lists for 20 other industries.
6
Easy Steps to Create Resumes and Cover Letters for College Students
and Career Moves opens by analyzing three sets of full-length
resumes and teaching you how they were improved. It then takes
you through 6 easy steps to create your resume and provides detailed
step by step worksheets that guide you every step of the way.
The first step is to help you list all of your skills and skill
lists are provided for 12 of the most common career fields. In
the second step, you're then guided in determining if skill headings
or job titles will market you the best. Many job seekers have
titles that are unrelated to the jobs they want. In this instance,
they are better off marketing skills.
In the third step, you're shown how to analyze want ads to identify
keywords and experience employers want and are shown how to incorporate
them into your resume. In the forth step, you are guided in selecting
which titles and skill headings you've developed that are the
best match for the ad - you then use these in your resume.
In the fifth step, you begin describing each skill heading or
job title you'll use in your resume. To supplement this step
you're provided with 12 Questions to help you fully describe
your skills as illustrated by the last example in red above.
In the sixth step, you complete your objective, employment and
education sections. Again, you're provided with worksheets for
each step and examples of how to complete each section of your
resume are included.
Two examples are provided that show you how to target your resume
for specific positions. Targeting your resume often makes the
difference between landing or not landing interviews.
You are also provided with full-length before and after cover
letters and you are shown how to analyze ads to develop powerful
keyword headings for your cover letter paragraphs. After the
cover letter section you are provided with full-length thank
you letters. The thank-you letter examples will show you how
to remind the employer of your top skills and to market additional
skills not mentioned in your resume or during an interview.
The last four pages of the book cover how to convert your nicely
formatted resume into scannable and ASCII format.
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