How to Create a Text Resume
Creating an effective text resume is the key to representing yourself in the best light to potential employers. Consistent adjustment and tinkering are necessary evils to a resume, but creating a strong foundation can make changes seem less daunting.
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Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Desired job description (what your ideal job requires)
- Creativity (recognizing the skills you obtained from previous experiences)
- Printer
- Resume paper
Instructions
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Basic Resume Skeleton
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At the top of your resume include this information:
Your name
Your mailing address
Phone number (best number to reach you)
Email address (professional address i.e. johnsmith@yahoo.com, not hotmamma@yahoo.com) -
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Next type the major areas to be expanded upon, these include:
Summary of Qualifications
Work Experience
Education
This is a basic outline for a reverse chronological job experience resume. -
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Other areas of work experience can be included such as: Volunteer Experience, Educational Experience, etc. You should create your categories based on the job you are trying to obtain and your skill set.
Creating the Meat of Your Resume
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Summary of Qualifications:
This should consist of 3-5 bullet points outlining your basic strengths i.e. Proficient in MS Word applications, Strong attention to detail, Familiarity of Medical Coding and so on.
These bullet points should also touch on the type of job you are trying to receive. In other words, don't advertise your experience in door-to-door sales if you want to be a receptionist.
These bullet points should be a general outline of your qualifications that you will prove with your work experience. -
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Work Experience:
List your work experience starting with you most recent job first.
Include:
Company Name
Your title
Dates employed including the month and year
3-5 bullet points outlining what you achieved with that position -
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Bullet points explaining your work experience:
This is the most vital part of your resume in that you only have three or five sentences to show your achievements. Get creative in your wording to represent yourself in the best light possible.
For example don't say: 'Sold mattresses', say: 'Sold, on average, 32 mattresses per month, consistently outselling my peers'
Think about what a potential employer wants out of an employee. Note when you have made a process more efficient, when you saved the company money, or anything you did in the best interest of the company. Use numbers whenever possible (only if they are in your favor) -
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Education:
Include:
School attended
Month and year degree was earned (if you are still enrolled, put your expected graduation date)
Degree
Any honors (i.e cum laude, magna cum laude, ...)
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Tips & Warnings
A resume should fit on one page, multiple page resumes are for people with 30+ years of experience. Play with formatting and creating more precise bullet points to get to one page. Play with the font and formatting of your resume to reflect your personality or the personality you are trying to convey in the text. Make sure the font is readable in both size and style. Keep in mind that hiring managers rarely have time to thoroughly read a resume. Do not assume that the reader will know what you are trying to communicate. Do not be vague in your language. Adjust your resume to reflect the language in the job description. Those key words can make the difference between getting a call and being looked over. If the position you want is called a 'Receptionist' and you have held an 'Administrative Assistant' position- change your title to receptionist. Education should be at the bottom of your resume because it is considered a side note to your experience. If you have a post high school degree it is not necessary to note your high school education. If you do not have a post-high school education and you have experience that overshadows your high school diploma it may be in your best interest to omit the education section. The idea of a resume is to highlight your strong suits, do not bring up your shortcomings if you don't have to. It may be helpful to discuss out loud with a friend your past job experiences and what you have learned from them. Just because you have held jobs outside of your desired role does not mean that experience is irrelevant. For example, John worked at the Humane Society and now wants a sales job, he had to keep files and a database up to date at the Humane Society which is a qualification of a sales person.
This advice is not all inclusive but is a general guideline for building a resume. Resumes also come in many forms, some of which very different than the one outlined above. Understand the position you are applying for and your experiences to utilize the best resume format. If you write something in your resume which is untrue, understand that it could very well be questioned in an interview. If an interviewee finds out you are lying it could cost you the position or worse your reputation.
