resume writing 101
last night i helped my mom write her resume. it turned out to be a more than entertaining experience.
she wrote a rough draft, then had me "look it over." it became more of an overhaul. highlights included:
- she had written not only the resume itself in ALL CAPS. NOT ONLY CAPS, BUT ALSO WRITTEN IN SIZE 18 FONT. WOOF.
- under the "education" section, she suggested perhaps mentioning she was not only in the honor society, but also the top 10 of her class. in high school. in 1973.
- one the skills she listed was using "computer e-mail". when i asked her what other kind of email there was, she gave me a look and just said, "iiii don't know!"
- she also listed some computer classes she had taken. i then asked her exactly what they taught her in the classes because she didn't even know how to save her completed resume to a floppy. whoa.
- as her current job, she listed her title, then "Hospital Setting in South Jersey". when i told her she needed to actually give the name of the hospital and its location, she said, "but what if they call and ask about me??" hahahaha
- she addressed her cover letter as "DEAR SIR..." i then had to explain to her that most human resources reps are women, and they might be offended by this.
- best of all, she forgot to mention that she had been the office manager at my father's chiropractic office for 15 years. she is applying for an office job and she forgot to mention it. riiight.
after i tore her whole resume to shreds and gave it back to her to type out, i saw her readying herself at the computer for about 5 minutes before i realized it would take her roughly 6 hours to type the damn thing. i told her i would just do it - and it was done in 6 minutes. she was flabbergasted.
she wrote a rough draft, then had me "look it over." it became more of an overhaul. highlights included:
- she had written not only the resume itself in ALL CAPS. NOT ONLY CAPS, BUT ALSO WRITTEN IN SIZE 18 FONT. WOOF.
- under the "education" section, she suggested perhaps mentioning she was not only in the honor society, but also the top 10 of her class. in high school. in 1973.
- one the skills she listed was using "computer e-mail". when i asked her what other kind of email there was, she gave me a look and just said, "iiii don't know!"
- she also listed some computer classes she had taken. i then asked her exactly what they taught her in the classes because she didn't even know how to save her completed resume to a floppy. whoa.
- as her current job, she listed her title, then "Hospital Setting in South Jersey". when i told her she needed to actually give the name of the hospital and its location, she said, "but what if they call and ask about me??" hahahaha
- she addressed her cover letter as "DEAR SIR..." i then had to explain to her that most human resources reps are women, and they might be offended by this.
- best of all, she forgot to mention that she had been the office manager at my father's chiropractic office for 15 years. she is applying for an office job and she forgot to mention it. riiight.
after i tore her whole resume to shreds and gave it back to her to type out, i saw her readying herself at the computer for about 5 minutes before i realized it would take her roughly 6 hours to type the damn thing. i told her i would just do it - and it was done in 6 minutes. she was flabbergasted.