redoing resume

[Zoe Girl]

I think my situation is okay, but I need to redo my resume for jobs in my organization/grant. There are changes and I need to be ready to change apparently. I was working so hard on stability and even had a sweet summer job lined up (depending on the changes I may still be available or have comparable work).

So I am stuck, really. I sent a draft to my supervisor. I do not have a job description or who is going to see the resume, or anything. I made the second page a list of jobs I held working with youth, just the listing without dates, addresses, descriptions, etc. filled an entire page. I made the first page a list of skill sets, but even that was horribly shortened. Meanwhile I am still not sure I have the right background or specific skills. And I hear they are being impartial in any decisions, yeah, right after I learn that it is more who you know than what you know.

Okay just venting, I was fine with where I was at and soo excited about my summer job (plus having it lined up so early) and now things are back in the air with the added pressures of carrying insurance for 4 of us since my ex is doing contract work now. I am going to look up resumes.

[HKPassey]

Hi, Zoe Girl

Ugh, I hate that feeling. Maybe what you need is more of a "professional profile" than a resume? I know the author of Resumes that Resume Careers, Don Burrows, and he has some great advice on his website that really seems to work. (Besides, he's a great guy who really knows his stuff.) His book is very helpful, too: see if you can get it at your library and work through some of the exercises. Check him out at http://resumesthatresumecareers.com/ and see what you think. One thing that Don recommends is that instead of trying to fit a long career into a single resume, you work on creating a "databank" of skills and experiences, then for each application you plug in the most relevant to that position. He also helps you distill things down so you're not drowning anyone in a pool of skills. LOL.

I've gone pretty much to a functional resume format because that seemed to best fit my fairly eclectic experience, especially since my job titles have never seemed to have much connection with my actual duties. ;) I have to admit I haven't finished working through Don's process (even though he offered to let me email him my drafts and help me polish them), mostly because I'm working toward more of a self-employment/freelance direction. Being over 55, disabled, and out of work for three years now, getting a regular job is looking pretty unlikely at this point. I do get interviews from my functional resume, actually, I'm just not landing anything.

[SiouzQ.]

I am in the midst of rewriting my resume (and rewriting again and again). I didn't realize the style of them had changed so much! I am doing a combination functional/chronological type for right now, as all my skills are in the retail sector and most of my skill set is transferable from one job to another. I broke it down into categories like "customer service", "sales", "retail display", and "cash handling." Then I used bullet points to illustrate the specific types of skills I have within the category. Then I have the last two positions I've had covering the last ten years, then my education (no date when I got my degrees - I don't want to date myself)! It is really hard to keep it one page though! To me it looks like a lot of little sound bites, which I guess is the norm as hiring managers apparently go over each resume in about thirty seconds!

Anyway, as usual, I always run out of computer time to elaborate ~ I have to run over to the community college for an appointment with a career adviser. More on this later...

[Zoe Girl]

Thank you., I will definetely look that book and website up. I hope it is available on the nook, the best way ever to read. That sounds perfect for my situation. I have years in education with very little in the way of permanent job and am transitioning to out of school time care now. So I am supervising and training more adults at this point, and I have management experience but that peice about dating yourself, Yeah I got my first management job at 18 which is awesome however I am 45 now so that was some years ago.

Thanks so much, I am getting right on that.

[herbgeek]

Speaking from the technical sector only -- and I don't know the hiring practices of other industries-- but functional resumes are often looked at as a red flag, often used to "cover up" gaps in employment and the like. Not that there aren't a ton of people with gaps on their resumes these days... I just know there is a deep distrust of these.

[Zoe Girl]

Thanks Herb, too bad about the gaps issue. I get pretty angry actually for being judged by gaps in my resume when I raised my kids and did home daycare. I am actually having a bad day so maybe it is not the time to bring it up, but I did a lot and learned a lot of skills during those years. I was also told not to put volunteer experience related to being a mother because that looks bad. The legal system in my divorce expected me to have a job in a reasonable amount of time yet the real world of hiring has no problem saying no. I probably was the back up daycare for someone like the hiring managers, fed their kids dinner or did major volunteer work that they did not have time for with the swim teams, scouts and library programs.

I do have a 2nd page with my work history and I can put dates with that to show the years I was employed, however years I was employed but outside my field won't be on there because it is already a full page long without dates or additional information.

BTW I am in the educational field, not sure if that matters.