AFSNews Careers Column October 1994

Careers

Fifteen seconds. A prospective employer reviewing your resume will spend, on the average, about fifteen seconds scanning the document before deciding whether to put it in a file for further consideration or to disregard it.

The resume is, in fact, a screening tool. It is used to screen people out, not to screen people in. A resume doesn't get you a job. Its purpose is to get you an interview. It is a marketing tool designed to help you get your foot in the door. Once in, you have to sell yourself. (See the Careers column in the June 1994 issue of this newsletter for more comments on interviews.)

When you prepare your resume, remember to make your skills and accomplishments stand out. The characteristics that make you especially well qualified for the position you are applying for should jump off the page, catching the reader's attention immediately. You can accomplish this feat through a creative use of layout and type. But don't use more than a couple of typefaces, a couple of type sizes, and boldface and italic. "Over designing" a resume is just as bad as writing it out longhand.

You should tailor your resume to each vacancy for which you are applying. Generic resumes are not likely to grab employers' attention. Ask yourself what particular skills you have that are especially appropriate for the job you are considering. How can you present them to an employer so that she or he will say, "Wow! This candidate has just the kind of abilities I'm looking for!"? (Although all too often, employers do not really know what they are looking for.)

Remember that you must be able to document accomplishments for each of the skills you list on your resume. Employers assume that past performance predicts future performance. Use strong action verbs to describe your achievements. If you claim to be good at writing grant proposals, for example, you might include statements like the following--assuming they were true, of course:

* Designed project and wrote proposal to integrate folklife into elementary school curricula in three cities, resulting in grants of more than $200,000 from federal, state, and private agencies.

* Coordinated visits by ten storytellers, musicians, and makers of traditional crafts to fifteen schools, reaching 4,500 students.

* Wrote lesson plans incorporating traditional performances into curricula for grades three through five; trained fifty teachers in using the lesson plans.

Be sure your descriptions are clear and precise.

What format should you use for a resume? Many resumes are chronological, featuring a reverse chronological arrangement of education and experience; others are functional, focusing on skills rather than on history; a few are a combination format, which incorporates the other two approaches.

Employers like to see a fairly straightforward list of a candidate's employment and educational history. But a chronological resume encourages employers to focus on job titles. If you don't have a title similar to that of the job for which you are applying, you may well not be considered for the position. The combination format has advantages in such a situation. You can begin your resume with a skills summary or some other presentation of abilities that you can contribute to meeting the employer's needs. (That, after all, is the bottom line for the employer.) Then include your employment and educational history.

Finally, follow the journalists' example of putting the most important information first. Use your resume to get the employer's attention, and keep it.

If you have suggestions for future columns, please contact me at Career Services, Lucina Hall, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306 (tel: 765/285-2430; fax: 765/285-3757; e-mail: 00JPGOODWIN@BSUVC.BSU.EDU).

Joseph P. Goodwin Ball State University