Any Resume wizards/builders in the house? Could use some advice.

[Dagonet]

I was laid off on 10/31 due to a major dive in business the past few months. I'm not down on it at all as I'm looking at it as a new beginning, even at 51 years of age. I've even thought of going back to school and updating my associates in electronics degree.

I filed for unemployment and was accepted. That said I'm not one to let grass grow under my feet. I have to apply for 3 jobs per week and that's easy. Looking at recent job openings I have found several that would be excellent positions (better than what I have been working). I don't want to send these companies a crappy resume. I'm good on cover letters, but need to get this resume down.

I know the rule of thumb is to try and keep a resume to 1 page. I have work experience going back to 1984 I can put on a resume. Right now with my last 3 jobs, I'm at 2 pages. Besides working as a technician, I have heavy equipment and industrial experience. There's not many technician jobs out where I live. I was also in business for myself for 12 years full time and more including part time.

I'm leaning towards doing a chronological resume for any manual/industrial jobs I apply for. I'm thinking of doing a separate electronics resume for any technical jobs I apply for. I do have a work history at the bottom of my 2nd page. I have encountered a problem with this as when applying online a lot of places want to index all the dates.

Any help is appreciated. If anyone out here in ROD is a Pro, I can compensate with ROD $$$ for now, and real ones later.

 

[RhodyRams]

sorry buddy I cant help ya out. I have held 4 jobs my entire life, short order cook while in highschool, remodeling company for 19 years, another remodeling co for 6 years and now self employed


I dont even know what a resume is LOL

 

[CodeMonkey]

As I was telling you the other night buddy, I don't think you need to keep it to one page. It should be as long as it needs to be to tell your story. It's hard for most of us to be self aggrandizing so they say you should write a resume as if your mother was talking about you.

 

[Dagonet]

sorry buddy I cant help ya out. I have held 4 jobs my entire life, short order cook while in highschool, remodeling company for 19 years, another remodeling co for 6 years and now self employed


I dont even know what a resume is LOL

I know you could help if you could man. I'll give you a bit of advice though.. Always ask your customers if you can use them for a reference and "keep in touch with them". When I went back into the work force it was a biatch for references because I was in business for myself. 12 years.. It's good to have customers for a reference and not just for future business. Things ever go South, you have them as a reference for an employer. Not saying things are going South with you, but just a heads up.

That said.. I came to a conclusion on resumes. Sometime writing things out (as in a thread/post) helps clear ones head. Sent resumes out tonight to the local power plant and UPS. I'm doing the targeted route on resumes. Thanks though my friend.

 

[Dagonet]

As I was telling you the other night buddy, I don't think you need to keep it to one page. It should be as long as it needs to be to tell your story. It's hard for most of us to be self aggrandizing so they say you should write a resume as if your mother was talking about you.

She be at 2 pages my friend. I'm also doing targeted resumes with experience I have. Appreciate the input brother.

 

[bluecoconuts]

 

[LazyWinker]

I try to apply to a job at least once a year just to keep my resume updated. My resume includes my current work experience and a little something about me. I might need to make edits to my about me section because all it lists now is "not a serial killer"

 

[RamFan503]

Blue's attachment above, while looking a little corny (no offense Blue), has a lot of good things to consider. As far as the old one page mantra, I wouldn't stick to that. It's important to be concise but don't leave important items out just to make it one page. I would however keep it to two easily readable and orderly pages.

One bit of advice. Don't use clichés - especially ones you would have difficulty defining in an interview. And read your damn resume before you go in for an interview and think about how what you included benefits the position for which you are applying. It cracks me up when applicants can't even explain how their own qualifications matter to me as an employer.

Just my two cents.

 

[Angry Ram]

I was laid off on 10/31 due to a major dive in business the past few months. I'm not down on it at all as I'm looking at it as a new beginning, even at 51 years of age. I've even thought of going back to school and updating my associates in electronics degree.

I filed for unemployment and was accepted. That said I'm not one to let grass grow under my feet. I have to apply for 3 jobs per week and that's easy. Looking at recent job openings I have found several that would be excellent positions (better than what I have been working). I don't want to send these companies a crappy resume. I'm good on cover letters, but need to get this resume down.

I know the rule of thumb is to try and keep a resume to 1 page. I have work experience going back to 1984 I can put on a resume. Right now with my last 3 jobs, I'm at 2 pages. Besides working as a technician, I have heavy equipment and industrial experience. There's not many technician jobs out where I live. I was also in business for myself for 12 years full time and more including part time.

I'm leaning towards doing a chronological resume for any manual/industrial jobs I apply for. I'm thinking of doing a separate electronics resume for any technical jobs I apply for. I do have a work history at the bottom of my 2nd page. I have encountered a problem with this as when applying online a lot of places want to index all the dates.

Any help is appreciated. If anyone out here in ROD is a Pro, I can compensate with ROD $$$ for now, and real ones later.

Well first off, I had no idea you were 51, so my 25 year old perspective may or may not be of use.

I've been completing my first resumes and even with my limited work history, they still go beyond 2 pages (also only 200ish words). These days everything is electronic so an employer just opens the attachment in Word and view both pages on one screen very easily.

Mine is straight forward and simple: Objective, Education (b/c I'm new), Previous Work Experience, Academic Achievements.

Work Experience section just lists the jobs I had and what my responsibilities were. I didn't have any cringe worthy words like "project" or "management" or even "leadership".

Also, I have never listed a references section. I think that's becoming outdated.

And yes, I have a job. Granted, it's an internship (paid tho) but this resume helped me earn it. Resumes should be about you, not hoop jumping to fit a certain mold.

 

[RamFan503]

Well first off, I had no idea you were 51, so my 25 year old perspective may or may not be of use.

I've been completing my first resumes and even with my limited work history, they still go beyond 2 pages (also only 200ish words). These days everything is electronic so an employer just opens the attachment in Word and view both pages on one screen very easily.

Mine is straight forward and simple: Objective, Education (b/c I'm new), Previous Work Experience, Academic Achievements.

Work Experience section just lists the jobs I had and what my responsibilities were. I didn't have any cringe worthy words like "project" or "management" or even "leadership".

Also, I have never listed a references section. I think that's becoming outdated.

And yes, I have a job. Granted, it's an internship (paid tho) but this resume helped me earn it. Resumes should be about you, not hoop jumping to fit a certain mold.

First off punk. Just had to get that in there.

A lot can depend on if you are applying on line. I don't accept on-line apps and never have. But then I am an old man at 52. I realize many jobs have an on-line process these days but I'm going to guess that still - most models apply. I also understand that sometimes the job may be many miles away so in that case, your only avenues are on-line or mail. Someone else can address that.

To be straight - some applicant's objective means literally nothing to me. It's just superfluous bullshit that I gloss over immediately. Unless they get theatrical or elaborate with it and then I usually stop right there. I will get into questions about objectives, goals, what they know about the position we are actually hiring for, etc. in an interview and see how the person answers that without a script.

The reference section is one I would generally ignore until I had started to form a decision or narrowed down the pool. That is something that I think is best addressed with "References upon request". I have never paid that much attention to that until I consider someone for an interview. If I call you in for an interview however, I would expect that you bring your reference info with you. Telling me you will need to get it to me later says you are not prepared to take the job.

Compensation? You should do some research to figure out a rough idea of common starting wages for similar positions before even applying. The employer will generally either tell you the compensation package ranges (and he will look for a reaction) or will ask during an interview what you are expecting. It's a bit of a game of cat and mouse at times. Of course some job listings tell you all that up front. Those are generally larger corporations or gov't entities.

Alright - I'll stop here as it is already likely more than anyone wants to read.

@Dagonet - I've offered this before to another ROD member. If you ever want to have someone look over your resume and give you feedback, I would be more than happy to. If not - no biggie.

 

[CodeMonkey]

Blue's attachment above, while looking a little corny (no offense Blue), has a lot of good things to consider. As far as the old one page mantra, I wouldn't stick to that. It's important to be concise but don't leave important items out just to make it one page. I would however keep it to two easily readable and orderly pages.

One bit of advice. Don't use clichés - especially ones you would have difficulty defining in an interview. And read your damn resume before you go in for an interview and think about how what you included benefits the position for which you are applying. It cracks me up when applicants can't even explain how their own qualifications matter to me as an employer.

Just my two cents.

Solid advice! The real purpose of the resume and cover letter is to get you an interview. A 50-year-old technical professional should have no problem filling up two pages I would think. It then sets up talking point of said interview. Give them enough to peak interest and want to ask more questions.

Being an independent contractor for over 15 years and basically looking for work all of the time, I've had a lot of experience interviewing for gigs and the whole job search business. It can get very grueling. Good luck to you bud. Keep your chin up, be creative and flexible, and opportunity will come knocking. As I told you, I have had good luck on monster.com. All of those job bulletin board sites are basically connected together anyway so if you sign up on one you're pretty much on all of them.

Networking helps a lot too. Time to get in contact with old friends and coworkers and former business associates. I have a couple of good friends in your industry and if you want can get you contacts. A lot of the human resource professionals in my business use "linked in".

Take advantage of headhunters. There is a whole industry of people that make a living getting other people jobs and it cost you nothing. Let these people work for you.

 

[bluecoconuts]

First off punk. Just had to get that in there.

A lot can depend on if you are applying on line. I don't accept on-line apps and never have. But then I am an old man at 52. I realize many jobs have an on-line process these days but I'm going to guess that still - most models apply. I also understand that sometimes the job may be many miles away so in that case, your only avenues are on-line or mail. Someone else can address that.

To be straight - some applicant's objective means literally nothing to me. It's just superfluous bullcrap that I gloss over immediately. Unless they get theatrical or elaborate with it and then I usually stop right there. I will get into questions about objectives, goals, what they know about the position we are actually hiring for, etc. in an interview and see how the person answers that without a script.

The reference section is one I would generally ignore until I had started to form a decision or narrowed down the pool. That is something that I think is best addressed with "References upon request". I have never paid that much attention to that until I consider someone for an interview. If I call you in for an interview however, I would expect that you bring your reference info with you. Telling me you will need to get it to me later says you are not prepared to take the job.

Compensation? You should do some research to figure out a rough idea of common starting wages for similar positions before even applying. The employer will generally either tell you the compensation package ranges (and he will look for a reaction) or will ask during an interview what you are expecting. It's a bit of a game of cat and mouse at times. Of course some job listings tell you all that up front. Those are generally larger corporations or gov't entities.

Alright - I'll stop here as it is already likely more than anyone wants to read.

@Dagonet - I've offered this before to another ROD member. If you ever want to have someone look over your resume and give you feedback, I would be more than happy to. If not - no biggie.

Most applications are online now, which I hate. I like being able to look my potential employer in the eye and shake their hand when I drop it off, when its digital you can't really show them how you really are. It essentially comes down to numbers. When I was applying for different intern research teams they all wanted it online as well, so I did that, then I went and met with department heads personally and let them know I was interested. I was the only one who wasn't a year or leas away from their graduate degree to get selected, so I don't know if it helped but it certainly didn't hurt.

I surprisingly found the waters very cold when trying to get normal jobs though. When I did get an interview they would ask about my military service, and when I told them they would be disinterested right away. A friend told me a lot of people shy away from combat vets because PTSD is so misunderstood. I walked to a gun range, gave my application to the manager, while he was talking to the owner, instead of sticking it in a pile with the rest and I was hired 10 minutes later.

 

[Angry Ram]

First off punk. Just had to get that in there.

A lot can depend on if you are applying on line. I don't accept on-line apps and never have. But then I am an old man at 52. I realize many jobs have an on-line process these days but I'm going to guess that still - most models apply. I also understand that sometimes the job may be many miles away so in that case, your only avenues are on-line or mail. Someone else can address that.

To be straight - some applicant's objective means literally nothing to me. It's just superfluous bullcrap that I gloss over immediately. Unless they get theatrical or elaborate with it and then I usually stop right there. I will get into questions about objectives, goals, what they know about the position we are actually hiring for, etc. in an interview and see how the person answers that without a script.

The reference section is one I would generally ignore until I had started to form a decision or narrowed down the pool. That is something that I think is best addressed with "References upon request". I have never paid that much attention to that until I consider someone for an interview. If I call you in for an interview however, I would expect that you bring your reference info with you. Telling me you will need to get it to me later says you are not prepared to take the job.

Compensation? You should do some research to figure out a rough idea of common starting wages for similar positions before even applying. The employer will generally either tell you the compensation package ranges (and he will look for a reaction) or will ask during an interview what you are expecting. It's a bit of a game of cat and mouse at times. Of course some job listings tell you all that up front. Those are generally larger corporations or gov't entities.

Alright - I'll stop here as it is already likely more than anyone wants to read.

@Dagonet - I've offered this before to another ROD member. If you ever want to have someone look over your resume and give you feedback, I would be more than happy to. If not - no biggie.

Shouldn't you use the term "whippersnapper?" That's suited for your generation, yeah?

I think the objective thing is give and take. Obviously if someone wanted to work for you, you know they want to work in the restaurant biz.

For me, environmental science is so damn broad that I have to modify an objective depending on which industry I was going for.

References, I've stopped doing it and no one has asked me. The only time I saw references was when I was 16 and going for retail stores and grocery stores. The thing that pissed me off then was references can't be personal friends; only professional. Can someone tell me how the hell a 15, 16 year old is supposed to have professional references that aren't personal friends (of parents or w/e)?

Anyway, @Dagonet best suggestion is be loose, take ideas from many different sources and compile it into a relevant and up to date resume.

 

[VegasRam]

From what I've just witnessed, I think you should become a professional fund-raiser. :rockon:

 

[VegasRam]

I've had my own firm for twenty years now - two page resumes are just fine, my opinion.

 

[RamFan503]

Shouldn't you use the term "whippersnapper?" That's suited for your generation, yeah?

Watch it youngin'!

 

[Dagonet]

Blue's attachment above, while looking a little corny (no offense Blue), has a lot of good things to consider. As far as the old one page mantra, I wouldn't stick to that. It's important to be concise but don't leave important items out just to make it one page. I would however keep it to two easily readable and orderly pages.

One bit of advice. Don't use clichés - especially ones you would have difficulty defining in an interview. And read your damn resume before you go in for an interview and think about how what you included benefits the position for which you are applying. It cracks me up when applicants can't even explain how their own qualifications matter to me as an employer.

Just my two cents.

Researching resumes, most say to stay to one page.. At DeVry I had this old coot of a tech writer instructor that said if you have the experience, use 2 pages or more. lol If it's cool with you 503, I may PM you my resumes. Hell I guess I could post them here. Some of you are friends with me on Facebook.

@RamFan503 on cliches... You mean I can't use one like this? "There's nothing wrong with working smart, unless you outsmart yourself?"

 

[Dagonet]

From what I've just witnessed, I think you should become a professional fund-raiser. :rockon:

Appreciate Vegas, I think.. lol I just did the thread man. It was just a friendlier reminder so to speak. The past and present management and the design of this site sold it. Since you've been in business for yourself many years (and kudos to you for that), it's alot easier to sell a great product than a shoddy one. I just took the initiative to get the message out. You could have done exactly what I did my friend. Just saying.

 

[jrry32]

I was laid off on 10/31 due to a major dive in business the past few months. I'm not down on it at all as I'm looking at it as a new beginning, even at 51 years of age. I've even thought of going back to school and updating my associates in electronics degree.

I filed for unemployment and was accepted. That said I'm not one to let grass grow under my feet. I have to apply for 3 jobs per week and that's easy. Looking at recent job openings I have found several that would be excellent positions (better than what I have been working). I don't want to send these companies a crappy resume. I'm good on cover letters, but need to get this resume down.

I know the rule of thumb is to try and keep a resume to 1 page. I have work experience going back to 1984 I can put on a resume. Right now with my last 3 jobs, I'm at 2 pages. Besides working as a technician, I have heavy equipment and industrial experience. There's not many technician jobs out where I live. I was also in business for myself for 12 years full time and more including part time.

I'm leaning towards doing a chronological resume for any manual/industrial jobs I apply for. I'm thinking of doing a separate electronics resume for any technical jobs I apply for. I do have a work history at the bottom of my 2nd page. I have encountered a problem with this as when applying online a lot of places want to index all the dates.

Any help is appreciated. If anyone out here in ROD is a Pro, I can compensate with ROD $$$ for now, and real ones later.

Dag, I'm a young punk but I've had to suffer through a lot of resume lectures from people over the past few years. Here's some advice that has continually popped up:
1. You can have two pages due to your extensive work history but make sure that the first page has the most important information because there's no guarantee they'll look at the second
2. An objective section is not necessary (filling the position is about what the employer wants/needs whereas the objective statement typically conveys what you want/need)
3. Structure it in a logical way...I prefer chronological order but you might have another way of doing it
4. Make it clear, concise, and straight to the point
5. Use objective, fact-based statements(no "I", "Me", etc.)...especially those with statistics and figures...like "Project Manager for X which resulted in a 10% increase in profits"
6. Don't lie
7. Try to make the most important things stand out
8. MOST IMPORTANT: Know what you're applying for...as you said, if you have specific experience that relates well to that job...emphasize it. You want them to see it.

 

[Dagonet]

Dag, I'm a young punk but I've had to suffer through a lot of resume lectures from people over the past few years. Here's some advice that has continually popped up:
1. You can have two pages due to your extensive work history but make sure that the first page has the most important information because there's no guarantee they'll look at the second
2. An objective section is not necessary (filling the position is about what the employer wants/needs whereas the objective statement typically conveys what you want/need)
3. Structure it in a logical way...I prefer chronological order but you might have another way of doing it
4. Make it clear, concise, and straight to the point
5. Use objective, fact-based statements(no "I", "Me", etc.)...especially those with statistics and figures...like "Project Manager for X which resulted in a 10% increase in profits"
6. Don't lie
7. Try to make the most important things stand out
8. MOST IMPORTANT: Know what you're applying for...as you said, if you have specific experience that relates well to that job...emphasize it. You want them to see it.

I know what you mean my friend. I've went through college/tech school before.

1. Yes, the first page had better be interesting. They won't look at the 2nd page if not. Actually a cover letter better be interesting to them.

2. I don't have an objective section. I did when younger but now too old. I do have a career profile section where the objective should go. it's a highlight of my experience.

3. I have a chronological resume for what I've been doing lately. My resume as a technician is different. Same as with retail from owning my own store. I am targeting resumes.

4. Making it clear, concise, and straight to the point can be difficult, especially when using item 5 and if you've done many things on a job, especially wearing more than 1 hat, so to speak.

5. I'm here man. Trust me. They want to know you can make them $$$$.

6. never have lied. That shit will haunt you. Very sound advice though.

7. This can go with #5. Maybe use bold? I have also used use to working in extreme cold, heat, noisy, and dirty environments. That's prolly more better used in a cover letter though (?).

8. The Cover Letter also helps out big time here. Don't ever underestimate a cover letter. it can separate you from the pack in a heartbeat. In good and bad ways..

Thanks for your time my friend and it's much appreciated. I mean that. Peace.