Résumé help needed

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First a little info to give you an idea of where I'm at. I've skimmed through books on résumés at the library. I've combed through various internet sites that offer free advice on résumés, cover letters, job hunting, etc. I've attended workshops for résumé writing, etc. But I'm still not happy with my résumé rewrites. I'm considering a change in careers and I'm finding it difficult assessing some of my "skills". I would like to include my computer knowledge, but I just can't come up with a nice concise format. It isn't as if I'm some computer genius, far from it. But I think I know more than the average computer user out there. My first exposure to a computer was getting to play a game of pong during a school visit to the local university. I must have been 7 at the time. Okay, okay, so that isn't something I'm going to include on my resume. I'm just including it here for entertainment value. Wink

The first time I actually used a computer for anything productive was to learn Word Perfect and Lotus 1 2 3 back in '88. Had those 4.5" floppies, remember those? Okay, I'm digressing again, trippin' down memory lane. I never really got into computer use fully until '95 when I became addicted to the 'net. I've got a decent knowledge of Word 2000, though not a thorough one. I'm also decently acquainted with Excel '97. (I have Office '97 on my laptop.) I know how to navigate the internet fairly well, I believe, including e-mail, FTP, newsgroups (usenet, whatever you wanna call it), and how to configure them with whatever internet provider I have. I have used almost every instant messenger out there (I suppose I could include IRC in this, even though it isn't a messenger per se) and I know a fair amount about web page construction. I know what it means to ping, finger (not that it's useful anymore), trace, whois and port scan. Due to a faulty modem in my first computer, I learned how to swap out a modem (SEVERAL times), and I had to manually set up my TCP/IP settings (when I had dial-up) more times than I care to remember. I have a bit of an idea about IRQ conflicts due to the aforementioned piece of sh*t modem. I've opened up my keyboard after spilling Snapple on it. (I would never have guessed at how little is in there.) I've also added memory sticks to my computer and learned that you need to number any cables you yank. *L* The only part of Windows I won't mess with is the registry. I used to know a smattering of DOS, but I would say my DOS knowledge now is basically zip. I have a software program for graphics that came with a scanner I used to use, but I've really only done logos (fancy fonts) and airbrushed out stuff I didn't want on images I've used for my desktop. There's a few other bits too, (like the time I learned how to fake e-mail addresses) but I think that more or less covers it.

Essentially I just want to indicate that I have no technophobia and that I have picked up a lot using personal computers for over 8 years. I may not always know how a particular software program works, but I can usually figure out the basics. And what I don't know I can learn, considering almost everything I do know was essentially self-taught.

So how can I put that in résumé form? I'm not being lazy, I'm just hitting a brick wall in my writing creativity.

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Caprice- As someone who has read resumes for a great part of my working life, I had one reaction from reading this thread. If I got a resume that looked like this thread (even without reading it,) it would go immediately into the circular file.

One of the things that bosses look for are people who can organize their thoughts clearly, and communicate efficiently.
LEARN HOW TO WRITE SUCCINCTLY, AND BREAK YOUR THOUGHTS UP INTO PARAGRAPHS.

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Phoenix has given a very thoughtful response, caprice, although I tend(ed) to do my résumé very like this thread :wink:

I had to change it.

My experience is that some "eyecatcher" could do (could = not will!) some good as well - I always mention that I'm an alcoholic (and this against the advice of all 'professional advisers' [having taught writing résumés myself :wink: ])

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Truly, the only 2 areas wherein you can claim skills are in Word 2000 and Excel 97. Everything else either shows how efficiently you can goof off (IRC) or is very entry-level maintenance (going under the hood). If you are looking for an entry-level maintenance job, then fine. But if you aren't, do not mention this to employers, as they often have either a department that does this or they contract out to an external vendor. If you started going under the hood at any of these companies, you'd either be taking work from other employees or could be putting them in breach of their hardware maintenance vendor contract, not to mention that you could end up voiding some of their hardware warranties.

Excel 97 - there are basic skills, and there are advanced skills. Basic skills are things like data entry, sorting, and printer and cel formatting. Advanced Excel skills include:
* Pivot tables
* Macros
* Visual Basic
* Filtering and the creation of basic small databases
* Formulas
* Charts and graphs
* Templates
* Workbooks - creation, copying and moving pages

Can you do any of these things? If so, list them. If not, I suggest getting a book on Excel or looking around the 'net (Microsoft has tip pages, etc.) in order to learn this stuff. Otherwise, you really won't be able to say you're an advanced user.

Word 2000 - basic skills are creating basic letters, printing and changing fonts.
Advanced Word skills include:
* Mail merge
* Styles
* Templates
* Making tables of contents and indices

Like with Excel, if you can do any of these things, add them to your resume. If not, take the time to learn them; they will set you apart from the average computer user.

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Find a professional resume service and have them do it.

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I recently updated my resume after 14 years. For some, this procedure can be complicated and quite confusing. There are so many examples on line to help you.
In Microsoft Word I used a format called "Elegant Resume." This resume puts your name at the top in large letters, makes it stand out, and when completed looks quite professional.

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So far no responses that I'm really looking for but thanks for the input.

Phoenix32890: It was late, I was basically writing my thought stream and not considering anything I wrote to be résumé material. I DO NOT NEED TO LEARN HOW TO WRITE SUCCINCTLY. IT IS SOMETHING I ALREADY HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO.

jespah: I am not seeking a position that is all about computer skills. I merely want to indicate that I have some computer knowledge to a potential employer who may need someone with my background AND who wants someone with some computer know-how. (My background, while technical in nature, really doesn't involve computers other than for data entry.) I have never "goofed off" as you mentioned since I have never used the internet during working hours. (For the most part there wasn't even access to the internet.) My foray into IRC and other chats were on my own time.

colorbook: Thanks for the suggestion, but I've already gone through the templates in Word and I ended up making one of my own. I prefer something simple and streamlined. Plus, with some HR departments, they prefer ASCII so all of the fancier stuff is for not in those cases.

I get the impression from those who responded that I shouldn't even include computer skills. (Two or three bulleted points was all I really wanted.)

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Given that I would be looking at your application for employment in a position that isn't entirely devoted to a computer's functionality but is a position that would benefit from not having a technophobe fill it, I might be happy enough to read your last paragraph, Caprice, in some sort of cover letter. Or, perhaps not to read it but to hear it, in an interview. I'd also find it useful to see whatever you do know well, such as WORD 2000, at whatever level, mentioned briefly.

I have usually gotten jobs in interviews, fairly informal ones, and am not the best person to give advice on how to secure a place in a large ostensibly sophisticated business firm by application alone.

When I began in landscape architecture and was the odd jobs person helping out in a nationally regarded small firm, I checked out the resume stash on all of us there, plus the saved resumes of others. This was before the day of the resume templates that are available now. One of the key designers had done his in felt tip pen in great looking printing. It was concise, completely readable, listed his areas of talent, his schooling and past positions. One page. He was, by the time I read the resume, at the top of the firm. His choice of hand printing (his was the only one like that in the file) was oddly perfect, since at that time high speed and accurate printing, along with generally sharp graphics layout, was a big asset to a designer.

Not that you should hand print your resume, aack, but that you should keep an eye out for what is great about yourself and get it in there somehow.

I LIED: it was two pages.

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I'm sorry about the goofing off comment - but really, you should not mention such things to employers. Of course it's on your own time, but they don't know that because they don't know you (yet).

As osso said, since this is meant to be something that's a small part of your overall skill set, it can be covered either in a quick paragraph in your cover letter or in the interview itself.

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ossobuco wrote:

...you should keep an eye out for what is great about yourself and get it in there somehow.

And that's the dilemma. It's difficult to be objective about myself in a good way. I'm trying to pump myself up in my résumé, but it just falls flat (in my opinion).

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jespah wrote:

I'm sorry about the goofing off comment - but really, you should not mention such things to employers. Of course it's on your own time, but they don't know that because they don't know you (yet).

As osso said, since this is meant to be something that's a small part of your overall skill set, it can be covered either in a quick paragraph in your cover letter or in the interview itself.

Perhaps I didn't make my overall question clear enough. I listed all that I did in this forum to illustrate what I know of in computer land. I guess, in part, what I was trying to get across about the instant messengers (and other software programs) is that after using one, you can pretty much use them all. My Mom uses Outlook Express as her e-mail program and even though I'd never used it before, I could easily figure it out because the "bare bones", if you will, of all e-mail programs are fairly similar. For example, to set up the POP3 and SMTP info I look for something labelled "tools" or "preferences" or "options". The only one I found really different was Pegasus, but then again not that different. Anyhow, I'm getting off track here, but do you get my meaning about how software that offers the same function is often similar, regardless of who makes it?

I'm trying to put something generic in my resume. Perhaps, as was suggested, I should just include it in my cover letter to address an expected skill level. What I had hoped was to just lump it under a set of skills section that would say "hey, I am computer literate, what I don't know I can learn because I've learned most of what I know on my own, I know a fair bit of Word and Excel because I have Office 97, but I'm not an advanced user".

Well, as I've said before, I guess there really isn't anything I could include in my resume. I have no formal training in the area and I feel more like a "jack of all trades, master of none" type. My initial intent was to use it as part of a more general resume that would incorporate skills from all of my past work experiences as well as personal ones that could be considered an asset. I could then use that general resume as a template for use to construct resumes for specific positions I apply for.

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I am a jack of all trades too, Caprice. Some trades more than others, heh. My resume is some kind of complex trip, as I did several things at the same time more than once.

I would figure out points, talking to yourself here, in some sort of order, and pull them up to truncate ruthlessly or elaborate on, depending on the job prospect.

Nobody now wants to hear about the laboratories I set up, in any detail at all, but some people might not mind knowing I did that. On the other hand, there is this whole other thing going on, that firms might not want someone who had been to work 'mars' and then 'saturn' and then, geez, 'venus' and back, they just might want to know if you can do x-piffle at the outset. The job I ended up coordinator for with dozens of MFA type helpers was one I applied for as a simple researcher (and I didn't admit I hadn't been into the university library in a decade). The key in that case was simple timing. (edit say plus a good interview..)

I should be quiet here. Others will be more helpful re regular workplaces.

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You may be more helpful than you think ossobuco! You mentioned laboratories...what sort? I used to work in health care and I am going back to it because I just don't see any other avenue that will pay anywhere near as well. Can I pick your brain? Very Happy

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Caprice, I ran into a similar problem in terms of describing that particular subset of knowledge on my resume.

This is what I finally came up with (it seems to have worked - as it led to good discussions in interviews that led to jobs)

Quote:

 Proficient in, and comfortable with, the use of technology in work and training applications.

Have you done any work using a sniper-style resume? It's a fair bit of intensive work to set up, but once you've got one, you can just keep tweaking indefinitely. I'm still using some of the original "bullets" from about 14 years ago.

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Sniper style? Oh I get it. *L* I may be slow, but I eventually clue in.

My biggest problem is identifying my "assets". I marvel at some of these examples I've seen at places I've visited on the web. They transform a plain statement into an impressive one. Here is one example (though not the best one I've encountered), which is of the first paragraph in a cover letter. But I've never been one who is good at tooting her own horn. The evaluations I got from one of my last supervisors were especially good for the ole self esteem. With the last one I sat there thinking "you've got to be kidding me...you are criticising me for things I do better than you?" Not that I did everything better than her, but some of the key things she brought up I knew I did better than she did. *sighs* And don't ya love it when they wait until the performance appraisal to bring up issues that should have been discussed at the time they happened? Or maybe you've never had that problem. Wink

Anyhow, I'd always had good reports in other jobs. It made me feel it wasn't the right place for me. Ah, but I digress.

I like your statement. I'd have to tweak it a bit for my résumé of course. I've only had one job where I trained others. So thanks. I think I'll steal it. Very Happy

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Caprice, I took a marketing course about 15 years ago where 40% of the final mark was a resume. A resume? well, of course. You're your own ultimate product.

Our instructor was a big advocate of the sniper resume. He said too many people had one resume that they shot at everyone - the shotgun approach. He said if you hit your target with one of your bullets, it was simply luck. In developing your sniper resume you create 15 - 20 bullets. Save them on disk (I had a laptop word processor in those days with a floppy drive - what a modernist!) - then when you spot the job you're after, pick 10 - 12 bullets that work best for that job. Put the bullets in the order the related topics are in the posting (gotta make it easy for the H.R. person to find the words) - he sometimes also recommended bolding the words you had in your resume that were in the ad (he thought H.R. people were real yahoos) - adjust the top of your resume to suit the job - summarize your resume in your covering letter (two sentences, max) and bob's your uncle.

I've had great success with this approach. Since I went to this style, it's been one bullet, one new job each time I wanted a job change.

O.K., it probably helped that I was an employment counsellor through most of the 1980's, and interviews really don't faze me, but this sniper approach always made sense to me.

Lemme know if you need some help with creating your bullets. As I said, it's not easy work - but I think it really works. I've helped a few people with this IRL, and we've had good success for them as well.

this ... click .... is based on an oldie, but I think Dick Bolles really is a master of the job search world - and he keeps things up-to-date.

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I read this one book by Barbara Sher called "I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was : How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It". In one chapter she describes a classification of workers who see themselves as jacks of all trades, masters of none. She divides this type into two groups: scanners and divers. What I read in that chapter made me think I fit well into the scanner category. But I still don't know how that is going to help me decide what to do! She was here to lecture over a year ago. I am kicking myself for not going. Missed opportunity that's for sure.

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I love Barbara Sher! I was in a workshop for counsellors she did at NatCon in Ottawa, errrrr, maybe 10 years ago. I'd definitely say that her techniques are not as simple as they seem.

I'm still carrying an index card around in my wallet, that was the end result of my effort to identify my 'real' goal in that workshop. I almost got it right - 3 hours wasn't really enough. I've finally got it though.

hmmmmm, that index card is sure mangled.

Quote:

My wish: I want to work somewhere where I can commute to a home on a clean lake.

Turned out the cleanliness of the lake wasn't really that important. I had to live on a clean lake in a nasty place to learn that.

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One of my biggest problems is doing "the work". Ya know all those little assignments that various "find your dream job" type books suggest? I suck at those. I bought "What Color is Your Parachute" and starting getting into it until the part where the author suggested making this big pie chart thing, or something of the like. At any rate I lost interest. I mean, if I knew what I was good at, would I need the book in the first place?

ehBeth wrote:

I had to live on a clean lake in a nasty place to learn that.

*L* Live and learn as the saying goes!

I can't say absolutely what "my wish" is. I'd love to have a job where I got to travel. And I don't mean to Grande Prairie either. To all areas of the world. But who gets to do that? Pilots, flight attendants, travel agents on occasion, diplomats...there has to be something I'm missing!

Hmmm...National Geographic photographer has a nice ring to it. Not exactly realistic though. *sigh*

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So, I have in my job situations looked at scads of resumes, from time to time, but not lately. I immediately shut out anything that sounds programmed, ad-like, selfpromotional (why would I work with this person?), contrived.

Well, I am not your average resume reader. Mostly now we get them by phone, young landscape architects, god help them, who want to settle here, where I am the only one listed in the phone book, and in fact the only one in private practice. My partner and I tell them the truth, which sucks, but we'd also so like them to move here to energize the area, and we tell them that too.

Caprise, years ago I was a med tech who whose first Real Job was setting up an immunology/rheumatology lab that did tests from the research lab at a certain university for inhouse and outside physicians. I was also involved in a second lab which now does this world wide and was, yah, the second tech there, the first being the guy I hired to replace me at the first place, hah. It really is world wide now. I would be rich if not famous if I stayed. I was resolutely organized all that time, but have found, ah, a richer life, if not moneywise, since. Still, I am not less my lab self, but have accumulated these other me.s/

I left, by the way, not from conflict, but because I had taken some damn drawing class...... (story simplified).

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Résumé help needed

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