Ok, Im no expert on cv's. I pretty much walked into my proper job on the strength of my university course and subsequent work experience, but. In my opinion, get rid of the tables at the begining and end. Use the same data, it's fine, just get rid of the tables that it's in. At your work experience part have a couple of discursive sentences before you blast into the bullet points. If it's for a proper job after you graduate and not just a part time/saturday student job, you would want to make a greater play of the BS in Computer Information Sytems rather than just a last bullet. Are your relevant college courses part of the BS? If so, put that before them. And as a general rule i've always thought the personal info should go first, then qualifications and then work experience.
What are you using this for? If you're after another retail/clerk/management position then great, but your skillset is tailored to something in IT. If you're after an IT position, talking about things like maintaining this website and how you've tweaked your home machine to get the best out of World of Warcraft is far, far better than talking about using a POS system - unless you want to talk about how you troubleshot and maintained it. I'd trim the work experience down to what you've done technically for the company and maybe highlight the money aspect (just to show trustability) and then set aside some whitespace for highlighting wordforge and any other websites you've run and talk about how you've dealt with things like Co-lo facilities and security deployments. (as well as uptime, don't forget the uptime word, a very very good buzzword on IT based resumes). Quite honestly I landed my first "real" System Admin job by talking about my strategies playing Civilization II Considering that you're after something entry-level and being a college student; they know that you don't have any work experience, and won't really care about the work experience that you do have (except to note that you've actually had some and therefore have some idea what an HR department is for...) Also, because of the above, there is no reason why this shouldn't be a one page document, get rid of the boxes, it only makes it choppy and put your personal information right at the very top, removing your date of birth (they don't need to know and frankly it is criminal for them to ask - you're over 18 and not about to serve alcohol, so they don't need to know).
Well, gotta ask. What do you intend to use that resume to apply for? It's far too detailed and could easily (and should be) cut down to a page. I could rewrite it for you though you wouldn't recognize it.
I'm not applying for anything in my field at the moment, no jobs like that around here. I'm applying for a job in banking.
Ok, banking then - Formatting is where you need to go; get it onto one page, trim out your DoB and get rid of the boxes. Snip the "intimate knowledge of computers and the internet" line and the "three years customer service line" (the latter is already there in your work history). Move Skills after work experience and incorporate your college classes into that category. I always like the line "References furnished on request" or something similar; there's no reason to send people the names and numbers of your friends and former coworkers if they aren't interested enough to ask for them. I also like to inject a line that states your goal or reason to be after the job you are applying for; "Looking to move into a position where I can use my intra-personal skills and my attention to detail which can provide me with interesting interactions and problems to solve" or something like that, something where the guy who initially glances over your resume thinks, "Yeah, we could use more people like that around here." and then when he looks at the fact that you've been balancing $300K for a year thinks, "Hey, not only could we use more people like that, this guy already has done things that we do." Of course, if what they want is mindless drones, you're screwed, but its a gamble that has always paid off for me. Of course, tweak it differently if you were trying to become a POS technician. Oh, and I guarantee you there are IT jobs around you, computer geeks are required almost anywhere these days - though 9 times out of 10 it is more who you know rather than what you know to land one of those gigs. Ask around, especially of working stiffs in their 40s and 50s who'll no doubt complain about "their IT guy" I bet you could find something within a month or two using that method.
Looking at your revised resume, I'd suggest a few minor things: Add specificity to your skillset. Number of lines of coding experience, for example. Definitely put in more education details. Larger font size, less white space. Combine the VG posts, IMHO. Expand a little on your opening statement--let the employer know what you want in the position you're applying for, and what you specifically bring to the table. Don't give reference contact details--no-one seems to do that these days.
Face is on the right track. Because you're a lot younger than me, you should probably leave education above experience but essentially I'd do something like this: Nick Walzcak Address Phone, ect _________________ Personal statement: This is your "sales pitch". It tells people who you are and what you're about and sets them up for everything that follows (which should reinforce your personal statement. It should be maybe 6 lines or so. Google around for some ideas. Stuff like: "Motivated technical administrator, currently in X year of college in top of class. Active in any professional organizations you might have involvement in. Successfully managed website supporting over 500 clients worldwide, managed three software upgrades, successfully responded to a malicious software attack, and implemented software and policy to ensure 99.99% uptime over the past three years." Yeah, you're going to be talking about some of this later, but this is what makes 'em read the rest. This is like the first five seconds of the movie trailer. EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS Talk your education. Also hit on any CCNA's, A+, or MCSE certifications you might have. EXPERIENCE As Spider has pointed out, quantify the stuff: "-Responsible for over $15,000 in cash register receipts daily. -Primary point of contact with First National Bank of Flint; responsible for nightly deposit of receipts and ordering cash for a 30,000 square foot supermarket with over 800 customers per day -Resolved customer needs by ____ leading to _____" I've said it elsewhere--think of your resume like a movie trailer. You don't have to hit on everything in it. Just hit the coolest, sexiest things that will fit nicely onto one page. You don't even need to tell them everything. Actually you don't WANT to tell them everything--just enough that they want to bring you in and talk to you: "Tell me more about these software upgrades you implemented." The other tool you need is a cover letter. But that is something for another time.
Thanks shootER. I finally finished it, but now I'm trying to figure out how to write the email that I will send the bank telling them which job I'm applying for!
Well, I have no time right now. (In fact I've already wasted an hour and a half I shouldn't have.) But Google up "cover letter example" or something to get an idea. One page. Find out who the point of contact is so you can address the letter to a person. First paragraph is how you found out about the opportunity--maybe 3 lines. Middle two paragraphs are why you'd be good for the job--how hiring you will solve their problems. Last paragraph is another 3 lines or so thanking them for their time, telling them you look forward to a chance to talk with them and--if you have a point of contact--telling them you'll call next week to see if they have any questions.
Cover letter eh? 1st Paragraph - what you're applying for and why. 2nd Paragraph - your job experience and skills you've learned from those jobs that are transferable to the new position 3rd Paragraph - close it out, tell them what you want to happen next (i look forward to hearing from you/i look forward to an opportunity to interview with...) Signature Block. If it's an email there's not much room for formatting it - i.e. your name address and phone at top right with their name address at left side, etc.
This is a form of the letter I usually send out for job openings. I make sure to tailor the specifics to the posting and have gotten good responses from it, although mine doesn't have the current college stuff, or the dripping satire.
Oddly I wrote one and posted it on WF a couple years ago. Can't find it now. Thought it was in the blue room, but it is not.
