Resume Resources

A number of commercial web sites (e.g., Monster.com or Quintessential Careers) as well as those of several academic institutions (e.g. Minnesota, Purdue, or Rutgers) offer tutorials and advice on resume preparation. Occasionally, the recommendations from different sites appear contradictory as when you are urged to develop a resume with a professional appearance… but not too professional. Some sites wander away from the resume per se. Monster.com, for example, includes a very informative “virtual interview,” giving you practice in handling difficult questions that may be asked by a potential employer. Resumes occur in the much larger context of learning how to present yourself in such a way as to increase the likelihood of gaining employment.

Resume tutorials typically do not derive from the scientific method, but rather the cumulative wisdom of professional career specialists. You will discover that resumes usually appear in one of several formats containing specific information arranged in such a way as to produce a favorable impression, but the actual effectiveness of a resume can vary with the nature of a position and market conditions.

We recommend you begin the resume development process at either of two Department of Labor websites, one from the state of Minnesota, the other addressing a national audience.

Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has produced a superb publication entitled the “Creative Job Search,” available on line for free; hard copies may also be purchased. This resource is encyclopedic, covering virtually every issue in the transition from a previous job to new employment.

Within the on-line edition is a chapter on resumes and cover letters; links focus on all the details including the writing itself, formats, samples, and strategies.

CareerOneStop borrowed heavily from this Minnesota DEED publication in developing its on-line resources. For example, you will find a nice resume tutorial, with links back to DEED that cover the details of various formats and depict many sample resumes.

It is certainly possible to “cut to the chase” by picking a resume format and sample that approximates your situation, and then altering the text info to describe yourself. In so doing, however, you will deprive yourself of contextual information that may be very useful in your self-presentation and search for employment.

The sample resumes on the Minnesota DEED and CareerOneStop sites are good models for organizing and presenting your own employment information. They are subject to improvement though, either by your own talents for description and design or by the help of additional resources such as provided by Microsoft.

Many users of Microsoft Word are not aware of its built in resources for resume preparation. Some resources are contained within the program itself; others are available by connecting to the Microsoft site. Begin by opening the Word (2003) program, for example, and from the File menu, click New. A task pane will open; under Templates; select On my computer. Click on the Other Documents tab, and double click Resume Wizard. The Wizard will lead you thru a sequence of steps and choices that culminate in the printing of a resume having the visual touches of a professional graphic designer. You can, of course, opt for a more basic presentation as recommended by some career specialists.

It may be beneficial to create different resumes and cover letters focused on different jobs that interest you. All of these documents may be uploaded to your account in the VCC’s ECAP program (under development).