Q&A with Naidra Walls: How to craft resumes

By Kim Piggott
Western Herald

1. Why are resumes important?

Resumes are important because they give employers a good first impression of the skills and experience that applicants have.  They are also important because they help candidates learn to identify their skills and match them with their ideal positions.

Resumes are a good initial screening tool to determine if applicants are a good fit for a specific position and/or company.

2. What should and should not be included on a resume?

What should be included in a resume can be found in our Career Search Manual (free at www.wmich.edu/career or a hard copy can be picked up in the Career Center in Ellsworth Hall).

What shouldn’t be included on a resume is personal information like physical characteristics (except for theatre and dance resumes), marital status, age, gender, children, and unrelated interests.

3. What is a good length for a resume?

Undergraduate students should limit their resumes to one page with one-inch margins.

Graduate students and professionals may have up to two pages.  Keep in mind, that there is a distinction for graduate and professional students between a resume (used for finding employment outside of academia), and a curriculum vitae which is used to highlight academic accomplishments, and is oftentimes longer than two pages.

4. What are some common or uncommon mistakes people put on resumes?

Common mistakes that people make on resumes are as follows:

• Not highlighting transferable skills (i.e. communication skills, leadership experience, technical ability) – concentrating too much on the tasks that they completed, rather than the skills used to complete the tasks.
• Writing short, vague bullet points.

5. How many references should be on a resume?

Resumes should not include references.

However, there should be an accompanying reference list.  It can include three to five references. A common mistake that people make is writing “references available upon request” on a resume.

This is not necessary because employers expect applicants to have between three and five references.  It is safer to attach the reference list when submitting the resume unless directed otherwise.

Also, applicants should avoid using personal contacts like friends or family members as references.

6. If someone was fired from a job or quit without telling a manager or supervisor, should they include that job on a resume?

This should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Of course, it will not be looked upon favorably by an employer if a candidate quit a position without proper notice, but if the candidate has no other relevant work experience, or if that position gave the candidate the opportunity to gain the skills needed to be successful in the new position, it may be worth explaining to a potential employer.

There is no hard and fast rule to a situation like this. It is ultimately up to the candidate to decide what to include on a resume.

7. How can someone without a lot of professional/related experience make their resume better to obtain a job?

Of course, anyone who needs help crafting a resume is welcome to come to the Career and Student Employment Services drop-in advising hours.

We offer this service and individual appointments every day.  Without coming in for assistance from the Career Services staff, it is always a good idea to focus on skills and accomplishments that you’ve had.  Did you improve a process or increase efficiency? Were you responsible for managing anything (i.e. a team or project)? What made you stand out in your previous positions?

That’s only a starting point.

Next, applicants should consider skills, and how they will transfer to the next position.

8. Is it better to have a plain resume or use a template?

AVOID TEMPLATES AT ALL COSTS! Employers can spot a resume template a mile away, and it will definitely impact your impression on them.  It is always best to format your own resume.

There are resume standards like font, font size, and required sections, but it best to format the resume in word processing software like Microsoft Word, Word Pad, or Pages then save it as a .pdf when submitting it electronically.

The only exception to the use of a template is when submitting a federal resume because it is oftentimes formatted in the USAJobs system to create uniformity.  However, if attending an event like the Federal Mix and Mingle on March 24, manually formatting a federal resume would be preferred.

9. What are some things that you have seen that would make you not even consider a person for an interview based on their resume?

• Wrong company name or position title in the objective.

• Obviously formatted using a template (with the exception of federal resumes) or resumes that are poorly formatted.

• Skills and detail missing. Vague descriptions of previous experience.

• Missing contact information.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=23613

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 22 2011. Filed under Breaking, Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com