How to Write a Resumé (...Like a Wizard)!
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- čas přidán 4. 05. 2014
- In which we discuss how to write a resumé, how to get a job, and answer this question: How do you get a job if every job requires previous job experience?!
THE END GAMES paperback: www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062...
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Fast Company article on putting your address on a resumé: www.fastcompany.com/3026351/le...
Information on different types of resumés: www.ehow.com/about_4569560_dif...
Karen Kavett's Resumé Design video: • How to Design a Resume
"How to Adult" is a "life skills" edutainment channel produced Hank Green and John Green. Subscribe for new videos every week!
THE END GAMES paperback: www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062...
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Co-written and co-hosted by:
Emma Mills
/ elmify
Co-written, co-hosted, directed, and edited by:
T. Michael (Mike) Martin
/ tmikemartin
(Mike is also a Young Adult novelist. His book, THE END GAMES, is available at all online booksellers, including Amazon: www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062...)
Executive Produced by:
Hank and John Green
/ vlogbrothers
As someone who just went through almost 100 résumés to hire someone, please don't underestimate the importance of keeping it short. I know the average time spent on a résumé is 6 seconds, but there are people who actually take the time to read résumés fully. In my case, after the first 30 or 40 résumés I had read, anything over 3 pages immediately went into the "No" pile. There was even a 10-page résumé in there. Remember that you're not the only one whose résumé will be read. 100 résumés x 10 pages would be 1000 pages, no manager has the time (or will) to go through that.
What a long résumé says about you is "I don't care about other people's time. I'm a special snowflake, I'm so unbelievably amazing that unlike all those other peasants, I cannot be summarized in only 2 pages. Rules and conventions don't apply to me, and you should make exceptions for me." It gives the impression that you'll be difficult to work with. I don't want to work with people like that.
As far as font goes, serif fonts (Times, Georgia) are easier to read in print and sans serifs (Arial, Helvetica) are easier to read on screen. If you're sending your résumés over the web (email, job-seeking sites, etc.) assume they will be read on screen. Also, send a PDF format. If you send a Word document, your formatting is likely to suffer from it, as there's no guarantee that the person hiring will 1) have your font on their computer 2) will have the same version of Word as you 3) will even have Word at all. There are free tools out there to create PDFs, use them (PDF creation is even built into Word as of 2010).
Visually speaking, more white space than less, use bullets points, and be brief (what's the point of using bullet points if each point is 6 lines long). Long compact paragraphs make hiring managers cry (and they are hard to read on a screen). If your résumé looks like a wall of text, I already hate you for making me read that, so your odds of getting a call to an interview are pretty low.
And this goes without saying but: any typo automatically makes you lose points. Even if spelling is irrelevant to the job, if you can't be bothered to review your résumé properly, it shows a lack of attention and a lack of care for quality that I don't want to work with. And that's another good reason to send an uneditable format like PDF. If you send in a Word document that I can edit, and I lean on my keyboard while reading, I can insert an extra letter in there by accident, making you look bad for a typo you didn't make.
"As someone who just went through almost 100 résumés to hire someone, please don't underestimate the importance of keeping it short."
She said, going on to type 34 lines.
The irony is not lost on me, but I'm not writing a résumé :)
Thank you sooo much for your input!
As someone who hires people for a living: it is absolutely crucial to customize your resume for each job to which you apply! Use vocabulary from the job description, reorder your bullet points in order of relevancy to this job, etc.
Also, gotta second the need for professional email addresses. When a recruiter is reading hundreds of resumes per day and finding dozens of qualified candidates, a nonprofessional email address might undermine your candidacy.
Thanks for the advice. I do have a quick question about borders. My current resume has a border around my personal info (name, number, address). I was told that the border might make my resume stand out if someone is looking at a stack of them. Is that true or does it come off as unprofessional? (I don't know if this matters, but I'm in the retail toy industry and I'm trying to make my way up the corporate chain from assistant manager to more.)
Randolph Washington Sure! Most of the resumes I look at use solid lines to separate sections, but if a box achieves the same goal of separating contact info from experience, go for it! Maybe you can get in touch with a recruiter or HR person in your company or industry for more advice =)
shessomickey
Thanks. That's really helpful.
I keep a "master" resume of sorts that is about 3-4 pages long that lists out absolutely every award and job and whatnot. Then I just copy and paste and cut what I need for whatever job/school I'm turning it in to. It seems to work pretty well.
+
I haven't had to make a resume yet, but it doesn't seem quite so scary anymore. Also, to proofread your own work, it sometimes helps to print it out or read it aloud.
I just reviewed resumes for potential new hires at my current gig, and I really wish I could have sent the candidates this video.
That's an incredibly wonderful compliment, Kate. Thank you!
- Mike
This is great! And thanks for the shoutout!
Of course, Karen! You're one of our all-time favorites. Thanks for being awesome. :]
- Mike
You know what's hilarious? If a future employer does decide to google me, they will most likely find this post from my Google drive (because it's my most recent) that is on a video telling me that I will be Googled.
If you've done any work in various cities, especially ones that tell a story, make sure the location of the experience is prominent. For example, I did a teaching internship while studying abroad in London, and "London" really stands out the way I have my resume formatted. I get asked about it in 2/3 interviews, and it is always a great opportunity for me to talk about the unique skills and experiences I gained there, that most applicants wouldn't have.
Check for typos- you had "Durley" not "Dursley"!
But lots of great tips here!
I was just making sure you guys were paying attention. ;]
- Mike
Harry Potter, you liar! You didn't graduate from Hogwarts, you never completed your seventh year! Don't lie on your resume.
That reading things backward thing maybe the best bit of advice I have ever been given. Seeing as I often make mistakes and I've never heard it before.
I always use Arial for documents as it's professional and yet dyslexic-friendly.
Always wanna be accessible
Great thorough yet basic video! Thanks for the tips!
For my resume, I have one document which I labeled "Resume Full (Edit)", which is more like a CV and has everything I've ever done one it. I keep this updated at all times. Then, when I go to apply for a new job, I go through my Full Resume and start deleting stuff I think is less relevant to the job for which I am applying. Then I "Save As" the new resume with the type of job I used it for (Food vs Retail etc).
Oh my gosh. Thanks so much for this. I hate putting together resumes cuz I never really learned how to do one and whenever I asked someone to explain it to me they'd just be like "drrr drr drrr just look up such and such format on google" WELL YES BUT WHAT DO I WRITE IN THERE?! you guys are lifesavers.
this was one of the best resume videos ive watched in the last 2 days. kudos bud
Lol! The resume you show as the example is the template I used!
Also, used action words. You did that in your examples, but I'm not sure you said it specifically, but it's super helpful. Organized, Coordinated, Brainstormed, Created, Wrote, Participated, among others.
Thank you!!! This might have been the most usefull episode for me personally so far! :D
I found that having a uniform format/layout in both your resume and cover letter is really helpful too! Great video :)
Great advice, my tip: stand out by using a border!
This couldn't have come at better time! Thanks!
Thank you so much for this. I've been trying to get a job and my mom helped me with my resume and there's a lot of out of date stuff and much to improve upon.
oh my gosh, I actually needed this today
thank you so SO MUCH
Glad to help! :]
- mike
Finally, a comprehensive guide! :D
The proof reading tip was really helpful! Thank you! :)
My theater class has been going through résumés throughout the school year. Though my teacher talked about a majority of the things you did, you provided some info that would help a lot!
I just sent in my resume last week. Should have waited for this video to come out first!
I'm glad you stressed proofreading your resume! One of the compliments I get on mine is how my resume makes it clear that I know how to write. It still surprises me how just being well-written can give you that edge up to get into an interview, but it really does go a long way towards making a favorable impression. The next step is applying that to being well-spoken during your interview!
Aw, what happened to the endscreen banter with you and Emma, that's my favorite part
It will be back, we promise! Our schedules have been crazy with various deadlines and stuff, so we weren't able to film it for this episode. But next week's episode (which is about job interviews) will definitely have us back together. :]
- Mike
YES! Job interviews! That'd be a great video! Can't wait to see it, job interviews have always been terrifying to me.
Now THIS is why I subscribed to this channel
Thank you so much for your videos! I'm starting college this fall, and these will be a real life-saver. Do you think you guys could please do an episode on making doctor and specialist appointments?
I hope there's a "How to Kick Ass in a Job Interview" video soon. I definitely need one of those
Be sure to check out next week's video.... :]
- Mike
Yay! Awesome!
I'm loving these videos! Can you guys do a video about what different dress codes mean? Both for the work place and social functions? For example, what are some things one would wear for a business casual job, or a "cocktail attire" attire reception? Thanks!!
Man this was so helpful.
Woow great video my friend!
Big up!
Thank you so much!
I've noticed, if you are a student trying to get into a professional field, that listing relevant skills before work experience can help. A lot of students work unrelated menial jobs before going professional so therefore its probably better to mention your skills first then your job experience.
this couldn't have come at a more perfect time- off to craft my resume!
Another good way to proofread is to get a text to speech website that sounds sort of natural and listen the the audio. If it sounds weird it's probably grammatical and any spelling is very obvious...
I love it, it's very helpful
A great resume tip I picked up in school is Career Specific Skills. I'm going into graphic design, so I made sure to specifically list skills that pertained to that career field when applying for a graphic design job. I listed other miscellaneous skills in another field. If I wasn't applying for a graphic design job, I just combined the two fields into something general enough that pertained to the job.
thank you, thank you... this is very helpful.
Thank you !
O wow, I just started trying to get a summer job. Is Mike a soothsayer? This was so helpful!
Just last night I watched a Town Called Mercy (again) last night :) nice touch.
not to confuse correlation with causation but I watched this video and used the Google Doc resume format and just got my first job today!
Thumbs up for the Gunslinger! LOL. Love all the HP references too.
I really enjoy this channel for how it dispenses valuable info in such a quirky way.
I've noticed over the past few videos (and even back to "How to Ask Someone On a Date" vs "How to Do Your Taxes") that Mike tends to star in videos with skills typically associated with masculinity (i.e. this one), while Emma tends to star in videos with skills typically associated with femininity (e.g. things homemakers would do.)
Although there could be good/innocent reasons behind that, it might be something worth thinking about, & possibly changing!
Hey, Martin! Thanks so much for the thoughtful (and very polite) comment.
I answered this in a previous comment, so apologies for the double-post, but just in case you didn't catch it....
You're right that it was just an innocent mistake. When we started planning the first few weeks of shows, we were like, "Oh, I know more about this thing, and you know more about this thing, so maybe...." In truth, we ended up writing pretty much every script together, and the who-hosts-this-week often just came down to who had more free time. (Emma has lots of grad school obligations, and I recently had a huge publishing deadline.)
After the first few videos, my wife pointed out that the division of topics was maybe edging toward stereotypical gender roles, which is (of course) the last thing Emma and I want. At that point, though, Emma and I were already several weeks ahead in terms of production, so we couldn't course-correct immediately. (In other words, we'd already shot 3 of Emma's "Home Ec" type episodes, and our schedules made it unfeasible to reshoot them.)
But yeah, please know that we're certainly aware of it, and that there's no malice in it, and (starting literally next week) we're going to be much more conscious about bucking those stereotypes.
Thanks so much for caring about the show enough to leave this comment. We're very grateful to have such thoughtful viewers.
- Mike
And I'm grateful to have such thoughtful content producers! Thanks for the insightful and honest response, Mike.
As a vote of confidence, right after I posted this comment, I sent your resume video to my campus' Director of Career and Academic Advising Services, and to quote her, "This is seriously the best 'how to' resume builder that I have seen!" You might be making it big (in resume preparedness) at this Southern Iowa college campus!
This is amazing
Literaly for Rubios, i was filling out applications all night. I did Rubios last and I literally wrote "no expierence". Got a call the next day. Interview today!!
How conveniently relevant to me right now!
Also, be sure to utilize your college's career services office. More often than not they really want to help you get a job and can proof read resumes, give tips on interviews, and give any other help you might want. They are great! And many universities offer those services to alumni, so even if you've been out of college for a few years, they are still willing to help.
That's great advice! I hadn't thought of that, thanks. My department at uni recently opened up a brand new career centre. Maybe I should give them something to do. :)
Great tip! Thanks, Katie!
- Mike
Another big thing is also font size and formatting! I have yet to watch get recommended video within the video, but it will. Creating two column resume has actually made it a lot easier to maximize important space. 1/3rd of the space on the left is for my awards, education, and depending on he job, a headshot, and the right 2/3rd is my job history with my name, phone number, email, and city at the top. That what it is far easy to skim, easy to read, and perfectly organized that it is easy for the eye to move from one section to another. Creative formatting is also a way to stick out, especially in the entertainment and design world. However I also have a "boring" format if I want to apply for a position at Chase bank.
Actually I work as a recruiter and my company will not continue the screening process unless months are also included in the job times. This is to prevent people who work from December to January on a job making it look like they work 2013-2014
1-800-voldamort... that's brilliant.... the details in this is brilliant.
Yes! Thank you so much! I feel like since HS I haven't been able to be confident in my resume. Can you do one on cover letters, too? :D That would be super great.
I've also been told that if you have a resume that is 2 pages (or more depending on what is acceptable in your field more) it is good to use a paper clip to attach it together. Red specifically because it will be an eye catcher.
a great way to proofread anything is to read it out loud. oftentimes when we read in our heads, your brain doesn't realize when things are wrong, instead skipping over errors and substituting with the correct version that you intended, but forcing the words exactly as they are on the paper out of your mouth makes you realize when things sound odd or wrong.
I actually tried to do this with THE END GAMES. I gave up after about 100 pages, just because my voice was about to shatter. :D But this really is a fantastic tip.
Thanks for watching!
- Mike
How to Adult hahaha that's real dedication! don't hurt yourself, though.
I can't take credit for the tip; that would be my old high school english teacher. she was so wise in all things grammar related. I now proofread all my essays by narrating them to no one before handing them off to my professors!
and thanks for giving us a video to watch. *^*
I work at a college career center, and we are generally in agreement there that summaries/objectives aren't really necessary any more and take up space. I have also heard about the address thing as well! My suggestion is if you are looking to move to a new city, put a friend or relative's address down in that new city if you can. More, and possibly even most, jobs are requiring a cover letter now, so it is less important to customize your resume than your cover letter. Always customize a cover letter to each position, and customize your resume to different career fields if you are going for a couple different kinds of jobs.
I like how you mentioned proofreading and then proceeded to misspell Dursley
Some places like libraries and colleges offer free advice and a look-over for your resume. They can tell you how to word things if you're not sure, and give some advice about how to spruce up your resume a little. :)
I'm a teacher, so I keep my social media VERY private (I don't really go on Facebook anymore). The only places I use my real name are professional in nature, such as my twitter, and therefore I don't mind being googled. Especially since I found out that you can set your Facebook profile so that it does not show up in internet search engines. I have nothing to be ashamed of, but it still makes me more comfortable.
I love and appreciate the tips, but mostly I love the Doctor Who reference!
I literally could've used this video yesterday. Because I went job hunting today. It was a successful job hunt none the less because I start at Bed Bath and Beyond tomorrow. But, still.
I'm being graded on my ability to create a resume, but my class just gives me a list of vague pointers and then tells me to wing it, so... yeah, I was pretty lost, especially since I have no prior jobs and no prior volunteer work (and my class assumes that everyone my age has at least one of these two things). Thanks for the informative video!
keep a massive list of everything you've done then pick and chose for the specific resume based on dates and what's relevant to the job and update it every couple months with all the new things you might have done. Then when it comes to making it you already have all the information there to pick and chose from.
Is there any way you can also do a video for how to do a cover letter? The recent college graduate needs to know.
Cue the marketing major in me... I know too much about resumes, cover letters, and interviews
Basically, cover letters get the company to read resumes (if they actually read it), resumes get you the interview, interview gets you the job.
Some of my top things to do on resumes is to use bold (on things that should stick out in the resume) and use numbers often - such as - Created 100 new things - or something of the like. Also keep a log of your accomplishments at work! You may not remember them when you are reworking your resume!!!
There's so much more, but I don't want to write too much!
For any students, if you're looking for someone to proofread your resume a good place to look is for your campus' career services department. I know my university's career services offers drop-in help for resume writing and proofreading or you can even email it to them and they will look it over and edit it for you!
I wish you guys had a video on functional types of resumes...
I'm keeping this for future reference.
When I was about to retire from the US Air Force, the Non-Commissioned Officers Association brought in someone to go over how to write a resume to get you to the interview, which is all that the resume can do.
His first advice was to look at the job requirements of the job you are trying to get. You will hopefully be one of the people recommended by the Human Resources person to be interviewed. They probably know little about the job itself; your job is to make them comfortable with choosing you to make the interview list. You do this by listing at least one, preferably two bullet statements that show you meet each job requirement. Don't lie! If you don't have all the requirements, you may still have more than most.
I just finished school and got a job, and one of the greatest perks is not having to write and rewrite resumes and cover letters again for a very long while. What a tedious and depressing process, especially when you're on job application #30.
Cover Letters! A resume shows a lot of info, but a cover letter lets you be more creative and explain more about yourself and why you qualify.
Could you guys do how to grocery shop effectively?
If your resume is 2 pieces of paper, DO NOT STAPLE IT. If they feed a staple through a scanner or photocopier, your resume might be the one to get stuck and break something. You don't want your name to be associated with a broken copier. That's not the first impression you want to make.
Any tips for putting together a resume as a Nanny(with loads of experience/little college education)? Moving to Nashville.... :)
A video for people who are in need for advice regarding a proper resumé. But NOT those who have not yet read Harry Potter while still looking forward to doing so. (and therefore are interested in remaining unspoiled)
I believe these people are few, but they probably exist.
At least in the school system I was told that if you don't but references on it they will toss your resume. But you but references in the application system anyway... I put them on because my handwriting is not the best so I don't want to leave anything to chance.
Also resume paper impresses people if you are able to submit it by hand
I'll start off by saying that I'm Terrible with interviews.. like... GAWD-aweful.I've only had 2 interviews in my whole 23 years of life. The first was for my Pharmacy Tech Job. I've worked there for 2 and a half years now. The way I got the job was that in high school i worked as a clerk for free for a whole year 8 hours a week, at an independent pharmacy, upon seeing that my boss said that the thins i learned from that would cross-over Very nice.
My second interview was for pharmacy school, only about 4 months ago. Honestly, at the end of the interview I cried, i was destroyed. I was wait listed, and then after a month and a half of waiting i got a spot. This was amazing. 1200 people applied for this particular pharmacy school and i was one of the 100 that got in.
I start pharmacy school in august, and in 2018, I'll probably have my interview for a pharmacist position... but that's 4 years down the road....
I can't wait...
Hopefully i will have many times more people skills by then.
The only advice i have, is sell yourself.. On my pharmacy school essays, i talked about how passionate about it i was, and i used real examples from working in a pharmacy.
at my interview i talked about my role as a leader of a scholars bowl team, and my activities in my Universities Anime club... i Didn't hide who i was.. I'm a nerd... Boom said and done..
Who the hell are the Durleys?
xD
But seriously, that resume is hilarious and awesome. Is there a link so we can read it?
Totally read this title as 'How to resume being a wizard'.
Another useful tool for proof reading, when you don't have someone to help you. Copy all the text and paste it in too Google translate. While you have it read your resume back at you, change what you hear wrong.
I've been a stay-at-home mom for over 6 years and I'm curious which resume format I should use. I've done volunteer work over the years and have had a "small" (emphasis on small) business. Just can't decide on how to layout everything. Thanks in advance.
THANK YOU i haven't touched my resume since i got out of college because it scares me.
What about cover letters!?!?
If you are to snail-mail a resume use high quality paper, employers will notice. Also, it does not hurt to send your resume in both digitally and in hard copy since some employers prefer hard copy and others prefer digital copies.
So you mentioned having references 'available upon request' but who or what is a suitable reference? Especially if I have limited previous job experience.
The robot machine thing, is that for real? If so, is that just an American thing? Cause I've never heard of anything like that here
There's something really reassuring about the opening song. I don't know.
Is there a "how to cover letter" video happening?
I don't mind updating my resume, but I despise writing cover letters. Fortunately I haven't had to do that in a while. Maybe I'll just stay at my current job for the next forty years or so to avoid having to job hunt again.
er ma gerd... that moment when I saw you pull out the book
i really could have used a "how to apply for a job" a few weeks ago... that would have been nice...
Can you guys talk about cover letters at some point? What exactly is supposed to go in those? I applied to a lot of job and internships for this summer that I didn't get, so I'm wondering if maybe my cover letter was too long or something? Also, I thought that 1-3 sentence summary part was supposed to go in the introduction of a cover letter?? :( Help?
Hey! I worked as a recruiter last year, and generally cover letters are looked at after a resume, if at all. So I'd suggest focusing your efforts on making your resume the best it can be. Otherwise, a cover letter should say what your resume doesn't: why you want this job in particular, why you want to work at this company in particular, and maybe explain a project you did at a past job or in school that is relevant to this job. A resume explains your job history but not very much about you as a person, so the cover letter is a place to let us get a sense of your personality and whether or not you'd be a good fit for our company.
Hope that helps!
I find it really hard to find a job for the summer with no work experience. All my volunteer information is with children or my church so it always seems unhelpful to put it down on my application or resume. I've been trying for three years to get a job and no one ever hires me. Tips??
No idea if someone already pointed this out but @ 4:32 Dursley is missing the 's'
So I am very aware that I'm not an adult yet but I am about to go looking for my first job and I feel like I need a resume but it's not like iv done much, iv only gone to school and stuff. How do I make it professional if I don't have any experience?
A lot of what was described sounded like things that should only go in your cover letter e.g. why you want the job.
Helpful video, though.
but can you make one about how to apply to grad school?? i'm freaking out!!! D:
Does my age become a factor past a certain point? I've a pretty sizable gap in my work history, and I'm in my late 20's.