Resume Building 101

I feel it necessary to preface this post with a small disclaimer: If this were an actual class, I would be woefully under qualified to speak on the subject. That being said, it has never stopped me before.

In a perfect world I would have been slowly and steadily building my resume over the past four years, faithfully updating it with each new experience as they come. This however is not a perfect world, and as such the past week has been spent trying to create some semblance of order out of a mass of life experiences, for many of which the details seem lost, at least for the moment.

Tip One: Write a resume, throw it away, it is not very good. Write a second resume, tear it up, it is better, but still not good enough. Write a third resume, examine it critically, and then revise, things are probably just starting to sound good.

I have personally been through four complete drafts of my resume, each one entirely different from the one before. It was only until after this fourth reinvention that I started feeling remotely comfortable about letting anyone see what I had made. I shudder to even think of a potential employer looking at draft one.

Tip Two: Leave white space.

We are all artists. We have been trained in design. We appreciate the aesthetic. Yet when it comes to resumes we seem to forget this. We create tight, dense sheets of meaningless facts and dates, unappealing to even the most stodgy hiring committee. I myself am guilty, draft one, hot mess: tight text, painfully small, full of pertinent information, but who cares if you can’t quickly and easily read it. A resume should be a pleasure to read. Our resumes should reflect the beauty of our profession.

Tip Three: Be true to yourself.

Ignore cookie cutter resume templates. All they say about you is that you know how to fill in boxes. Create your own template and let it say something about who you are. A resume is a PERSONAL professional document; let’s not forget that.

Tip Four: Let your resume live.

Constantly update and change your resume. When you do something new replace older, less impressive information. This will keep your resume constantly up to date and will free up space making it more user friendly and appealing. And as an added bonus you, unlike me, won’t have to scramble to update it every time you need it.

Tip Five: Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I’m new, and highly opinionated.

Today’s assignment: Pull out your resume, if you have one, if not start one. Read it carefully and find that one item that you no longer need. It served its purpose in the past, but you’ve moved on and have grown professionally since then. Delete it. Now your resume is cleaner, more concise, and easier to read.

Cheers.
-Christopher Bruce