Resume Reconsider:
A New Way of Thinking
Nikki Barnett, LMSW
Senior Career Consultant for Alumni
SB Career Center
Thursday, November 13
ALUMNI CAREER SERVICES
Individual Consultation
Career Coaching & Counseling
Self-Assessments (MBTI & Strong)
Resume & Cover Letter Review & Mock Interviews
Matching Program: Career Advisors Network Program
Alumni Workshop & Webinar Series
Online career resources
ZebraNet: SBU job search engine
stonybrook.edu/career -> Alumni
OVERVIEW
• Types of resumes
• Common elements of a resume
• Questions
TYPES OF RESUMES
Make sure you’re using the right format!
 Reverse chronological
 Functional
 Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Recent
Graduate
SAMPLE
Reverse
Chronological
SAMPLE
Functional
Resume
SAMPLE
HOW TO BEGIN?
THINK FIRST – “What have I done?”
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Education/Courses
Honors and Awards
Academic Projects
Activities and Leadership
Community Service/Volunteer Work
Internship Experience
Work Experience
Skills
Interests
WRITE NEXT – Write it all down
Basic Elements of a Resume
BASIC RESUME CONCEPTS
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It is a MARKETING TOOL- you must know your
customer and your product
Its primary purpose is to get an INTERVIEW- not tell
your whole story
Instead of focusing on job descriptions, focus on
qualified SKILLS by describing ACCOMPLISHMENTS
and RESULTS
One paper, one chance (Social Work/Teaching/
Graduate Students’ Resumes may be 2 pages)
Avoid use of templates!
CONTACT INFORMATION
Alumni Member
123 A Street
New York, NY 10000
[email protected]
(917) 555-1111
• Your name should stand out (bold, larger font)
• Have “professional” e-address, not
[email protected]
• Include e-mail, mailing address and phone number
that you check often
OBJECTIVE OR
SUMMARY
• Avoid pronouns, flowery and vague language.
• MUST be direct and to the point
• Specific to the position and company to which you
are applying. YES – this means for each different
position you apply to you will have to update your
resume objective!
• Focus on what you have to offer and not what the
job can offer you; employers want to know whether
you fit their needs.
GOOD AND BAD OBJECTIVES
Good Objective:
• “To obtain a full-time Crisis Counseling position at Response of
Suffolk County, Inc.”
• Account Management position where I can apply client development
and negotiation skills.
Bad Objectives:
• To obtain a position that would allow for optimal growth and
development within a competitive workplace.
• To obtain management or training position in a
telecommunications/high-tech post-sales or customer support area of
a growing, dynamic company.”
SUMMARY
What is it?
• 3-4 line summary of your skills and qualifications directly related
to the position you are applying to.
• Include key industry words!
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS:
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More than eight years experience as a resource manager in industry
Skilled in providing environmental consulting and training to businesses of all sizes
Proven ability to write environmental reports collected from field data and lab tests
EDUCATION
• If you are a current student or recent graduate
with minimal experience your “Education” section
should precede your “Experience” sections.
• Include official GPA if it is 3.0 or better. Do not
round up your GPA: 3.65 is not 3.7!
• You may include your major G.P.A. as well
• Subsections: Study Abroad, Honors, Activities
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook NY
Bachelor of Science in Health Science, expected May 2015
Concentration: Environmental Health GPA 3.54/4.00
EXPERIENCE SECTION(S)
Depending on your experience you may have multiple
experience sections
• Work Experience
• Health Care Experience
• Leadership Experience
• Related Experience
• Research Experience
• Volunteer Experience
• Clinical Experience, etc.
This will allow you to categorize you experience and
showcase the most relevant first.
EXPERIENCE SECTION
• Tailor your resume! Include experiences that
are relevant to the position you are applying to.
You do not have to include every experience
you have ever had.
• If the employer is not widely recognized and
the industry is not obvious, consider including a
line to explain the type of business
• Use reverse chronological order
DEVELOPING BULLETS
For each experience you will want to list a minimum
of 3-4 responsibilities/accomplishments
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THINK MORE about what you’ve done
What have I accomplished?
What problems have I solved?
What difference did I make?
What measurable impact did I have?
Use S.T.A.R. & ACTION VERBS
SITUATION /TASK: I noticed that children’s videos were displayed on
the 3rd shelf – too high for kids to see.
– ACTION: I recommended to my manager that we move those videos
to a lower shelf.
– RESULT: Weekly sales of children’s videos increased by 25%
ACTION VERBS
Communications
Advertising
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Facilitated
Consulted
Disseminated
Presented
Generated
Promoted
Targeted
Recruited
Management
Creative
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Led
Controlled
Supervised
Implemented
Devised
Conceived
Created
Established
GOOD EXAMPLES
Bain & Company
Associate Consultant
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San Francisco, CA
2002-2003
Advised Fortune 1000 companies on strategic and operational planning.
Identified best demonstrated practices through market research, developed client presentations,
and designed, implemented, and monitored pilot and full-scale initiatives.
Developed and implemented sales force and customer retention strategies with and for global air
courier.
Collaborated with team of five to advise growing coffee company on strategic branding initiatives.
Huron Consulting
New York, NY October 2003-Present
Consultant (2006-Present, promotion), Senior Associate (2005, promotion), Associate (2003-2004)
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Advise over fifty private equity and Fortune 1000 clients on the financial and strategic attractiveness of
acquisition targets.
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Lead teams through entire project cycle, including project sales, project-planning, interviewing of senior
management at target companies, research, financial/strategic/operational analysis, financial modeling,
development of strategic insights, report writing, and the delivery of findings to clients.
Good Resume
• College experiences
• Description of
responsibilities
• Education / courses
• Class projects
• Lab skills
• Tech skills
• Work experience
• Community service
• Clubs / activities
Great Resume
• A TAILORED professional
profile that outlines your
qualifications for a targeted
position.
• A description of your
ACCOMPLISHMENTS as
they relate to the position
you are applying to.
• Uses the STAR model
– Situation / Task
– Action
– Result
LAYOUT IS IMPORTANT
• Professional and Inviting
– Easy to read and draws the attention of the reviewer
– Organized and uncluttered
– If it is being emailed, make sure it is in a format that can
be opened by all. (PDF is always a good choice)
• Be consistent with formatting – do NOT use
multiple types of formatting please
• Standard = 1 page (*Depends on level and experience)
• View samples in the ZebraNet resource library
COMMON RESUME MISTAKES
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Typos or grammatical errors
Including unrelated and personal information
Writing in the first person
Using passive language / no action words
Repetitiveness
Poor formatting or formatting that is too flashy
Rounding GPA’s
Sending an unfocused or generic resume