WRITING YOUR RESUME
with Cynthia Petries, Dana Landis, and Andrew Green
Hosted by Paula Foster
Edited by Stephanie Cory
The following Guest Speaker Discussion originally took place on WRK4US in August of the year 2002. Because WRK4US has a confidentiality policy, all names and email addresses have been altered or removed, except for the moderator's and the Guest Speakers'.
The discussion can be read in two ways- by simply scrolling down and reading the whole thing, or by clicking on the topical links below, which take you to specific places within the discussion. The discussion can also be printed out in its entirety for your reading convenience.
Special thanks to Stephanie Cory who volunteered her time to edit this discussion and prepare it for posting on the web. If you are interested in editing a future discussion, your help will be much appreciated; email Paula Foster, WRK4US List Manager, at pfchambers@sbcglobal.net
INTRODUCTION TO GUEST SPEAKERS
INCLUDING TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT
RESUME COACHING SERVICES
PRESENTING UNTRADITIONAL EXPERIENCE
COLOR AND LOGOS
FORMAT
CAREER CHANGES
COVER LETTERS
INCLUDING HONOR SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS
KEY PHRASES
EXPLAINING GAPS IN WORK HISTORY
RESUME VERSUS CURRICULUM VITAE (CV)
SUBMISSION AND FOLLOW-UP
NETWORKING AND INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
CREATING YOUR OWN JOB
INCLUDING PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
INCLUDING REFERENCES
THANK YOUS
USEFUL WEBSITES
LIST MANAGER PAULA FOSTER'S INTRODUCTION TO THE "WRITING YOUR RESUME" DISCUSSION
Greetings one and all, and welcome to the first day of our Guest Speaker Discussion on the topic of "Writing Your Resume." We have three speakers with us:
- Dana Landis from UCLA (PhD 2002, Clinical Psychology)
- Cynthia Petries from University of Chicago (PhD 2002, Comparative Literature)
- Andrew Green from UC Berkeley (PhD 1993, Political Science)
From now through Friday, Dana, Cindy and Andrew will be available to answer your questions about how to put together a nonacademic resume. Cindy is on Central time, so she has already posted her introduction; the others are on Pacific time and will therefore post their own introductions
a bit later.
Introduction of Guest Speakers
CYNTHIA PETRIES
Before I even begin my introduction, I want to thank Paula and WRK4US for inviting me to participate in this guest discussion. Like many people on this list, my path both into and out of academia was one guided by serendipity. After graduating with a BA in American Studies and French I pursued what was then my career dream: to be a journalist. I reported every single piece of news-- and what could pass for such-- in a small town in Texas, where I quickly learned who were the people in town I could contact to help set up pictures, and that reporting wasn't for me. After a college mentor recommended I think about Comparative Literature, a degree that would balance my interests in U.S. and French literature, I applied and began my graduate work.
Throughout my graduate experience, while I found myself stimulated and energized by the intellectual challenge of the work, I also found myself constantly restless and interested in doing more "people-oriented" and project-oriented work and work in which I felt a deeper connection to the goal of helping people. Teaching was satisfying, and I also found that I had a knack for organizing. I helped a history professor organize a conference to encourage partnerships between community colleges and research universities, organized a rally, and took a leave of absence from my graduate work to work with community programs in New York City, where I supported myself temping as hiring coordinator for the engineering department in a large investment banking firm. When I returned to my graduate studies, I took on other positions to support my education, writing and editing booklets for an international management training company and, later, managing residential advisers in the university's residential college system.
While seemingly random, these twists and turns made my current position a fabulous fit. In my current work first as graduate career counselor and now as Assistant Director for Graduate Services at the University of Chicago's Career and Placement Services (CAPS) office, I have been able to not only complete my Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, but also draw on my wealth of past experiences, both academic and non-academic. What made my profile attractive to CAPS was my variety of experiences and also my keen understanding of the challenges of graduate students, particularly those in the humanities and those considering non-academic careers. My understanding of the university from an administrative perspective from my days in the residential college system also helped me to fit in within the student services area of the university, the umbrella under which CAPS falls at the University of Chicago.
Our unit within the university provides career services to undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs and alumni from within the undergraduate College and the graduate divisions of the university. I myself work on a three-member graduate services team to provide career services to graduate students, both those interested in academic and non-academic jobs. The biggest components of my job are counseling, programming and what I like to call "special projects." The counseling piece is providing career counseling to graduate students, primarily though not exclusively to students in the humanities and Divinity School. This includes everything from critiquing cover letters, CVs and resumes to helping students who are considering leaving academia for the great unknown begin to think about their skills, interests and values and develop strategies for finding jobs that combine all three. Programming includes creating and delivering programs to assist those on the academic job market-- "Preparing for the Academic Job Market," "Adjuncting 101" and the like-- and those contemplating non-academic careers, "Careers in Freelancing," and "Finding an International Job," for example. My special projects change, but they have included in the past leading the office's library committee, a position in which I helped the office to develop a new library job description and hire a new librarian. My current special project is working on creating marketing tools and strategies for our office, to get the word out to students and other campus and external constituencies about the resources we provide.
There is no typical day at CAPS, but my days frequently include some combination of the following: seeing students and responding to students' phone and e-mail inquiries, leading or participating in meetings to create and assess programs, creating materials to market and/or support these programs, and marketing or delivering programs. I try to spend some of my time also staying informed about job trends and conducting outreach with the various departments on campus. While one might not assume it from the title "counselor," my job involves a high level of organizational work, lots of writing-- from program proposals to job descriptions to resource guides to e-mails-- and work that I consider very akin to teaching; that is, working to help students learn how to explore careers or seek jobs successfully.
The thing I like most about my job is the opportunity it affords me to be creative. Because I work in a small office, there is always the opportunity to become involved in a variety of different projects and to lend one's ideas. The most challenging part of my job is seeing students at their lowest-- unsure about what they want to do, feeling completely lost and ill-fitting within academia-- and trying to help them develop the patience they need to look, not just for a job, but for something that will be really satisfying to them.
And now a word about resumes. For Ph.D.'s writing a resume has everything to do with identifying and describing "transferable skills"; that is, figuring out what you've done in both academic and non-academic contexts and translating those experiences to skills relevant to the job that interests you. Writing an effective resume is not creating a complete or comprehensive description of your work history, but rather, offering a snapshot of your most relevant experiences in a style and order that gives a prospective employer a clear picture of why you're both interested and qualified for the job. Another tip: one resume does NOT fit all. Develop a couple of resumes that are tailored to different jobs or fields that interest you. For example, if you want to work in development in a non-profit organization and are also applying for jobs in publishing, you may consider writing a couple of resumes that will highlight--through headings and other ways of creating emphasis--the skills and experiences sought by those very different employers.
Whew, that's a mouthful. Now the counselor in me is ready to sit back and listen to what YOU have to say. So bring on the resume questions! No red pens, I promise!!!
DANA LANDIS
First off, I'd like to give a big thanks to Paula for setting up another great discussion. As a PhD career counselor, I utilize the Work For Us listserv all the time, both for my own professional development, as well as in my work with clients. Previous discussions have been incredibly helpful and informative for me, so I'm really glad for the opportunity to share what I know, and add to the dialogue.
I entered the clinical psychology PhD program at DePaul University in 1995, and graduated this past June. However, I was about 6 months into the program when it occurred to me that the life of an academic was probably not for me. I think my exact thought was "God have mercy on my soul, if I wake up one day and my life looks anything like the lives of my professors". Because clinical psychology provides a natural career alternative to academia (that of a professional psychologist), I immediately started laying the groundwork for a career as a therapist. What I hadn't prepared for was the realization, some time in the middle of a rigorous 5th year clinical internship at UC Irvine, that doing therapy was making me miserable.
Enter the existential meltdown, during which I called into question the value of my degree, my stormy relationship with psychology, and my ever-deepening debt. Many anxiety attacks later, I managed to focus my thoughts around the kind of work that I genuinely enjoyed. With some help from a few compassionate fellow interns (one upside of working is a therapeutic environment), I was able to identify a real interest in working with students, and a true love for university programming, outreach, and targeted counseling. Thus, by the end of that year, as my fellow interns scoured the market for academic and clinical jobs, I began the difficult process of reframing my past clinical and research experiences to fit the requirements of a university career counseling position.
With some guidance from the director of the UC Irvine Career Center, I was able to reinvent myself on paper, and effectively prepare for an interview at the UCLA Career Center. I was hired on as a career counselor at UCLA, and thus began my new career in university student affairs. Over the past two years, I've been given the freedom to explore areas of personal interest, and take an active role in my own professional development. Specifically, my strong interest in working with PhD students has been nurtured and encouraged, and eventually lead to my current position as Doctoral Career Services Supervisor. In this position I oversee and coordinate all career programming for PhD's on campus, which involves networking with academic departments across disciplines, collaborating with Graduate Division, designing and conducting workshops for PhD's pursuing academic as well as non-academic careers, and providing individual career counseling for PhD's in transition. As a PhD career counselor, I draw on
tried and true career information and resources, as much as I draw on my own personal experiences as someone who's faced a difficult transition away from academia, and into a satisfying alternative career.
As a career counselor, I can say that great resumes are rare. That few people, no matter how brilliant or accomplished, have a really great looking resume, and few people really understand how to effectively tailor a resume. This is the good news. This means that if you take some time, and get good information about how to structure an effective resume, you're way ahead of most of your competitors. I hope we're able to demystify the process of resume writing, and give you clear answers to some of the tricky questions that come up around that process.
ANDREW GREEN
My name is Andrew Green, and I have been the PhD counselor at the UC Berkeley Career Center for over four years. In that time I've looked at hundreds of resumes. To this day, I can claim, with no lack of paternal pride, that I've yet to see a resume nearly as bad as the first one I produced while still an academic on the faculty of a small liberal arts college teaching political science. It was everything a resume is not supposed to be. But exhibiting that key characteristic shared by all PhDs, the ability to learn quickly and master new domains, I soon had a much more effective means of conveying my relevant skills and experience. I want to start the discussion by offering my three cardinal sins of PhD resume writing:
- THE RESUME AS MEMOIR. Your resume is not your biography. Just because you've done something, just because you're particularly proud of it, doesn't mean it belongs in your resume. A strong resume is a targeted, focused instrument that puts before the reader's eye the skills and experience that are most relevant to their needs. The last time I served on a screening committee, the first resumes pitched were those where the first couple of sections read as if the applicant had never seen the job description. You only have my attention for a very few seconds, be sure the information that takes up that top half of the page is something that I will unambiguously recognize and understand in terms of the value it represents to me as your future employer. Don't take a "shotgun" approach - spewing forth everything you've ever done in hopes that something will stick. I'm just not willing to wade through a lot of chaff in hopes of finding a little wheat. You have to do that editing for me. I should be able to reverse engineer the job ad from your resume.
- THE "THIS IS WHAT I'VE DONE IN A WORLD VERY DIFFERENT FROM YOURS, FIGURE OUT WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU" RESUME. Most employers have no sense of what it means to be a graduate student at a research university, and nothing but the vaguest notion of how the process of earning a PhD has trained you, in terms of skills and temperament, to be of specific value to them (people are hired to fill specific needs). It's up to you to translate for them the relevance of your training and experience. For a job where communication skills are prized, few hiring managers are likely to look at "three semesters of teaching English 1A" and infer that you are able to "convey complex concepts to non-expert audiences." Don't just tell them what you did. Relate to them what you did in a particular piece of work experience that has equipped you to carry out the tasks the job entails, and, to the extent possible, do it using their terminology. Each resume has a particular audience with a very focused set of interests, needs, and criteria; speak directly to them in language they will understand, or risk a quick trip to the circular filing cabinet.
- THE "I'M GONNA USE THE FORMAT THAT WORKED FOR MY BROTHER'S ROOMMATE" RESUME. Think about what kind of resume format communicates your qualifications most clearly and effectively. Most resumes I see follow the traditional, chronological format. The logic behind a chronological format is: "I've done A, and I've done B, and now I'm ready to do C." When I look
at your most recent work experience as a graduate student, the metaphor is more likely to read "I've done K, I've done L, and now I'm ready to do C." Your audience could get whiplash trying to follow the relevance. There is no single best resume format or order - otherwise resume books would consist of a single page. Look for organizational formats or schemes that highlight or bring to the fore your strongest credentials for a particular position. Don't be afraid to use formatting options like indents and bolding to structure your resume, and draw the reader's eye to those aspects of your background that are most germane. Most people don't read resumes; they glance at them. If I glance at yours, will my eye be drawn to the most critical pieces of information? Order is dictated by relevance not chronology.
Ask away, secure in the knowledge that nothing you've written is as bad as my first effort.
INCLUDING TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT
SUBSCRIBER BK
Dear Guests:
Hello and thank you for your enlightenment in this stressful area. Many of the jobs that I've looked at require lots of admin assistance type experience, which I have back in my old temping days. I will soon be signing up with agencies and temping until I find a job.
My question: because I've used so many skills in office temp work, I feel that it may be a good idea to list the temp work on my resume--which I've never done. IF you think this is a good idea, because it shows I can MS Word, Excel, Access, and phone manage an office, how do you post that experience on a resume? Do you sublist the jobs beneath the agency like below:
Pacific Temporary Services
- Fist Federal Bank, database management
- Finney and Brown, administrative assistance
- X and Y, secretarial
or do you list these jobs, which can last as little as a week, separately if at all?
Thanks,
BK
CYNTHIA PETRIES Responds:
On the question of how/whether to list temp agencies on resumes. . .
I think this is a good idea. I've temped before and I know it's REAL WORK. OK, sometimes it's real boring work, but still. . .
Including your temping experiences on the resume will, as you say, illustrate your computer abilities, database management experience, customer service experience, and, often, can demonstrate familiarity with a particular working environment that you may want to break into in more permanent work.
Now, in terms of HOW to do it, if you've held a series of very short jobs, I would say something like,
Acme Temporary Agency, Various Positions
Dates (which total your entire time as a temp), City, State
and then below that use 3-5 bullet points to describe what your experiences were.
For example:
- Created and maintained client contact database at Acme PR Company for use company-wide, trouble shot and created training manual to instruct coworkers on its use
- Maintained smooth functioning of mid-sized, fast-paced advertising agency office, answered busy switchboard and edited all correspondence
Unless listing the businesses you worked for would be relevant, I wouldn't do it, because it can tend to look like a laundry list of names that don't say much. If, on the other hand, you have worked for relevant businesses (you temped in prominent PR firms and you want to go into PR, for example), then I would list select names of businesses at which you temped. Most important: make sure the bullet points illustrate your accomplishments and skill set.
--Cindy (CYNTHIA PETRIES)
SUBSCRIBER HL
I am currently a grad student in my last year of school, and I have already begun looking for a job in marketing research. You all sound like you have lots of useful experience in looking at resumes and helping grad students who may not have much job experience convey how their grad school experience applies to the job at hand. I have been working on my resume for a little while now, and I would really like to get an expert opinion on how it looks, but the counselors in my career center are not as stellar as you three, and have not given me useful advice in the past. Is it worth paying for this service? How can I find someone who knows about my particular field? Or should I be able to do this on my own, heeding all the advice on this list?
Thanks,
HL
CYNTHIA PETRIES Responds:
On the question of whether or not to pay for resume coaching. . .
I would not pay to get resume advice unless you have a very strong reference from a fellow graduate student or someone who has a similar background to you who can vouch for that person's abilities as a resume coach. Resume advice can be expensive, so be sure, if you go that route, that you're getting somebody good.
Otherwise, I'd recommend talking to friends or other people in your network who have been successful at finding the kind of job you're seeking. Some people build their network through already established alumni networks through their undergraduate and/or graduate institution. Another option is joining an association in the field or fields that interest you and seeking connections/advice there through networking events. Ultimately, resumes for different fields look different, so getting the advice of someone in your chosen field would likely be more valuable than a standard, non-specific resume-- however polished.
All that said, there are a couple of resources on the more general style of resume you might check out. One is Outside the Ivory Tower, by Margaret Newhouse (Office of Career Services, Harvard University, 1993), which offers some nice Ph.D. resume samples and explanations for the choices people made. Another resource is one we have here at Career and Placement Services, a handout called "CV to Resume" (http://caps.uchicago.edu/resources/pdfs/cv2resume.pdf) which offers some general help.
--Cindy
ANDREW GREEN Responds:
Dear HL,
I agree with Cynthia that paying a resume coach (especially one who hasn't worked extensively with PhDs) is highly problematic. What a good coach would do that you can likely get from a good friend (who is preferably not a grad student or at least is in a different department) is help teasing out the various aspects of your background and training that bear on the field of marketing research. Academics are usually extraordinarily skilled at downplaying any skill or expertise we might recognize that we possess. If we have one, saying analyzing large volumes of data and determining interesting patterns, the most likely response is "well anyone can do that." No they can't.
Break down the job your interested in into 3-4 key skill areas, and construct a draft resume. Show it to a friend, wine might help, and encourage them to ask questions. To force you to explain the different aspect of each entry, to help you see how you may need to alter the presentation to communicate the substance to a non-academic audience. The
purpose of having a friend outside your department go over a draft of your resume with you is to have them ask questions like:
Friend: "You say here you were a TA in intro to political science, what did you do?"
You: Graded and ran sections
Friend: Isn't running a section kind of like managing a focus group? And didn't that seminar paper for X involve an analysis of the use of symbolic resume colors in Parts I & II of "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"?
It's hard to gain the perspective on our own work necessary to reframe it in an effective manner for an audience who hasn't been along for the ride. We often need thoughtful help pulling apart what we've done in grad school and recasting it for potential employers so they can better understand what we have to offer them. But one resource grad students/PhDs typically do have in abundance is access to thoughtful people.
Good Luck,
Andrew
PRESENTING UNTRADITIONAL EXPERIENCE
SUBSCRIBER WN:
I am a new subscriber to this list, as I am newly looking for work outside of academia, or at least not a regular teaching position - and have found the discussion, including material that is archived at the website, to be very helpful. I finished my PhD in African history in 1988, and spent 10 years doing adjunct and part-time teaching. I got disgusted with the working conditions about the time that jobs dried up, and for the past five years I have been an independent scholar (that is to say, unemployed) - which I quite enjoyed, and we did manage for a while on my husband's salary. But now I need to get some kind of work; I am most interested in finding something that would involve editing or writing. I have been pretty successful in getting my academic writing published, including a book with Heinemann that just came out this summer, so I actually have been productive during these years of no job.
I have a specific resume question. I have been a research scholar - a non-paid position that gives library and email access, but not much else - with UCLA's Center for the Study of Women, and I have been listing that as my "current position." But it is not really a job -- though I think it does suggest some kind of respect for my work that simply saying "independent scholar" does not. In the few letters I have sent out recently looking for work, I have played up my success in academic writing, and a brief editing job I held a number of years ago, and that has gotten me one interview so far in a campus-based editing position (they haven't finished their interview process yet, so that is still up in the air). But I suspect I will be applying to a wider range of locations, and I'd really appreciate advice on how to present these years and this kind of position.
Thanks, WN
ANDREW GREEN Responds:
Dear WN,
The issue regarding your editing experience is not whether it has been paid or not, rather has it provided you with concrete skills and experience carrying the tasks typically associated with editing positions such as line editing, copy editing, proofing, indexing, etc. That is, you are well prepared to carry these tasks out for them.
I would likely have a section in your resume labeled "Editing Experience" that's near the top where one entry might be: Line edited, copy edited, and indexed book length manuscript published by Heinemann Press.
Again the issue is not so much your status (independent scholar vs. research fellow) as showing potential Employers the skills you have to offer. Your ability to come in and help solve their problems.
Good Luck,
Andrew
SUBSCRIBER TB:
Thanks to the three of you for sharing your backgrounds and providing key points regarding effective resume writing in your introductions. I appreciate so much this opportunity to ask you questions about resumes that have been nagging me.
First, I'm attempting a functional resume and seeking to get further feedback regarding the following critique from a career counselor regarding several "alarms" in my background.
Age: 48
Time to complete ph.d.: 12 years
Other work and education: all twelve+ years old
(Ph.D. in East Asian anthropology, 1999; MBA 1987; BA in Chinese Language and Lit, 1976)
The advice I received was to state very briefly in a cover letter (one sentence or two at most) that I spent twelve years in the ph.d. program due to doing most of doctoral work at a distance as I followed a spouse, as well as advocating for and assisting two learning disabled children--enormously time consuming when they were young, especially.
The thought of the counselor was: talking about family is a risk, but not talking about why it took so long to complete the ph.d. is also a risk.
Thus, Question 1: How best to present the twelve years of ph.d. work so as not to raise concerns about my age, gender, family obligations, and potential contribution to the organization that may be considering me?
Second, I am in the networking/informational interview stage of the process, not yet ready to target a job. At the moment, am investigating international business, international development, or governmental work. The resume at
this point is an "introductory" tool for those who might advise about career paths in their organizations, and what else I might need to do to get a foot in the door, or even to suggest where else to look.
Hence, Question 2: How targeted need a resume be in the "informational interview" phase of the job hunt?
Question 3: When the time comes to find that job, human resource personnel in large companies tend to screen resumes before they get sent to the people making hiring decisions, and I've heard that in the federal government,
there are computer programs that screen out most applicants. Therefore, how does someone with a non-traditional educational background write a resume to get past the gatekeepers, human or machine?
Question 4: If I go into the Asian field in private or public work, all of my background may have aspects that would be relevant to the job, even if the experience is well beyond six years old. Do I mention it or forget it, should it be directly applicable? With what degree of detail should old experience be discussed, if appropriate?
Question 5: The guides in the bookstores recommend saying a few brief words about personal interests because they humanize you. Yes? Or does it pad the resume and put busy readers off?
Thanks again for sharing your time and expertise,
TB (Linda)
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Hi TB,
Actually, your questions prompted a really interesting discussion recently, and I think the advice you got from several people on the listserv was right on.
- Chances are, there are a series of things you were doing while you were completing your PhD that are very worthwhile, and with some reframing could probably sound very relevant to a job in government or international development. (research, analysis, writing, speaking/presentation, instruction, programming). Basically, I would get away from thinking about your time in grad school as some sort of interruption in your work history or your professional development. You've been busy developing your skills, and learning a tremendous amount. Take full credit for that. What you'll need to do, though, is get loose and creative about how you view what you've done these past 12 years, and be opportunistic in selecting aspects of your grad work that closely mirror the kinds of activities you'd like to take on in the jobs your seeking now.
Also, I would stay away from explaining yourself, or qualifying (or quantifying) your involvement with family. You have a family, you are committed to them. Thus, you'll search for jobs that give you the level of flexibility you think you'll need to keep your life in balance. The cover letter and resume should be a direct, positive reflection of what you're good at, what you've accomplished, and why you're such an outstanding fit for that particular position. Take CREDIT for your degree, make it relevant to them, pinpoint the specific skills you possess, and express your interest and enthusiasm for the job. If you don't apologize for 12 years in grad school, they will likely have a much more positive take on what you've done.
- Informational interviews are a great idea, and I wouldn't worry too much about making an air-tight resume for that stage. You really need to find out through talking to people about the nature of the field you're entering, and how best to get started. You'll use that information to tailor your resume for a specific position. If you need something to hand to people, I would shape it towards that field as best you can, and keep it skill based.
- Anytime you can use a personal connection to get a leg-up on a job, do it. The HR grind is a pain, and it truly is harder to get your resume to the right people if you follow standard procedure. If someone can hand your resume off to the hiring manager, or make a call on your behalf, great. If you have to push your application through an HR department, it's best to get a very clear handle on the specific position you're applying for, and the specific terms (key words) that are used in that industry (more generally) and in that organization (more specifically). Again, knowing someone on the inside will reduce the guesswork. For example, instead of saying you 'lead' an undergraduate section, or 'compiled' information for a presentation, you might want to say you coordinated, supervised, or managed that process.
- The older the experience, the more relevance it should have to the job in question if it's going to stay on your resume. I would make a specific section on your resume "International Experience" or something along those lines, and put everything down that pertains to that area of work. As you reach back in time (15 or 20 years), I would select the experiences that really stand out, or carry special importance to the job you're currently applying for. For example: Your time abroad is really important, time working for a prestigious organization, or positions where you carried heavy responsibility. Stick to the most relevant aspects of those jobs in your bullet points.
- that's a personal choice. If you have room, and there's something you're involved in that you'd like them to know about, I'm sure it's fine.
-Dana
Dana, Cindy and Andrew:
Thanks for sharing with us your stories and your expertise. One quick question (I may have others before this discussion is over). Some years ago, during the War in Kosovo, I organized a teach-in that was attended by over 300 people. The teach-in originated by a single post I put on a listserv asking if anyone wanted to help me put it together-- within a couple of hours, two people answered, and within two weeks we lined up speakers, put up posters, contacted relief agencies, invited the media, etc. It's an accomplishment I remain proud of to this day-- I proved to myself that I had the personal and political skills to bring something like this off. My question is, is this something I can put on a resume? How would I frame it? As the task involved public speaking, public relations,
managing a team, etc., I imagine that it shows that I have skills that could be transferred into other contexts-- but as it doesn't exactly fit under the category of "job experience" how do I categorize it?
DL
CYNTHIA PETRIES Responds:
On the subject of including political organizing on resumes. . .I think your organization of a teach-in is something that should absolutely belong on a resume. It demonstrates really valuable skills -- OK, I did this once, so I know how tough it is-- and it shows to a potential non-academic employer that you can do short-term projects, collaborate and communicate effectively, and all the other skills that you yourself identify below.
One way to categorize this experience is under the broad heading, "Experience," which allows you to include your significant experiences, paid or unpaid. Better yet would be to categorize it as "Leadership Experience," or "Organizational Experience," or in some other category that matters to your career field of interest. In terms of how to identify yourself, you might identify yourself as a "Student Organizer," or "Graduate Student Leader," particularly if the teach-in stemmed from some involvement you already had in a particular group. You might then include your institution, the dates you worked on the teach-in, bulleted items that outline what you did-- treating it just like you would treat a paid job.
I think this raises a larger question, though, which is: how do I bring up sensitive information (like work that reveals my sexual orientation or political or religious affiliation) on my resume? A teach-in may not set off "warning bells" to any employers-- aha, a trouble maker!!!-- but other activities might. It's always difficult to generalize, but at CAPS our advice is to know what you're comfortable with, and know your audience. Some people say, "If I they don't like who I am and what my commitments are, I don't want to work for them." Others will include information--such as missionary work or an internship working with their local representative or work with LGBT issues on campus-- in vague terms if they're unsure what the particular stance of the organization might be. In other cases, being "out" on your resume can help you, showing your commitment to diversity, political engagement or involvement with relevant populations. How you want to represent yourself is always a judgment call, but research into your audience can help.
--Cindy
SUBSCRIBER DS
Hello All,
I have a question with regard to determining which work and/or volunteer experience to include on a resume. Is it advisable to include all the work positions you've ever held? I have been working since I could get a work-permit as a teenager, and the jobs I have had (many of them part-time or temporary "just getting me through college or summer jobs") would fill up more than a page. Or is it advisable to choose those positions that are relevant to the position to which you're applying, and label the section "Relevant Experience"? Or, perhaps, is there a limited number of years one should go back in listing one's work experience?
I'd appreciate any perspectives others might have.
Thank you,
DS
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Yep. I highly advise that you select only the past work experiences that are most relevant to the job for which you are applying. It's o.k. to put old work experiences on your resume, but as you reach farther back in time, the relevance of that particular position needs to be stronger and stronger. For example, I probably wouldn't include a job I did 15 years ago, unless it was really snazzy and/or reflected really relevant skills to the job I'm applying for now.
We've covered a lot of these topics in the previous discussion throughout this week. If you've recently logged on and missed the previous questions and answers, I would keep an eye out for the archived version of this whole panel presentation, which should show up on the Woodrow Wilson Foundation's website in a short while. Here's the link: http://www.woodrow.org/phd/WRK4US/
Then click on "Guest Speaker Discussions", which will lead you to the archived discussions on a number of really interesting career topics (including this one, eventually).
-Dana
SUBSCRIBER SC
Hello,
I'm curious about what our panelists think about adding or using color in your resume headings and/or logos of past organizations worked for, again to add colour. (Obviously, like using bold or italic lettering, it has to be tasteful and purposeful.)
I was told specifically to do this to my resume by a high tech recruiting agent about 1.5 years ago. Another career counsellor, also specializing in new media / technology stated the same thing. They said most resumes were now in colour (at least among those going after new media jobs). I'd never thought about this, so I switched it over, adding colour and small logos of past companies/institutions I've worked for.
Have our panelists any opinions on this? Is it a way to stand out? Is it common among those pursuing less-techie fields?
Thanks for your time!
SC
CYNTHIA PETRIES Responds:
On the subject of using color or logos in your resume. . .
I don't have a lot of experience with this, but most areas other than graphic design or new media I'd advise against it. And for new media positions, I would only use it when applying for positions where if you got the job you'd be in a position to create snazzy graphics or designs; if you're applying to be a content writer, I'm not sure you need it for that. In your case, when you added color and logos to your resume, did it evoke a positive response among employers? Did you get any positive responses from people in the fields that interest you if/when you showed
it to them? Pay attention to that feedback.
My colleagues may have different opinions, but in my experience color on a resume can be slightly distracting and often calls attention not to you, but to IT. Ditto on logos, which might "brand" you in unexpected ways. I think they'd call more attention to the companies than to you. Also, if you think about what happens to a resume after a potential employer receives it, often it's sent through the standard b/w copy machine, so all of the interested parties may not even see the color.
The only exception I might make to the simpler-is-better rule would be on a resume you posted on a website. In cases like that, color would be more welcome and appropriate, but even then, I'd say subtlety is to be recommended.
--Cindy
SUBSCRIBER SC:
Thanks for the feedback. As I said, the only career counsellors I had spoken with said color was necessary today. In fact, the recruiters and headhunters with whom I spoke pretty much said they wouldn't shop my resume / me around unless I jazzed it up with color as it would not get noticed. Because of this, I thought I'd raise it here for the benefit of other wrk4us people -- as I said, I'd never considered putting colour on my resume before they insisted. I didn't end up working with these recruiters, mostly because my experience really didn't fit the square peg-into-square-hole type positions that they specialize in filling but I did follow their resume advice.
Although it's hard to judge the impact of the color / logos (partly because Sept 11 came along and no one did much hiring for a few months), I'd say I had slightly better luck getting noticed and in the door after putting color on -- in all cases the companies / organizations who I ended up interviewing with (including my current position) were looking for someone who thought "outside the box" and would bring new ideas, so perhaps in the non-tech companies a color resume communicated that I might be that "someone with different ideas" that they wanted.
I will say that I was careful to use shades that copied well into black and white (as subtle shades of grey), knowing that many people would view my resume in b&w -- and I used color the way many people use italics or underlining (and instead of italics or underlining to avoid the busy look) to draw attention to certain features and to organize the information systematically.
Although I am not currently looking for work, I will rethink the look of my resume....
Thanks again!
SC
SUBSCRIBER SL:
Allow me to kibitz just a bit on the matter of color and logos. My apologies to the panelists...I think that they are doing a great job!
During the past twenty years I have worked in human services as a clinical director in addition to working as a tenure-track faculty person at several institutions. During that time I have hired dozens of clinicians and support staff. I have also chaired three faculty searches and sat on at least eight other faculty search committees. My comments following are both from the vantage point of being a career development professional and a hiring manager.
Colors. Cynthia and Dana are dead on target. Color and pictures (whether logos, cartoon, or person photographs) are a great distraction to the hiring process. They are seen as gimmicks. I have typically been more impressed by the substance of a resume or CV as opposed to the style. In a lengthy search with over a hundred candidates, one begins to resent aspects of the paper chase that does not give additional information about how the candidate will fit the job. In a recent recruitment we reviewed 193 applicants. I went back and looked this morning. There were 16 applicants with colored paper, colored ink, or "fancy fonts." None of them made the cut when we narrowed the pool to 25 candidates. We were looking for the traditional skill, knowledge, and ability set...not high resolution inkjet printers.
Logos. There is another practical reason not to use logos. They are the branded trademark of the industry or institution. While I doubt that the organization would file suit or enjoin an individual from using them, there is still a matter of legality.
Strategic self-presentation. Either Dana or Cynthia, I forget which, indicated that one should not spend a great deal of bandwidth qualifying or justifying aspects of one's life such as family, volunteer work etc. Again, I agree. It would be my opinion that hiring managers who are prone to categorize an applicant as having spent too much time with family are not likely to be swayed by a qualifying testimonial. At some level, confidence in our skills has to outweigh our doubts about our journey.
I have hired individuals fresh out of school and have been both pleased and disappointed. I have hired individuals who stepped on the career track to be with family and have been both pleased and disappointed. I have always tried to find the person who seemed best qualified. Often this has meant finding the individual whose skill set was exemplified by flexibility and willingness to learn and contribute.
Again, my apologies for butting in. I am enjoying the "conversation" and have been forwarding most of it my grad/doctoral students here on campus.
SL
SUBSCRIBER KV:
Hi, I'm new to this list, so I hope this e-mail isn't an intrusion. I have a fifteen year consulting career parallel to my other careers. I fell into it while I was in grad school.
It is commonplace for technical resumes for developers and project or product managers to be as long as cvs--six to eight pages. On the other hand, it is also commonplace for analysis and management resumes to be limited to absolutely one page only! You need both.
Each recruiting agency (if you work with them) places the resume in its own format and replaces your contact information with that of the agency. Devise a format you can keep updated but which converts readily into rich text format or ascii. Get ready to alter your resume for each position you apply for the recruiters do it if you don't, and you can probably do it much better with your recruiter's help then she can alone.
In general, don't put your education first. Or, should I be putting my education first on my cv? Even though it is not as impressive as my publication or teaching experience and is last on my resume? Or is my teaching experience not as impressive as I think it is?
The advice Cynthia gave about describing temp work was excellent. I am doing a lot of revising right this second -- I would only add that you can drive your temp career into consulting by focusing even short assignments on resume-worthy projects and deliverables rather than just answering the phones. I always got bored and put together a style manual, or made a template, asked for a special project, or something, something I could add to my resume. I have very real technology projects on my resume which only took me two weeks to complete, etc. Don't cut those presentations, especially if you made slides or used a laptop!
Be well,
KV
ANDREW GREEN Responds:
What is viewed as appropriate in one context is often an anathema in another. At the very least, a format that is "foreign" immediately identifies you as "not one of us (gleich und gleich gesellt sich gern)." One of the overarching themes we've tried to convey is that your resume should attempt to close the perceived social/professional distance between your past activity as a grad student and your future as a part of their profession/organization. Thus it should mimic in style and content their weltanschau.
As a PhD looking for work outside academia (or in your case outside the classroom), we are already different enough, and I think it's worth the effort to find out how they typically organize and present information in a resume for a position in academic administration. The easiest way to accomplish this is to find one or two people working in that capacity and ask their advice. People love to give advice. Here are Dana, Cynthia, and I typing frantically at the keyboard because we think for once in our lives someone might actually listen to what we have to say. Work up an educated-guess draft of your resume, and offer to take a couple of people who work at the university out for coffee because you value their opinion.
Andrew
Dear WRK4US,
I have a question about the functional style resume. How do you show that you have organizational, communication, etc. skills? Do you actually use these as headings? Or do you include these "words" under other categories? For instance, I have a Ph.D. in history and have taught as a visiting assistant professor and as an adjunct, both of which take organizational and communication skills. I also have a background as an academic advisor and librarian. I am at a loss as to how to conceptualize these experiences. So far I have put together two basic formats. One is the traditional style C.V. and the other is a mix of the C.V. and resume. In the latter one I use many C.V. categories but I have them in different order. Plus, directly after the headings I have bullets listing the skills I acquired from the various positions. I feel that this has more of a C.V. feel than a resume though. Or maybe it is just a hodgepodge! I have been struggling with this for weeks now. I have read the major books (Ivory Tower, etc.) and still do not have a grasp on how to set up a functional resume. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Great discussion topic!!!
-- MJ
DANA LANDIS Responds:
This is an attempt to respond to the very good questions raised. The question of how to categorize or reframe your academic experience on a resume is a tough one. Rather than go into a lengthy discussion about each kind of experience and where you might fit it into a resume, I'll pass along some word files (I hope this works) that better illustrate my point.
What I'm including here is a CV, and then a Resume written by the same person, for a non-academic position, utilizing the same body of experience. The resume only draws from the experience summarized on the CV, so it is just a simple reframe on an academic background.
The resume document also includes footnotes that help explain how the CV information was reframed to fit a more targeted resume. I hope you find this helpful. Let me know if the word document doesn't translate across the listserv and I'll try and cut and paste it into an e-mail format.
-Dana
CYNTHIA PETRIES Responds:
On the subject of a functional style resume, I think that Dana's e-mails cover it beautifully, but I'd like to add a little bit here.
One goal of a functional resume is to allow you to put your best and most relevant experiences first--even if they're not in strict chronological order-- and, say, put the barrista at Starbucks experience later on.
To show that you have organizational, communication, etc. skills, you have several options, none mutually exclusive. First, you can include these as headings, a la "Organizational Experience," and "Communications Experience"; that doesn't show anything, so much as it creates emphasis and prepares an employer who wants to see these terms to say, "Hey, she has the experience I'm looking for."
One caveat: I would let the categories of the profession I'm interested in dictate my broader categories. For example, I was once interested in applying for teaching and administrative positions in K-12 independent schools. On my resume I had the categories of "Teaching" and also "Entrepreneurial" experience. A friend of mine who was an experienced teacher told me that no one -- at least no one in his experience-- was particularly interested in teachers being "entrepreneurial," but if I changed my category to "Administrative" (which was also accurate), it became a category teachers and administrators at independent schools would recognize as valuable experience. So remember to let your audience be your guide.
Another way to show skills is to list the particular accomplishments and tasks you completed in your past roles (as visiting professor, adjunct, academic advisor, librarian) and try to point out what were those organizational or communication aspects. Everyone thinks they know what teaching is, but if you can break it down into specific organizational and communication tasks, you will go a long way toward showing that you have these skills because you've exercised them. We always give the advice that with your bullet points you want to create a visual picture in the potential employer's mind of you doing your job (OK, you in your best moments doing the best parts of your job).
On the question of how to convert a CV into a resume-- what to keep, what to discard-- what I sometimes find helpful is to find a job description I like and write a resume toward that position. Indeed, writing a general resume to be read by anyone can be overwhelming. Perhaps if you do this, you'll find that some categories from the CV are ones you'd like to keep-- perhaps, experience, languages, computer skills, education. Others you'll rephrase more concisely or lose altogether-- complete lists of publications and conference presentations, dissertation descriptions, references, and teaching interests, for example.
--Cindy
SUBSCRIBER BA:
Hi all -
Thanks so much to all of our guest speakers and to the listmembers for all their insight and contributions - I am finding this discussion *really* helpful and timely - and so big thanks to Paula, too, for coordinating it!
I am actually in the process of working on my resume right now, and I have a few questions - for the guest speakers and anyone else who might want to take these up:
1) I'm trying to arrange my resume in a kind of functional style, so I've preliminarily set it up with the following headings, and I was wondering what you thought of this format:
Summary - 4-5 bullet points here listing key items (skills/accomplishments/experience)
Experience - this is broken down into three subsections according to kinds of experience (e.g. Budgeting and Financial Experience), each with a few bullet points underneath listing specific things I've done
Employment History - just a list of titles and dates of positions I've held for the past few years - no descriptions since I've listed the key points in the "Experience" section above - and is there a better title for this section?
Related Experience - just some advisory boards and volunteer work I've done relevant to the position I'm applying for (this is a non-profit position so I think this stuff is relevant) - again just names & dates
Education - just a list of degrees, places, and dates
2) I was also wondering - how new or how common is the "functional" or other alternative styles? So far, the three people I've shown this resume to have automatically wondered why it's not in the standard (or what I think is the more traditional) chronological style (i.e. with a chronological list of positions held and descriptions of job responsibilities under those positions). I'm not sure if folks are responding this way because this style is still fairly new, or if they just haven't seen resumes recently (none of them are in career services or anything, they are just friends and family), or if I just haven't set mine up quite right.
3) "Objective" statements at the top of the resume - what do you all think of these? Would you say most resumes should have one, or not? I've gotten wildly diverging opinions on this one - some folks say you should, while others say "all this does is take up space and show me that you've read the job ad that was posted and can write it back to me" - ie, when you could have been telling us something about yourself. I noticed there was one on the sample resume distributed earlier.
4) My last question (for now, at least ;-)) has to do with resume length. I know everyone says resumes should be 1-2 pages; what I'm wondering is if there's a big difference between 1 and 2 pages. Again, some folks say that it's very rare that they'll *ever* look past that first page, and that it might even put them off if someone sends a 2-pg resume. Others say 2 pages is fine. What do you all think? Also, does this have anything to do with the level of the position you're applying for? For example, if you're applying for a kind of upper-management job or something like that, would a 2-pg resume be more appropriate than for, say, an entry-level job? I've also heard recently that "1 page for every 10 years of employment is a good guideline" - which was new to me. Can you offer any advice/thoughts on this?
I know I've asked a lot of questions here. I really appreciate your taking the time to answer them, and I'll look forward to your responses. Thanks very much!
All the best,
BA
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Hi BA,
1) and 2), Looking at the format you summarized, I'd say that looks good. By and large, people with more experience (life, education, work) tend to move in the direction of using non-traditional (i.e. non-chronological) resumes. The reason for this is simple: summarizing a whole lifetime of acquired skills and accomplishments in one or two pages takes some craftiness and creativity. Basically, if your resume is clear, informative, easy to read, and answers the employer's questions, it doesn't really matter what format you're using. The real task is choosing a format that presents your particular background and experience in the most effective way possible. You want to find a lay-out that makes you look really good, given everything you've done. That takes some careful consideration, and a little experimentation.
3) The objective statement basically serves one function. It is there to let the employer know (or, in many cases the HR person know) what job you're applying for. I've heard HR people complain about resumes that show up with no objective statement, ...and in a company of 500 people, and 7 different departments, they don't know who to forward it to.
Now, if you've written a cover letter to accompany your resume (which I highly recommend), there is no need to put an objective statement on your resume, as the cover letter should have clarified already who you are, what your goals are, and what position you're applying for.
4) Resume length is decided by several factors:
a) The particular field you're entering. For certain positions (particularly in big business, financial, and corporate consulting fields), it's really important to keep your resume to one page. This rule gets a little looser as you climb the ranks, ...but the one page rule of thumb is a good one to follow in traditional 'business' fields. As you move into the softer areas like education, counseling, non-profit, the two-page resume gets more and more acceptable. Basically, do some industry research, and make sure you know the rules for the particular field you're entering.
b) Your level of education. Generally speaking, as your education level rises, ...your resume lengthens. I've heard it defined in this way: B.A. or B.S. gets one page, MA or M.S. gets two pages, PhD gets three pages. HOWEVER, ...that rule only applies in certain contexts, and in private industry, a 3-page resume is likely to hurt you.
c) The level of the job you're applying for. Generally speaking, as the level rises, ...your resume lengthens. People going for mid-to-high level professional or managerial positions often present with two-page resumes. Whereas an entry-level position would call for a one-page resume. Again, this may hold true in some contexts and not in others. Your best bet it to do some research, and make sure your following standard procedure for that particular field.
-Dana
CYNTHIA PETRIES Responds:
On the range of questions you bring up. . .
1) The functional resume
I like the functional resume style you describe below, but I think it's most effective for career changers, for people with relevant but very old experience, and job seekers with relevant experience that's in a completely different field. If, for example, you've worked in religious ministry and want to make the jump to HR work in a secular context, you may have great, relevant skills, but seeing the list of religious positions you've held and places where you've worked as the first thing might make an employer ask, "Hmm, why does this person want to go into HR?" That's when a functional resume, in which you abstract out the skills and experiences in a category separate from the job titles/organizations where you've worked/city/state/dates, can be useful. Generally, though, I prefer and I think employers prefer to be able to match your skills and experiences with the context in which you used them. I think it lends greater credibility that way, since the skill or accomplishment is easier to picture. Also, whenever "Experience" is separated from "Work History," I tend to try to
match the skills and experiences with their context anyway.
In your particular case, I wouldn't create a category called "Experience," and then a later category called "Related Experience." I might expand the list of "Employment History" to be "Employment History and Related Activities" or call the advisory board stuff "Related Activities," not "Related Experience."
2) Commonness of Functional Resumes
As far as the commonness or relative uncommonness of these different styles is, I'm not sure-- I myself have seen both-- but I think it greatly depends on the field. Certainly, this type of resume is less common than the chronological one, but I don't think that matters if the style works to your advantage and if the functional style is standard or common in your field of interest. Shop your resume around to people whom you know in the field that interests you and take their cues-- both for format and content.
3) Objective
In some cases an objective can be a really good idea. For example, if you want to teach in the K-12 system, there's a big difference between wanting to teach 3rd grade and 11th. In K-12 teaching resumes, we generally recommend clarifying at what level you want to teach in an objective statement. I'd also suggest including an objective statement if you'd received strong advice from someone in your field of interest that you include it. BUT, generally I don't like them too much. Why? They are most often vague, take up valuable space, and can even be limiting. For example, say, you apply for an education position within a museum and state that goal in your objective. Say, you don't get that job but the boss in the marketing department likes your resume and would like to consider you for a job in that department. An overspecific objective could discourage her from considering you. I tend to prefer something a little meatier than an 'objective' (no offense to my vegetarian friends). A "Highlights" or "Summary of Qualifications" section at the top of a resume emphasizes not your goals but your particular strengths and experiences and, to my mind, does more work for you.
4) Resume Length
I think if you can get all of your significant experience on one page, then by all means, stick to a one-page resume. Also, if you have very little non-academic work experience and you're applying for a job outside academe, I'd stick to one page. But note that the director of our career office has 15 years of work experience and has run two companies and she still tries to stick to one page for her resume. Reading one page is definitely easier than reading two, she says. If you have so much relevant experience that it runs over one page, I'd say go on to two, but make sure that everything that's crucial for your audience to know fits on page 1. That way, if they refuse to read or (gasp!) pitch page two in the circular file, you still have made a convincing case for yourself. And don't forget, references DON'T go on a resume. You've saved a number of lines right there!
For more info on this issue, see also our "CV to Resume" handout. It offers some clarification on the differences between CVs and resumes, FAQs, examples, and strategies for building your own resume.
--Cindy
ANDREW GREEN Responds:
I typically recommend having an "objective" at the top of your resume in two types of instances:
1.If you are applying for a specific job (e.g., Student Affairs Officer III Career Center #03-03395) as opposed to having a resume to hand out at career fairs, informational interviews, etc. Even a medium-sized organization may have many searches underway simultaneously and resumes often get separated from cover letters. You don't want an admin. Asst. deciding what job they think you should be applying for.
2.If it's not clear from the first section of the resume why you might be applying for the job, than you can use an objective to make the connection. For example, an anthro PhD might say "A marketing position that utilizes my ethnographic, interviewing and qualitative research skills." A physics PhD might write "A research position with an investment bank that will utilize my quantitative and formal modeling skills."
The point is to say something substantive about yourself that is relative to the job you seek. I believe that broad, unsubstantiated testimonials (e.g., Challenging position where I can use my strong analytical, collaborative, and writing skills) are worse than train the reader that they needn't pay close attention because there's just verbiage going on here.
Andrew
SUBSCRIBER AF:
Hello, one and all.
I'm directing my question to the three guest speakers, Dana, Cynthia and Andrew - but I welcome other list members to respond as well.
A bit of background first: I have worked administratively in healthcare (2 hospital settings) for 18 years. I obtained a PhD in Literature and Religion (dissertation completed in '94). I am an older job-seeker, with attendant creative and spiritual competencies, who also wants to stay in the Boston area. I'm wanting non-academic, humanities-focused employment (I seem to be too much of the generalist & well-rounded "humanitarian" for teaching, other than the obvious realities of age and gender).
What I've been doing for about 1.5 years now (I kept on at the 2nd hospital until this April) is: fine-tuning the resume and have different ones prepared; networking in the fields of editing/writing/publishing as well as spirituality and poetry; and, applying to assorted editorial/staff assistant positions - some even quasi-medical, several at local college campuses, etc. I'm finding the transition from healthcare to explicit humanities' work near to impossible to break into. (Some even appear to hold the PhD against me - when if the potential employer would match my education history with my employment history - a different picture emerges: loyalty [14 years at one hospital] and willingness to do whatever needs to be done, however humble).
Now, to the question: what career advice do any of you have as I make this "radical" transition to get me past the resume writing and get my foot in the door of an interview, whereby I could do a solid job of marketing the wealth of what I know I have to offer?
Thanks!
Sincerely,
AF
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Hi AF,
Because you already have a very rich humanities background, and a PhD (which can be a strong advantage particularly on college campuses), I'd guess that you're about one transition job away from the kinds of positions you're interested in. The world of editing/writing/publishing tends to favor stripes-earning past experience (particularly of the 'assistant' and very minimally paid variety). This should not discourage you. Rather, you should consider inching your way into the field by way of an internship (see Woodrow Wilson Foundation's Humanities at Work program http://www.woodrow.org/phd/About/about.html), or part-time free-lance or assistant position. Thus, it may make sense to keep one foot in the field you're in now, while learning the ropes and making connections in the new one. Your PhD, when matched with good old fashioned hands-on experience, can be a real advantage. That's true for two reasons, 1) you really do learn faster and are capable of more than many others who haven't negotiated a long PhD process, and 2) you'll have more clout in the long run. When people inform you that the PhD is hurting you, what they're really saying is "someone with hands-on experience is worth more to us than someone with a big degree". If you have hands-on experience, and you happen to match that with a big degree, and are able to communicate the value of your education is terms that they understand, you'll stand a much better chance of getting in the door, ...and once there, your skills will reveal themselves over time, and you'll likely find your way into positions of greater responsibility.
My advice: rather than try and leap from the medical field into humanities, ...I'd find an in-between job (part-time or apprentice) and use that as a stepping stone into your new field of interest.
-Dana
SUBSCRIBER JG:
I am looking for specific examples of how people have represented their teaching experience in order to highlight communication, organization, and other management skills.
One resume that I am working on is designed to apply for project management positions in software development. Rather than listing teaching positions, I have been discussing the relevance of the PhD in the cover letter.
Thank you,
JG
SUBSCRIBER WH:
Thanks to everyone who is participating in this discussion -- I'm finding it very interesting and useful so far.
I note that in Cindy's description of her work she mentioned programs focused on helping people get into international jobs and careers. I would like to know if Cindy or anyone else on the panel or on the WRK4US list has advice for gearing resumes and CVs toward non-US-based jobs. I am personally preparing to enter the job market in Germany (which is where I live) and would like to know how to present my skills and achievements on paper. While general practice for devising CVs for academic/teaching posts appears to more or less follow a single formula (including mugshot photo!), I am not sure how to develop a resume for non-teaching (but still university-based) positions. Most of the resume-related advice I have been able to gather from here (e.g. books, suggestions from friends) relates strictly to people seeking jobs in industry. Any suggestions before I try talking to the job-consultants at my local employment center (who are not likely to know much about educational job markets)? Should I pretend like I am in the States and design my resume and other documents accordingly (though not in English, of course)? Or might this peg me as even more of an outsider?
Cheers,
WH
ABD, History
SUBSCRIBER AC:
I've been lurking all week and have a slightly different question. I have been fairly, but not completely successful in academia. That is, I have 5 years of teaching experience (anthropology and art history), 1 year administrative experience as a grad student counselor, 8 years of part-time experience working in a museum, publications including 2 books and about 20 articles, and 2 post-docs including a Fulbright. Although I have been told that I interview well and have been a finalist for teaching positions about 5 times (including for an endowed chair), I have not been able to get an offer.
After 5 years of looking for a tenure track job, I am fed-up with part-time teaching and want to get a non-academic job, and I want to stay in the LA area or get a non-permanent foreign assignment that would allow me to return, eventually to LA. I have already written a resume and plan to start applying for jobs and temp in the meantime when I return from excavating in Egypt in mid-Nov. I also have a job interview scheduled to enter the foreign service. I have been looking at job descriptions for non-teaching jobs at museums, non-profits, and administrative jobs at universities. I have seen a number of things that I would feel qualified to do. I have a couple of questions.
Given that most of my background is in teaching and that I have had numerous academic rewards in terms of publications/grants, what should I put in a cover letter to convince a potential employer that I am serious about pursuing a career that doesn't involve university teaching.
I have seen a number of development jobs listed that want a director or someone with x years of experience. How does one find an entry level job in grant writing?
Thanks,
AC
SUBSCRIBER KC:
In case any of my colleagues happen to be participating in this discussion, let me stress that I am not looking for a job at the moment!! But I do have a question for our speakers: what is the value and/or role of a cover letter as an accompaniment to the resume? I used to read many resumes when I worked in Human Resources, and I always found the cover letter to be useful on two different levels: explaining any gaps or other anomalies in the resume itself, and providing a place for explaining the relevance of one's background to the position at hand. In subsequent job travels, I have always tended to write my cover letters accordingly.
I certainly agree that a "one-size-fits-all" resume is a bad idea, and that one should tailor different versions of a resume to the intended audience. And I also agree that a good resume needs to establish the relevance of one's skills and accomplishments to the field in question, rather than assuming that the reader can make the connection for her/himself. However, I wonder if we all sometimes put too much pressure on ourselves to write a resume that says and does everything, when a properly written cover letter can fill in some of the blanks that are difficult to address within the constraints of standard resume format. On the other hand, when busy prospective employers are already looking for reasons not to read your resume any more closely than they have to, reading a cover letter may seem like too much effort.
So I'd like to ask our speakers what their sense is of how to best supplement a resume with a cover letter, and what their sense is of how likely prospective employers are to read one?
KC
ANDREW GREEN Responds:
Dear KC,
I tend to think that resumes get a lot more attention than cover letters especially after the initial reading by the recipient. In meetings to decide on finalists, or to review before conducting an interview, most often hiring managers and other participants in the search will reach for the resume (again why the info in it needs to be glanceable).
To me, the cover letter is more like the 10-second teaser for the 11:00 News (well in the interests of accuracy more often these days the 10:00 News). Tell me quickly why I should bother to read through your resume when I have all these other tasks to get through. What can you highlight from your resume that will catch my eye and encourage me to read it more closely than I might have otherwise. And why (again briefly) is someone with an advanced degree that I don't need (I might be persuaded to value it, but its very unlikely I feel need it) and that you didn't get to work for me applying for this job. How can I trust that you're genuinely interested in doing my kind of work in my kind of setting. My biggest fear is not that you're not smart enough to the job, but rather your motivation. My biggest fear is not that I'll hire you and you can't do the work, rather that I'll hire you, train you, integrate you into my fragile work group, only to have you leave six months later having decided (as I presume was the case with your "fling with academia") that "Oh, this isn't what I want to do either." Especially is this is a significant transition, find a way in the cover letter to explain your interest in a way that shows me that your serious, have done your homework, and that there is a plausible connection between what you might do for me and what you've done in the past.
Andrew
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Hi KC,
I'd like to echo Andrew's thoughts. The function of a cover letter is to clarify and emphasize key elements of the resume, express interest, and to basically contextualize the somewhat depersonalized, listed information provided in the resume. In my experience, cover letters are read by employers. They provide good information about the communication style of the applicant, their writing ability, ...basically their sentiment. Because cover letters play a key role in the employer's first impression of you, it's absolutely critical that you write a strong letter. Keep these points in mind:
- A strong cover letter will make them take a closer look at your resume, and a poor one can cause them to pass over your resume completely. One spelling mistake might make the difference between getting the interview, or having your application thrown out. Triple check your grammar, and spelling (particularly the words that won't get caught by spell-check: company name, letter recipient's name), run-on sentences. Check for clarity and flow. This seems incredibly obvious, ....but you would be AMAZED by how many poor letters I've read from otherwise top-notch, hot-shot applicants. Have 3 competent people read and correct your letter before you send it out.
- A relatively short (three medium-sized paragraphs), economical, clear and direct letter (with a personable tone) is almost always better than a long, fanciful, or detail-heavy song and dance. Employers read cover letters, but they won't wade through a long, tiresome one. Instead, they'll feel somewhat put-off, stop reading, and turn the page to look at your resume, already feeling a little exhausted.
- Use the cover letter almost as a readers digest of your resume. Use the cover letter to prime them to notice key elements of your resume. Better yet, use the cover letter to help them understand how the various elements covered in your resume hold together, or relate to each other. For example: "My background in teaching, combined with several years experience in the private sector have enhanced my work as a corporate trainer".
-Dana
SUBSCRIBER SC:
From having sat on both sides of the fence -- hiring and trying to be hired -- I'd like to add one other important feature of the cover letter for many positions:
It should demonstrate that (a) you read the job posting / job description carefully (you show this by explaining how your skills and experiences make you perfect for the job) and (b) that you have done at least a tiny bit of research on the company or organization and know their purpose.
Perhaps our guest speakers could elaborate more on how to do this
effectively?
And, also key, your resume needs to support the statements in that cover letter.
This all sounds obvious, but it's amazing how many bright, educated people fail to do this. It's easy to fall into a resume-sending routine without paying enough attention to each application. At my previous job (supervising a dept at an Internet company) I received dozens of applications in which either the cover letter clearly indicated the person had no idea what the job was about or what the company did -- or -- when the cover letter was acceptable, the first line of the resume was something bizarre like: "Looking for a career in the film and television industry" (which had zero to do with what the company did) or something equally unrelated to the job in question.
I definitely culled resumes based on the cover letter -- if the person could not communicate coherently, or clearly hadn't done so much as read the job posting carefully, their application hit the recycle bin pretty fast. (I was hiring content editors, so reading and communicating were important skills.)
SC
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Yes, that's an excellent point. I, too, have seen cover letters that reveal a very weak understanding of the job in question, or the organization it's targeting. A case in point, the head of our hiring team threw an application out because of a single word. The applicant expressed an interest in joining our 'company'. We're a university career center. Otherwise the cover letter was well-written and the resume was competitive. I suspect it was a proofreading mistake, and in the tailoring, the applicant forgot to switch the terminology. But the damage was done. Proof read like crazy, and take the time to research your prospective employer.
-Dana
INCLUDING HONOR SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS
SUBSCRIBER TN:
Next spring I will be applying for my first "real" job after the completion of my master's degree (I decided not to stick around for my PhD right now). I would like some advice on how to best present my extracurricular activities in graduate school and my honor society memberships.
For the past two years I have been active in my department's student association as social chair and now as president. In these positions, I have been responsible for budgeting, fundraising, grant writing, and event planning (including a banquet for 100). Is it appropriate to include these responsibilities under work experience? My only other work experience includes two research assistantships, an internship, two volunteer positions, and one temporary position.
Where are honor society memberships best presented on a resume? Should only well-known multi-disciplinary societies like Phi Kappa Phi be included, or is it okay to include major specific honor societies? Also, how far back is it acceptable to include honor societies? Are undergraduate memberships still worth mentioning? My undergraduate degree was completed in 2001.
Thank you in advance for any input.
TN
CYNTHYIA PETRIES Responds:
Thanks, Dana, for forwarding the specific resume examples! One question of TN's I'd like to address. . .
Unless there is a specific relevance or strong possibility of name recognition, I would not include other honor societies except Phi Beta Kappa. An extensive undergraduate honors or even a graduate honors section, I think, marks you as a student, and employers are more likely interested in your experience than your honors/awards gained in an academic context. If, on the other hand, you were active in these honor societies and can talk about the skills you developed in them, you might consider listing them not under "Honors" but under "Experience." Finally, if you don't have an extensive number of awards, you might also consider including your academic awards in your "Education" section.
For example,
University of Texas, Austin, Texas
B.A. in Anthropology
Phi Beta Kappa, Magna cum laude
--Cindy
SUBSCRIBER DA:
A previous posting mentioned not including honor societies other than Phi Beta Kappa on one's resume. I've always wondered whether it's useful or off-putting to include one's Phi Beta Kappa membership on resumes and c.v.s -- in part because I have many more years of academic training under my belt since receiving my BA, and in part because someone not in Phi Beta Kappa might take its inclusion as an example of academic snobbery. Any thoughts?
DA
SUBSCRIBER MB:
As someone not from here initially...the Phi Beta etc etc...means little to me...except perhaps sounding a bit exclusive...or perhaps being mistaken for trying to sound exclusive (perhaps worse?), but maybe it cld also please someone on a committee who shares a similar past? I think if one gets to the interview on more relevant 'skills' one can judge whether or not to bring it up then?
MB
ANDREW GREEN Responds:
Dear DA,
I think Phi Beta Kappa is an indicator of ability and accomplishment that is widely recognized. You don't want to hide the fact that you are really smart. I would attach it to the brief presentation of your academic background rather than in a separate honors category. For example:
University of California, Berkeley PhD Political Science, 1993
Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA Phi Beta Kappa BA Economics, 1980
Mind you, your education is not necessarily the first item that should appear below your contact info.
Academic honors in general do not belong in a resume unless they speak to the audience you are trying to reach. If you were a science PhD and had an NSF fellowship and were applying for a job in a science savvy company, I'd put it in the resume. If you had an equally prestigious fellowship that did not however, have the same name-brand recognition than I would not include it.
Listing academic honors has two potential dangers:
1. You'll reinforce the social distance between yourself and your non-academic potential employer, and
2. It will make it appear that you believe you primary qualifications for the job at hand is your academic training and general smarts (A perspective most employers are likely to reject)
You want to convey the sense that you are both smart (Phi Beta) and capable/experienced in the tasks associated with the work you are trying to get hired to do. Don't be afraid to show them you're accomplished, but don't forget to show them, to the extent possible, that you've performed work analogous to the job you seek, even if the analogy is rough or imperfect.
Andrew
SUBSCRIBER SJ:
Here are a few questions for any guest who'd like to pick them up:
- A while back on this list, another guest suggested this resume format. What do you think of it?
a) brief statement about desired career or job aspirations, as specific as you can make it
b) statement of proven competencies
c) employment experience
d) degrees
e) references
- What do you think about a resume section that briefly describes working style? "Highly motivated, able to work collaboratively and independently," something like that?
- Is there a resource that provides the current language for describing one's competencies? A resume thesaurus, perhaps?
This is related to a question I jumped the gun and asked last Friday, about the language people use to name their skills and competencies.
These names have an element of spin, of course, so you say "knowledge management" (or something similar) instead of "filing." But it's also an organizational problem, and a conceptual one. Perhaps this is a cognitive idiosyncrasy of mine, but I feel that if I had a list of the language that's used to describe skills and competencies, I could pick what seemed relevant to my autobiography & the job I'm applying for. Instead what I do is try to group & connect relevant skills into groups which I name myself, and who knows whether those make any sense. In other words, it would help me to be able to work more deductively, rather than inductively.
One solution, of course, is to look at sample resumes. But you're obviously limited there to the resumes in the bunch, which is a narrower sample than the universe of names for skills & competencies that exist.
My question last week was designed to get subscribers of this list to generate an informal resume thesaurus that we could all use --assuming that one doesn't already exist, of course.
Thanks in advance for the help --
SJ
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Also, to answer SL's question concerning key words for resumes:
There is a great little resume thesaurus available: "The Job Hunter's Word Finder" The complete guide to key words and phrases for resumes, cover letters, interviews, job descriptions. By James Bluemond, published by Peteron's (Princeton, New Jersey), 1996.
I understand your frustration with finding the right terminology to describe the sometimes amorphous cluster of skills you honed in grad school. However, it is critical that you do some investigating into the field that your trying to enter. Every field or industry has its own language, and uses constructs that reflect its culture and priorities. In order to write a really effective resume, you need to know what the language is, and integrate it into your resume. You basically have to translate your prior experience to match their constructs, and measure your accomplishments in terms they value and recognize. Its very hard to do that without enough information. As Andrew mentioned earlier, its best to get your hands on some resumes that are indigenous to that field, and try and get a feel for how they describe and measure their skills and accomplishments. The better you are at mastering that language, the more confidence they'll have that you are one of them.
-Dana
EXPLAINING GAPS IN WORK HISTORY
SUBSCRIBER BB:
Hello all!
First I would like to thank the three guest speakers for taking the time to share their experience with us.
On my background: I am a Ph.D student in Political Science and I am now starting to think about a dissertation topic. I have been a student for most of my life and have at this point two masters degrees. No "real world jobs" in my work history, just research and teaching experience. All that as a result of my early desire to pursue an academic career. However, my experience in graduate school and a couple of painful events in my private life have shown me that I might not be a good fit for academic life after all, and, as a result, here I am. I am now doing some research and considering the possibility of a career in academic administration. I am particularly interested in University-Government relations, advocacy and fund-raising. My background in Political Science and Economics will for sure be a great help if I succeed in landing a job on one of those areas.
My question for Cynthia, Dana and Andrew is about how should I handle" gaps" in my work history in resumes, cover letters and possible interviews. I have suffered from mental illness for the past 7 years with two major crises. As a result, my progress in the Ph.D program has suffered considerably and I have two one-year gaps to account for. Presently, I have been doing great and a I am confident that I will be able to finish the program. I am also doing well healthwise. If I am asked about this, how should I handle the issue? How can I explain the incompletes in classes, leaves of absence and irregular progress on my research and training? The suggestions previously made about including volunteer or temp work in the resume wouldn't apply in my case. I worry about the fact that employers might perceive me as "flaky" or unfocused if I don't mention this part of my history. On the other hand, if include that in my cover letter, they may also not hire me because of the stigma of mental illness, despite the fact that it is well under control.
Thanks a lot for your time.
Best wishes,
BB
CYNTHIA PETRIES Responds:
On the delicate issue of representing gaps in training and work history. . .
First, congratulations to you on your progress toward the dissertation.
On representing yourself, I wouldn't worry particularly about representing the length of time you took/are taking to complete your Ph.D. Generally, as far as the resume goes, we recommend that students include their graduation dates and degree completion dates rather than the number of years they took to complete the degree.
For example,
University of Chicago Chicago, IL
Ph.D., Economics, expected June, 2003
This allows you to be honest without emphasizing the length of time you've been in graduate school.
Regarding representing your incompletes and irregular progress toward completion, I'm not sure that many employers actually ask for a transcript. Government employers and employers in financial institutions may be exceptions to this, but I have never known a university employer to ask for a transcript. Thus, you may not need to explain those to a future employer.
If you are asked about the gaps in your graduate history, reveal as little as possible and avoid offering half-explanations such as "illness" that may lead to further uncomfortable questions down that path. The Chronicle of Higher Ed has an article pertaining to dealing with this issue on the academic job market, but I'll include the link here because I think it may be useful. http://chronicle.com/jobs/2000/09/2000092202c.htm
Lastly, by all means, do NOT include mention of your history of mental illness in a cover letter. This is not to be dishonest, but rather to put the employer's focus on what's relevant and to show you in your best light in this, the employer's first encounter with you. I have known plenty of successful professionals who have suffered from a variety of mental illnesses and who have never had to disclose that information to an employer.
Good luck and I hope that helps.
--Cindy
RESUME VERSUS CURRICULUM VITAE (CV)
SUBSCRIBER PL:
MJ's question raised another one for me... what IS the difference, if any, between a C.V. and a resume??? PL :)
SUBSCRIBER KS:
Susan Basalla and Maggie Debelius (authors of So What Are You Going to Do With That?) point out that the biggest difference between a resume and a CV is that the CV focuses on what you have done and the resume on what use you could be to an employer.
I thought that was one useful distinction.
KS
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Hi PL,
In the simplest terms, CVs are the language of academia and research, and resumes are the language of real-world work. CV's are usually an lengthy overview of your professional accomplishments and activities, and tend to include information that is particularly relevant to academics (i.e. what you've published, where you've presented, who was the PI on your project, courses you've TA'd, seminars you've attended or lead, the title of your dissertation, and what you've been investigating). By and large, CV's are much easier for grad students to write than resumes, because they're all-inclusive and you have more room to write things out in detail (our specialty). CV's assume the reader will take a long, slow look at your background, and consider and debate you with their colleagues over a long drawn-out, crotchety meeting.
Resumes, on the other hand, are brief snapshots of the specific skills and experience you bring to a very specific job. They are efficient, clear, brief, and selective in what they report. They are expected to be 1-2 pages, and to never exceed 3 pages. Resumes assume that a bottom-line oriented, rushed employer will glance at it for about 8 seconds, and put you in the yes, no, or maybe pile. Due to the very short attention span of your resume's reader, the most important information is placed near the top of the page, and bullet points, sentence fragments, and easy-to-read formats are used to guide the reader swiftly through the key points you're making. Those points are usually: I am perfect for the job because I possess A, B, and C skills, and I gained hands-on experience in A, B, and C previous positions. PhD's have particular difficulty writing resumes because they require that you distill out only the most critical and relevant information from your past accomplishments and activities, translate your academic experience into little business-oriented sound bites and tangible skills, and keep it to 1 or 2 pages.
Looking at a CV, and then a resume, the difference becomes clear. Do you get a chance to see the examples I sent out yesterday?
-Dana
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Hi All,
I'm sorry the files didn't go through for some of you. For some reason,...and here's where my technical incompetence really gets to shine, the attachments won't open. I'll integrate the CV and resume content into the body of this e-mail, so that you can see how the information changes from one to the other. The formatting gets a little screwy, ...but the ideas are there, and hopefully that will also prove helpful.
CURRICULUM VITAE
SALLY BRUIN
HomeWork
1234 Rose Ave.701 UNEX Building, 215672
Long Beach, CA 90002University of California, Los Angeles
(562) XXX-XXXXLos Angeles, CA 92001-2200
E-mail: Sbruin@XXXX.edu(310) XXX-XXXX
EDUCATION
University of California, Los Angeles
Ph.D., Developmental Psychology, expected September 2002 (APA Accredited)
University of California, Los Angeles
M.A., Developmental Psychology, June 1999
University of Pennsylvania
B.A., Psychology, December 1994
LANGUAGES
Fluent in conversational Spanish
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Instructor - Undergraduate Psychology Course, Human Sexuality
University of California, Los Angeles
April 2000 - June 2000 (Spring Quarter)
Taught upper-division psychology course entitled "Human Sexuality".
Course integrated issues of behavioral, cultural, and ethnic diversity into an overview of the biological, behavioral, and psychological aspects of human sexuality. Duties included curriculum design, lecture planning and implementation, test design, and evaluation of student progress.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Principal Investigator
University of California, Los Angeles
June 2000 - present
Dissertation: Methods for Increasing Cultural Diversity in After-School Programs.
This study investigates the content, programming and accessibility of after-school programs developed for adolescents in three urban public schools. The existing programs will be evaluated based on enrollment, attrition, and measured impact on participating students. Gender, race, and age differences will be examined.
Chair: Victoria Barnett, Ph.D.
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
Psychological Evaluation Trainee
Santa Monica Child Guidance Center, Santa Monica, CA
August 1997 - July 1998
Conducted assessments of children, adolescents and mothers. Presenting issues included ruling out learning disabilities, clinical depression, ADHD, and oppositional defiant disorder. Duties included: consultation with parents, teachers, and therapists. Battery administration, scoring, and report writing. Attending weekly assessment training seminars, and individual supervision.
Supervisor: Bob Lamonta, Ph.D.
SUPERVISION EXPERIENCE
Supervisor - Undergraduate Research Team
University of California, Los Angeles
August 1998 - July 1999
Supervised and trained a group of undergraduate researchers in developing, conducting, and evaluating school-based interventions. Accompanied on-site interventions. Provided feedback and assistance in carrying out projects.
Supervisor: Delongpre Dannon, Ph.D.
PRESENTATIONS AND POSTERS
Doyle, W.P., Shrapshire, E., Bruin, S. (April 2000). In search of processes to explain gender differences in adolescent onset obsessive compulsive disorders. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Seattle, WA.
Bruin, S., Lankman, F., Smith, L., Davis, M., Stapleton, B. (1999). Multidisciplinary training as an educational experience for emerging school-based interventions. In B. Blinkman (Chair), Prevention across all levels for the culturally diverse urban center. Invited paper address presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto.
PUBLICATIONS
Doyle, W.P., Bruin, S., Thurman, A.E., Lamonta, B.S. (2000). Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents: A Review. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39 (2), 69-78.
Shrapshire, E., Doyle, W.P., Bruin, S., Lamonta, B., Thurman, A.E. (1998). High-Risk Behavior and Rates of HIV Infection Among Low-Income Urban Adolescents. Journal of Social Issues, Sum, 85 (4), 199-215.
RESUME
SALLY BRUIN
1234 Rose Ave. (1)
(562) XXX-XXXX
Long Beach, CA 90002
Sbruin@XXXX.edu
OBJECTIVE
Seeking a position as a program coordinator for a private foundation specializing in adolescent education and development. (2)
EDUCATION
University of California, Los Angeles
Ph.D., Developmental Psychology, expected September 2002.
M.A., Developmental Psychology, June 1999.
University of Pennsylvania
B.A., Psychology, December 1994
SPECIAL SKILLS (3)
Project Design and Development Assessment and Evaluation
Project Supervision
Fellowship and Grant Writing
Coordination of Child Services
Diversity Awareness
Data Tracking and Statistics
Conversational Spanish
Word, Access, Excel
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (4)
University of California, Los Angeles
June 2000 - Present
Program Evaluator
- Evaluated content, programming and accessibility of after-school programs
- Interviewed participating students to assess program effectiveness
- Facilitated communication between program administrators, parents, and students
- Initiated a data tracking system that increased funding opportunities for programs
- Devised solutions for increasing program accessibility for diverse student populations
- Presented findings and recommendations for strategic planning and development
August - July 1999
Project Coordinator/ Supervisor
- Consulted with area high school students and staff to identify needs
- Oversaw the development of school-based programming for urban adolescents
- Supervised and trained a group of undergraduate students in program implementation
August 1997 - July 1998
Psychological Evaluator
- Assessed children, adolescents, and mothers for diagnosis and treatment
- Coordinated treatment planning meetings with families, teachers, and staff
- Prepared written reports for treatment and insurance providers
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
- Awarded three grants for child and adolescent development research
- Member: American Psychological Association, Child, Youth, Family Services Division
Notes: This resume was constructed from Sally Bruin's CV. Sally used a resume to highlight her qualifications for a specific job in the private sector.
1. While the CV often includes academic contact information, it is recommended that you identify a personal contact address on your resume.
2. The Objective section should contain a clear and concise statement identifying your desired position or targeted industry. Typically this statement is tailored toward the specific position/employer you are targeting.
3. The Skills section of a resume allows you to highlight the specific transferable skills you possess that are most relevant to the job you are targeting. You can preface this heading with a title that identifies a
particular professional area of expertise (e.g. Program Management Skills).
4. The Program Evaluator, Project Coordinator/Supervisor, and Psychological Evaluator positions were drawn from the dissertation research, supervisory, and clinical experience sections of the CV respectively.
Note the changes in emphasis from an academic to an applied context. For example, Sally's statistical knowledge is presented as a tool for generating funding. Her research skills are presented as tools for communication, program development, and strategic planning.
Dana Landis
SUBSCRIBER EE:
Hi, I have a couple of questions relating to the resume vs. c.v. issue. I'm a Ph.D. student right now, and am in the process of applying to law schools. I know it's different from applying for a job in the real world, but many law school applications ask for a "resume." I've been wondering about this. What format is appropriate in this matter? Since I'm still a grad student, should I simply present it like a c.v., or should I use the job-seeking format? Also, I have been a research assistant to many professors in different departments. I am very proud of my skills and competence in this aspect, but how do I put this on a resume, or even on a c.v., for that matter? Perhaps these experiences wouldn't even belong to a resume targeting the real world, but right now I'm only thinking about the resume I'm going to present to the law schools. Should I include the names of the professors I worked for? It feels a bit weird, but how can I frame the experience otherwise? Also, how best to present my TA experience? The chronological order is very redundant, since sometimes I TAed for a course more than once. What's more, although there may be a variety of courses, what a TA does in each is essentially the same set of tasks. Should I just give one description of the things I did and the skills I developed and then include a list of all the courses I TAed for at various times? But I still can't envision a good way to do this. Lastly, should I still include my undergraduate experiences? I'm relatively young and have been a full time student all the time, so I don't have much real world working experience. I'm also a foreign student, having been in the U.S. for only five years. And being in such a status, I'm not allowed to work anywhere off campus, which has also greatly restricted my experience. Should I explain this? And does a very short resume look bad?
I'd appreciate any advice or suggestion. Many thanks.
EE
SUBSCRIBER HL:
Thanks for all the great suggestions and for the responses to my last question. I have also been wondering about websites such as hotjobs.com where you upload your resume and then when jobs come along that you want to apply to, you just hit a button and they send it to the employer or staffing company. I am curious how this looks to the employer. I know the resume is in plain text, so it won't have the formatting that could make it easier to read at a glance, and I assume the employer knows the reason for this, namely, because you applied through the website. Does this appear lazy to them? If there is a job that you are very interested in on one of these sites, are you better off printing a paper resume and sending it through the mail yourself? What about the time delay that introduces?
In general this issue seems to be growing, where, due to using email an the internet, many times a resume must be in plain text. How will such resumes look when compared to formatted paper versions? Is there any chance that your plain text resume will communicate that you are fluent with computers?
Thanks for your advice.
HL
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Hi HL,
My advice is this: Definitely follow their instructions and/or preferred application procedure (this is assuming, as Andrew eloquently pointed out, that you have no network connections that could connect you with the employers more directly). If they've set up a system for applying on-line, I would send my materials through that system. However, I also advise that you then send a nice, laser printed version of your resume and cover letter in a large flat envelope (don't fold it up) through regular mail. You may want to explain in the first line of your cover letter, that this is a follow-up to the application that you recently sent on-line. This gives them the opportunity to see the beautiful printed version that you want them to see, without slowing the process down for them, or failing to follow their instructions
-Dana
SUBSCRIBER TB:
I was encouraged to put a resume on the web by a former president of a local professional association because of cases in which people were offered jobs very quickly that way. So, for at least some career fields, the resume need not be a tool with which to impress potential employers of fluency with computer technology. Perhaps using the web effectively in the job search is itself a sort of indicator.
Best,
TB
SUBSCRIBER SC:
In my last job search most companies specifically asked for the resume and cover letter to arrive via e-mail. I sent it in Microsoft Word format, or in Rich Text Format (.rtf), which can be read by word perfect as well. With new versions of Word and Windows out there, I'd recommend "down saving" your resume to .rtf when you send it (or at least Word 97)--this will keep all the formatting (bold, italics, bullets) but also maximize compatibility. Any company that gives out an e-mail address for job applicants to use can open an .rtf file. Also, by using one yourself you communicate a knowledge of software compatibility issues. Of course, if the company asks for a text file, then you need to save it as such -- or, I'd send both.
Two tips: One: cc yourself every time you send out the resume and then check to make sure the resume file came through okay. I had one, out of about one hundred applications, which failed and I had to send again (the company in question actually e-mailed me about the same time I tested it to request I send it again). But if you rely on dial-up internet your failure rate may be a little higher.
Second tip: Make sure your computer is virus free if you e-mail resumes as attachments. No resume goes in the bin faster than one that arrives with a virus.
Question for our panelists: Many books about job searching suggest that you hand deliver the resume and cover letter whenever possible. Do you agree with this? What if the job application specifically suggests one method (e-mail, fax, mail) of delivery? Do you follow instructions? or do it your own way?
Also, what about following up on a resume? Most job ads these days say "no phone calls please" Do you recommend phoning or following up in some way? Especially to find out if the problem is with your qualifications or your resume explaining them? The career counsellors here in Canada, whom anyone on EI (Employment insurance, aka unemployment insurance) has to see to qualify for extra weeks of assistance or training, insist that you call every company to ask why you were not chosen. It seemed to me when I was searching that "no phone calls" meant just that, and by calling you might jeopardize your position if you were short listed.
I look forward to your comments.
SC
ANDREW GREEN Responds:
Dear SC,
I think any opportunity you have to become more than a resume (that is have a real live conversation with a person either over the phone or face to face) the better off you are. Unlike academic searches where you learn much of what you need to know about a candidate through their written materials, outside of academia information in the form of a resume and cover letter is both harder to verify and much less useful.
Even if I can in principle verify most of the info on your resume, in practice I don't have the time or resources. More importantly, your resume is silent about the most important questions I'm likely to have regarding your candidacy. Can she work in a collaborative setting, is she reliable, is she a perfectionist who can't produce the 80% good enough work that I need done quickly rather than the almost perfect that takes so much longer? Can she succeed in my very different organizational culture?
The issue isn't how do you deliver the resume. It is, how do you pull yourself out of the pile if they don't know anything about you save what's on paper especially as a PhD who might be subject to non-helpful stereotypes. Any reasonable chance to you have to make contact, demonstrate the sincerity of your interest, and show that you're not their worst nightmare of an academic "settling" for their organization is to your benefit.
If you have any doubts about this, run the following scenario through your mind. You've been hired (see that wasn't so hard), and six months later you're promoted and told to hire two people. What's the first thing you do? Put an ad in the NY Times, or pick up the phone and call your friends for recommendations? You don't call people you know out of cronyistic loyalty (after all, you'll be judged on the performance of your subordinates), rather you call them because you trust their judgment.
Finally, I believe there is a very good word to describe people who respect the admonition "no calls please" unemployed. Making contact is not like cheating on your qualifying exams. It's giving decision-makers a greater opportunity to learn about who you are and what you have to offer. The more they know, the stronger your chances.
Andrew
SUBSCRIBER SL:
This is an anecdote about how to succeed in business, which I offer as a lighter moment in line with Andrew's comment that people who respect the "don't call" thing are unemployed. I go on to reflect about what the anecdote means to me, and close with a question.
Back in the days of Austin's high-tech boom, companies used to hold combo happy hours/job fairs, and a friend of mine, new in town, with some minimal tech skills, was looking for a job. So he goes to the job fair. Walks up to the first table, which belonged to a software start-up, and introduces himself.
The guy asks, "How long have you been here?"
My friend says, "About five minutes. You're the first person I've met."
"Well," the company rep said, "Your fly is down. Why don't you go fix yourself, then come back and talk."
Very coolly, my friend left the room for a moment, then returned. They ended up chatting as if nothing had happened. But when he applied for a job at the startup, they knew exactly who he was. He turned out to have skills they could use, but what they liked most was the aplomb with which he handled the situation.
He got a job and, of course, had to endure some nicknames for a while.
It sounds like an apocryphal story, a job market urban legend. But it's true. (My friend was laid off 18 months later, if that makes it any more real.) We could swap stories about coincidences & fortuitous accidents all day, I think, but the larger point, I think, is about serendipity.
Coincidence & fortuitous accident feel good, and when these things happen, they bolster some underlying faith we want to have that the universe is essentially a benevolent place, and maybe a selfish hope that the universe is looking out for you personally. The downside of serendipity is, though, that it's really damn expensive. It takes a long time for coincidences to occur, if you sit around waiting. The trick -- no, the work -- is about maximizing serendipity.
Part of what was so discouraging about the academic job market was that I had so little control over any of the outcomes. It's always a crapshoot, but applying for an academic job sort of seemed like playing craps in the dark with someone else who has a flashlight, and it's their die. Nothing you did would improve the possibility of coincidence; there were too many variables in the system.
Moving into a non-academic field always seems to offer the hope that I was maximizing the possibility of serendipity simply by making that move. But that's a fantasy. What I appreciate about this week's discussion -- and about this list as a whole (thanks, Paula!) -- is that we're being reminded that there are variables in this market as well, and that those variables are part of the reality, but that you can learn ways to approach the situations at an advantage, not a disadvantage.
Let me turn this into a question for the counselors: what novel, creative, and effective ways have you seen Ph.D. job seekers try to make themselves the victims of fortuitous accidents? You're not going to recommend that anyone go to a job fair deliberately disheveled, obviously, and you'll likely recommend networking. Anything else?
SL
NETWORKING AND INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS
ANDREW GREEN:
Well we've made it to Wednesday without the concept of networking rearing its ugly head. Most grad students associate the term with used car salesmen or insurance brokers joking the Rotary Club to sell insurance to all the members, but for reasons alluded to in my previous posts it is the single most important step you can take to increase the likelihood of serendipity (luck favors the prepared).
My best recommendation is to look to professional societies, especially local chapters. If you're from a major research university, you tend to think of national meetings, but to make contact with practitioners of a given field, local chapter meetings are your best bet. For example, if you're interested in technical writing and went to the national website of the society for technical communication (http://www.stc.org/) and followed the links to their local chapters, you'd find that the Berkeley chapter meets monthly at Café la Paz. For ten bucks you could hear a presentation, spend a couple of hours with a room full of tech writers asking how they got into the business, what they like and dislike, the difference between working free lance vs. for a company, etc., look through their membership directory for people with the letters ?PhD? after their name to contact later, get feedback on your resume and so on. In addition, as is likely the case for most people from large research universities, at such a meeting it's likely if you sneezed you'd hit at least 3 former Berkeley grad student who would be happy to talk with you.
End of Sermon,
Andrew
CYNTHIA PETRIES:
Yes, it was only a matter of time before networking came up. And I second Andrew's advice completely-- joining local chapters of associations is one important way to network. You can also network through other types of professional associations-- gender-based, LGBT, ethnicity-based, etc.,-- that can be a source of great connections. And if you're trying to change careers or explore a new field, let your friends and acquaintances know (so long as they can be discreet and supportive). Tell your sister-in-law, the reasonably sane-looking guy sitting next to you on Amtrak, your yoga instructor. If you're taking a class for fun or are involved in sports or some social activity, let your fellow classmates or teammates know. You'll be surprised how many people know people who can be helpful to you.
Interning and doing volunteer work for organizations that interest you is another way to prompt serendipity. When you volunteer, you can get yourself out there, get to know a field, and, often, show yourself to be resourceful in a way that surpasses expectations. If you prove yourself invaluable as a volunteer, this gives employers all the more reason to look at you when a paying job becomes available. And even if this doesn't land you a job, it does help you build your network in new and positive directions.
Finally, I think in some cases the idea of shameless cold-calling/e-mailing can also be beneficial. For example, if you're reading your undergraduate alumni magazine and you see an article on some great alum who's doing work you're interested in, write them! If you're reading Fast Company and you read an article you like, write the author. Make the contacts. You never know where they'll lead you. . .
--Cindy
SUBSCRIBER MJ:
Dear All,
Thanks so much for your very helpful responses to my query about converting a C.V. to a resume. I have another question. After an informational interview is it appropriate to enclose a resume with the follow up, thank you letter? I had always understood that one should keep such interviews very, very separate from even a hint of a job. However, in Outside the Ivory Tower..... it is suggested.
In advance, thanks.
MJ
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Hi MJ,
Clearly, good judgment sits at the center of this question. And when in doubt, you should always stick with your instincts about what feels right. Generally speaking, I think it's fine to leave your resume with someone who's discussed career issues with you. The premise should be very casual, i.e. you're not *expecting* them to pass it along, or hook you up with a job, rather you hope they keep you in mind. "Thanks again. I got a lot from my conversation with you. Here's a copy of my resume, in the event that you see or hear about an opportunity that might match my background."
The other thing is, you should try and view your relationship with this person as a two-way street. In the interest of networking, it serves both of you to have briefly crossed paths with each other. You might keep them in mind, and e-mail a relevant article, or give them a heads-up about something happening in their field, or an interesting person you crossed paths with recently. An occasional low-fi e-mail, ...casual, short and interesting, will keep that connection alive, and may prompt them to return the favor in the future.
-Dana
SUBSCRIBER KC:
One way to circumvent the issue might be to bring a copy with you to the interview and give it to them at the beginning. Yes, it's an informational interview and you don't want to look like you expect them to do anything beyond talk with you and give you advice. But I've always found that handing over a resume can be a good way to break the ice: as you sit down to begin the conversation, simply hand over a copy of your resume and say something like, "I really appreciate your taking the time to share your perspective and advice, and I thought it might be easier if you knew more of the specifics of my background." Most people appreciate having information to fall back on as "conversation fodder" if necessary; as well, if someone is only giving you a half hour, you can maximize more of that time in terms of hearing useful advice instead of wasting time filling them in on the details of your experience. And by relieving yourself of the need to "tell them all about yourself" (because the resume does it for you), you don't risk looking like all you want to do is talk about yourself -- you can demonstrate those admirable listening skills and try to let them do most of the talking.
KC
ANDREW GREEN Responds:
Dear MJ,
I think the question of sending a resume along with a Thank You note following an informational interview is a very touchy issue. You don't want to communicate that you are just using them as a pathway to a job, rather that you value them as a source of information and advice. If they're impressed with you and think you'd be a good fit for their organization (or might pass on your name to someone they know at another organization)
just having your contact info from the Thank You note should suffice or they might suggest that you leave or send them a copy of your resume.
However, if you feel as if the Informational Interview has gone very well and you've developed a good rapport, you might conclude by saying something like the following: "Thank you very much this has been very helpful and confirmed my strong interest in this field. I'm going to think about what you've suggested and incorporate some of your advice in a new resume. If I sent it to you, might you have a few minute to look at it and give me some quick feedback." You want, I think, to communicate that you respect reasonable limits on their commitment to you absent any signal on their part that they're interested in doing more than offer some time and advice.
Andrew
SUBSCRIBER SG:
I might sound ignorant, but what is "informational interview"?
Thanks,
SG
CYNTHIA PETRIES Responds:
An informational interview is what happens when you contact someone in a field/job/company that interests you to talk about what they do, the path they took to get there and other job-related questions. Usually they are short -- 15-30 minutes planned, though they can go longer-- and can take place in person, over the phone, or even via e-mail.
Informational interviews should not be thinly veiled attempts to get a job from the person you interview, but rather, a way to gather information and make contacts in a field about which you want to know more. Usually, we recommend that in an informational interview you conclude by asking your interviewee for the names of other people in their field whom you could contact to learn more. That way, you not only gain multiple perspectives on a particular field, but also build your network.
Informational interviews can also be a wonderful way to limber yourself up for actual employment interviews, as they often expose you to the "language" of a field, language you'll need to use yourself to be credible in an employment interview.
A couple of notes on the informational interview: informational interviews don't always but CAN turn into actual employment interviews in some cases, so it is always good to be prepared, particularly when you are conducting an informational interview with someone you'd really like to impress. If that's the case, do some research first to learn something about that person and their organization. Before the high stakes interview it's also a good idea to practice first with someone with whom the stakes are lower. That way, when you get into the informational interview with the Big Cheese, you can be as polished as possible. Another tip: be prepared to say something about yourself. When I conducted my first informational interview, I was ultra-prepared to ask smart questions of my interviewee, but when he asked me what MY interests were, I was at a complete loss. Don't let that happen to you!!! You don't need to prepare a canned script, but be able to convey what your interests are, what inspired your interest in the field/company/organization/position in the first place.
For more information on the informational interview, you might consult the handout below on the Informational Interviewing. It offers additional information on the interview, sample dialogues, and sample questions to ask. http://caps.uchicago.edu/resources/pdfs/Informational%20Interviewing.pdf
--Cindy
SUBSCRIBER KE:
Here's a tip to bear in mind when setting up informational interviews:
Many contacts are put off by the word "interview." I have found that asking to set up a meeting where you can ask questions about their job and the state of the field (or similar) is much more effective.
KE
SUBSCRIBER EK
When I told one of my professors that I was looking for non-academic work, he told me the following story:
An English Ph.D. grad many years ago made the same decision. She took 6 months off after graduation and researched multiple firms, their business practices, and their organizational structures. Then she spent another 6 months in the law library. When she felt prepared, she went to these businesses and asked to speak with the human resources affirmative action representative. When she was told there was no such person, she used her law study to explain to the managers/presidents/etc. how much trouble they could get into. Out of 17 firms, she received 16 offers.
The moral my professor stated was to create your own job. Granted, this anecdote is from many years ago. Is it still possible to create a position based on one's research?
EK
CYNTHIA PETRIES Responds:
Creating your own job is a fine tactic and can be successful, even in this economy. A few of the students I've worked with have started their own small businesses, begun freelancing, and created niches for themselves in already existing places. It does take quite a bit of research, but it's something that can be extremely worthwhile for at least three reasons:
- it enhances your chances of getting a job
- it helps you figure out what YOU'D like to do
- it makes you better at selling yourself in other contexts
I don't know if my partners in career counseling crime would concur on this, but I have many students who feel disempowered when they look on the big job boards and see nothing that matches their skills or seems to value their experiences. Approaching the job market passively, they try to figure out what slot they can fit into--however little those slots correspond to what they'd like to do-- and take what's out there rather than search harder for opportunities in what they'd enjoy. Some never even ask the "What would I like to do?" question.
I recognize that when you need a job, well, you need a job, so looking at existing offerings is important. But, even as you do this, I think it's very valuable to be articulating your "dream" job, the job that either in the short run or in the long run, you're shooting for. And if you're a Ph.D., it's likely that that dream job is going to be some kind of hybrid, interesting job that doesn't fit the standard mold.
Doing the necessary library/internet research and talking to people in fields that interest you can help you articulate more fully what your "match" is within a company or field (more subliminal advertising for networking), and can help you figure out the position you'd like to create. Staying up on trends in your area of interest is another important step.
--Cindy
SUBSCRIBER AC:
Many job listings ask for a salary history. In a recent cover letter I wrote:
My salary as a university lecturer and administrator, and research fellow in the last several years has been in the $x-$y range.
However, I realized that I wasn't sure if I approached/worded this correctly. What is the best way to insert salary history into a cover letter?
Thanks, AC
DANA LANDIS Responds:
I'd like to refer to my knowledgeable fellow-panelists for this one, ...as that question has always stumped me as well. I have two thoughts on the issue:
- Generally speaking, you really want to stay away from providing very specific salary information BEFORE a job offer has been made. During the resume and interview stage, you're still relatively vulnerable, and you want to try and leave things very general. The dangers you face are: a) painting yourself into a corner by undershooting (thus giving them the idea that you'll work for less than they may have planned to pay you), or b) putting them off or disqualifying yourself by overshooting (thus giving them the idea that you're going to be too expensive or too high-maintenance). Once they've made an offer, ...get out the big guns and negotiate for more money, more benefits, more more more. But until they've put an offer on the table, you really want to keep it as vague as possible. Therefore, when giving salary information, I would leave the bracket very wide. $x-$y can have a 20k spread if that's still accurate.
- Also, your wording sounds fine. The only problem with it would be if you're applying for a position that is very unrelated to lecturing or university administration. For instance, if you've just spent valuable time tailoring your resume for a private industry job, you don't want to undo your hard work by highlighting academic experience in the cover letter. If you're looking at a leap into a different field, I would try and answer the salary question without situating it in an academic context specifically.
-Dana
ANDREW GREEN Responds:
I agree with Dana on both counts. If they insist on you naming a figure give a wide range. In fact, until you know the other aspects of the offer you're not in a position to assess your salary expectations with any greater precision. A couple of years ago, I had an Anthro PhD who was ready to take a $53,000 corporate trainer position right up until the time when her hiring manager said "You know we work a lot of hours in this nit." For her, 53,000 was a fair wage for 45 hours a week, but not for 60. So don't feel shy about giving a wide range and telling them that you can't be more specific until you know more about the conditions and expectations attached to the offer.
As to Dana's other point, as she advised rather than describing the work in academic terms, re-state in terms that relate more closely to the work you are pursuing.
Andrew
INCLUDING PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
SUBSCRIBER HL:
In looking over the resume that Dana sent out, a question occurred to me. Why do people include their memberships in professional associations on their resumes? I guess this seems like padding to me, since usually nearly anyone can join if they pay the fees. Is the main benefit that the employers may see you as like themselves if they belong to similar organizations?
Thanks,
HL
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Well, I think it also shows your involvement in a particular field. I come from a psychology background, so I found it helpful to put my membership in several career-oriented professional associations on my resume, primarily as a means of demonstrating my professional involvement in the career counseling field. Membership implies that you're part of a professional network, that you likely attend conferences in that area, and identify yourself as a member of that professional community.
-Dana
SUBSCRIBER MJ:
Dear All,
I second AF's appreciation for the guests', as well as the list serve members', insightful and informative comments. I have learned much from these days of discussion. I hope that it isn't too late for I have one last question. Is it O.K. to include references at the end of a resume if the position posting calls for them?
Again thanks to all!
MJ
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Hi MJ,
We're still officially guest speaking through today, so please feel free to question away. When in doubt, I would always follow the employers instructions as closely as possible. Therefore, if references are requested at the outset, I would definitely include them. What I've suggested to others in the same situation is to include a separate sheet for references. Because the information was specifically requested, you can feel free to include more detail.
For example:
REFERENCES
Person's Name
Title
Organization
Address
Phone Number
E-mail (optional: specify their role in relation to you, particularly if their title doesn't reflect that very well)
And, of course, make sure you're clear on how many references they'd like from you. If they don't say, the standard is about three or four.
-Dana
p.s. AF and MJ, I'm glad you found the discussion helpful. One thing I love about my job, and about PhD's in general is that they're always so appreciative! I've really enjoyed the discussion, and I think all the questions were tough, relevant, and smart, ...naturally. Another upside of working with PhD's.
SUBSCRIBER NG
"Is it O.K. to include references at the end of a resume if the position posting calls for them?"
MJ's question gives me courage to ask what one does about references if not on the resume--models I saw in the past included them, and I must have kept my head in the sand because I just learned they weren't supposed to be there.
Thanks, special guests and other helpful advisors.
NG
DANA LANDIS Responds:
Hi NG,
The beauty of not having to put your references on the resume, is that you free up room for other critical information. Usually, just indicating that references are available upon request is sufficient (and that's also kind of implied anyway). The key is, you really do need to be ready to provide references upon request.
It's a good idea to:
1) Have your references written out on a separate page, and bring it along to your interview, if you were not asked for them before that point.
2) Contact your references, and ask them if it would be alright to use them as a reference. Describe the kinds of jobs your applying for, and the aspects of your work that you highlighted on your resume. (It also may be a good idea to provide a copy of your resume for your references to keep on hand. That way, they have a clearer idea of what you've communicated to your potential employers, and they can do a better job of confirming what you've reported on the resume).
-Dana
SUBSCRIBER AF:
Cynthia, Dana and Andrew -
I wanted to express my genuine and simple thanks to the three of you for your participation in this week's discussion. Your various responses were of a consistently high and helpful caliber. Your respective job sites are very fortunate to have you. Have a good Labor Day weekend, as you brace yourselves for a new academic year.
Sincerely,
AF
SUBSCRIBER TB:
Thanks also for the detailed and high quality responses. I especially appreciate the web links and citations for further help with our questions. It's been an empowering week, and a great toPic.
Best,
TB
CYNTHIA PETRIES:
I am leaving town around 2 p.m. today, so I am signing off with this message.
Thank you to my fellow guest speakers, Dana and Andrew, for sharing your insightful comments. I view career counseling as a learning process, and it was wonderful to hear your perspectives on issues I face every day.
Thank you to Paula and all who maintain the WRK4US listserv for the opportunity to play "Dear Career Abby" for a week.
And thank you to all who have participated in this discussion, including those who have "lurked and wondered" but never posted. Writing a resume, a key part of considering careers outside of academe, can be a daunting process, but I hope this discussion and the resources we have shared have demystified it somewhat. Remember, no graduate student or Ph.D. is "starting from scratch"; you all have valuable experiences and skills to share in the non-academic world.
Good luck to all, and thank you for a lively and stimulating discussion.
--Cindy
SUBSCRIBER BA:
Hello out there -
I just wanted to send a hearty "thank you" to all of you for your wonderful participation this week in the resume discussion. Your answers to my questions and to everyone else's were incredibly helpful. Thanks very much to all of you for your thoughtful comments and to you, Paula, for pulling this together and helping it all to run so smoothly.
All the best,
BA
PAULA FOSTER:
Well, it's Friday afternoon on the Pacific coast, so it's evening in the east and time to say a reluctant but grateful goodbye to out three Guest Speakers. Dana, Andrew and Cindy, you have been fantastic sources of information for us and have helped many people move forward. We hope you have enjoyed being with us and we would like to THANK YOU very much for your presence and your hard work. It takes a lot of time, care and experience to write as helpfully as you have, and we really appreciate the quality of what you have done for us.
Kudos as well to those who asked questions and kept the discussion bubbling along so nicely all week.
Thrilled and Grateful,
Your Loving List Manager,
Paula Foster
DANA LANDIS:
Hi TB,
I'm really glad you found the links helpful (three cheers for Cynthia and her pdf files!)
In the future, good places to check for help with a myriad of career issues are University websites. My all-time favorite is UC Berkeley's site (which Andrew tells me is currently being updated): http://career.berkeley.edu/Phds/Phds.stm
But it's worth the time to cruise the school websites and see what kinds of resources are out there. Most of the big research universities offer comprehensive career services to their PhD's, and include great resume, interviewing, job search, and career options information on their sites.
Other sites you might want to check out, which I imagine have been passed around on this listserv in the past, but it never hurts to throw them out there again:
The Escape Pod, for Humanities PhD's
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/7167/
Sellout, a resource for Humanities PhD's
http://www.ironstring.com/sellout/
Non-Academic Careers for PhD's (Chronicle of Higher Ed)
http://chronicle.com/jobs/archive/nonacademic.htm
Let's hear it for the internet,
-Dana