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**Der Cute** · 09-05-2007, 09:21 AM

First thought:
Is the resume one page long on paper?
Make it so. (ooh I LOVE that phrase)

Are you trying for a Functional Resume or a Chronological Resume?
http://jobstar.org/tools/resume/samples.php
Functional : will give skills used per job, but has various jobs, for not following a career path.
Chronological: will give skills per job, but goes by time instead of skills.

Also, bullet your skills used per job.
Cashier...
* Counted tills for shift, was only off ONCE per 1 year.
* Assisted customers in change, money orders, lottery tickets and other purchases.
* Responsible for also ordering change for store safe.
* Assisted with crew for stocking shelves and inventory.

In your 2 blackjack dealer jobs, why are they separate? 2 totally separate employers or just different locations? (Diff locations, I'd combine them, makes you look like you had job longer).

DO NOT LIST YOUR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION. This is a way for other people to discern your age.

Put your references on a separate page. Totally separate, and include snailmail address, email and phone number day / or cell. May want to put Who they are in your life.
Jane Doe Current Co Worker Ph 12-456-78910
1111 Whatever street, Alberta ON 74112258

Also, what kind of jobs are you shooting for?
In your skill set in the beginning you list a bunch of office-useful skills, but how would Windows/ typing be in cashiering? Follow me? If you're going for an office-y job, I'd push the computer skills. If you're going for a cashier/ CSR job, push the accounting/ tills/ money skills. Another way would be to add a puter skill to a job, such as

Cashier -
*Till stuff
* Responsible for ordering tobacco products
* Shift leader
* used Outlook, Word and Excel for reports to store managers.

I hope this helps.

Cutenoob..

keep working, and keep putting it out here, we'll help.

**Horsetuna** · 09-05-2007, 10:48 AM

Uhm.... Why do I need to put addresses and email? I dont know if they'll LET me, and I wouldnt' want to.

Its a chronological work history. its two pages total... the bulleted list would make it longer. That's not even all my jobs - I listed all the ones I had over two months (It would be 4-5 pages then)

And yes, the BJ jobs were both separate with separate companies.

**draggar** · 09-05-2007, 11:52 AM

Quoth Horsetuna View Post

Uhm.... Why do I need to put addresses and email? I dont know if they'll LET me, and I wouldnt' want to.

That is point of references, having the prospective employer contact them for a reference, but always make sure you have your referral's permission before putting it on the resume.

Its a chronological work history. its two pages total... the bulleted list would make it longer. That's not even all my jobs - I listed all the ones I had over two months (It would be 4-5 pages then)

Make it one page. Wider margins, make the font smaller by one or two points, eliminate any 'fluff' you have. Printing it out on two or more pages is a waste of two or more pages. A prospective employer will skim, at best (and if you're very lucky) the first half of your resume. Hit him there. What do you want to do? Where would you look to go (in a company) plus a very (very!) quick rundown of your top, and most relevant, skills (MS Office, Adobe, etc..).

Also, chronological is not the most important, design the resume for the job that you are applying to. If its for a catering company, you may want to leave out the blackjack dealing but if it's in a casino, then maybe leave out the sandwich making (unless there's something in there that would be relevant, like management experience, etc..).

You have the basics and the necesary parts, it will just need to look nice and grab the reader. In fact, if you're looking for employment in different fields, have different resumes (I personally keep between 4 and 6 at any given time, each tailored to a different field).

rescuing other cashiers from various free ranging zoo-fowl

That'll be good for a few laughs.

**Horsetuna** · 09-05-2007, 12:01 PM

Heh. Well, I dont know... isnt that what phone numbers are for, the contact thing? I just dont think my friends would go for it. as it was, I really had to look around to find any who were willing.

I'll see if I can tighten it up a bit. its EXACTLY two pages...

**Horsetuna** · 09-05-2007, 12:09 PM

Anne *****
Address
Phone Number
Email

An ambitious, energetic self-starter with a very friendly and outgoing personality, I am a very reliable and hard worker with a pleasant phone manner and excellent computer skills. I would enjoy utilizing my skills in a part-time position that would enable me to make use of my positive attitude and grow within the company.
Qualifications
Willing to go above and beyond to complete assigned tasks
Excellent problem-solving ability, adaptable to new situations and ideas. Creative and Innovative
80 WPM typing speed, Excellent spelling and grammatical skills. Excellent command of the english language.
Experience with Windows, Microsoft Office, spreadsheets, fax machine, photocopy, and filing systems, cash register POS.
Extensive cash-handling experience
Certified in WHMIS.
Ten years experience in retail, fast food, office duties and animal handling.
Extensive knowledge of the care of parrots and other birds, freshwater fish and reptiles. Some knowledge of small mammal care.
Employment History
-Cashier
Febuary 2007 – Present
North Hill Sears, Calgary, Alberta
Duties: Cashier, Stocking shelves, cleaning, assisting customers and sorting, hanging clothing. Taking payments for credit cards and assisting department lead. Performing P/A announcements over intercom. Entertainer.
-Blackjack Dealer
September 2006 –November 2006
Elbow River Casino Calgary, Alberta
Duties: Entertainment, table security, table cleaning,
-BlackJack Dealer
September 2005 – September 2006
Palace Casino Edmonton, Alberta
Duties: Deal various games to paying patrons, ensure enjoyment and entertainment while in casino.
-Kitchen Assistant
March 2005 – September 2005
Palace Casino, Edmonton Alberta
Duties: Deliver food to volunteers, assist cooks and serve coffee and food to employees.
-Pita Pro
August 2004 – March 2005
Extreme Pita, Edmonton, Alberta
Duties: Prepare Pita sandwiches to order, bake cookies, prep stock and tables, dishwasher, stock coolers.
-Car Parker
July 2003 – August 2004
Calgary Stampede and Exhibition, Calgary, Alberta
Duties: Direct traffic, assist customers with directions, lot security, animal control.
-Customer Service
July 2003 – July 2004
Riverfront Aquariums,Calgary, Alberta
Duties: Animal care, customer instruction, familiarity of animal and product information, cashier, inventory.
-Food Services
August 2002 – July 2003
Calgary Zoo, Calgary Alberta
Duties: Food preparation, janitor duties, guest services and cashier, rescuing other cashiers from free ranging zoo-fowl.
Volunteer Experience
January 2001 – present
Administrator for medium to large internet community of people from around the world with common interests and goals.
References
Lacy Jae - 1-403-701-6742
Diane Wilson - 1-780-716-3536
Sean Berg - 1-403-289-7777 (ext 234)

Other references available upon request.

It fits on one page now. BARELY. Phew.

as well, so you know, things like 'Work experience' and those are bolded, the job names are underlined and my name is slightly larger and bolded, as is my address, phone number and email

**Gurndigarn** · 09-05-2007, 01:15 PM

Take your references off it, and bring them in to the interview. That will save you some space.

The biggest issue I see is that, while you list you employment history, you don't list any accomplishments at any of those jobs. Your resume looks like a job application put down on a sinlge sheet of paper rather than a self-promotional sheet. Which was why someone mentioned bullet pointing your accomplishments. You man need to eliminate a few jobs off the list to do so.

And you're looking for part-time work. Is there a specific reason? That may or may not have a bearing on how to tailor the rest of the page.

Also, this section here:

An ambitious, energetic self-starter with a very friendly and outgoing personality, I am a very reliable and hard worker with a pleasant phone manner and excellent computer skills. I would enjoy utilizing my skills in a part-time position that would enable me to make use of my positive attitude and grow within the company.
Qualifications
Willing to go above and beyond to complete assigned tasks
Excellent problem-solving ability, adaptable to new situations and ideas. Creative and Innovative

is mostly fluff. It may be true, but there's no evidence of it in the rest of the resumé, so it's hard for someone who looks at these things day in and day out to believe you. Everyone says these things, after all. Which goes back to bulletpointing, or any other approach that demonstrates that you actually posess those capabilities.

I'm counting eight jobs in five years. I'm assuming you're still young, so that's not unreasonable (most people go through a "feeling themselves out" period), but it does raise questions as to how long you're going to remain at any job. Unfortunately, the jobs at the bottom chronologically are some intriguing ones, so it's hard to recommend losing them entirely... but after a few more jobs, you probably want to cut out the fast food/basic retail job section from the list. The stampede job can probably be lost because you have other employment during the same time and there are no skills used in that job that most other places would care about. (You also listed stampede specificly and not the saddledome in general, so the natural assumption would also be that you were extra help during stampede only. If that's the case, definitely drop it.)

You need a comma after "freshwater fish" and before "and reptiles" in your introductory section.

**Horsetuna** · 09-05-2007, 06:35 PM

Actually I had quite a few more jobs, but I dont list jobs I had less than three months or so (depending on what job it was.)

I'll see what I can do to refurb it into 'accomplishments'. After so many years its hard to remember.

AS well, if I list it in bullet form, the resume would get longer again, no?

**Der Cute** · 09-05-2007, 07:00 PM

Yes. The resume will be longer than this, but it points out your accomplishments.

Take a look @ mine.

Cutenoob
1-800-GO AWAY

OBJECTIVE: To acquire a position as Computer Tech/ Help Desk Staff where my customer relation skills can be utilized to handle computer issues and improve company efficiency.

EDUCATION:
University of Alaska Anchorage
Graduation in May 2005
A. A. S. Degree in Telecommunications, Electronics, and Computer Technology

CERTIFICATIONS:
• CompTia A+ Certification, April 2005
• CompTia Network+ Certification, March 2004
(Server + and Security + currently in progress)

EXPERIENCE:
Data Center Technician
Someone
January 2007 – August 2007
Somewhere
• Installation of core networking hardware to data center facilities.
• Installation of racks, servers and drive bays.
• Installation of fiber optic cabling and CAT 6 cabling.
• Use of Altiris software to image servers.
• Creating new computer accounts in Active Directory.
• Troubleshooting and investigation of connectivity and hardware issues.

Help Desk Technician
Someone
May 2006- September 2006
BFE
• Answering calls to help desk for hardware, software, and printer issues.
• Person to person desktop support, visiting users needing troubleshooting and diagnosis.
• Use of Ghost and imaging software for creation of new desktops.
• Documenting issues into Track-It database.
• Hardware and software installation to PCs and Laptops.
• Creating new accounts for users in Active Directory, Mainframe, and specific applications.

Owner/Operator
Someone
June 2004 – September 2006
Somewhere
• Installation of Mitchell 1 application and setting up access rights to the application server. Networking PCs, testing connectivity, updating, troubleshooting and on-call support for client.
• Installation of multiple small office/home office networks; router, firewall, AV, and configuration of PC for maximum security, with minimum user effort.
• Installation of operating systems, application software and configurations.
• Troubleshooting PC / network issues, diagnostics, repair and installation of hardware and software.
• One-on-one tutoring with disabled users on computer basics.
• Tutoring on network, hardware, software and personal security fundamentals.

Intern
Someone
May 2005 – September 2005
Somewhere
• Experience with Help Desk, using Sabre and other applications to assist cable customers.
• Learning and working with Network Management Systems: HP Openview, Netcool and other software to monitor WAN and satellite links.
• Use of Remedy ticketing software to document and track issues and updates.
• Documentation of existing networks. Updating network maps, as built and projected sites.
• Use of Visio, Unix and Cisco commands for documentation tasks.
• Troubleshooting WAN issues, diagnostics, documentation and follow-up.

Tutor October 2004- December 2004
• Tutoring students on Cisco Networking Fundamentals, OSI Model, Wireless and Ethernet.
• Tutoring users on hardware, software and personal security fundamentals.
• Tutoring students on application installation and updating, backups and general usage of Word 2003.

Ok.
Now that I've put my stuff out for you....

bullet lists grab half-awake managers. Quick and dirty, easy to read while sipping coffee and wishing day was over. This in NO way is a list of my jobs. Cuz I'm 30something, and if I listed towards the start of my jobs, the paper would be .....long.

Our point here has been : focus on the job you want. Make the resume FIT the job you are shooting for. If ya can't tell, I'm a computer geek. I work in IT, and love it. But I've been a cashier before, and do you see cashiering? Nope. I don't want to put that on there .....too long ago.

If the interviewer was a grocery store, and I'd be the IT person, I could bring up my retail/ cashiering history. "I used to be a cashier, and I've been on both sides of the counter. Databases and data retrieval are mission-critical in this operation."

Take out your objective. It's wayyyy vague.
Space out from your obj out towards your history. Combine the skillsets INTO the jobs.

Keep old versions of resumes, just so you can see what you've snipped off. When filling out job apps, you can use this as a brain jogger. Also, take the parts you've taken off the resume, paste them as loose pieces into a document, and THAT later we'll cook up to be a cover letter.

Cutenoob

**Banrion** · 09-05-2007, 07:04 PM

Sorry I am a little late on this one, but under the skills section I would recommend re-ordering to make the tangible skills at the top of the list, and the abstract towards the bottom. Typically, abstract skills don't really belong under the skills heading anyway, and listing intangibles like creative, and good at problem solving makes it look like you are trying to pad your resume out. Really, anything under the skills heading should be measurable.

Also, if you are having space issues, get rid of the objective at the top of the page, and make personalized cover letters for each position you apply for. That way you have more room to discuss the intangibles in the cover letter, and your resume remains "just the facts."

**draftermatt** · 09-05-2007, 07:40 PM

Now, I don't know reasons why you have so many jobs, but you might want to put down why you have left all these places you have listed. If I were hiring and I saw that many, my first question at an interview is "why so many places" because it makes you look like your'e not going to stay.

Also, lose the objectives. You can cover why you want to work for them in a cover letter.

2 pages isn't a sin as long as it's relevant stuff. Telling me you worked for a deil in 1975 (Saw it recently) doesn't help me. And yes to the bullets. Don't take them out whatever you do. If everything is bunched up and hard to see where things start and stop, and I can't read it, I won't.

**wagegoth** · 09-05-2007, 11:54 PM

There's some really good advice that's been posted so far, but, of course, I have to make a couple of suggestions (also, tailor the resume, as well as the cover letter, to the position for which you're applying):

Anne *****
Address
Phone Number
Email

Objective: I would Like to make use of my skills in a part-time position that could grow within a company.
Qualifications:
Extensive computer experience, including (you could list your "volunteer experience" skills here, as well as whether you've worked on PCs, Macs, networks, etc.)
Software: Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Typing speed: 80 WPM
Excellent language and proofreading skills
Large sum cash-handling experience
Experience with several types of POS registers
**Certified in WHMIS** (Use when it's applicable to the job you're applying for)
**Extensive knowledge of the care of parrots and other birds, freshwater fish and reptiles. Some knowledge of small mammal care.** (Only include this when you're looking for a job related to this field, otherwise it's distractive fluff)

Employment History (Use the official titles you were given, if at all possible)

Cashier, North Hill Sears, Calgary, Alberta, Febuary 2007 – Present
Duties: Direct retail sales to customers, including assisting with selection, sizing and special orders, replenishing stock on floor, organizing sales floor, and assisting department lead with administrative tasks.

Card Dealer, Elbow River Casino Calgary, Alberta, September 2006 –November 2006
Duties: Dealt various types of card games to casino patrons, managed till containing thousands of dollars and pursued customer satisfaction

Card Dealer and Kitchen Assistant, Palace Casino Edmonton, Alberta, March 2005 - September 2006
Duties: First hired to work in kitchen assisting cooks, delivering food and serving meals to casino employees. After five months, trained and promoted to deal various card games, working directly with casino patrons and managing a large till.

Pita Pro, Extreme Pita, Edmonton, Alberta, August 2004 – March 2005
Duties: Prepared sandwiches and drinks to order, baked cookies, prepared sandwich ingredients, cleaned service and table areas and stocked prep areas and coolers

Car Parker, Calgary Stampede and Exhibition, Calgary, Alberta, July 2003 – August 2004
Duties: Directed traffic, assisted customers with directions, lot security, animal control (?) .

Customer Service (Assistant/Representative?), July 2003 – July 2004, Riverfront Aquariums,Calgary, Alberta
Duties: Cared for animals, instructed customers on the care of animals, researched animals and product information, retail sales to customers and assisted in managing inventory.

Food Services (Assistant/Representative?), Calgary Zoo, Calgary Alberta, August 2002 – July 2003
Duties: Food preparation (for visitors or animals?) , provided cleaning support to (?) , guest services (such as?) and cashier, and, when necessary, rescuing other cashiers from free ranging zoo-fowl (what kind? how big?).

**Volunteer Experience
January 2001 – present
Administrator for medium to large internet community of people from around the world with common interests and goals.** (What type of community? Depending on what it is, you may either expand this information or not include it at all.)

References upon request

**BdwayBabu799** · 09-06-2007, 12:40 AM

I totally agree to tailor the cover letter, objective and resume to the position you are applying for. Here is mine and how I was taught to set it up. I was always taught to do say your last 3 jobs.

Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone
e-mail

EDUCATION:
9/05-12/06: St. Bonaventure University
MA Integrated Marketing Communications

5/16/06-5/31/06: Beijing Institute of Technology

Study abroad in China with the IMC program. Studying international marketing.

8/99-5/03: Niagara University
BFA: Theatre Performance and history.

5/02-7/02: Schiller International University

Study Abroad in London England. Studying theatre performance and history.

CLASS PROJECTS AND RELATED EXPERIENCE:
Elmwood Village: Marketing Plan. Dissertation is available. Conducted surveys, research, implemented a comprehensive PR, Internet and Marketing Campaign for the Elmwood Village organization.

Spot Coffee Marketing project done for class at St. Bonaventure University. Focused primarily on research, return on investment and business plan.

10/05-8/06: Regent Communications
Brief description

6/05-9/05: Night&Day
Intern and staff writer for a weekly entertainment newspaper. This paper was sent out in three separate publications in town.

9/01-5/02: Niagara University Radio
Producer for an on-air personality.

9/01-5/02: Niagara Index
Wrote editorials and theatre reviews on campus.

HONORS AND ACTIVITIES List all related honors and activities which may have helped build your character etc..

WORK EXPERIENCE:
8/06-Present: PBS Underwriting Assistant in the Sales and Marketing Department. Assists with traffic, copy writing, proposals and sales pitches.
12/03-2/06: Teletech Holdings (Verizon Wireless)
Customer Service representative. Intern for Human Resources department. Salary:
10/03-5/03: Niagara University Admissions
Student recruiter for Admissions.
COMPUTER SKILLS: Microsoft Works, typing: 54 WPM, Internet and HTML. Adobe Photoshop, News Pro Quo, Textbridge, Macintosh, Adobe Illustrator and In design, excel, PowerPoint, SPSS, Microsoft Office, basic editing and video. Web marketing and creative.

References available upon request

**Horsetuna** · 09-06-2007, 04:43 AM

Thanks for the advice.
The cover letter thing is always a tricky one for me, since my MoO usually pertains to walking from store to store in local malls and the like and asking if they are hiring, and if I could leave a resume. I can't afford a lot of printouts (It was three dollars just for TEN resumes, since I had to use a computer to go into my email since I had no way to get it to the computers there), so making a set of generic ones is too pricey right now.

I told my boss about my secondary jobhunting. She isnt happy "You can just ask me for more hours!" I do, but when I ask, you look at the schedule and most of the time say 'You're all filled up!" *argh*

I like her, but she has to understand that Sears is not paying enough.

**Broomjockey** · 09-06-2007, 04:52 AM

$3 for 10 would be 30 cents for 1, correct? And you were at 2 pages/resumé, so 15 cents a page? That's about average for printing services. My college, printing for students off the computer is 10 cents a page. So you're not really getting gouged there. I know it sucks, but you're getting some good advice here that I really can't add much to (in fact, next time I need to dust off the resumé I'm going to come back to this thread), but remember, this is the thing that's going to determine for most places if they'll even bother to interview you. If it gets you that next job with better pay, then it's money well invested.

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