Way OT

I again find myself looking for employment. Not by choice a company downsizing.

I have been contacted by a recruiter wanting to place me. The company they are working for is a good gig and I am very interested. They asked that I rework my resume to show what I had done at previous jobs. I have done it.

I am just curious of what the great minds here think.
Which of these resumes is more likely to get me onto my next opportunity.

Any and all feed back appreciated. Senior rudeness is expected and gladly received.
Regards
Billy

This is just my opinion from a 68 year old retiree. Probably worth very little in today's world.
I like the style of the 1st file (9-2011) better. Having said that, here are some suggestions of what I would change. I think you should try to condense it somewhat. Try to reduce the number items in the skill section and proficiency section to the 3 or 4 most important items. The rest of the items in each section can be discussed at an interview. The whole purpose of a resume is to get an interview or at least a phone call response. I would also suggest attaching a recent professionally made photo to put a face with the resume.
I would probably add a small amount of personal info such as age, marital status, etc.

Edit:
Be sure to put the bilingual skills near or at the top of the list. I think that is a very valuable asset in the current job market.

Thanks for the feed back Jrwb4gbm. I like the 9/2011 version better too.
I didn't think about language skills until after I had sent the quickly revised 2nd ver. I hope I get a call back but in the mean time, I will try to incorporate your suggestions. It is tough to keep revising resumes to suit jobs with work life, swim practice, cheerleading, etc. I need to take a Saturday to really put more thought into how i am trying to bill myself. The hammer fell last Thursday. I am just glad to be getting inquires within a week. Thanks again for your response.

I would give both to the recruiter. They've seen thousands and will know which is best.

I'll give a shot at some constructive advice.

The 9-2011 version is better than the other one, but it still needs a bit of work, IMHO. Here is what I would do with it if I were to change it.

You tell what you have done to some extent, but you really don't say what you do very well. When I look at a resume I am interested in your skills, what tools you are comfortable with and what you have done at past jobs. Saying this, you have most of that on there, but it is too compact and I can't tell what you did for what company. Spreading it out to an additional page would help quite a bit in adding some good solid information.

For example, you list AC drives. What was the max horsepower? Were there different brands? Were any of them flux vector or were other advanced features used?

Multiphase plant services: What voltages are you comfortable with or trained on?

You worked at Coca Cola. I assume that you were maintenance staff, but I really don't know and I can't tell anything about what you did there.

Don't go overboard on adding information. What you are trying to do is get someone to be interested enough to pick up the phone. For me, right now it's interesting enough that I might give it a second look, but not quite enough that I want to grab the phone and call you right now, which is what you really want.

Give both to the head hunter. People think that a real person will read it but it is scanned for key words and that goes in a data bank with your name, location etc. When a match comes up the head sales guy at the agency massages the words to fit the job.
Remember that he works on commission.
If you get an interview with a real company take the simple resume with you. The first interview will usually be with an over worked HR person who has little knowledge of the job. If you get a second interview take the more detailed resume with you.
You should not be out of work very long with that resume.
Good luck

Sandwich,Icky, and Gas, thanks for taking a look.
I have had some other folks at work take a look at the two versions. The overall feedback is a hybrid of the two is the way I need to go. I will work on that this weekend.
The good news is....My quickly reworked resume was enough to get me a phone interview next week.
Thank you all for taking the time to help me out.
Regards and thanks.
Billy

Re: the comment above about the resume getting scanned for keywords

Yes, this does happen in larger companies. In smaller firms they may not have the time/technology/desire to do this. I'd bet that if you ask an HR person at the company you were applying to- they'd be able to tell you

-John

jrwb4gbm said:

I would also suggest attaching a recent professionally made photo to put a face with the resume.

Click to expand...

I myself have never seen apicture attached to a resume. Opionions?

jrwb4gbm said:

I would probably add a small amount of personal info such as age, marital status, etc.

Click to expand...

Since it is illegal for a employer to ask these questions I don't know that I would include them as they may help or hurt you. I fyou don't have to include them and they can't ask then why take a chance IMO. Opinions?

No photo if not asked, no marital or similar things, only things that are needed. Those are not.

My resume format

Here is what I have used for 10 years now. I seem to be in the job hunt for one reason or another every few years. Mostly I work myself out of a job.

Anyone who wants to is free to use this format. Mine is 5 pages long. I know they say to keep it down to one page but when you have a lot of information one page gets to busy and HR will not take the time to try and sort things out, they will just move on to the next on in line.

Do not make them go and find out what your phone number or Email address is keep in front of them at all times. I had a company call me after 9 months because the new Maintenance Foreman found my resume in a desk draw that had been placed there by the one that got let go. I got the job because he had all my information in one place.

I am in the job hunt once again myself and the head hunter really like my resume and he is sending it to 3 of the top employers in the area. I have had many complements on my resume from prospective employers.

Tinker

another angle on this question

Anyone have any tips on posting your resume to a company that only has one block of a webpage for you to paste the resume/cover letter in? There is no formatting, etc available...not even a phone number for an HR rep to follow up with after a few days.

sfindley said:

Anyone have any tips on posting your resume to a company that only has one block of a webpage for you to paste the resume/cover letter in? There is no formatting, etc available...not even a phone number for an HR rep to follow up with after a few days.

Click to expand...

Is there size limit on the pasting of the resume? It just sounds like a cut and past ordeal to me. Sense there is no formatting I would think everything is going to be justified to the left margin which is not a big deal if the company wants it that way.

Don't remember if there is a size limit off the top of my head. Don't have access to that site right now. It just seemed odd to me how their site was set up and there is no number to contact for follow up.