CAn anyone offer me tips on writing a resume'?

thanks in advance,
Cherity

Yes, I can.

HA! Just trying to be a smarty pants there!

If your work history is anything like mine you are a master of many trades. And I MEAN master.

So, the first point that I can offer is to decide what skills your target audience will be looking for and draw attention to where you have used those skills in most or all of your previous jobs.

Holy Crud....I have to go deal with my kids.....I'll be back.

Remind me to give you an example of my discussion with the President of the company that I now work for as a training Product Development Manager......and at the time, based on the resume I sent him, he told me I should "stay in sales".

That was 2.5 years ago....and I learned a LOT since then about resume's. Man, I gotta run off. I hate to leave this hanging because I think I can really help you.

More later.

Cherity
There are lots of good tips on general resume writing on job search sites (just do a google search). But, if what you really want to know is how to make a typical adhd job history look respectable here are a few tips:

* don't feel the need to list all of your jobs (just put years for old jobs, and just months where it was a very short time) - I leave several jobs out of mine

* if the time you were at a job was very short then claim it as a contract/temp position

* note your achievements at each job, make them tangible e.g. increased sales by x% in y months

* line up a couple of people who will give you a good reference

* keep it brief (don't try to tell them your entire life history)

* keep it relevant (nobody really cares if you got a prize for something in high school once you are an adult)

* tailor your resume to each job you are applying for - do the work for the person who will read your resume (don't make them search for reasons to hire you, they should leap out at them)

* use good quality paper if using a hard copy, always use a standard font that reproduces well (e.g. arial or times new roman), always use Microsoft Word versions if emailing - these are important as most resumes are scanned after you submit them nowadays

* remember to include details of any professional associations or community work you do/have done

Good luck
Cheers

My biggest problem is that I have only worked two jobs in my entire life. I've helped friends out at their business' but they were not actually jobs, just someone doing a favor. How do I make someone want me if I've only done two different kinds of work?

Certified Nurse Asst./Medication Asst (14years)
Sales (2 months)

thats it.

what pru has said PLUS:

1. try to account for all of your time. e.g. if you stopped to raise a family just stick something about that in there too. You don't have to tell stuff that is too personal.

2. in your covering letter, do take the qualifications for the job and demonstrate how you have those or most of them, by relating them back to specific jobs/experience/training you've had.

e.g. if you are a pplyng for a baker job and one qualification is: use of professional style oven. You might say: In my position as volunteer baker for unicef, I baked 100 batches of cookies each november using the 2300 Kelvanator professional oven.

or soemthing like that you see? that is a HUGE help to the screener. Gosh I've had over 100 people sometimes apply to jobs I've run competitions for, sometimes more. It's really painful to do that, so any pre-work done is a real bonus.

hope that helps

cs

My biggest problem is that I have only worked two jobs in my entire life. I've helped friends out at their business' but they were not actually jobs, just someone doing a favor. How do I make someone want me if I've only done two different kinds of work?

Certified Nurse Asst./Medication Asst (14years)
Sales (2 months)

thats it.

Just because you have not been paid to do something does not mean it was not work! That sounds a little convoluted, what I meant was unpaid work counts too.

If you don't have a lot of paid work then list some of your unpaid work as if it was a job & also list your skills. It sounds like you have lots of different skills and experiences that an employer would be interested in - you just need to package them so they can see it too. crime_scene's tips are good. Don't be afraid to include any voluntary or unpaid work. That is what helped me to get my first good job.

The most important thing you can have is a CAN DO attitude and not a can't do one.

Hang in there :)

I was playing with clip art and attached a red rose to my resume :) I wanted it to stand out among the other resumes. Another suggestion would be to use paper other than just white paper. Why don't you write down those friends places of business you helped out in and write that you volunteered your time there. Or you could put "Stay at home Mom" or better yet "Dominstic Engineer. Sorry my spelling is terrible :)

I have been in management for 15 years. I have reviewed hundreds of resumes and have chosen whether or not to interview someone based on what they have submitted.

Here's my advice...

Your objective should state what you can do for them, not what you are hoping they can do for you.

If there are time spans between previous employers, opt for just using years, rather than month and year.

Emphasize previous responsibilities that are related to the position you are looking for.

Keep it simple. Too much wording will lose the reader. Brief statements, instead of full sentences.

Become familiar with the terminology this prospective employer uses by visiting their website. A good source is their mission statement or visionary goal. Utilize this same terminology in your resume.

Grab their attention at the very beginning. Your goal is to make them want to interview you. Give them good information, but also leave some for impact in your interview.

Adjust your font and sizing to have a pleasing amount of white space versus wording. Do not try to cram it all into one page...that rule doesn't apply anymore.

Also, do not use any type of mono-spaced font. It is not as easy to read as traditional fonts.

With this said, it is sometimes helpful to have more than one resume. If you are going for different types of positions, you will want to highlight the skills that enable you to do that job.

Always use a cover letter! You need a name. People like to see their name. Even if you just call and ask for the name of the person doing the hiring, you need a name. Dear Sir or Madame, To whom it may concern and the like simply get filed with all the other's.

Good luck to you!
Allegro

I just want to thank everyone who responded to this thread. While I did get a job yesterday I am going to work on a resume' and just leave room to add new experiances, etc. so I'm not caught with my pants down so to speak in the future.

My new job is in the nursing field...when all else fails fallback on something you know. :p I felt comfortable going into the interview as I stayed with my first and last nursing assignment for 14 years. If nothing else it shows dedication and that I must have been doing something right to keep my position. lol

I am going to be working for an on-call nursing service. I've been gauranteed 30 hours a week and will be making about $3 more an hour then I was with my previous employer so I'll not be missing any income. And I can work my schedule around my college courses and I will be doing most my assignments with Autistic children so that when I graduate I can claim some experiance in that field.

NO holidays or Sundays. I'm very hopeful right now and feeling good about my choice. I'm sorry I panicked I've just never been without a job for longer then a day or two and this time it took me a little over a week to find a job.

Thanks again,
Cherity

Futs_

Congrats on the new job!!!!

Allegro-

Until about 4 years ago when all of this ADD crap hit the fan, I had no problem with my resume. Now I have 2 decent jobs that only lasted 6 months, 2 others that were way beneath where I should be, and several months of unemployment.

I don't want to lie, but any ideas for a format that wouldn't put the last 4 years front and center????

Please help!!!:o I'm not getting responses from jobs I should be a shoe in for.