Résumés: Five Great Things To Do

Job hunters are always reminded of things they should avoid doing in their résumés. But here are five great things to do with, or include in, your résumé.

1. Show enthusiasm. It's okay to be excited about a job possibility. In fact, enthusiasm is often contagious, and says, "I'm ready to work!" What employer doesn't want an employee that conveys a can-do attitude?

2. Include Awards and Achievements. Employers want to see more than job history. If you've won awards for your work, schooling, special interests, or have done volunteer work, it tells perspective employers that you're willing to go the extra mile and that you are passionate about something.

3. Computer and media skills. Many companies maintain a high internet presence. Why? Because a lot of it it is free, and if you know how to navigate through twitter, blog spot, wordpress, Facebook, LinkedIn or other networking sites, that tells would-be bosses that they have someone who understands marketing more than most. Be sure to include mainstream software too.

4. Publications. Don't have any? Think again. All those blog posts you've stayed up late writing. Perfect. You're a published author. Employers will appreciate your love of the written word, and the fact that you can navigate successfully through the English language. One caveat here -- if your blog is entitled "All the bosses I hate" you should probably avoid putting that on your resume.

5. Use power verbs. What are power verbs? I was in charge of six employees. No! You supervised six employees. Some other power verbs to include on your résumé: executed, improved, produced, developed, directed, compiled, implemented, evaluated, designed, coordinated, and facilitated. Click here for Boston College's .pdf of action verbs.

Comments

  1. I found the blog Resume: Five important to do very helpful and interesting. Resumes reflect upon yourself and allows your future employer to get an idea of who you are. Since your future employer will be looking at many other resumes other than yours, its important to make your resume stand out! The blog starts out by stating the importance of enthusiasm because it allows you to look eager and ready to work with a 'go get it' attitude. Including awards and achievements in you resume will allow the reader to get an idea of your work ethics and what your passionate about. An award signifies that you put in more work and went the extra mile towards your passion. Computer and media skills are important to put in your resume because everything in the present is turning to technology. Whether it's word documents, inputting data, or sending important information, it will ensure that you will be able to perform a given task without mistakes. Publications is important because employers will appreciate your love for written word. It will also give your employer an understanding of your level of communication and in the English language. Finally the blog post finishes off by talking about the importance of power verbs. Employers read more than just your resume, but others as well. Reading hundreds of resumes is boring enough, but if the word 'I' is used too frequently, would you expect your reader to do the same?

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  2. I found this blog on résumés to be extremely insightful and inspiring. Not only does it provide helpful ideas on how to properly build a résumé, but it also gives you a guideline on what to do. Diction is a very important thing to watch out for when it comes writing and I'm glad it addressed it.Diction can make or break a person, so by using the correct words you can set yourself up for an amazing future. By using this blog I will know what jobs are looking for, and be able to adjust myself to their need.

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  3. This is a great blog which helps inform us about how to improve our resumes. It provides 5 fantastic ideas on how to make our resumes better. Enthusiasm shows your boss that you have a great attitude towards work. Awards and Achievements shows that you are dedicated towards your passion and you work hard to achieve your goals. Computer skills are vital nowadays because everything runs or is involved with computers and you must know how to operate a computer and the features inside it if you want to have a good job. Publications and powerful verbs show your writing skills and education level. I think it also indicates a strong leader. Someone good with words can motivate people into working harder and that would benefit the company.

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  4. This blog is very useful for those who are unaware on how to construct a resume. A resume consist of more than just other job experiences, but it also presents what else you did as an individual and what you are willing to partake in. Expressing enthusiasm in your resume can add a little spice to it compared to all the other hundreds of boring resumes your future employer has to go over; it is important to have the drive to stand out because that simply shows you are willing to work harder and demonstrates professionalism. What is the point of adding previous job experiences if you do not demonstrate how hard you preformed in your work ethics? Anyone at the appropriate age can handle a simple job, but stating you are capable of tackling any challenges or obstacles can put you one step ahead of going the extra mile compared to those who are not able to. Being on top of your "game" sometimes does not cut it, if you want to go far, you are going to have to participate in other activities that can strengthen your characteristic traits and abilities. Broadening your knowledge by being involved in different organizations and clubs can implement your resume and shows your future employer you are willing to be flexible with new tasks and projects. It is essential to have proper grammar, correct spelling, and neatness in your resume. Simple grammar mistakes can easily represent laziness, unawareness, and lack of responsibility and have the future employer overlook everything else presented on the resume. You want to do anything you can to represent yourself as someone who is professional, at the same time, someone who is enthusiastic with a positive attitude.

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  5. After reading Resumes: Five Great Things to Do I was shocked on just how many steps I left out of my own personal resume. Under step one which mentions show enthusiasm I always make an effort to express to employers that I do have a can do spirit and that I am excited to work. I was glad to read that I did emphasize step one in my own resume and I even included one of my awards in high school which is encouraged under step two. I am also glad I had a chance to read an article on how to make my resume stand out especially since I just worked on an assignment involving resumes. With this new founding knowledge I was able to compare and contrast my resume and see which steps I could include or re emphasize in my work. I really like step three through five since these are steps that I am missing in my resume. I never thought to include my computer skills but now that I think about it, it is a good idea to include that you’re good with computers. Now I will take that extra mile to make my resume pop and include the other missing steps and change some words around and make them power verbs. I found this blog to be very helpful and gave me some great advice that could help me later down the road.

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  6. 5Great things to do is a very informative piece about how to write the perfect resume. I noticed some of the steps it tells us is actually very easy but always forgotten or neglected. I never actually knew that using power verbs would actually help our resume look more appealing and professional, personally i always ignored the power verb part. Not just this but it also offers helpful tips and advices that helps us better our resume by alot. It was a very short yet very informative piece of writting that thought me alot about writting resumes. Next time I'm writting a resume I will definitely look into this particular blog for some good tips.

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  7. Resume's: Five Great Things To Do is a very refreshing article. I feel that most other resume "how to" articles frequently point the finger with "do not do this" and "do not do that", and frankly it is discouraging. This gives you a negative attitude when writing your article when in reality, you should be excited writing it! You are handing this in to a possible future career location!

    I really like how this article is encouraging us to be enthusiastic as I am a very enthusiastic person. When looking at sample resumes for the medical field it does appear that they are more serious so I guess that I will just have to find the right way to go about it so that they still get my little hint of excitement.

    I do not have too many awards or anything worth mentioning considering that most are from high school years, but yet another encouraging topic in this article: volunteer service can make up for it! Lately when looking at job requisites, it does seem like more places are requiring paid experience which can be frustrating because we all have to start somewhere, right?

    As for publications and computer skills... I do not feel so hot on. At least now I know what it is that interviewers are looking for. Also, I am now aware of the weak spots in my resume and more importantly, in my actual experience.

    I found the "power verbs" section of this article interesting. I can use these to help express my enthusiasm for the specific job I am applying for, as mentioned above. Power verbs can help me "spice" up my resume, flatter my skills, and ultimately set me aside from my competition, the other applicants.

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  8. I find this section of the blog really helpful for college students or someone who is inexperience with having a job and who is currently having a hard time with their resume. I agree with all the bullet points in this blog on what you should have on our resume. I believe that this is great because this allows the person who is reading your resume another way to get to know your abilities and skills in words.

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  9. Roxanne Alcaraz-

    I found this blog article intriguing as it presented creative advice about how to improve one's resume. While a few of the suggestions appeared to be standard advice, there were some ideas that I thought were a bit more innovative. One suggestion was to show enthusiasm. Showing enthusiasm in a professional resume, I feel, is a type of art. It must be presented appropriately. However, when applied correctly, it is also an element that will set your resume apart from others. Another piece of advice I found interesting was including publications in your resume. The article states that even your online blog posts, when appropriate, can represent your interest in the written language and your ability to write. Including my blog posts on my resume had never occurred to me.
    Lastly, the article strongly encourages the use of power words instead of the passive voice. I found this particularly interesting as this detail greatly affects the flow of the resume. It establishes a tone of assertiveness which is something every resume ought to have.

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  10. This was a very helpful post. I'm job hunting right now and I'm going to come back to this post later on for sure! The first and second pieces of advice seemed like the usual reume stuff. Show you're excited and talk about yourself basically. But it is good to have reinforcement on these matters.
    The third one, which was about adding your internet use to your resume was new to me! I think it is kind of funny that we should talk about how we spend so much time on the computer, but I do see how that would be appealing to a company that uses a lot of publicity.
    The forth point was talking about how you can use your blog posts as "publications" for a resume. While the idea of this sounds good, in reality that worries me a little. My blog is my own personal outlet. When I get angry I blog, when I'm happy I blog, when I'm bored I blog. My blog has stuff that I dont think I would want a future employer to look at.
    The last one was one of the most helpful. It was about power verbs and how to use them in your resume. I feel like my resumes always lack something, "pazazz" if you will, so next time I'm working on my resume I'll be sure to spice it up and make it stronger with some nice words in there.

    Madeline Scott-Brown

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  11. I found this article to be very helpful, considering I recently compiled a resume for my business class myself. The article did a good job breaking down the essentials to a general resume for anyone. It never occurred to me about including publications let alone blog posts in your resume, I thought that was a really good idea. I think the most important part of getting a job, not including the resume is that you should be very enthusiastic, like mentuioned in the article. Just because you may have alot of previous work experience or went to a good colllege, if you don't seem enthusiastic about the job your trying to get, then it's almost certain you won't get the job. (Kyle)

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  12. JOB hunt tactics

    I found this post really helpful and informative. It is clever for the person to inform the readers in this sort of way. Many times when I look on the web for information about interviews and resumes, the stuff people write are very long, wordy paragraphs. When I first saw this post, the short, concise paragraphs and the white spaces made me want to read it. Even though the article is quite short, I got many information out of it. I never knew that writing blogs are considered to be publications that I made. I can tell people in my resume that I'm a publisher because I'm writing this right now! Well, other than that fact, I kind already know that computer skills, enthusiasm, and awards would look better on a resume. People that pick out applicants for an interview would of course want a person that is enthusiastic about the job, knows a lot of skills, and has made many achievements in life. Also, I think they should include that something about language too. I think being bilingual and knowing other major language other than English will help alot on a resume.

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  13. Jenisia:
    One thing that really stood out to me about this post is that it is about things you should be putting in your resume. More often than not, people are telling me what not to put in it. Then I get kind of stuck when I try putting things that show the good parts of me. This is especially helpful because I am in the process of building my resume. I think my resume is pretty plain because I haven’t done anything to add, seeing as I haven’t had many jobs but this post actually advises you not to focus so much on jobs and more on awards and volunteering. Remembering to use power verbs is also mentioned, which I really enjoy; they add so much flair to everything! One new thing I was inspired to do was add a social media and publications section to my resume. All I ever do is write online, so why not? (But maybe first I should create a more professional blog)

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  14. This is a very interseting blog, for it helps job seekers and gives them an idea of what employers expect. I myself have taken these tips into thought and currently added achievemnts to my resume. I also learned that writing blogs can be seen as a publisher that surprised me. These types of blogs are essential and need to be shown to the youth. this will help people get their jobs that they want.

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  15. when writing a resume, I'm never really sure what to write about or what specific information to add in there. I always get confused about which achievement is considered a experience or an award. i always get confused on whats important enough to add in my resume. Now that i read this i actually understand what is important and what important information should be added in my resume. I think the most important or most recent achievements and jobs should be added and everything from a long time ago should be mentioned briefly. Writing a resume is hard and I'm glad this is here to help students like myself complete an accurate one that would help me get a job.

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  16. This blog is amazing because a lot of us, especially me, need a little brushing up on our resume. A professor once told me that a resume is on the desk of your prospective employer for an average of 20 seconds. That is a very short time if you ask me. Well in order for that employer to say "wow, we need this person on our team!", your going to need to something that pops and makes you look good on paper. I'm not saying that you should LIE on your resume but rather make yourself look unique and expand on even the smallest accomplishment. I definitely would agree that "power verbs" make a huge difference in grabbing the eye of the reader, not only do these words make you sound more intelligent but they reel in the interest of the employer.

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  17. I found this blog really helpful because I never really knew what exactly would look good on a resume. I have never been hired for a job before and as much as I do want to work during college; my parents would rather have me focus more on school first because they want to make sure I get good grades. This blog gave me new insights on what I should include on my resume and what would make me stand out. I agree that the power verbs would make a difference in catching the reader's attention because it demonstrates that they have a high knowledge.

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