Help Needed Please

[Tigerlily]

Hello,

I am seeking advice and assistance with my resume and a cover letter. I can talk with the best of them but when it comes to putting together a resume that displays my best qualifications I just become blank and whatever I come up with is just lame. My SIL redid my resume for me a few months ago. When doing this though she turned my one page resume into a three page short story that dated my employment history back to 1994. My last job was over 15 years itself.

Right now I am looking at a specific job that is part time for a few hours a day as an A.A. I have plenty of office experience but this job requires a resume as well as a cover letter. I know my resume needs a complete makeover but I don't know where to begin. It has been suggested to only list my last job due to the length of employment and just detail the various positions I held. It was also suggested that I not put dates in regards to my education to avoid age disrimination and to not list my references.

Anything anyone has to help will be greatly appreciated. I just really need to come up with something polished that I can easily change the objective and skills to be able to best represent my skills towards specific jobs. PM me please for addtional details. TIA

[FireBrand (Premo)]

Always start with your experience with microwave technology.

[Tigerlily]

Originally Posted by FireBrand

Always start with your experience with microwave technology.

Ha Ha not quite one of my better qualifications.

[FED_UP]

Originally Posted by Tigerlily

Ha Ha not quite one of my better qualifications.

Plenty of simple examples of cover letters on the net. As far as not using the date you got your degree or HS diploma, most all companies apply on line jobs application site ask for the date. Everybody is supposed to be an equal opportunity employer there days, so they say. No resume should be 3 pages long, you will bore me and your possible employer, and two pages should do it. If you get the interview you can provide them with additional papers. Concentrate on just adding things that will relate to the job your applying for, especially in the qualifications section. Tight dress might help, a perk you ladies have.

[onebdzee]

Originally Posted by FED_UP

Plenty of simple examples of cover letters on the net. As far as not using the date you got your degree or HS diploma, most all companies apply on line jobs application site ask for the date. Everybody is supposed to be an equal opportunity employer there days, so they say. No resume should be 3 pages long, you will bore me and your possible employer, and two pages should do it. If you get the interview you can provide them with additional papers. Concentrate on just adding things that will relate to the job your applying for, especially in the qualifications section. Tight dress might help, a perk you ladies have.

What a bunch of crap this is.....

I sent my resume to the US government the other day for a driving position and was told that I "didn't meet the qualifications for the position"....

I'm thinking the BA degree (and my starting a MBA) may have thrown the HR person in Philidelphia off of the fact that I have over 20 years of experience in driving a tractor trailer....

If the federal government is not an EEO employer, why should any other company?

Good luck TL with the job!

[Tigerlily]

Originally Posted by FED_UP

Plenty of simple examples of cover letters on the net. As far as not using the date you got your degree or HS diploma, most all companies apply on line jobs application site ask for the date. Everybody is supposed to be an equal opportunity employer there days, so they say. No resume should be 3 pages long, you will bore me and your possible employer, and two pages should do it. If you get the interview you can provide them with additional papers. Concentrate on just adding things that will relate to the job your applying for, especially in the qualifications section. Tight dress might help, a perk you ladies have.

This particular job is an email resume and cover letter requirement. Their website has no way to apply online. Now obviously at the selection stage applicants would be required to fill out an application and possibly complete some testing prior to the actual interview. All of the suggestions I listed came from the Jobs Source Worshop that I attended. I have a tendancy to not only be a bit long winded in person but on paper as well. I tend to go into way to much detail that is not needed. I need to rectify this asap as it could very well hinder me in the end.

[MarieB]

Someone else started a thread here recently about resumes, and there were some really good suggestions in that thread for resources to help one compile a resume. You might want to do a search for that thread too

Good luck! I'm also working on my résumé right now

[FED_UP]

Originally Posted by onebdzee

What a bunch of crap this is.....

I sent my resume to the US government the other day for a driving position and was told that I "didn't meet the qualifications for the position"....

I'm thinking the BA degree (and my starting a MBA) may have thrown the HR person in Philidelphia off of the fact that I have over 20 years of experience in driving a tractor trailer....

If the federal government is not an EEO employer, why should any other company?

Good luck TL with the job!

I have to agree, the USA jobs for government work is a piece of crap. I am sure many people have seen that blurb ""didn't meet the qualifications for the position". I don't even think a human monitors that site. BOT

[mamaof1]

Originally Posted by Tigerlily

This particular job is an email resume and cover letter requirement. Their website has no way to apply online. Now obviously at the selection stage applicants would be required to fill out an application and possibly complete some testing prior to the actual interview. All of the suggestions I listed came from the Jobs Source Worshop that I attended. I have a tendancy to not only be a bit long winded in person but on paper as well. I tend to go into way to much detail that is not needed. I need to rectify this asap as it could very well hinder me in the end.

I have the same issue of wanting to tell every detail... So I have changed my résumé format to a bullet style. It gets more points in with less words.
Also, if it job entails #s, $s etc. be sure to include this too.

Good luck!!

[mamaof1]

Originally Posted by FED_UP

I have to agree, the USA jobs for government work is a piece of crap. I am sure many people have seen that blurb ""didn't meet the qualifications for the position". I don't even think a human monitors that site. BOT

How I understand it, the initial apps/resumes are scanned via computer. If your info doesn't have their "key" words that they have programmed it to look for, you will never be selected.
I have been told you have to use the K S A s to write your experience to get it to "pick you up" .