Resume Critique with Dr. Diane Krider
CMU PRSSA’s 6th Annual Spring Conference
The Road to Reinvention
Resume Critique with Dr. Diane Krider
Here are ten resume tips I learned at Dr. Krider’s session:
1. Remember who you’re writing for.
2. Keep it succinct – this is not a tell-all piece.
3. Don’t put anything on your resume that is illegal to ask (race, religion, sex, political party, age, or marital status, disabilities, veteran status, etc.). But, you can mention it if you think it will giev you an advantage. For example, you might want to mention that you are devout Catholic if applying for a job within a Catholic church.
4. Pay attention to what the job ad says. The ad says exactly what they are looking for.
5. Create a resume for each job.
6. Present all materials well. First, they will see the envelope, then the cover letter, then your resume, and last your writing samples. If you have a terrible cover letter (or one with spilled coffee on it), they might never make it to your resume.
7. Have someone in your field look at your resume before sending it out.
8. Don’t put your hobbies in your resume.
9. Balance dark space with white space
10. One page or less for entry-level jobs.
What do you think is important to remember when creating a resume?
If you are a professional, what is one mistake you see often, or what is your biggest resume pet peeve?
“PR: Case and Point” with Rebecca Howe and Emily Kuczynski
CMU PRSSA’s 6th Annual Spring Conference
The Road to Reinvention
“PR: Case and Point” with Rebecca Howe and Emily Kuczynski
Rebecca Howe and Emily Kuczynski are associates from Lambert, Edwards & Associates. Both hold a bachelor’s degree in integrative public relations from Central Michigan University.
Lambert, Edwards & Associates is among the top 100 firms in the US. Howe and Kuczinski presented a very interesting session. They presented an issue and students discussed what they would have done. Howe and Kuczinski then described what they did in the situation.
One case was Biggby Coffee (formerly Beaners Coffee). When the company needed a new name, they also needed to do some re-branding. LE&A had to communicate to both internal and external audiences, such as the owners/operators, customers, and the media.
LE&A offers paid internships. One suggestion made by Howe and Kuczinski was to focus on things that make you stand out in your cover letter.
Resumes
Last night I redid my resume. I had attended a resume critique at the CMU PRSSA Spring Conference. Until recently, I haven’t had time to work on the improvements.
Resulting from their tips is a very detailed, one-paged resume that I think looks very nice. Here five tips that helped me redo my resume:
1. Objective first – It needs to be targeted towards how you will help the potential employer. Originally, my generic resume objective said, “To gain experience in public relations, communications, and writing.” What does that do for the employer? Nothing. Wojcik suggested a change: “To apply my knowledge of public relations, communication, and journalism to a company or organization in Isabella County.”
2. Put your work experience next – My original resume had my education, followed by my work experience. Experience is more relevant than my education, especially since I am still in school.
3. Make your margins less than one inch to fit more information on your resume. Dr. Krider suggested that I make the most of my space by adjusting the margins. I was able to fit much more information on my resume this way.
4. If you use “Mt. Pleasant” in the resume, don’t switch to “Mount Pleasant” in another part. In my address, it said “Mount Pleasant” and under work experience, it said “Mt. Pleasant.” A small, but important detail that you should pay attention to.
5. Use action verbs. Instead of saying that I was a member of the professional development committee, Perry suggested that I be more specific. What did I accomplish while I was a member? What did I contribute?
One more tip: Take “pubic” out of your Microsoft Word dictionary, suggested Dr. Krider. Nothing will get your resume thrown away faster than saying you want to work in “pubic relations.” Luckily, I did not make this mistake!
CMU PRSSA’s 6th Annual Spring Conference
The Road to Reinvention
That was theme for the CMU PRSSA Spring Conference that I helped plan and attended today. Overall, I believe it was a success. It has given me better direction to map my road to reinvention. The speakers were fabulous and I feel so inspired right now.
I think it is wonderful that I found a career that makes me feel this way. I was just discussing this with some fellow PRSSA members. Many students go to college for a degree. They choose a major that they like and go to classes (that they often complain about). That’s it. They don’t go the extra mile. It seems different for PR students at CMU.
I enjoy PR-related classes. I love my major and career path I’m heading for. I find PR so exciting and I want to be as involved as possible. Sometimes it is overwhelming because I have so many meetings, but I still love it. Some other students I’ve met don’t seem to have that motivation.
It has been a ten hour day for me and I am absolutely exhausted. Therefore, I’m not going to write anything tonight. Look for posts in the near future about what I learned!
By the way, I have had exactly 100 “steps ahead” (aka hits). That is very exciting because I started this blog on February 28. Happy one month anniversary to me. I think I’ll go celebrate.
My goal for next month: 300 “steps ahead”
