Resume help?

[hadassahchana[$]]

Hi, guys. #1 is ready to get a part-time job, and he needs to put together a resume. I googled for help, and got nothing much that was useful. He doesn't need the killer resume which will make every other applicant look like crap. He doesn't need to pay $19.95 to get the inside scoop on resume writing. He just wants to work at the desk at my gym, and will use his past two years of teaching karate as his main job background. Can you guys help?


Cindy

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

There's the down-and-dirty basic template that comes in Microsoft Word, that should suffice for entry level/little experience.

[Redlass]

I'll confess, I hate resume writing. I hate my resume.

But I can pass along some hints that we've included in some of our material (though I'll have to be kind of broad so that we don't run into copyright issues) (and yes, this is an example of the Emporer having no clothes. I can write about how to create a good resume, but I can't do it myself):

Start out doing a self-assessment. Fold a paper in half and in each box write one of the following: Strengths, Weaknesses (technically it should be four and you should include Opportunities and Threats, but that may be going a bit beyond what you need at this point).

Start with the strengths box and make a list of things that you (#1 in this case) are proud of accomplishing. This can include everything,: school accomplishments, volunteer work, hobbies, stuff at the nature center, solving a problem, handing a difficult situation, managing a project, etc.

It may also help for him to get others to contribute to this list--we often don't acknowledge our own accomplishments. So I would encourage you to add to his list, ask his brothers to offer contributions (though, you might NOT want to let them do the weakness side), his friends, etc.

Do the same thing with the weakness box--this doesn't help for the resume, it helps for developing action plans to improve those weaknesses. It may also help in the interview as you are able to talk about ways that you are overcoming those weaknesses.

Contents of a resume (these vary, but I'm going to outline a very basic one for an entry-level position; this will change later):

First section is name, phone number, address, and e-mail address.
Summary of Qualifications: This is probably going to be much better than a listing of previous jobs. Even though he hasn't worked at the dojo before, he can list the characteristics from the strength half of his paper.

He can use this section to market hemself.

The next section can be a direct presentation of skills and experience that gets quite specific and provides the support for the previous section.

Education. Education typically goes at the bottom.