Plain Text Resume (No Experience)

[WyrmDL]

I am taking a small step forward today; I get very embarrassed with these things.

I've written a rough draft of a plain text resume. I'm having trouble because I'm a college student with pretty much no experience at all. I don't even have real preferences to what job I'll get.

Two things I do know about myself: I learn quickly and I work hard.

D O N N G U Y E N

Address
City, State, Zip
Home
Cell
Email

* * * P R O F I L E

Self motivated, goal-oriented individual with strong time management and detailed work ethics seeking to commit solid organizational and communication skills within a team context.

* * * P R O F E S S I O N A L E X P E R I E N C E

MG Wireless – San Diego, CA
Sales Associate (2010 Seasonal)

Ensured that every customer received exceptional service by maintaining a friendly environment, acknowledging and greeting each customer, and providing precise product knowledge. Assisted in merchandising, housekeeping, and monitoring floor stock. Provided aid to customers in locating merchandise and resolving requests.

* * * V O L U N T E E R E X P E R I E N C E

EMPIRE M.O.V.E. CLUB (2007 – 2009)
Team member in several community service projects, including organizing and delivering food and supplies to needing families.

CHRIST LUTHERAN VAIL (2008 – 2010)
Responsible for supervising youth and senior high youth in several events and excursions. Participated in community service projects, raising awareness and money for hunger and poverty.

* * * E D U C A T I O N

Santa Rita High School, Tucson, AZ (2005 – 2006)
Empire High School, Tucson, AZ (2006-2009)

* * * A C H I E V E M E N T S

Student of the Quarter (2007 – 2009)
Academic Honors Award (2008 – 2009)
Perfect Attendance Certificate (2007 – 2008)
Superintendent's Certificate (2008 – 2009)

Thank you in advance. I really appreciate any help I can get.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I'd have what you are currently doing, on your CV.

Even if it's.

XXXXXX - (2010-Present)

(you don't really explain what you are doing right now).


I know you aren't sure what you want to do, but the Resume does tend to say (to me) that you really don't know what you want to do with your life (I'm not talking every nook and cranny, but what you actually want to do).

High school grades?

I'm used to CVs as opposed to Resumes, so take my advice with a pinch of salt.


I'm sure your college will have a Careers Service of some variety? Might be best to make an appointment with them and go talk things over with someone, have someone help you, in person?

(just throwing ideas out there)

[fdeck]

One thing I noticed: Put in where you're currently going to college, and what year you're in. Also, a general resume is a good thing to have handy, but you can always customize it to each job that you're applying for.

Definitely see if your college has a career center.

If you exceeded your assigned sales goals for your sales job, make note of that.

All the best! Everybody starts out with no experience, so it's not a black mark against you. In preparation for any possible interview, it would be handy to have copies of your high school and college transcripts.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

+1 on the transcripts, forgot to mention that one.

[skwee]

And I wonder (not meaning to be snide about it, please take this with a grain of salt), but is this:

Self motivated, goal-oriented individual with strong time management and detailed work ethics seeking to commit solid organizational and communication skills within a team context.

really your profile?

Is there a way to write that that doesn't sound so convoluted?

[Stumbo]

Based on the 2009 high school grad date, looks like you're a sophomore.

Since you're a college student, depending on the job, being a fast learner and hard worker will get you more jobs than a cool resume. How you dress and your clean cut appearance are important too.

Now you just have to communicate that to potential employers.

+100 on visiting your college job center. They have worked on thousands of resumes over the years and possibly have some job leads for you.

Good luck.

[m0nst3r]

One of the things that I did with my resume is list some class projects that are relevant to the type of position you are seeking. For instance, when I was applying to wealth management companies, I listed two projects, one from my portfolio management course, and one from my Futures and Options course. I didn't get the jobs I hoped for, but that was most likely due to other reasons. :-\

[jmattbassplaya]

I don't mean to be harsh, but that resume is pretty rough

If you'd like, I can send you a copy of my resume so you can see what a student involved in a business school is trained to have theirs look like.

May I also suggest you rush Alpha Kappa Psi next semester.

[WyrmDL]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

I don't mean to be harsh, but that resume is pretty rough

If you'd like, I can send you a copy of my resume so you can see what a student involved in a business school is trained to have theirs look like.

May I also suggest you rush Alpha Kappa Psi next semester.

Yes! That would be great, thanks!

This is pretty much my first resume, so I was expecting to have a lot of issues with it.

Since I don't have much experience at all, I have been told to focus on my skills instead, but I'm not sure what that looks like.

[RS]

Figure out what job(s) you want to do and build the resume around that.

Then networking and information interviews. This is more important than the perfect resume.

[jmattbassplaya]

Originally Posted by WyrmDL

Yes! That would be great, thanks!

This is pretty much my first resume, so I was expecting to have a lot of issues with it.

Since I don't have much experience at all, I have been told to focus on my skills instead, but I'm not sure what that looks like.

I sent you a private message. Feel free to shoot me an email address of yours in response and I'll send you a word doc of my resume (slightly altered so you don't have all my current information ).

[Dash Rantic]

Don't put spaces between the letters in your headings. Leave them all caps, the spacing just looks silly / unprofessional. Remove the asterisks as well--simply having all caps is going to set off the headings well enough. Use a single asterisk to set off the descriptive text block for prior experience/etc instead. Don't full caps the individual experiences. On a similar note, don't make your name all caps/with spaces between the letters--normal caps for your name, normal spacing. Your name is important information, don't make it so difficult to read.

Quick example:

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Empire M.O.V.E. Club (2007 – 2009)
* Team member in several community service projects, including organizing and delivering food and supplies to needing families.

You should also add in an "OBJECTIVE" heading right underneath your contact information (where the PROFILE is now). This "OBJECTIVE" heading should change slightly for each job you apply to--try and make it match up with the position you're trying to get an interview for.

Those would be the first places to start, IMO. Good luck!

-Dash