Resume Writing 101

Bo and I are sitting down to work on his resume. If you don't have a lot of work experience, you'll need to emphasize other skills and experience that will make you a good employee. Bo wants to work with other people---no packing boxes in a warehouse for him. There are a couple leads at a popular bottle bar and microbrew house/restaurant that he'll follow up on tomorrow when he has resume in hand.

Here's a good hint: If you have software like Microsoft Word, use the resume templates to give you a structure. That's what we're doing next!

Update: We used the Word Resume Wizard to select the categories to include on the resume. Once finished we printed five copies on good-quality bond paper. After consulting Craigslist for our town, we found an entry-level barista position and send an electronic resume.

Here's a look at the generic resume (formatting lost in html translation):

Bo Job-Hunter
Address Street
City, State ZipP
Phone (xxx) xxx-xxx

Objective: Seeking an increasingly responsible entry-level position in a dynamic work environment that emphasizes teamwork and cooperation and values superior customer service.

Work experience June 2005 – January 2006 Law Offices City, Oregon
Reception and Clerical Assistance
• Provided reception services for five attorneys and clerical support including preparing documents, mailings, billings, and scanning documents for archive. Skilled in use of computers, office equipment and keyboard (50 wpm).

Various Dates and Clients General Assistance and Labor
• Provide roofing, carpet cleaning, furniture and household moving, yard work and landscaping services to various clients. Strong,
responsible and diligent.

Volunteer experience Summers 2002-2004 City Family YMCA City, Oregon
Youth Counselor-in-Training• Responsible for supervising youth summer camp programs in conjunction with adult counselor during day-long and overnight
sessions. Duties included organizing outings, activities, camping and sporting equipment and overseeing youth to ensure fun, health and
safety while in the “Y” programs.

Education Currently Attending South City High School City, Oregon Seeking High School Diploma
• Currently enrolled at South City High School seeking diploma in 2006.

Interests and activities:
South City High School Varsity Football
South City High School Varsity Wrestling
City Boys Rugby Team Captain
South City Concert Choir
Music Composition and Performance (song-writing)
Stained glass work, carpentry, sculpture