Writing a resume advice

amother

Wine

Thu, Jun 25 2015, 9:46 pm

I am constantly sending out my resume to places looking to hire, and rarely get a response. (I usually can not contact the potential employers to confirm they received my resume since they usually just post a fax number or email address in the classifieds, and I have no idea which company is looking to hire.) I tried looking at my resume critically to see if there is something wrong with it, but I actually think I have a really good resume, and many years of experience. The only thing I can think of is that these places think that I am possibly over qualified. I considered the fact that maybe they specifically want employees with only a year or two of experience in the related field, and then they can mold or train them to their liking. However, I wonder if that is actually the reason.
During my college education about fifteen years ago, we were advised to omit names of references on the actual resume, and just write: References available upon request. Has resume guidelines changed? Do potential employers expect references to be included on the resume, and would that be a reason for my resume to be ignored?
Just to clarify, my resume includes a cover letter, my contact info, position desired, college education, experience (including somewhat detailed description), additional qualifications, and "References available upon request."

Any advice?

Amarante

Fri, Jun 26 2015, 8:29 am

Without seeing your resume, it's hard to offer anything other than general advice.

First, it is not unusual to receive no response when you send a resume to a blind ad in the internet.

You are correct that you do not supply names of references in a resume.

Also, after being in the workforce, typically, you put education AFTER work experience since it is now less important than work experience. If you have a license then you place that first.

Also general advice is that you have a short paragraph first listing your qualifications for the specific position - I.e. kind of selling yourself in two or three sentences so that someone scanning it doesn't have to look through the the specific job listings to see what your background is.

Also, your resume job listings should be action oriented - I.e. was in charge of X project that resulted in increased sales/reduced costs.

Keep in mind that resumes are sometimes scanned now for key words. Also even if a human is reviewing a resume, they are deluged so you want to provide them with the reason why you are right for the specific position.

Are you using a cover letter. Because even if you use the same resume for every application (and some people don't), you probably would want to modify your cover letter so that you hit the specifics for that job. Read the job requirements carefully and make sure that you state exactly why you are the perfect fit for their needs.

amother

Cobalt

Fri, Jun 26 2015, 9:00 am

You'd do well to show someone professional your resume for advice. Resume formatting not has changed a lot in the last 15 years. Small example- you're not supposed to write "references available upon request" anymore. It's assumed to be the case.

Also- cover letters/introductory email is really important. And customize as much as possible.

working hard

Fri, Jun 26 2015, 9:10 am

Opionions differ here. I do hireing 3-4 times a year. I typically receive more resumes than I can handle. The first thing I do is ignore any that do not have full info. I will throw out resumes without references as I then have an extra step to get the references. I also typically ignore resumes that are more than one page as I do not have time for it.
I hope I do not sound mean or cruel. There are those who will tell me I should give everyone a fair chance. On my part, it is impossible.
I do put in the ads a note that references are required and cover letters are not necessary.
What do other people think?