What should a good resume include?

Question

im going to be handing out resumes soon and i was wondering if right now is a good time to be handing out resumes and looking for a job.. I want a job by september though.. Im also curious to know what i should put on my resume that will catch a prospective employers eye.. I have no job experience at all, except maybe babysitting.. I really want to impress the employer but how do i go about doing it without any experience??

can someone give me examples or write down what i should put on it as an example...

another question, is making a cover copey recomended when applying for jobs?

Im 17 by the way and I have made resumes in the past but ive had terrible luck with landing an actual job.. ive applied almost everywhere in the store.. but i always forget to do follow ups and stuff... so i dont know if thats why im not landing the job, or my lack of experience is whats holding me back OR my lack of info on my resume.. and by the way all the stores ive applied to were retail.

Answer 1

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

please answer

make you spell words right and nice writing as possible

Answer 2

it should be nicely formatted and easy to read. readable font size, bold headings, and bulleted lists where applicable.

no spelling errors-proofread carefully and get someone else to proof it-don't rely on spellcheck-it won't catch things like "there" when it should be "their".

include your high school studies (name of school, grade you are entering) with GPA if it's 3.0 oe higher. include any advanced classes you have taken and all extracuricullar activities. include any awrds, even little stuff like 2nd place in science fair-even if it was in 7th grade.also include team projects-employers like a team player. If you plan to attend college say that you are preparing to enter colleg in (year) to study (if you have an idea of a possible major). This shows you are motivated and have goals

list babysitting experience under work experience.

include a section called SKills and Attributes or something like that and list (bullety points) characteristics like: (examples)

excellent computer skills

personable

articulate

reliable and responsible

quick learner

good team player

you get the idea...

at the bottom, say "References Available on Request". then ask people you babysat for and a teacher if you can use them as a reference and get their contact info. Dont include it-provide if asked.

Your cover letter (you should have one except if appying in person) should simply indicate interest in the position, a quick note on why you feel qualified is possible, and that you are looking forward to hearing from them.

career sites like monster, etc. have alot of resume help stuff-good luck!

Answer 3

If you're applying for a retail job, I wouldn't write a resume, you can just use the job application that they give you and fill it out. Most employers would give teens without experience a chance. However if you want, just lie about a place that you worked at.

Just pick a place, maybe a theatre in your city and say that you worked there for a year or two, and you left because you want to work somewhere different. Minimum wage jobs don't check with Human Resources or call the old manager that you worked with.

For the most part they don't really want to bother calling up old work places, and they know most applicants at minimum wage jobs go from job to job. Especially if they're students. They might ask you to do a drug test or an background check but the background check is strictly for felonies only at minimum wage jobs, so they don't even check employment history with them.

I mean if it were me and I wasn't getting hired anywhere, I would lie about work experience. Once you get the job, stay there for  at least a year or two so you can build work history and in the future can get a higher job and then you won't have to lie about anything. Because in many higher positions they will want to call human resources and check that you did work there. Good luck.

Answer 4

Besides setting all margins to 1", the most important criteria for setting up a professional resume besides relevant text, is "scanability." Here are some helpful tips:

1. Place just below your identification header [your hame, address, phone, email address] any Conditional Warning Statement such as "Confidential Resume,"Do Not Contact Current Employer," etc.

2. Always fill-in an Objectives category [just below the Conditional Warning Statement] and make sure that he Objective will contribute to the profitability of your future employer;

3. Select a mono-type font such as Helvetica, Arial, Courier or Times Roman; do not select any cursive handwriting styles which cannot scanned;

4. Keep font sizes within a range of 10 to 12 pts.;

5. Avoid styling text with a justified alignment, keep it flushed left;

6. Instead of using tabs to set up blocked text entries, generate a table and use the column and row settings accordingly;

7. Do not place an i.d. picture anywhere on the resume, this is a major taboo due to discrimination issues;

8. Do not place any graphic text [saved as .gifs] onto the resume since it may be overlooked during the scanning phase;

9. List at the very end of the resume your interests which should include travel experiences, language skills, social interactions such as golf, team sports, tennis, etc.

In conclusion, the above helpful hints were designed to allow ease of scanning of your resume into PDF which can then be text captured for seach purposes by your potential employer. If the original resume was created in Word, WordPerfect or Mac Appleworks, it can be Saved As a PDF file which then can be saved as an email attachment. Otherwise, you can simply use a scanner and scan a hard copy of the resume and then save as a PDF file.

Failure to conform the resume to appropriate fonts and styles as outlined above will result in rejection of the resume simply due to the inability of the scanning device to properly index relevant resume entries.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Depends.

Do you have prior experience with the "job"? Have you been in previous jobs similar to this? use "Chronological Resume"

Do you not have any prior experience with the "job"? First time at the job? Use the "Functional Resume"

Have a mix of both? "Combination Resume" is right for you.

Although i'd go into a lengthy explanation of what they are, i feel it is better if you REALLY wanted this job, you'd google the "" words.

Oh. Final notes: Use ivory paper. or really white. Employers tend to like that "professionalism". And check spelling (as they always say)