ECTMSRHOPHM Volume 2

East Coast Transplant in the Midwest Seeks Repatriation to the Homeland; or, Please Hire Me!


So, what’s the one thing that EVERY job search requires, and everyone freaks out about?
Did you say resume? If you didn’t, well, I’m sorry, no Final Jeopardy for you. So sad.
ANYWAY…that resume thing drove me up the wall.

I remember the day I first looked at what I’d been using, with a job search gleam in my eye, a month or two back. I sat my supervisor down in our weekly 1-on-1, and calmly asked if he would be so gracious enough to help me with finalizing my resume and helping me make it the best it could be.
However, I probably sounded something like this “CouldYouPleaseHelpMeIAmSoNervousIDontKnowWhatToPutForAHallDirectorJobImNotSureIEvenKnowWhatIDoIMeanIKnowWhatIDoBecauseIDoItWellIMeanIReallyLikeAndRespectYouAndWantMyResumeToBeLikeYoursCouldYouPleaseHelpMe?!?!?!?OhIMightBeABitNervousAndExcitedRightNow.”

I’m sure I breathed somewhere in there, but I don’t remember it. We went through 4 or 5 drafts before I was satisfied. I struggled with what to cut….wasn’t my undergrad experience useful?!?!? Don’t I want to show what I did there too? The difficulty I faced was that a lot of my “Diversity” experience was shown through my undergraduate years, as my grad career was a combination of the school not having the resources I was looking for, and me knowing that it would be best to branch out. So, I had to strike a really strange balance between showing future employers that, yes, despite the students I’ve been working with now, I do a damn fine job of working with non-majority ones too…perhaps even better than the normal, run-of-the-mill folks. Hey, we’ve all got our own strengths and interests, right? Heck, I struggle to understand the difference between a freethrow and a goal. There’s a birdie and linebackers involved somewhere in there, right? Yeah, exactly.

I’m currently trying to figure out whether the two page limit is canon, or just highly recommended…Can I do 3 pages and still be marketable, or will I look wordy and unable to narrow things down? What say you, blogger-sphere?

Have others take a look at your resume…your boss, your colleagues, the Career Center on campus…everyone! I sent mine to two other colleagues with Career experience. And THANK THEM for what they do for you. I think my supervisor (and other references) is pretty much guaranteed a Starbucks gift card or two… It is the only crack that folks in our field condone…
Also, while this may seem somewhat elementary to some, I’m hoping that it can be a reminder/refresher for those needing some guidance along the way as well. :)
Caffeinated (and slightly addicted to Starbucks),
Epix