Resume Building 101

Paterson, NJ - Looking for a job, internship, or simply looking for update your resume? The Business Leadership Club and Career Professional Readiness recently held a resume and interviewing skills workshop on Thursday, November 10th, 2022 hosted by Tom Moore at Passaic County Community College at the center for student success.

Tom Moore explained that a resume is a “legal document that’s represents you”. You should view a resume as a written ad campaign.

A resume includes the following:

· Contact information: An email and phone number where the employer can reach you.

· Objective: A sentence about what you are trying to achieve

· Education: Name, location, major, and end date

· Experience: Previous work positions and responsibilities done at your previous jobs

· Strengths and skills: Examples, communicative, strong work ethic, leadership

A resume should be one to two pages and be in a format that grabs the readers attention.

When applying for an internship, scholarships, or anything academic related you should consider writing a curriculum vitae (CV). A curriculum vitae is similar to your classic resume expect it will be longer, between two to three pages.

You should the following on a CV:

· Contact Information: An email and phone number where the employer can reach you.

· Objective: A sentence about what you are trying to achieve

· Education: Name, location, major and end date. You may include your GPA if it’s 3.0 and above

· Work/Volunteer Experience: Ex: Senior citizen homes or any community involvement

· Leadership Experiences: EX: Honor societies

· Clubs: Any extracurricular activities

· Organizations/Memberships: Examples,

· Awards: Any awards and honors received

Before submitting your resume or CV you should double check for errors. You should typically spend about 40 hours creating your resume. Unfortunately, it usually takes between six to ten seconds for yes or no from the employer.

Once your resume has spoken for you, it’s now time to speak for yourself. Interviews are the chance for you sell yourself verbally.

Interviewing Tips:

· Familiarize yourself with your resume.

· Research: know the company, job, and position job.

· Ask questions: show your interest and this a chance to also show off your research.

· Dress to impress: First impression count!

· Present yourself positivity: good posture, body language, and a positive attitude

Applying for a job or internship can be difficult. Fortunately, career and services at PCCC is an always ready to help. For information, please email Careerservices@pccc.edu or visit https://web.pccc.edu/career-services/