EFFECTIVE RESUMES

A resume is not just a place to show off your skills to prospective employers. It is also a
tool used to obtain an interview. You get hired because of the interview not because of
the resume. The resume gets you the interview.

Resume Writing Tips

1. Use white or off-white quality bond paper. Never use colored paper.
2. Print your resume in black, letter quality ink. Preferably, user a laser printer.
3. Use a font size between 10 and 12 points.
4. Make use of white space and margins. The “one-inch” rule always works.
5. Limit the length to one or two pages. Students without experience should limit the
resume to one page. Prospective employers spend 20-30 seconds per resume. Make
yours count.
6. Make sure that you have a resume that is easy to scan. If you have a creative resume
that you are proud of, send both your creative resume and a “scanable” resume.
7. Correct spelling/grammar/punctuation errors. Have your resume proofread by at least
two other people. Employers look for your attention to detail and your written
communication skills.
8. Include a cover letter when mailing or faxing your resume.
9. Don’t put the word, “RESUME,” on top of your resume.
10. Center or left justify your name, address, phone number, and email address.
11. State your career objective. Tailor your resume for the specific position(s) sought.
Don’t expect the reader to figure out what position you would fit into.
12. Organize your presentation in a logical manner. Use reverse chronological order.
13. Use “bulleted” format where applicable. This is easier to scan than the “paragraph”
format.
14. Use concise, clear statements. Wordy resumes can bore the reader.
15. Don’t hand write on your resume.
16. Be honest. Focus on your accomplishments, but don’t exaggerate.
17. Present only relevant information. Support your career objective (theme). For
example, high school jobs are probably not relevant to the position.
18. List relevant degrees, experience, training, and military experience (if applicable).
Students should list college major related classes, co-op and intern positions, and any
personal consulting that you did while in school.
19. List honors and awards.
20. List your leadership and team skills. List any offices you held, organizational
memberships, team projects, etc.
21. Make sure the tense is consistent. Begin each sentence/bullet with the same tense (ex:
Worked, Consulted, Answered, Programmed, Performed, Managed).
22. Don’t include gender, political, or religious information. Never include a photo or
personal information (i.e. weight, height, marital status, etc.) This information could
be used to screen you out.
23. Don’t leave huge, unexplained gaps between employment. If you took time off for
personal reasons, don’t leave that time off of the resume. It’s okay to say that you
spent two years as a full time mother.
24. Don’t relay negative information about previous employers. No matter how hard it
seems, portray your previous employer as a “good guy”. Your reason for leaving
should be something positive. (EX: career change, went back to school, graduated,
moved, better career opportunity.)
25. Do not put salary history on your resume. If a newspaper ad requests salary history,
put that information in the cover letter.
26. Your supervisor’s name/phone number and your references should be available if
someone asks for it, but do not include it on your resume.

Now, can you tell someone your verbal resume in two minutes or less?
Know your resume!
 EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWING

The first impression in an interview will occur in the first 30 seconds. The yes/no
decision is usually made in the first few minutes.

Types of Interviews
1. One on one – The typical or default interview type.
2. Panel – This is used when more than one department needs people or if a team
environment is the company culture.
3. Stress – This is a harsh interview type which attempts to determine your reaction to
pressure.
4. Behavioral – This is a rare psychological approach to interviewing.
5. Lunch/Dinner – Another team approach to evaluate you when your guard is down.

Interviewing Tips
1. Dress professionally. How you look has a lot to do with how you are seen. Dressing
too casually or too flamboyantly can ruin your chances. Remember, the first few
minutes of the interview are typically when the yes/no decision is made. The rest of
the interview is spent validating that early judgment.
a.) Wear a dark colored suit with a white shirt underneath.
b.) Wear dark colored shoes. Keep the shoes simple.
c.) Men should wear dark colored socks.
d.) Women should wear pantyhose in a shade of brown that closely matches the skin
color. Do not wear black or navy pantyhose.
e.) Don’t wear flashy jewelry. You might find that the interviewer is paying more
attention to your jewelry than he/she is to you. Make sure that you wear a watch.
Men should not wear earrings to an interview.
2. Men should not wear long hair. As stereotypical as it seems, some people will judge a
man by the length of his hair. If you are completely against cutting it, wear it in a
ponytail.
3. Do not wear cologne or perfume to an interview. Your interviewer may be allergic.
4. Select your clothes early. If you select your clothes just before you leave, you will not
have time to fix a loose button or scuffed shoe. If possible, try on the interview outfit
the night before the appointment. This way you will have time to make the necessary
improvements or repairs.
5. Never smoke before the interview. Mints, perfume, and/or gum will not cover up the
scent to non-smokers. In one Seattle University study, up to 90% of all executives
surveyed said that they would hire a non-smoker over a smoker if the qualifications
were equal. Smoking can also make you look nervous.
6. Do not chew gum or tobacco during an interview.
7. Do not bring along a friend, relative, or child. Resist the urge to bring someone along
to hold your hand while you fill out applications. Even being seen saying goodbye to
someone at the building door can make you look as if you didn’t have the nerve to get
there on your own.
8. Bring 2-3 extra copies of your resume. You might be faced with a group interview
and you want everyone to have a copy of your resume.
9. Have your reference list ready. Make it look as nice as your resume. An interviewer
usually does not ask for references during the first interview, but you want to be
prepared just in case.
10. Conduct some research on the company. It isn’t necessary to memorize the
company’s annual sales or profit and loss figures, but you should know something
about the company’s products and services. With the internet, you can go directly to
most large company’s web sites and get all the information that you need.
11. Practice interviewing. You wouldn’t make a speech to a large group without planning
what you would say; yet people walk into a job interview expecting to “wing it”.
They just expect that brilliant words will come pouring out of their lips. Make a list of
questions you would ask if you were interviewing someone for this position, then
rehearse the best possible answers using a tape recorder or a friend for feedback.
Also, refer to the list of possible questions in this document.
12. Never arrive late. Nothing makes a worse impression. If you cannot show up on time
for the interview, what on earth would you do as an employee?
13. Never let the interviewer know that you arrived too early. Getting to the office at 3:30
for a 4:00 interview is good. Presenting yourself to the receptionist at that time is not.
This pressures the interviewer to wrap up what he or she is doing to meet with you
before your scheduled interview.
14. Never drink during an interview. Even if others are ordering cocktails, it’s better to
stick to a non-alcoholic drink. You need to be alert for this experience.
15. Always tell the truth. You never know what the interviewer knows. The exception
here is when telling the truth means criticizing someone else.
16. Make eye contact with the interviewer.
17. Always be positive. Never badmouth a company or school.
18. Be concise. Do not ramble when answering questions. The interviewer could be on a
tight schedule and exceeding your allocated interview time is only a good thing when
the interviewer is the one keeping you there.
19. Ask at least one question. Saying that the interviewer covered the subject so well that
you do not have any questions might make you look uninterested, unimaginative, or
both.
20. Do not ask too many questions. In other words, questions are great, but hijacking the
interview is not.
21. Do not inquire about salary and benefits too soon. Ask not what the company can do
for you, but what you can do for the company. Never talk about salary and benefits
until the interviewer brings it up.
22. Do not ask the interviewer to hire you. This makes you look desperate. Instead tell the
interviewer that you are very interested in the position.
23. Never admit a flaw. Some interviewers will ask what your greatest weakness is.
Giving a straightforward answer to this question is a mistake. Realize that the
interviewer does not expect you to honestly tell what your weaknesses are. It is all
part of a game to see if you are naïve enough to eliminate yourself from the
competition. Counter the question by mentioning a positive weakness. Say for
instance, “I’m a very organized person, but you would never know it from looking at
my desk.”
24. Turn off cellular phones and pagers!
Typical Questions Asked by Interviewers
1. Tell me something about yourself. You can count on this question. Spend a couple of
minutes answering this question in the same manner that you would introduce
yourself to a new classmate.
2. What kind of work are you looking for? Your resume should give a broad answer to
this question, (Ex: Programmer/Analyst, Accountant, Manager), but you should
elaborate. Here’s your chance to tell the interviewer what your expectations are. You
might say that you are looking for a team environment where you can be mentored.
3. What things about your previous job have you disliked? Be careful here. Do not make
negative comments about a previous employer. You might mention that your previous
job didn’t have the type of career opportunity that matched your interests.
4. What goals have you recently set? Entering graduate school? Advancing in your
career? Obtaining a certification? Give answers that show stability.
5. How did you do in school? You probably will not get this question right now, but be
prepared for it later on. Be honest. If your grades weren’t very high in school, explain
why. (Had to work my way through school, etc.)
6. Where do you expect to be in five years? You can count on this question. A good
answer is maybe in a project management or team leader position. Telling the
interviewer that you plan on being his or her boss is not a good answer.
7. What did you think of your last supervisor? Be nice. Tell them that your last
supervisor was professional. Cross your fingers if you have to.
8. What did your last supervisor think about you? Hopefully, you didn’t burn any
bridges. No matter what your supervisor is like, make sure you leave on good terms.
That way, you can say that your supervisor thinks you are professional.
9. How would your coworkers describe you? It doesn’t hurt to ask your coworkers what
the think of you. Once again, do not burn bridges.
10. How did your previous employers treat you? Cross your fingers if you have to, but
say something nice.
11. Describe a situation in which your work was criticized. Tough question. An answer
might be that a project you worked on went over schedule because you had to learn a
new tool.
12. What were your biggest accomplishments in your present or previous job? Focus on a
special project and what it meant to you and the company. Did it save money or time?
If the question is tailored toward your school accomplishments, choose a class project
that you are proud of being a part of.
13. What is your greatest strength? Greatest weakness? Know three of your strengths of
one positive weakness. You can count on this question being asked. Prepare for this
by asking friends, relatives, classmates, teachers, and coworkers what they think your
strengths and weaknesses are, and build on their answers.
14. How long would it take for you to make a contribution to a company? As soon as you
advance past the initial training phase, you should be able to begin making
contributions to the company. From the first day, you will be working toward making
contributions.
15. How long would you stay with a company? If the environment and opportunity meets
your needs, you would probably spend your career there, right?
16. What do you expect as a starting salary? This is a trick question. The interviewer
already has a range in mind. Answer that you expect a starting salary that meets
market value requirements for your experience. If they persist, give them a range
based on your research of market value.
17. Why did you choose your field of work? “Because of the money” is not a good
answer. Answer this in a manner that shows that you really like what you do. “I find
it is fascinating what computers can do for us.” “I’ve always enjoyed marketing and
the effects it has on sales.”
18. How do you spend your spare time? The interviewer does not want to know that you
watch television every night. This is your opportunity to show the interviewer that
you are ambitious. Maybe you enjoy reading books in your field or you study for
certifications in your spare time.
19. Do you prefer working with others or by yourself? The best answer is with others.
This shows that you are a team player. You might add that you prefer to work with
others because you enjoy sharing “lessons learned” and being able to ask team
members for help when needed.
20. What kind of boss do you prefer? A good answer may be “One that provides
guidance when needed, but allows you the opportunity to make mistakes and helps
you learn from them.”
21. Can you take criticism without getting upset? A good answer may be “Sure, provided
that the criticism is aimed at my personal improvement on the job.”
22. Describe a situation when you had to work under pressure or had a deadline. A
project at either school or work is fine.
23. I’ve interviewed several people with more experience than you. Why should I hire
you instead of them? Because you are a hard worker and you learn quickly.
Questions You May Ask During the Interview
1. Why is this position open?
2. How often has it been filled in the past five to ten years?
3. What has been the primary reason for people leaving?
4. Why did the person who held this position most recently leave?
What are some of the objectives that you would like accomplished in the job?
5. What is most pressing? What would you like to have done in the next two or three
months?
6. What are some of the long-term objectives that you would like completed?
7. What freedom would I have in determining my work objectives, deadlines and
methods of measurements?
8. What are some of the more difficult problems facing someone in this position?
9. Where could a person go who is successful in this position? What is the typical career
path?
10. In what ways has the organization been most successful in terms of products and
services over the years?
11. What significant changes do you foresee in the near future?
12. How is one judged? How is success measured and determined?
13. What are the critical factors for success in your business? (Notice if he/she mentions
that people matter.)
14. Where do you see the company going in the next few years?
15. How do you go about gaining support from top management for your new projects?
 Career/Job Search Sites

General:

www.careerbuilder.com
www.monster.com
www.ajb.dni.us
www.bestjobsusa.com
www.careermag.com
www.careernet.com
www.careerweb.com
dfw.lifeonthenet.com/employment
www.dfwjobs.com/jobs.htm
www.headhunter.net
www.helpwanted.com
careers.hire.com
ww1.joboptions.com
online-jobs.com
www.techrepublic.com
chronicle.com/jobs
www.jobs4texas.com
www.hotjobs.com
www.flipdog.com
www.thingamajob.com
www.jobs4texas.com
www.justmyjobs.com

Computer Only:

www.computerjobs.com
www.prdfw.com
www.dbajobs.com
www.dice.com
www.a1acomputerpros.net
www.computerwork.com
www.orasearch.com
dallas.techies.com