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[Marjorine]

I'm about to apply to a job where I hand in a physical application in a few days. It is entry level crew at a new Trader Joes they are opening in my town, so it's not some huge position I see making a career out of. It doesn't ask for a resume, but I'm thinking about doing one. Do I even need one at this kind of job?

This is one of those cases that you see in all "Looking for work!" threads where some people will scream you need to suit up no matter what kind of job it is you're interviewing for and some people will say to dress a little better than their average employees.

I used to a do A LOT of hiring of people into jobs a lot like your Trader Joes job, and the resume never hurt anybody if it was well written. If it was bad (typos, bad grammar, etc.), it killed the application for me. You seem like a smart guy, so I am sure you will put together a good resume and it could very well help you.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I knew people with my job at my old company who also did a lot of hiring and they found people bringing in resumes or wearing suits to lower level jobs to be obnoxious and they'd toss the app or never seriously consider the person. Yes, I know, THEN I WOULDN'T WANT TO WORK AT A PLACE LIKE THAT THEN and all that, but the point of this is trying to get a job.

If I were you, and again, I have hired literally hundreds of people just like you, I would have the resume. If not a resume, a BRIEF cover letter on your app explaining your gaps in work. Your work history is sketchy, and that is the #1 thing people look for in jobs like this. If you don't cover the work history issues, you probably won't get a call back. Also, in a situation like this? Phone calls aren't so bad. I know I hired quite a few people because they called. At least they show they are willing to make an effort. Calling and pestering doesn't work for upper level stuff IMO, but it will work here. They need to hire a ton of people. They want people who want to be there and won't be wasting their time.

Be one of those people. Good luck!

 

[Vicetrailia]

Hi guys,

I have worked as an Employment Counsellor/Job Coach for the last 5 years. Basically eating, breathing and sleeping resumes.


A few things to consider:

1. Resumes in North America and Europe are done differently. I found that my clients from the UK tended to have much longer CV's.

2. Add in your LinkedIn Profile at the top of your resume under your email. Employers check LinkedIn. Remember all resumes are emailed nowadays so a hyperlink to LinkedIn will almost always be clicked, and employers will then check your LinkedIn Recommendations (references!). In North America LinkedIn is a very valuable tool when applying to any corporate job. Build a LinkedIn profile and maintain it much the same way you would build an old school paper career portfolio. Employers WILL check your linkedin profile if you have it on your resume. It sends a message you are savvy "up with the times", knowledgeable about social media, a networking animal, as well as putting more recruiter/HR eye time on your experience, skills, and recommendations (references).

3. There are 3 types of resumes: Chronological, Functional and Mixed.

A chronological resume lists positions in Chronologically (makes sense right). The downside to this type of resume is that it

a. Shows how little experience you have (especially if you have a string of jobs in a short period of time, or very few jobs period)
b. It may not show the transferable skills that you have because your jobs are in very different industries.

Sample Chronological: ChronologicalResume.jpg

On the positive side Chronological is a great format to use if you have good steady jobs (3 - 4) which have been about 2 - 3 years each. Chronological resumes also really emphasise the companies you have worked at (which can be a big bonus if they are all well known blue chip organizations).



For students or new graduates I almost always recommend a Functional resume. A functional resume allows you to highlight your skills and abilities while downplaying lack of experience/minimal dates worked:

Sample Functional: FunctionalResume.jpg

These are just basic examples.


A Mixed format resume gives you the best of both worlds and is also the best format to use for a mid range Career (3 + years of experience in one industry). 2 pages long the first page is Functional with a Summary of Skills, the second page is a straight Chronological history of your work history:

Mixed/Combination Format: CombinationResume.jpg

In the above example this is an entry level person so they kept it to one page.


Keep in mind that resume formats are completely different if you are going into something like IT or health Services.

IT resumes tend to focus more on expertise in terms of programming (programs) knowledge: exnet1.gif



Other points to keep in mind.

Recruiters don't have time to wade through a mass of information. This is why it is crucial to break your resume into sections. Minimum of 3 bullet points per section, usually 4 to 5 will suffice.

If you are applying for a specific industry, nobody cares about the experience you have in another industry (ie. if you are applying for a marketing position, nobody cares you worked at McDonalds flipping fries).

One of the biggest problems graduates have is a lack of experience. This is why a Functional resume can get you started and make you look much better than you really are. It is also why nowadays it is crucial that if you are in college or university you make sure you are in a program that has some sort of practicum/work placement/internship component .... employers nowadays care more about experience than where you went to school (they want both really) .... BA's are a dime a dozen, work experience (paid or not) though is king.

Great post, thank you Bamelin.

 

[Tornado Condor]

Anyone have thespot's template?

 

[CF_Fighter]

This is one of those cases that you see in all "Looking for work!" threads where some people will scream you need to suit up no matter what kind of job it is you're interviewing for and some people will say to dress a little better than their average employees.

I used to a do A LOT of hiring of people into jobs a lot like your Trader Joes job, and the resume never hurt anybody if it was well written. If it was bad (typos, bad grammar, etc.), it killed the application for me. You seem like a smart guy, so I am sure you will put together a good resume and it could very well help you.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I knew people with my job at my old company who also did a lot of hiring and they found people bringing in resumes or wearing suits to lower level jobs to be obnoxious and they'd toss the app or never seriously consider the person. Yes, I know, THEN I WOULDN'T WANT TO WORK AT A PLACE LIKE THAT THEN and all that, but the point of this is trying to get a job.

If I were you, and again, I have hired literally hundreds of people just like you, I would have the resume. If not a resume, a BRIEF cover letter on your app explaining your gaps in work. Your work history is sketchy, and that is the #1 thing people look for in jobs like this. If you don't cover the work history issues, you probably won't get a call back. Also, in a situation like this? Phone calls aren't so bad. I know I hired quite a few people because they called. At least they show they are willing to make an effort. Calling and pestering doesn't work for upper level stuff IMO, but it will work here. They need to hire a ton of people. They want people who want to be there and won't be wasting their time.

Be one of those people. Good luck!

Thanks, I decided to do a cover letter. I used that as a way to really explain my experience in the areas they were looking for in potential employees.

 

[chickdigger802]

slapped this together over the years while intern hunting. Graduating this december, job searching time woo!

Any tips would be nice.

And I still have no clue wtf i wanna do... so any jobs that fit my skillset would be cool. And I don't wanna be a developer/programmer :X

 

[beat]

slapped this together over the years while intern hunting. Graduating this december, job searching time woo!



Any tips would be nice.

And I still have no clue wtf i wanna do... so any jobs that fit my skillset would be cool. And I don't wanna be a developer/programmer :X

I admit I'm not fully current with the programming world, but why would you list C if you don't want a programming job? (and, double checking: you really do know C, right? Not just "C except I don't really understand pointers"?)

 

[Castor Krieg]

Some people no doubt mentioned it, but do not list your job responsibilities if they do not relate to specific projects.

Do not write "responsible for best practices to ensure inventory accountability"

Write "supervised X people/managed inventory accounting system"

Any tips would be nice.

Work experience always first. ALWAYS. Get rid of "Activities", nothing interesting there. Instead of course work I would list some specific tasks you did during your studies e.g. "made website X, wrote script responsible for Y", etc.

Get rid of "Objective". If you want to put something there, pick a more "inspirational" goal or "Where do I see myself in 5 years?".

 

[Hazaro]

Need to update mine again. CEO said he would critique it. :x

slapped this together over the years while intern hunting. Graduating this december, job searching time woo!


Any tips would be nice.

And I still have no clue wtf i wanna do... so any jobs that fit my skillset would be cool. And I don't wanna be a developer/programmer :X

How did you generate views and use social media?

 

[Lamel]

.

 

[Zoe]

Powerpoint should be PowerPoint. It's even underlined for you

I think you should be able to put your "Other" experience under "Work"...

 

[Lamel]

Powerpoint should be PowerPoint. It's even underlined for you

I think you should be able to put your "Other" experience under "Work"...

Ha thank you for the correction, just slipped my mind.

I put it under "other experience" because I don't get paid for the position. I do however get credits and perhaps a stipend. So would that count as WORK? I thought work was only a paid job or internship.

 

[DarkAkatosh]

Get rid of all those bartender, lawn service, and busser jobs.

 

[-COOLIO-]

try making a resume with css, you can export it to pdf after or send it out in emails as an html

 

[Lamel]

Get rid of all those bartender, lawn service, and busser jobs.

But what if you are a college student

 

[DualShadow]

But what if you are a college student

My previous boss liked people who had a job of that type on their resume. He always said it proved you were willing to work for your money.

This was for entry level positions in IT for what it's worth.

 

[yn-neko hates a cat]

If you have an ethnic name then try to use the most western form of it as your name. You can tell them your real name as a conversation topic or when they begin to want real information.

You think that's fucked up? Imagine how I felt when I found out that's what prevented me from getting a job for 8 months. This is the one single greatest advice I can give a person trying to get a job in a racist world.

 

[Lamel]

.

 

[Meus Renaissance]

Paste your resume into the email itself (rather than just attaching it). Also, if you're applying for a role relevant to your education, then keep your experiences and academic achievements relevant. For a job in IT, don't refer to your telesales experiences or bartender roles

 

[Lamel]

.

 

[Upsidedown Fuji]

definitely pare all that down

Wider Margins
Smaller text
tailer the description of each job to what will make you valuable for the one you're applying too
get rid of all the spaces between paragraphs
one page is ideal

I am in the process of rewriting my resume after 5 long years of having a steady job. The format you used is so incredibly refreshing and full of info. Much better than the boring Microsoft Word template I was planning on using. Thanks for the inspiration! NeoGaf delivers once again.

 

[Lamel]

I am in the process of rewriting my resume after 5 long years of having a steady job. The format you used is so incredibly refreshing and full of info. Much better than the boring Microsoft Word template I was planning on using. Thanks for the inspiration! NeoGaf delivers once again.

Ha that resume is so popular on GAF. I still have no idea how to create that layout.

 

[Mayyhem]

Ha that resume is so popular on GAF. I still have no idea how to create that layout.

I'm so curious on how to make it too.....

 

[Duracelllll]

I happened to see my Mum's resume yesterday after she asked me to print it. It was 6 pages long and had her work history going back to the 60s :O

 

[MarkusRJR]

Hey could I get some advice on resumes in here? I'm taking a year off of university to find a full time job because I didn't know what faculty I wanted to enter. I've never really made a resume, and the only job experience I have is at my local theater (I've been there for 3 years to pay off school and I'm trained pretty much everywhere). I legitimately have no way of making a full page resume though. Can someone give me some advise on how to fill out a resume?

 

[Neki]

Hey could I get some advice on resumes in here? I'm taking a year off of university to find a full time job because I didn't know what faculty I wanted to enter. I've never really made a resume, and the only job experience I have is at my local theater (I've been there for 3 years to pay off school and I'm trained pretty much everywhere). I legitimately have no way of making a full page resume though. Can someone give me some advise on how to fill out a resume?

Slightly bigger font, any sort of volunteering or extra curricular activity in high school you've done can also be put on the resume, and your experience with computer perhaps, if it pertains to the job setting.

 

[Lamel]

Slightly better font, any sort of volunteering or extra circular activity in high school you've done can also be put on the resume, and your experience with computer perhaps, if it pertains to the job setting.

Yeah extra circles always help.

Hey could I get some advice on resumes in here? I'm taking a year off of university to find a full time job because I didn't know what faculty I wanted to enter. I've never really made a resume, and the only job experience I have is at my local theater (I've been there for 3 years to pay off school and I'm trained pretty much everywhere). I legitimately have no way of making a full page resume though. Can someone give me some advise on how to fill out a resume?

Yeah have you joined any clubs? any organizations? perhaps you had some leadership experience? volunteering? Awards/honors? research? internships?

 

[Neki]

Yeah extra circles always help.




Yeah have you joined any clubs? any organizations? perhaps you had some leadership experience? volunteering? Awards/honors? research?

More circles take up more space, obviously.

 

[Lamel]

.

 

[thoughthorizon]

Interesting.

The one page resume is a definite no-no in Australia: there's no chance that you're going to convey enough information in one page to whittle down candidates. 4 or 5 pages is the standard here for someone with reasonable experience: page 1 - summary, pages 2,3,4 employment history and achievements of note in those roles.

I'm not sure how people could choose someone without knowing what it was they actually did in previous roles.

 

[RDreamer]

As for the one page rule, I always wondered for what group of job-seekers that applied to.

I think the rule applies to anyone that's asking. In other words it applies to those who don't know how to write a resume. If you've got years of experience in different jobs, I think you know what the people looking at your resume want to see, so you'll know what to say and how much space it takes to say it. The people that don't know how to write a resume, however, have not had that experience, and thus anything over a page is just fluff and completely unneeded. Or it means the resume itself is possibly just inefficiently written and laid out.

 

[Domino Theory]

What's the best short sentence to create on your resume for letting the company know you're knowledgable and have played their gaming franchise(s)?

Would "Avid gamer and highly knowledgable of [franchise]" work?

 

[Gaspode_T]

Is it for testing position or something? Saying you are a gamer doesn't mean much, I would say something in regards to what skills/qualifications they are looking for...if you want to show you are hardcore gamer, you can list something like "Winner of 14th annual Chicago LANFest Halo Runner Up Prize" or whatever (I am just making something up...but extracurricular style, proactive activities pop out)

 

[Lamel]

.

 

[lacinius]

Here is a tweaked version of my resume...once again looking for some critiquing.

This is if i was applying for some type of health care/lab position, maybe even receptionist.

In my resume for various little part time jobs, my objective is "to obtain a position in which I can gain experience in various career fields." Is that too generic?

Yes, I think your objective is too generic. First thing I would do is remove that bullet on the objective as it is not needed, and the overall presentation looks to be a tad bullet heavy, IMHO. Let's also spice up that objective so that it grabs a little more attention... (just an example Objective, season the stuff in quotes to your tastes depending on the company you're applying):

To work in a position related to "whatever" or "that other thing", where I can use to good advantage both my "current education (relates to whatever or that other thing)" and my practical experience as a "research for whoever" and "cancer center volunteer".

Something like that anyway. Padding the objective like that then gives it a little more weight, which allows it to stand on its own without the bullet. Plus it ties the objective to what is below.

You also have this as a bullet below: Organized, printed, assessed, and scanned...

Assessed it to what extent...? And if that assessment is the most important of all that is listed on the line, then maybe that should be the focus instead of just saying you printed stuff.

You also might want to rethink: Worked personally with... fulfill project requirements.

What skills were involved specifically that helped fulfill project requirements... the biggest or most important project might be worthy of a mention, instead of the generic "project requirements".

Also might want to rethink: Assisted employees and patients daily.

How did you assist, in what practical ways especially with the cancer patients... helped to alleviate the chronic pain brought on by the treatment regime by administering "super magic fingers" and empathic care. Something like that anyway just to punch it up instead of just the generic "helped everyone daily".

If you are bumping into the top and bottom margin, you could clear that whole "Dean's List" entry at the bottom and put it as a sub-bullet for the Candiate for... or Current GPA bullet. But give the sub-bullet a different looking bullet so it stands out more than the primary bullet line-up.


A few thoughts anyway... best of luck to you for the future.

 

[Jim E. Rossler]

Never pause when you're in the middle of an intense fight
When you resume you might be caught off guard if you get attacked

 

[Lamel]

Yes, I think your objective is too generic. First thing I would do is remove that bullet on the objective as it is not needed, and the overall presentation looks to be a tad bullet heavy, IMHO. Let's also spice up that objective so that it grabs a little more attention... (just an example Objective, season the stuff in quotes to your tastes depending on the company you're applying):

To work in a position related to "whatever" or "that other thing", where I can use to good advantage both my "current education (relates to whatever or that other thing)" and my practical experience as a "research for whoever" and "cancer center volunteer".

That does sound better. I will get rid of the bullet. I feel like I will need a different objective for basically every position I apply for, because so far I am a 2nd year in college and don't really have much of a career path set. Also if I get rid of the bullet, should I have a period at the end of the "objective" sentence?

You also have this as a bullet below: Organized, printed, assessed, and scanned...

Assessed it to what extent...? And if that assessment is the most important of all that is listed on the line, then maybe that should be the focus instead of just saying you printed stuff.

I have that bullet in there to show clerical work experience. I basically assessed the documents and organized them according to whatever was written on them. I don't know how to spice that up -_-

You also might want to rethink: Worked personally with... fulfill project requirements.

What skills were involved specifically that helped fulfill project requirements... the biggest or most important project might be worthy of a mention, instead of the generic "project requirements".

Good point.

Also might want to rethink: Assisted employees and patients daily.

How did you assist, in what practical ways especially with the cancer patients... helped to alleviate the chronic pain brought on by the treatment regime by administering "super magic fingers" and empathic care. Something like that anyway just to punch it up instead of just the generic "helped everyone daily".

Also a good point. How about "Assisted patients with phone calls, attaining meals, accessing entertainment, etc. "

Thank you.

 

[Jzero]

I recreated thespot's resume and changed it for my liking. You can get it yourself if you want it. (illustrator file)

 

[Lamel]

See I love the look of that resume. However what would recruiters think? Would it be too unique? Also, any other way to modify it aside from Adobe Illustrator?

 

[usea]

I recreated thespot's resume and changed it for my liking. You can get it yourself if you want it. (illustrator file)

Why aren't the lines justified? Each one begins slightly to the left or right of the one above it.

 

[Jzero]

Why aren't the lines justified? Each one begins slightly to the left or right of the one above it.

I fixed that in my own version but was too lazy to do it on this one, that's why i posted the illustrator file

 

[lacinius]

That does sound better. I will get rid of the bullet. I feel like I will need a different objective for basically every position I apply for, because so far I am a 2nd year in college and don't really have much of a career path set. Also if I get rid of the bullet, should I have a period at the end of the "objective" sentence?

Yes, format the objective as a sentence or mini-paragraph, so a period at the end. Yours is a tough position because you are still mid-education, so you don't have many experience related specifics. I can understand your note about needing to have a different objective for each position applied. Let me expand on that.

Using your new objective statement you could smooth that out a little bit and make it generic enough to cover most positions applied, and send that out. I think of that as sort of the ariel bombardment approach... print off a hundred copies, send that out, and hope someone picks up this ariel leaflet that fell out of the sky.

Or you can target specifically for stuff that relates directly to whatever the company does. More work, requires a little bit of research into the Company, and I think of it in terms of the sniper approach.

Both are valid ways to approach this because you are still mid-education and don't have the big-guns of full time career employment work experience. I'm in the IT industry myself and wouldn't feel comfortable saying which would be best for the sciences industry. You can decide what "feels" right for your approach given that you are more familiar with how your industry will respond.

You didn't mention, but one way around that is to go with the ariel bombardment as far as the CV goes, but also go with a specific to the company cover letter. In the cover letter you can then speak to the needs of the company for the position they are offering and make a good introduction of yourself to help "break the ice" for when they look at the CV. Just another idea, not sure if you were thinking about that or not.

Regardless, a skilled HR person will be able to spot right a way your limited experience. That's why you have to punch up what you do have to offer, shouting "see, this is me doing stuff down in the trenches." "See, this is me sticking with something to help make the project a success." "See, I have loyalty as I have intentionally volunteered for the last 5+ years at a place were people have cancer. I'm in there doing stuff for them, or those that treat them, and this is me doing stuff that helped improve the quality of their life in some small way." The hope is all of that translates well with the company that is looking you over. Just having "I did generic stuff all day for everyone" on your CV is probably going to impede the person looking at it from making the "connection" to what it's selling, and the position they are offering.

You have to sell all that so they see that you are the kind of person the company wants to work with, and the trade-off is that you get valuable work experience in return. Hope this helps!

 

[Lamel]

Yes, format the objective as a sentence or mini-paragraph, so a period at the end. Yours is a tough position because you are still mid-education, so you don't have many experience related specifics. I can understand your note about needing to have a different objective for each position applied. Let me expand on that.

Using your new objective statement you could smooth that out a little bit and make it generic enough to cover most positions applied, and send that out. I think of that as sort of the ariel bombardment approach... print off a hundred copies, send that out, and hope someone picks up this ariel leaflet that fell out of the sky.

Or you can target specifically for stuff that relates directly to whatever the company does. More work, requires a little bit of research into the Company, and I think of it in terms of the sniper approach.

Both are valid ways to approach this because you are still mid-education and don't have the big-guns of full time career employment work experience. I'm in the IT industry myself and wouldn't feel comfortable saying which would be best for the sciences industry. You can decide what "feels" right for your approach given that you are more familiar with how your industry will respond.

You didn't mention, but one way around that is to go with the ariel bombardment as far as the CV goes, but also go with a specific to the company cover letter. In the cover letter you can then speak to the needs of the company for the position they are offering and make a good introduction of yourself to help "break the ice" for when they look at the CV. Just another idea, not sure if you were thinking about that or not.

Regardless, a skilled HR person will be able to spot right a way your limited experience. That's why you have to punch up what you do have to offer, shouting "see, this is me doing stuff down in the trenches." "See, this is me sticking with something to help make the project a success." "See, I have loyalty as I have intentionally volunteered for the last 5+ years at a place were people have cancer. I'm in there doing stuff for them, or those that treat them, and this is me doing stuff that helped improve the quality of their life in some small way." The hope is all of that translates well with the company that is looking you over. Just having "I did generic stuff all day for everyone" on your CV is probably going to impede the person looking at it from making the "connection" to what it's selling, and the position they are offering.

You have to sell all that so they see that you are the kind of person the company wants to work with, and the trade-off is that you get valuable work experience in return. Hope this helps!

That helps a ton. I will absorb all your advice and try to rethink my plan and resumes. Thank you once again.

One thing though, I know I want to come across as showing that I have many skills and qualities, but I feel like I shouldn't make any blatant statements on that. I feel that the experience I put down should speak for those qualities you know? For example that I am an "empathetic person", I shouldn't have to say it; however I feel like listing down what I did for the company is still going to be too vague to form that "connection." I suppose this is where a cover letter will come in handy.

For now I have been looking at part time jobs offered through my Uni and local businesses all around the area. Some of these jobs range from clerical work to education to research assistance. So you can imagine my plight. But I am making progress. It's like a sniper bombardment approach.

Edit: I also widened the margins to make it look cleaner and less cluttered, makes a better impression now, and the it doesn't seem like a bombardment of bullet points.

 

[lacinius]

That helps a ton. I will absorb all your advice and try to rethink my plan and resumes. Thank you once again.

One thing though, I know I want to come across as showing that I have many skills and qualities, but I feel like I shouldn't make any blatant statements on that. I feel that the experience I put down should speak for those qualities you know? For example that I am an "empathetic person", I shouldn't have to say it; however I feel like listing down what I did for the company is still going to be too vague to form that "connection." I suppose this is where a cover letter will come in handy.

For now I have been looking at part time jobs offered through my Uni and local businesses all around the area. Some of these jobs range from clerical work to education to research assistance. So you can imagine my plight. But I am making progress. It's like a sniper bombardment approach.

Edit: I also widened the margins to make it look cleaner and less cluttered, makes a better impression now, and the it doesn't seem like a bombardment of bullet points.

Good stuff, it sounds like you are getting all this sorted through both in your approach and presentation. Yeah, you don't want to be over-the-top with your statements, or start listing too much like you're the best thing ever... because they will "see" through that as well. But you do want to punch up anything that is directly relatable, or an example of something "big" that shows you contribute. Like a project that saved a company thousand of dollars every month that you helped out on, or if you started doing something for the patients, something that was not being done previous, and now whatever it is that you did is part of the standard procedures. Hopefully you get my meaning, as you do want to punch up the "eye catchers".

Yeah, the sniper bombardment approach is fine as well if targeting future career specific companies and just need a job companies. I know what you are going through as I have been there myself, and remember well the numerous, too many to count, rejections. But you will be updating your CV constantly over the next few years anyway, so it's good to get your approach and presentation sorted out now, experiement with cover letters and all that, so everything will be well refined once you are ready to take that first career step.

 

[BankaiZaraki]

Wow I didn't even know this thread existed! I'm doing my resume currently. It isn't pretty lol. My work history kills me imo. Have had 3 jobs in under a year. Also I don't know what to put on my resume to make it sound "professional". I want to stick with security since it's my long time goal to be a police officer but at the same time would not mind doing different things. How would I include personality traits that I think would help in a resume?

 

[lacinius]

Wow I didn't even know this thread existed! I'm doing my resume currently. It isn't pretty lol. My work history kills me imo. Have had 3 jobs in under a year. Also I don't know what to put on my resume to make it sound "professional". I want to stick with security since it's my long time goal to be a police officer but at the same time would not mind doing different things. How would I include personality traits that I think would help in a resume?

You are a little shy with the information, but just some general ideas. The "professional" part starts with a good CV template, and there are several styles in this thread, so pick whatever looks appealing to you and modify to your needs if you are not quite happy with what you have now.

You can only work with what you have for a CV, so if all you have is three job experiences to "mine" for selling you and what you need, then dig into those. Three different jobs in a year is not great, as sticking with something for at least a year is better and shows you aren't in the habit of bolting for the door when it suits your needs. It takes time and money for a company to go through the hiring process, people taking time out of their day to show what's required, and all that; so no company wants to go through all that again after only a few months. Unless they are high-turnover rate jobs like call centres, etc and those places are always in a constant state of hiring people.

Your goal of being police officer is awesome, and I think I understand what you mean by including personality traits. I would start by making a list of what are positive personality traits of a good police officer. Some ideas are:

Ability to remain calm when everyone else is going crazy... think crowd control.
Ability to think clearly when under pressure.
Ability to not panic when shit hits the fan.
Ability to calm others down so that cooler heads prevail instead of pouring gas on the fire.
Logical and analytical thinking.
Empathy for what the other person is experiencing right at the moment is going through... think domestic disputes.
Helping a child to not be afraid or witness something they don't need to see... guess that's empathy related as well, but becuase it's a child requires a different approach.
Just a few ideas anyway... no "macho" traits listed, but I'm not sure what work experience you have.

Now comes the part where you "mine" your previous work experince, and try to dig up practical instances that directly relate to those personality traits especially if beneficial to the job. Then you list that down as part of your contribution for that job, and is also a skill that will transfer to the new job you are seeking. Hope this helps!

 

[Birbo]

When you submit a resume by email, do you cut & paste your cover letter into the email or make it as a separate attachment with the resume?

 

[CharlieDigital]

I recreated thespot's resume and changed it for my liking. You can get it yourself if you want it. (illustrator file)

This is really hard to read, IMO. The listings really need a bullet point.

 

[usea]

When you submit a resume by email, do you cut & paste your cover letter into the email or make it as a separate attachment with the resume?

Attachment.

 

[Birbo]

Attachment.

Thanks.

 

[TheRagnCajun]

That does sound better. I will get rid of the bullet. I feel like I will need a different objective for basically every position I apply for, because so far I am a 2nd year in college and don't really have much of a career path set. Also if I get rid of the bullet, should I have a period at the end of the "objective" sentence?

Thank you.

Exactly that. The objective is the first thing they read, and so it should be snazzy and specific. It is a lot of work to start catering your resume to the specific position you're applying for, but it works. It says to your employer "I am looking for exactly the job you are offering, it is what my career has been leading up to"