09-16-10 Online Journalism

After reading three different links about resumes and cover letters,
Six steps to Resume 2.0
How to avoid common resume mistakes and 30+ sites for resume and cover-letter inspiration , I have learned how I can improve my resume to make me an appealing job applicant.

All of the links are helpful, but the one I found to be the most helpful was the six step resume. Shannon Paul, the author of “Six steps to Resume 2.0,” suggests accommodating the needs of the receiver by sending both an html copy of the resume and a word document. Paul gives basic steps in creating a resume. She says to first start in a word document, add hyperlinks to key words that the employer can click-on to gain more knowledge about you. An example of this is hyper linking your name to your professional blog. Send the resume in word, create and send an html version of the resume, and explain, in a personable way, why you sent an html copy. Paul ends by saying that when sending your resume information, never expect the employer to have read or clicked on the things you sent.

I learned new information from the other websites as well. A pointer I found helpful was from “Don’t make it a moral statement: it’s a marketing document.” This text explained how to market yourself by not stating what your job responsibilities were, but stating what you accomplished while you were at the company. An example is “I helped increase sales by 20% by my social media outreach.”

These links have loads of information that can help anyone succeed when creating a resume. Who knows, you might get a job based on the quality of your resume.