This week has brought some unsettling news. Due to the sequester, funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is affected. One of the grants affected is one that will pay me after April. So I've had to think about other options from employment since my husband and I MUST have health insurance and he's a PhD student right now.
At first I felt a bit panicked about the news but now that I've taken action, I'm seeing it as an opportunity to explore my options and perhaps leave basic science for public health since I finished my MPH last year. However, both fields are very interesting to me so I'm not ruling out either of them.
This week I created a resume for the first time that I can remember. In academia I've always used a curriculum vitae but because I'm applying for jobs outside the academic environment I had to research how to put together a resume.
Here are some 10 tips I found:
1. Use a standardized fonts. Remember, many fonts do not convert well from Mac to PC or from one version of Word to another.
- Here are a few fonts that are considered standardized: Times New Roman, Georgia, Arial, Tahoma
- Use 12 point font
2. Keep the most important details about yourself at the top of your resume.
- Employers and human resources often get a lot of resumes for a position. Having your most important information at the top of your resume keeps them from weeding you at out first glance just because they don't know why you're qualified for the job.
- Some information that should be at the top includes: contact information, relevant work experience, relevant volunteer experience, and education
3. Include achievements versus responsibilities.
- did you implement a change that increased efficiency? production?
- did you receive an award for teaching or mentoring?
- Including achievements tells the employer that you were not only responsible for ____ but you were also good at it.
4. Tailor your resume to each job posting.
- Each work environment is a little different. For example, I'm apply several places: a worksite wellness program, health departments, and research labs. It's obvious my cookie cutter resume wouldn't work for all three of these places. So I tailored my accomplishments and skill listings to each job listing. Something that is a skill in a health department may not be useful at a worksite wellness program or in a research lab.
5. You don't have to include every job you've ever had.
- Telling employers that I worked at a grocery store when I was 17 is probably not going to help me get a public health job.
- I included my past two jobs and then one that was part-time yet relevant to the job listing
6. Don't include irrelevant information.
- Potential employers probably don't need to know your religious views, political views, sexual orientation, etc.
- By not having this information on your resume, you don't set yourself up for discrimination (illegal - but it does happen) or stereotyping
7. Don't lie or exaggerate.
- Need I say more? We live in a world of instant everything. Your lies will be found out...just don't go there.
8. Ask someone to proofread your resume.
- After you've stared at the thing for hours/days/weeks, you know what it SHOULD say. Having someone else read it will make sure it says what you think it says. I've read sentences and added in words that weren't typed in. I just knew what it was supposed to say so I added it in without even realizing it.
- Someone else might be able to catch small errors that are easy to overlook.
9. Don't jam your resume with text.
- White space allows the resume to flow and looks clean and crisp.
- Be concise.
10. No jargon, slang, or text messaging lingo.
- Having a friend outside your field read your resume is a great way to screen for jargon. Sometimes we use words so often in our daily lives that we assume everyone knows what it is.
- Slang and text messaging lingo look messy and irresponsible.
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