If you don’t have any formal higher education, consider having a section called Training or Professional Development, where you list relevant workshops, seminars, and classes.
The Last Word
Your destination is within sight; you don’t even need binoculars to see the resume shore anymore! A few more sections might appear on your version such as professional affiliations, community service, computer skills, and personal interests. Let’s talk about them.
Volunteerism That Pays Off
What you do in your unpaid time may say as much about what kind of person you are than what you do for employment. If you feel that your volunteerism makes a statement about your dedication, character, or social awareness, or in any way enhances your qualifications for your next job, a section called Community Service, Civic Leadership, or Volunteerism is the place to list it.
Professional Schmoozer
Professional associations to which you currently belong or have once belonged can be listed either alphabetically or in order of relevance to your profession under a section called Professional Affiliations. If you currently hold or have held an office, that should also be noted.
Getting Published
Articles, books, chapters in books, and research papers that you have authored or coauthored belong in a section called Publications. Usually, dates accompany this information, requiring presentation in reverse chronology (the most current date first).
Standing Up for Your Award
In the Awards section, list honors, awards, and grants you have received that support your job objective. You can arrange this list according to date received (if you give the date) or by relevance to your next job (if you don’t provide the date).
Flaunting Your Computer Skills
If you have computer skills that are important to your next job, you can highlight them under a special section called Computer Skills. Your list might include hardware,software, languages, systems, and networks with whichyou have experience.
Job-Hunt Hint
Dates are optional under the Volunteerism section. If you list them, you should present your volunteer work in reverse chronology (your most recent work first). If you don’t use dates, list your community service according to impact (the most relevant first).
Career Casualty
Don’t exaggerate your achievements when it comes to listing team awards. If you try to take entire credit for the award, it could backfire if it is discovered, because you’d look like a cheat. The solution: Be up front in your listing and state that it was a team award. By doing so, you’ll also get credit for being a team player.
Making a Hobby of It
Some job seekers like to have a section called Personal Pursuits, Personal Interests, or Personal Activities in which they can list travel, sports, religious, political, and other personal activities. The Personal Pursuits section is optional and should be included only if you feel your personal activities
- Add to your qualifications as a candidate for your job objective.
- Say something about your character that might be valued on the job.
Professional resume writers disagree as to whether personal interests are appropriate on a resume. Some employers find them interesting and valuable; others find them irrelevant.Although many employers have said they wouldn’t hold it against a job seeker for including that sort of information, consider whether stating your personal activities might create undesired conflict with your employer’s views and preferences. A potential conflict of inter-est could arise over issues such as race, religion, unions, and other controversial topics.
Bonus Check
Some employers like the Personal Pursuits section of an applicant’s resume. They look there hoping to find an interesting non A work-related topic for the interview and often use such a topic as an ice-breaker.
Here are some assumptions an employer might make from the following listings on resumes:
- An applicant who lists “Board of Trustees, St. Anne’s Episcopal Church” is indicating that she is actively involved in her church. Although some employers may welcome this involvement, others may feel uncomfortable with it.
- An applicant who writes “Member, Gay and Lesbian Couples United” on his resume tells the reader that he is probably homosexual. Such a disclosure may create a problematic impression with a hiring manager.
- The owner of a nonunion company might feel threatened by an applicant who lists “Organizer, Teamsters, Local Chapter47092,” because he may be worried the applicant will want to unionize his company.
