BETA COPY OF SAMPLE MARKETING RESUME GUIDLELINES (THIS IS IN THE DEVELOPMENT STAGE. PLEASE CHECK BACK BEFORE COMPLETING ANY HOMEWORK BASED ON THIS):

1. Realize the purpose of a resume
   
   

· It’s an ad for you, and it’s a way for someone who does not know you to get an idea of who you are, what your background is, what successes you’ve had, and how you may be different than the other resumes in front of him/her.

· A resume should be easy and quick to read and to understand, and it should lead the reader to consider meeting you if that’s appropriate.

· A resume also can help the reader (particularly in a job interview) find common ground in yours and interviewer’s interests.

2. Understand what a reader is looking for on a resume
   
   

· First are very basic credentials that keep you in the sort—your degree and (usually) some key experiences.

· Next are issues that make you stand out in the sort: your grades, special awards, key work experiences such as internships, coops, jobs and positions in civic, school or social organizations.

· Finally are any unique experiences or credentials such as sports, hobbies, special skills or interests.

3. What are common mistakes on resumes?
   
   

· Not making the resume clear or simple to read. Most jobs have many more resumes than openings, and most of the applicants are usually not really appropriate for the job. Resume readers usually scan them quickly looking for key information--a low involvement situation usually using a conjunctive heuristic (if you remember this from consumer behavior or promotional strategy, it’s when the receiver is looking for a few basic features which a product has to some minimum degree). In regular terms, on the first pass the reader is looking for a couple of very basic bits of information that if present means they’ll look at it again. Otherwise, you’re in the reject pile.

· Resumes that are made unclear by putting dates in obscure places, forgetting to put job and internship titles, giving vague or misleading job responsibilities. Too much information is almost as bad as too little. I have only seen one undergraduate resume that legitimately needed two pages. Unless you did something truly spectacular in high school, all secondary school information is irrelevant because it’s too dated. A common mistake is listing courses taken, which to the reader is meaningless as first, all college students take courses, and second, the reader wants to know skills, not where you were sitting last year. However, if your courses have led to special skills, be sure to list the skills (i.e., DART, computer skills, languages, etc.).

· Distracting the reader—colored paper, boxes and frames, many different type fonts or fancy fonts (avoid italics) and pitches are all easy ways to distract the reader from seeing key information about you.

· Leaving off key information that makes you unique is also a common mistake. Forgetting to put responsibilities of positions in social or service organizations is an example. Even putting the position you played in sports is important.

· Too small fonts. An 11 pitch font is appropriate.

A SAMPLE FORMAT

A career or job objective statement is not necessary for an entry level resume. For situations where it can be helpful, please contact the instructor.

Your name and contact information. If you will be at more than one address (i.e., at home for vacations or cooping) then give both addresses and the dates you will be at each one. If space or white space is an issue, then put the addresses side-by-side. Fred Q. Student email XYZ Dorm Phone (From 12/20/00-1/15/01 and 3/12/01-3/20/01) XYZ Home Phone
Education
La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA. BSBA, Marketing, May 2000 (expected) Overall GPA 3.5/4.0, Average in Major 3.7/4.0 (notes on grades—usually I encourage putting them on if one average is over a 3.0, if neither are, be ready to explain your academic performance to an interviewer. They have become very sensitive to easy majors and grade inflation.) Academic honors (e.g., deans list, scholarships, awards.) If an award, give selection criteria for the award.
Experience Note: this section can be done in a couple of different ways. The three main types of experiences that employers may be interested in are actual work experience, internship and coop experience and organizational experience such as officers in social, school or civic clubs. If you’ve had significant work experience, then have a separate work experience section and a “related experience” section. However, if the total number of all key experiences is around five or less, then you can group them all together. If you’ve worked at the same place every summer in relatively similar positions you can make these one entry. Unless a job was time-limited (e.g., you worked the Christmas rush somewhere, or coordinated a campus project that only lasted a few months), don’t put in entries that lasted less than a few months. Other issues—give 2-4 basic and real responsibilities. Realize that employers are as much interested in the fact that you’ve worked at all as they are interested in where you’ve worked. Phrase responsibilities in common sense, easier to understand words. Also, use customer-related phrasing when appropriate. For example, all waiters and waitresses have to handle customer complaints and ensure customer satisfaction. They also have other responsibilities such as preparing and setting up for the meal, and assisting with other functions during a rush. In other words, working at McD’s is ok, and some jobs that you thought were a little low on the status scale may actually convey positive benefits. Any specific accomplishments (awards, promotions, etc.) should be highlighted. While you may get other advice, we have found that a chronological resume, with dates clearly posted in the left column (use MSWord table to get the spacing. This format also will convert to html easily for web placement), followed by job title and firm/organization and responsibilities is the one that employers have reported to be the easiest to read. Relevant Experience
8/99-present	Driver, United Parcel Service, Philadelphia, PA
	Responsibilities include: · Accurate and efficient package delivery · Designing most efficient routes for delivery order · Maintaining positive customer relationships and resolving customer service · Awarded Efficiency Rewards 3 out-of-last 5 periods
9/99-12/99	Marketing Intern, XYZ Ad Agency, Philadelphia, PA · Assist in media placement for 6 national ad campaigns · Prepare background research on 2 national industries currently being pitched by XYZ · Team member on Agency Web Site Design Committee · Help with recruiting spring semester interns
1/97-present	Vice President, Awful Awful Chi Social Fraternity, La Salle University · Supervise biannual fraternity recruiting program (responsible for a net gain of 20% in new members 1998-present) · Coordinate national chapter’s mission goals in local AAC chapter · Manage membership dues budget of $60K/year
7/98-9/98 7/97-9/97	Water Front Counselor, Camp Kukamonga, Poconos Village, PA · Ensure safety of boating and swimming activities at camp with 120 campers · Train other counselors in waterfront safety procedures · Teach campers ages 8-11 in basic swimming and canoeing
Computer Skills	Proficient in MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Access, Page Mill, working knowledge of basic HTML programming for Web Site design
Volunteer or related service	Give title, location, nature of work and dates
Hobbies and Interests	Swimming, cooking. Moderate verbal proficiency in French (spent summer of 1999 touring France).