Resume Writing

One of the biggest things I've been working on is my resume.  It's usually the second thing that people see (cover letter should be first) when you are applying for a job, and it's very important to have a resume that is attention getting.

With that in mind I've been hard at work over the past few weeks/months updating and redesigning.  I've always been a one page person.  If you applied for a job that I was interviewing for and you had two pages the reality was that I'm not reading the second page... so I've always kept my resume to one page as well.  As such it got to the point where it looked VERY jumbled, busy, and hard on the eyes.  (even to me - the person who despises double spacing)  As such I've been hard at work on figuring out what to do.  I refused to go to two pages. 

I started with removing duplicates and changing the content.. when that didn't work I realized I needed help.  I started scouring the web for advice and found a company that does amazing work.  I would love to use them some day, but unless I win big at the lottery (or the new casino in Cleveland) I don't see myself making this purchase for the first job search.

The Company is Loft Resumes and they are a resume production company that creates some VERY awesome looking resumes that I'm sure would grab attention.

The results end up looking more like infographics than resumes and I think in today's fast paced view of the world that might be a good thing.

With this dream in mind I set off to update the design of my resume taking some hints and ideas from this and remembering some of the lessons I learned as a student in the Mass Media department at Marietta.

I've broken my resume up into sections that are much easier to digest.  I've grouped schools together and list my experiences that way, which saved a TON of space.  Finally, I'm adding a bit of color to it, which I think will help spice it up and make it a bit more appealing to the eye.  If you'd like to see a draft of my resume you can view it over at my portfolio (which is the topic of next week's post) wkauff.zxq.net (temporary domain name) 


A few examples of their work:

The one about branding.

 Branding, which began as a way to tell one person's livestock from another by means of hot-iron-stamp, is an idea that has spread through many industries in recent times. In days long past the idea of branding was reserved for companies that needed to offer a hard sale. In today's society the idea of branding has expanded to include lifestyle branding, which markets a way of living as opposed to products.

The idea of branding has also found it's way into Higher Education as both an industry and also an idea that we teach our students. In one of my courses this semester I was tasked with finding two articles related to a topic of my choice affecting Higher Education today. For this I found an editorial from The Chronicle of Higher Education which focused on the importance of embracing the idea of branding within the college environment. The second article was from the Harvard Business Review and focused on the development of a personal leadership brand.

The main takeaways from the articles were the importance of knowing yourself, delivering your idea of you, and effectively communicating that vision through branding. Its with this in mind that I begin the process of branding myself as I begin building my portfolio and tool kit. I will use these items over the next year as I make connections, network, and begin job searching.

The three elements I'm currently focusing on developing are my resume, website, and business cards. For the most part these are the items that I will be sharing and using to expose people to me for what might be the first time, with that in mind I focused on three ideas central to me in the development of these materials. Striking, Innovative, and Out of the Box are the three ideas I want to share about myself initially.

Over the next few weeks I will explain more about why I feel these words are relevant to me, my work, and my experience. I will also begin sharing some of the materials I have been producing over the past year.

Until then I'd like to share the two articles I used in my assignment as I feel they are both very good reads and would highly recommend you take a few minutes to check them out.

Branding Isn't a Dirty Word - The Chronicle

Building a Leadership Brand - Havard Business Review 

In the Beginning...

Hello and welcome to what will hopefully become a place of exploration, sharing, and growth.  I've decided to start a blog for a number of reasons that I believe will be beneficial not only to me, but also to anyone who finds themselves reading this page.  

My goal for this blog is to simple.  I plan to share my exploration of different topics in Higher Education.  This could be through glimpses into the coursework I am doing, internships I am involved in, or reflections of past experiences.  I'm excited to share my insights with you and hope that readers will feel comfortable to respond, reflect, and share with me as well.