I rarely ever blog about or post on social media about work. My work life is work, and my personal life is personal. I’ve never felt the need to discuss, vent about, or provide detail about my job. I’m going to go ahead and break with that for this post.
Unfortunately, the time has come where I need to update my resume. About a year and a half ago, the company that I was working for was sold, shut down, & liquidated. A core group of people decided to try to move on & start a company in the same industry, and I was invited to be a part of it. I was honored to be asked to participate, and glad to be gainfully employed. Sadly, things didn’t pan out as planned, and the company is also in the process of shutting down. Basically, I’m no worse off than I was a year ago.
At that time, I had an updated resume, and went on my first job interview in a long time. I was offered employment elsewhere. It may have worked, but the pay wasn’t where it needed to be for me to comfortably continue to pay rent and put food on the table. I went with the group I knew & salary I needed. I have no regrets, I’m just illustrating that I don’t have much job interview experience, but it has mostly all been positive.
Basically, I’ve been at the same job for 10 or so years. In 2002, I started at an a/v integration company as the shipping guy. That company was purchased in 2005 and I was hired by the new company, which closed in 2011. Then on to the newest one where I was doing all slight variations of the same thing. I liked my work, it was a nice mix of desk/paperwork & physical warehouse work sometimes, it was always different & challenging. I have learned many rules, processes, & things about the equipment over the years. I was able to adapt to many changes, and survived them all (up until now).
I need help with my resume. I think I first updated this format in 2005, when it looked like I may have needed to search for other employment. (Luckily, I was able to work temporarily for the new company, proved my merit, and was hired full time.) In 2012 this format may be stale. I’m not big on titles. I call myself a “shipping guy” but I do much more than that. I have more skills than a simple shipping guy needs. I hate phrases like “team player”. I am, but it sounds goofy. Who reads that & doesn’t roll their eyes? I’m generally not boastful (other than in jest), but this is one time when you need to be. There’s a lot riding on a resume. It gets your foot in the door.
I’m confident in my writing (thanks to this blog), but thrown into a resume it looks braggadocios, fragmented, & boring. I love bullet points, but breaking things down into them, I feel like I lose cohesion.
I need this to grab someone’s attention, highlight what I can do & what I can offer, and get me a job.
I have a lot of skills in my utility belt.
What do I want to do? I’m certainly qualified for shipping, warehousing, and inventory jobs… entry level or supervisory. Sadly, entry level pay may no longer be acceptable. I could certainly do something else though. I’m a quick learner. I’d love to get paid for this writing / blogging / insanity thing (I mean… show/album/food reviews, photos, humor, goofy letters? I can do a bunch of stuff there). Unfortunately I don’t have a degree. Can you get one in shipping? Certainly 10 years experience in shipping I would have learned anything that I could in 2 or 4 years of school? I do have some training in graphic design & commercial art, I have experience in drafting (by hand even… does anyone remember that?), some talents that have yet to get me paid like drawing mazes and photography, and I recently completed classes in Microsoft Project… so I could even fill a “Jr. Project Manager” type role where I can learn as I go. I’m certainly adept with computers, know old school (& also useless) html coding, and can pick things up rather quickly with any kind of program. I can promote things like my band, the blog, and Food Allergies like mad online. I think I’d be a good PR person, I just lack formal training or experience. Maybe it’s time for something different.
So, I need help with my resume. What works, what doesn’t? 1 page? 2 pages? If so, how do I fit it all on one or to pages (I think it kicks into an atrocious 3 now)? What do I need to express? Do I need a cheesy cover letter? Do letters of recommendation help? References right on the resume, or “provided by request”? 3 Personal/3 professional? 3 total? Cover letter? No cover letter? Cover paragraph?
I’m laying it all out here and asking for your help. Take a look at this resume and tell me what you think?
Please excuse the format, it needs a new look… something anyway, and Google Docs may have messed with it a bit. Other than that though… I ask you to be honest, brutal, constructive, and hopefully helpful.
Also… know anyone that’s hiring? Are you hiring? Point me in the right direction here. I’m confident in my in-person interviews, and with anyone that already knows me or has worked with me.
Thanks in advance for your help. I need to start hitting up InDeed, PA Career Link, etc. with my resume. I know I have a lot of friends, family & readers that can help me out here. It would be crazy to not use all of the resources at my disposal, right?
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