[nabs-l] resume

Sun Jul 29 02:08:56 UTC 2012

To add to what HOpe said, make sure complete contact information is at the top of your resume.  I know you are limited for space on a resume, but you should put more than just your cell phone number.  I would include an email address and a mailing address.  They probably aren't going to mail you anything but its a pretty standard convention and the fact it is missing stands out.  

I would also put your education first, particularly because you are applying to school.  I have never seen anyone include their GPAs on their resume before, but again, you might be able to get away with this because you are submitting it to schools.  I would remove those when you apply for jobs.  I don't think employers generally care what your GPA was.  

Make sure your capitalization and grammar are consistent throughout.  Take a closer look at your current internship entry.  I would change "design, implement" to "design and implement" or "designed and implemented."  

Also, make sure every line that you put to describe your experiences is descriptive and meaningful.  Space is limited and you don't want your resume reader to get bogged down in non descriptive text, especially if that text doesn't demonstrate any particular skill you are wanting to make sure they know you have.  For example, under your entry for your time with the American Medical Association, you have 15 bullet points.  This seems like a lot of space for a resume that should be as close to one page as you can make it.  I would consider combining several of these items to make a shorter, more concise list.  I would also consider eliminating items that do not provide much meaningful information, e.g. Project assistant.  I'm sure being a project assistant was valuable experience, but as it is now, we have no idea what that responsibility was and why it is worth mentioning.  I would combine these into 3 to 5 major points that summarize your experiences.  You could perhaps have one point briefly describing the cataloging and information management you did while there, one point summarizing the ways you assisted in research, one point describing your clerical and budgeting responsibilities etc.  Also, I would avoid the term "routine office work" because for some reason it sounds less professional to me.  Use something like clerical responsibilities or tasks etc.  Also, I would elaborate on what kind of budgeting you did, how large the budget was etc. if you are going to mention it.  That is certainly valuable experience to have and details could strengthen that point.    

You have a strong resume.  It really looks like your employment history and education have well prepared you for grad school in this area.  The weakest point is the length.  Your resume will be far stronger if you can cut it down to one page.  Be brief, describing the highlights of each position and how it added to your skill set etc.  

I realize this is for school and so some of these things might not sound as important because it isn't an employer who is looking at it, but the ability to express yourself with brevity is an important skill for graduate school.  Your professors will be far more impressed with a concise and powerful resume.  

Best of luck applying to grad school.  I hope this feedback was helpful.  I would be glad to go through your resume with you in more detail if you would like.  

-Greg
On Jul 28, 2012, at 1:31 PM, "Hope Paulos" <hope.paulos at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi there. Your resume does make sense but if I can suggest a couple of
> things. It would be good if you had your education first, then your skills,
> then your job experience and references. If you talk to 10 different people
> about resumes, you'll get 10 different answers. <smile> So this is just a
> suggestion.
> Also, make sure the bulleted points are the same for each job. For the
> library job you put periods (.) instead of dashes (-), which you used for
> all other job duties.
> HTH and I wish you all the best in your grad school endeavors.
> Hope Paulos 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Deb Mendelsohn
> Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2012 2:25 PM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nabs-l] resume
> 
> *Hi all,
> I'm applying to grad school.  Does my updated resume make any sense?
> TIA
> Deb
> Debra Mendelsohn*
> 
> Deb.Mendelsohn at gmail.com
> 
> ________________________________________________________________________
> 
> * *
> 
> * *
> 
> *Experience:*
> 
> *Cataloging
> Intern
> *4/12 - Present**
> 
> Southern Arizona Association for the Visually Impaired (SAAVI)
> 
> 
> Tucson, AZ
> 
>   - Catalog 5000 Audio Book collection
>   - Design Implement catalog in braille, large print and electronic format
>   - Design, Implement Catalog in Access Database
>   - Design, implement labels for material in Braille, large print,
> 
> * *
> 
> *Employment History:*
> 
> 
> 
> *Research Associate*
> 
> *Police Consultants
> Inc.
>    *7/00-
> 12/10**
> 
> Westmont IL
> 
>   - Management of Psychology Information Center.
>   - Route journals to psychologists.
>   - Assist psychologists with research projects.
>   - Fill information requests in a timely manner.
> 
> * *
> 
> *Research Assistant*
> 
> *American Medical Association
> (AMA)                                                        *9/95 - 9/00
> 
> Chicago IL
> 
>   - Management of OGC Information Center
>   - Budget Managing
>   - Select and acquire new library materials
>   - Catalog and Process New Materials
>   - Route Journals to AMA staff
>   - Provide AMA staff with daily email informational updates
>   - Online Research HLAW and Corporate Law topics
>   - Monitor RSS Feeds for appropriate information
>   - Assist AMA staff with research
>   - Assist AMA Member Physicians with research requests.
>   - Assist Health Policy Librarian
>   - Project Assistant
>   - Design, Implement Maintain File Bank
>   - Archive AMA HLAW Documentation
>   - Routine office work including answering phones, sort mail
> 
> *Desk Attendant*
> 
> 5/95-8/95
> 
> *Itasca Community Library*
>                                            Itasca IL
> 
> .        Part time summer position as clerk at circulation desk,
> 
> .         Assisted patrons in person and on the phone
> 
> .        Collect fines
> 
> .        Material check-in, checkout and renewal.
> 
> .        searched for and prepared materials for inter-library loan
> 
> .        Registered patrons for library cards.
> 
> 
> 
> *Library Assistant*
> 
> *Northeastern Illinois University*
>                                                5/94 - 5/95
> 
> Chicago IL
> 
>   - Part time work-study position
>   - Circulation Desk
>   - Assist patrons in person and on the phone.
>   - Assisted patrons in person and on the phone
>   - Collect fines
>   - Material check-in, checkout and renewal.
>   - Assist Reserve Librarian
>   - searched for and prepared materials for inter-library loan
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________________________________________________
> 
> *Education:      *
> 
> *                        *
> 
> *Northeastern Illinois University*
> 
> *Chicago, IL*
> 
> B.A. Liberal Arts          GPA 3.46                                1995
> 
> *Wright College*
> 
> Chicago IL
> 
> A.A. Humanities           GPA 3.75                                1993**
> 
> 
> 
> , ,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> * *
> 
> -- 
> *Deb's Cell:  520-225-8244*
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