Jobs (and resumes)

[Veho Nex]

Ok, as for my working life I have been kind of lucky, my first job at McDonald's I walked in and said I want a job. I got it without even doing anything, I think it had to do something with being the only fluent English speaker. My second job I got while working at my first, I was over loaded with screwed up orders and the cooks weren't making my job any easier. I handled all of the delays with expertise and finesse, all the while I was unaware I was being watched. After I was done and went on my break this guy comes up and offers me a job in a moving company. I accepted it and became their tech specialist. I loved that job, a lot unlike my first one, but there was one flaw. When the housing market crashed so too did my job. We started getting less and less moves until he couldn't afford to keep me on anymore.

Well since then I have been doing odd jobs to get money and now I need to get a part time job for a more stable income, and to get my dad off my back when it comes to me not working. (Despite the fact that I haven't asked for money from him since my sophomore year.) Well the last three jobs I have applied to have shot me, the first one cause I bombed the interview and the next two because, of all reasons, this thing called a resume! I was in shock, I knew we had covered this somewhere in school but I couldn't remember much about it. So after doing a lot of research and learning what it was and how to write one, I'd like to get some tips from my fellow Orgahs on how to make my resume spotless. Also I need help and tips in a cover letter.

In these hard economic times I know it might be crazy to give others advice on how to make them more desirable for a job when you could be wanting it, but please be generous. Knowledge is, after all, the beginning of me getting money... I mean a job.

Edit: There is also a lack of internet in my room because my dad hates me using my computer. Getting a job and paying for my own will solve that problem in a heart beat.

[pevergreen]

I'll shoot you an email later on with my resume. Got me dad to help out, he knows what hes doing (running his...third? business now) and it works well. I walk in, they go "WOW nice resume" then interview "Nice interview pever!" then "Oh sorry, we can't hire anyone now. no money"

Sad pever.

[Veho Nex]

Sweet, that would be most appreciated. I've been reading on what you should look for when you hire employees and what I should be looking for when trying to find a job I could stick with till december. Its been crazy hard just to find a place that says hiring.

[pevergreen]

Ignore if they say they are or not.

I went around just handing in resumes.

They will take them, and keep them on file (more on that in a sec).

I walked into a place, game them my resume and they said that they had just hired, i walked out.

Got a call a few days later, got a job the next week. Worked there for two years.

Points to note: The empolyee you give it to, even if not a manager, will be judging you. When we took resumes, we noted down our approval or lack of, and notes about how the person acted. Many were thrown out because they were simply rude etc.

When a resume goes on file, chances are it stays there. I helped the manager look for a new employee. resumes over 10 years old were there...

[Lemur]

Don't know if this is helpful or not, but there are fashions in resumes. I can never keep track of it. Last time I had to do one, I asked a relative who does HR, and she forwarded me a recent example that was considered appropriate.

There are probably websites devoted to this subject ...

[GeneralHankerchief]

Keep it to one page, first of all. When listing your tasks you did for prior employment, list it in the order of awesomeness/relavence, not the amount of time you spent. For example, I had an internship last year where I mostly read the day's news and opinion updates on a subject of interest, and sent/summarized the relevant articles to my boss. Did I put that first? Heck no, I put the more interesting stuff I did on a far less-regular basis.

Also, you never handled a cash register, you "were entrusted with the safekeeping and accurate accounting of thousands of dollars in cash on a daily basis".