While it is true that a positive personal recommendation will always help, a strongly written resume could be the
most powerful tool you can use to get a job. If you’ve never written a resume before, relax. It’s not at all complicated. Your resume is what you’ll leave behind after a job interview but often is the very thing that will get you that interview in the first place. This means it needs to look professional. No typos. At the top should be your name and contact information and any union affiliation that is appropriate for the job.
The body of the resume should consist of your experience and skills. You can either list your experience by date, starting with the most recent or you can list your experience starting with the most relevant. Another option would be to combine these two formats by listing your experience and years on that job but not specific dates. For instance if you worked as a welder for two years but it was ten years ago, you could simply list “Welder – 2 years experience” and make that your opening line. And instead of merely listing a particular job title give your potential employer a sense of your skills and accomplishments.
This is where you need to sell yourself. For instance, if you were a project manager at a work site, write out your specific duties. If you were ever a handyman then you have a lot of skills to talk about. These should be short, simple phrases. You’re not writing a book report. Following this should be your list of training experience. This could be any vocational school, apprenticeship program or certificate training you went through. And finally, list any additional skills you might have as it pertains to your job. They don’t need to know you’re great at fly fishing but they do need to know if you can drive a backhoe. You can find more resume tips and examples of forms here and here. And of course, you can always hire a professional to write it up for you but where’s the fun in that?
– Meyer
