Student Job Seekers; Online or Snail Mail Resume?

<p>So if you are still an undergrad looking for an internship it goes on top too?</p>

<p>Yes, undergrads put education up top.</p>

<p>Sure glad that Blossom and Nellieh joined this thread.</p>

<p>Yep, thanks you two :)</p>

<p>Permit me a slight thread highjack, since we have some experts here:</p>

<p>If I’m making a mid-career job switch, do I include the dates of my college/grad school graduations on my resume? And can my resume be a little longer (e.g., two pages and not one?)</p>

<p>Used to be a lab chemist (20+ years) - will be looking for a new job as a chemistry teacher. I’ve received conflicting advice on the dates on and the length of the resume…</p>

<p>Scout, there is just no way to obfuscate your age or length of your tenure once someone sees you’ve got 20 years of experience in a lab. So my suggestion would be to include the dates. Two pages is fine but if you are looking for a job as a chemistry teacher, you likely won’t need it. The person reading your resume wants evidence of subject matter expertise-- which you clearly have- and isn’t going to need three bullet points on every single job you’ve ever held which show initiative, leadership, ability to drive consensus, etc. Just expertise in chemistry, plus a college degree and a Master’s which gets you over the school teaching hurdle.</p>

<p>My two cents.</p>

<p>That’s what I thought, blossom. The only bulletizing (if that’s a word) I was going to do in my experience section was to emphasize some things I did in my lab career that would be directly applicable to teaching - like the volunteer work I did in local classrooms, my role as a safety warden, a national-level award. That kind of thing.</p>

<p>I’ve been in the workforce for a very long time and I have rarely submitted a two-page resume. The consensus is, people just don’t read the second page or barely look at it.</p>

<p>I am a headhunter for attorneys and I agree that you include the dates. I get resumes all the times without dates of graduation and it annoys me because the only reason anyone leaves them off is to hide age so nothing is really hidden. I also agree that you do your very best to keep it to one page.</p>

<p>I agree with blossom to use the education dates. Most resumes include the dates. </p>

<p>If people have been working 20 plus years then 2 page resumes seem okay to me. Just focus on the recent and important experience. It is funny to see that some folks stretch to 3 pages including so much minutia. I really don’t need to know that you were an assistant manager at The Gap 23 years ago.</p>

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<p>Student opinion here.</p>

<p>The idea of sending a resume by snail mail is so antiquated that it’s completely unimaginable to me. I guess I realize that was probably done only 20 years ago, but the idea that it would be done today is completely foreign today. I have never heard of anyone mailing a hard copy resume to apply for a job. </p>

<p>If you meet with someone directly (like at an interview) then bring a hard copy resume. But don’t mail one. </p>

<p>The rumors that you hear that companies ignore online resumes is false in the sense that they there’s a better option? You send a resume to an HR person at a company, what are they supposed to do with it? They need to see an application for a job before they can do anything with it. Maybe some companies will take the time to contact your son if he’s a prodigy, but if he’s anything less why would they bother, he’s made it so inconvenient for them.</p>

<p>I’m in IT now but my previous career was Occupational Therapy. The OT jobs are no longer on the resume because they aren’t relevant. Even so, when I was looking for a new job a couple years ago, a recruiter told me I should only include the last 10 years of work experience and I needed to spell out more clearly everywhere I had worked in that time. I told her I had worked for the same company for 17 years- 6 years as an OT then 11 years in IT. She about fell out of her chair because nobody in IT stays in one place for 11 years, apparently. </p>

<p>The other thing that was difficult to express is- same health system over 17 years but two different careers. Boy is that confusing to people! I could put that I had 11 years in one department in IT, but when they called to confirm my employment history, they would be told I was employed there for 17 years.</p>