God I hate resumes...and I have a question Forum

[tx1987]

One of my job duties for a job was general office work, so I put

 Performed general administrative/clerical work, including answering the main phone line, filing, and assisting visitors.

Is that ok? Or does it sound stupid/unprofessional? Also, I've asked this before, but if I had a job in the service industry during college, do I put that on there? I also had another job at the time and was going to school part time.

[fathergoose]

I don't think it sounds bad. And most school give you 2 or 3 pages for your resume so I'd be as thorough as you can be without fluffing.

[tx1987]

I don't think it sounds bad. And most school give you 2 or 3 pages for your resume so I'd be as thorough as you can be without fluffing.

Oh really? I just read that a TLS article that says to limit it to 3 bullet points under each job listing.

[fathergoose]

I don't think it sounds bad. And most school give you 2 or 3 pages for your resume so I'd be as thorough as you can be without fluffing.

I'd agree that's right most of the time but if someone has enough meaningful experiences to write more, they should (assuming they don't fluff or repeat themselves)

[Rand M.]

I don't think it sounds bad. And most school give you 2 or 3 pages for your resume so I'd be as thorough as you can be without fluffing.

Oh really? I just read that a TLS article that says to limit it to 3 bullet points under each job listing.

GENERALLY more than 3 bullet points would = fluffing/not useful.

[tx1987]

Ok, that makes sense. Also, what about the service industry thing? I only really want to put it on there because it shows that I had two jobs while in college, which will hopefully explain my lack of extracurriculars. And should I mention IN my resume that it was my second job, like just in case they don't catch on with the dates and everything. I just really want them to know this so that I might get back any point I lose in extracurriculars.

[Marisa5252]

First: I would take out the word "general" so it just says "performed administrative....."

Second: Include the service industry thing - but I wouldn't bother mentioning in the resume it was your second job. They'll see the dates.

[hsprophet]

Some schools want you to list all jobs on the app, even if you cleaned toilets. A resume is a different matter. My philosophy is to put relevant work history. If you are applying for a job as a lawyer, you don't need to put on your resume that you had a part-time job in high school at McDonalds.

I'd put three jobs on the resume, even if they were flipping burgers. You need to show that you have work history. If you have more than three, leave off ones that have no relevance. Now if you were not in school, you need to show what you did during that time, even if it wasn't relevant. But feel free to leave off some part-time work during school. You just need to decide which ones were the most relevant. Jobs you held for long periods, ones that required analytical skills, and ones relevant to law need to be put on there.

You don't need to embelish your jobs on the resume if the aren't relevant. It just takes up space. If you worked at McDonald's, just say your position as a cook and leave it at that (unless you were in management). No bullets or explanation necessary.

As for your office clerk position, I would not put any explaination. Everyone knows what an office clerk does. Think like an adcomm. Do they really care about the details of being an office clerk? If the job isn't relevant to law, they just want to see that you had a job. You can put a short explaination if it makes the resume look better asthetically.

I put explainations on my resume for my jobs because it's not obvious from my job title what the job actually entailed.

[gatorlion]

I disagree with the "relevant work experience" statement. I listed everything I have done (sans retail jobs) to paint a portrait of someone having a sincere interest in environmental issues. That is, I listed all of my research and policy-oriented jobs pertaining to the environment. Not everyone filed and stapled for a year as a legal assistant at a V100 after college...

[hsprophet]

I disagree with the "relevant work experience" statement. I listed everything I have done (sans retail jobs) to paint a portrait of someone having a sincere interest in environmental issues. That is, I listed all of my research and policy-oriented jobs pertaining to the environment. Not everyone filed and stapled for a year as a legal assistant at a V100 after college...

Your environmental work sounds relevant to me. When I said "relevant to law" I didn't mean that to confined to strictly legal work.