Carrie writes, “I’m trying to break into modeling. Can you tell me how I should write my resume?”Carrie, here are a few guidelines for modeling resumes to get you started:1. Keep your resume concise — the resume should be printed or taped on the back of an 8×10 photo. You may also include a collage of smaller photos to show diverse looks on the back of the resume.2. Add personal characteristics such as age, height and weight, clothing size, measurements, hair color, eye color, and shoe size to help match you to suitable assignments.3. Include a section for the types of work you’re available for (e.g., runway, print ads, tradeshows, etc.).4. Provide a list of modeling assignments completed, if any, and include the name of the publication/show, location, and date.5. Include any modeling training completed.Good luck launching your modeling career!
Resume Tips for Models
Return to Work with a Winning Resume
Handling a Work Hiatus On Your Resume
by Kim Isaacs, Monster’s Resume Expert
Whether it’s been six months or 10 years, searching for a job after a workforce absence can be daunting. The work world somehow continued without you, and you may feel like you’ve been left behind.
The good news is that you can reenter the workforce armed with a dynamic resume and a proactive job search plan. Whether you’ve been unemployed and looking for work, on sabbatical, raising a family, caring for an ill family member, attending school, on disability or in retirement, follow these tips to create your resume.
Before You Write Your Resume
- Assess Your Skills and Experience: Research your job target to learn what hiring managers now find desirable in ideal candidates. Write a list of your matching skills, experience, training and personal attributes. How would an employer benefit from hiring you?
- Refresh Your Skills: Your research might have shown that some of your skills need to be updated. Because you are competing with job seekers who have been on steady career tracks, do what is necessary to compete successfully. Enroll in courses, study independently and practice your skills whenever possible. This will boost your confidence and get you back in the game.
- Maintain Ties to the Working World: Besides being a great opportunity to network, immersing yourself in professional activities will give you relevant, recent experience to add to your resume. Do volunteer work, join a professional organization, attend conferences, complete freelance and consulting projects, and accept temporary assignments.
When Writing Your Resume
- Pick the Right Format: Many people returning to work assume they need a functional resume to hide the gap. But be careful about selecting this format, because hiring managers might suspect you’re trying to hide something. You might do better with a combination resume, which is a reverse-chronological resume that leads with a Qualifications Summary. The summary emphasizes your most related credentials so hiring managers readily see your qualifications. Consider a functional format only if you’ve been out of work for many years and you need to emphasize your functional skill set.
- Accentuate the Positive: Organize your resume so your key selling points are immediately evident. The top third of page one is the most important part of your resume, so include your most marketable skills and experience there. If you are concerned about your time gap, think about creative ways to obscure it. Maybe you traveled internationally and can mention your exposure to different cultures and languages. Perhaps you led or participated in a fund-raising event for a charity. Continuing education, volunteer work, professional development and independent study are all valid uses of your time while out of the workforce. Try to tie in how your experience relates to your career goal. Convince employers that you still have what it takes to contribute to organizational goals despite your workforce absence.
- Don’t Call Attention to Dates: Try not to emphasize dates when formatting your resume. Avoid surrounding dates with white space, which will draw the eye. Instead, place them in parentheses next to your job titles.
- Put Your Cover Letter to Work: Use your cover letter to explain why you temporarily stepped away from your career, emphasizing that you’re now available and excited about pursuing employment. Let your enthusiasm for reentering the workforce shine through your letter.
Remember, you will need to work harder at job searching than colleagues with recent work experience do. Keep an open mind and positive attitude. You might need to take a pay cut or accept a position at a lower level than the one you had before you left. It might be a blow to the ego, but the reality is that employers like to hire workers with a recent track record. If you accept a position at a lower level than desired, use it as an opportunity to prove yourself and you’ll soon work your way back up the ladder.
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Copyright 2013- Monster Worldwide, Inc. All Rights Reserved. You may not copy, reproduce or distribute this article without the prior written permission of Monster Worldwide. This article first appeared on Monster, the leading online global network for careers. To see other career-related articles visit http://content.monster.com
This article was written by Kim Isaacs, director of ResumePower.com and author of The Career Change Resume book. Visit ResumePower.com to learn more about resume services to jump-start your career.
Can You Use a P.O. Box on a Resume?
John asks, “Do employers care if an applicant uses a PO Box as a mailing address? I’m concerned about privacy and don’t want my real address circulating all over the internet.”
It used to be a bad idea to include a P.O. box on a resume — many employers were suspicious and wondered why a street address wasn’t listed. Times have changed, and use of P.O. boxes on resumes is becoming more common as job seekers try to protect their private contact information. Employers still want to know where you live, but if the P.O. Box is in your hometown, it’s not a problem. Just make sure to include a zip code so that you turn up in applicant searches if you are a local candidate. Also, keep in mind that if an employer is interested in you, you will most likely be contacted by phone or email.
Proofread Your Resume
Did you proofread your resume today? A resume with even one typo can send it right to the “circular file.” Check out Indiana University’s excellent primer on proofreading:“Proofreading for Common Surface Errors: Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar”To your success,Kim
Resume Critique Checklist
If you’ve been asked to review a resume or would like guidelines to make sure yours is good to go, download our free Resume Critique Checklist (Adobe PDF format). The checklist provides a quick way to evaluate a resume’s first impression, resume sections, use of accomplishments, writing style, and other key factors that can make or break a resume. Be sure to address any factors that received a “No” response — your resume needs to be perfect to compete in today’s job market.
Stamp Diet Resolution: Broken
I hate New Year’s resolutions, and I didn’t even make it to February with my 2007 Stamp Diet. Yesterday, I had to go to the P.O. for a perfectly legitimate reason, and the clerk was taking quite some time analyzing my boxes and trying to figure out shipping. I tried to divert my eyes, but the sparkly displays with the DC Comics Super Heroes stamps and the Valentine’s Day With Love and Kisses stamps were talking to me. I asked for the stamps in an addict’s voice, almost seeking permission to buy them when the clerk asked, “Do you have a problem with stamps?” Yes, I do. And in a sick kind of way, he wanted me to have them and gladly sold them to me. Enabler! He did say that if that’s my worst addiction, I’m in good shape. That works for me! Here’s to a fresh start in 2008.
Proofread Your Resume
I’ve been interviewing recruiting professionals from Hudson, a leading staffing and recruitment firm, for an article on the top resume mistakes made by job seekers. Surprise, surprise — typos lead the list of pet peeves. In fact, one error on your resume can send it directly to the circular file without even landing in resume purgatory for a possible second look.
Job seekers: It’s time to take back your power. You know you can do the job, so stop taking yourselves out of the running by making silly mistakes on your resumes. If there can be a National Squirrel Appreciation Day, then surely there can be a National Proofread Your Resume Day. I declare this day to be February 1 — by then, those pesky New Year’s resolutions will have waned and there will be more time to focus on perfecting your resumes.
Of course, you can start proofreading your resume now, which is a good idea if you’re in an active job search. Whatever you do, don’t rely on spellcheck — it doesn’t catch everything. I like Jacci Howard Bear’s About.com primer on how to proofread text and layout. If you doubt your proofreading abilities, enlist the help of a pro. Check out the following article on what can happen if you fail to proofread your resume:
Ten Classic Resume Bloopers: Know Them So You Won’t Make Them
by Kim Isaacs
Monster’s Resume Expert
If you’ve ever watched those TV blooper shows, you know how funny slip-ups, gaffes and blunders can be. But while laughter may be good for the soul, it’s certainly not the response you want your resume to produce.
Baby Boomers (or Gen-X and Gen-Y fans of Nick at Nite) will recall the often hilarious pronouncements of Archie Bunker, the patriarch of the popular 1970s sitcom “All in the Family.” With just a slight slip of the tongue, Archie’s intended meanings frequently became completely convoluted (e.g., “consecration” instead of “concentration” and “mental pause” instead of “menopause”).
If your resume contains any such Archie-like malapropisms, it’s sure to be memorable, but it won’t leave the lasting impression you’re shooting for. Proofread your resume meticulously, and share it with trusted friends and colleagues to make sure you haven’t inadvertently substituted one word for another. Keep in mind that your computer’s spellcheck function often will not catch these errors, since the problem is one of incorrect word choice rather than misspelling.
To help ensure that your resume finds its way to the interview pile and not the circular file, avoid these 10 classic resume bloopers, culled from real-life resumes of job seekers from all levels, industries and career fields:
- “Revolved customer problems and inquiries.” Just what every employer is looking for — an expert in passing the buck.
- “Consistently tanked as top sales producer for new accounts.” Sales managers aren’t likely to be impressed with this self-proclaimed underachiever.
- “Dramatically increased exiting account base, achieving new company record.” If customer accounts were leaving in droves as this statement implies, it’s probably fair to assume that this candidate also tanked as a top sales producer.
- “Planned new corporate facility at $3 million over budget.” Every hiring manager is searching for employees who exceed budgets by millions of dollars.
- “Directed $25 million anal shipping and receiving operations.” Either this person is showcasing compulsively stubborn management qualities, or he has a challenging product packaging/storage problem.
- “Participated in the foamation of a new telecommunications company.” This job seeker was also in charge of bubble control.
- “Promoted to district manger to oversee 37 retail storefronts.” This is a common resume typo. There must be literally thousands of mangers looking for jobs in today’s modern world. Here’s a tip: Use your word-processing program’s find/replace feature to quickly correct this common mistake. You can also modify your application’s spelling dictionary so it won’t recognize the word “manger.”
- “Experienced supervisor, defective with both rookies and seasoned professionals.” Many of us have had a boss like this at some point in our careers, but you usually don’t find them being so up-front about their leadership inadequacies.
- “I am seeking a salary commiserate with my training and experience.” There are a couple problems with this statement. To begin with, salary requirements don’t belong on a resume. Secondly, a salary should be “commensurate” with experience (meaning proportionate to), not “commiserate” with (meaning to express sympathy for).
- “Seeking a party-time position with potential for advancement.” Sounds like a fun job.
Copyright 2012 – Monster Worldwide, Inc. All Rights Reserved. You may not copy, reproduce or distribute this article without the prior written permission of Monster Worldwide. This article first appeared on Monster, the leading online global network for careers. To see other career-related articles visit http://content.monster.com
This article was written by Kim Isaacs, director of ResumePower.com and author of The Career Change Resume book. Visit the ResumePower.com site to learn more about resume services to jump-start your career.
A Good Resume Starts with Good Organization
My father’s electronic inventions were always accompanied by diagrams that could make my head spin. But when he sat down to explain the schematics — breaking down the functions of each component — they actually started to make sense. Enough sense that I was able to explain and answer any questions about my third grade science project — a wireless remote entry dollhouse. The lesson learned is that all components were interrelated, and worked in tandem to produce the desired result.The same holds true for a resume’s organization. If you want to impress hiring managers with your excellent academic credentials because your work history is limited, place Education before Experience to draw attention to your degree. If you’re returning to a former career and would like to highlight your earlier experience, break your work history in two and move your related jobs to the top of your Experience section. Use common sense when organizing your resume — lead with your strongest selling points, omit information that doesn’t help market you, and be sure to end with a bang (testimonials are a great way to end your resume with a “Wow!” factor).Review your resume and look at its organization. Is each section strategically placed to produce the desired result — more phone calls for job interviews?
ASCII Resumes: Learn How to Convert Your File
How to Create an ASCII Resume
by Kim Isaacs, Resume Expert and Director of ResumePower.com
The following instructions are meant to be a basic guide to preparing your ASCII resume. There’s a lot you can do with ASCII, so feel free to play around with keyboard symbols to see what works for you. Your resume should be easy to skim, consistent, and attractive given the limitations of plain text.
To create an ASCII resume using MS Word:
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Open your Word document, go to Save As, and under “Save as Type,” select “Plain Text.” Give the file a new name like YourName_ASCIIforWebforms. Important – check the box “Allow Character Substitution.” Click “Save” to save the new file.
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Exit Word and open Notepad (Notepad can be found on Windows systems by going to Start> All Programs> Accessories> Notepad).
- Change bullets to asterisks or dashes if they didn’t convert properly after you saved as text.
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Make sure the text is coherent, especially if columns or tables were used in the original document.
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Review the heading to ensure that the address, phone number(s), and e-mail addresses are placed in a logical sequence.
- Add stylistic elements to the header sections so that they stand out. A horizontal line may be created by using a series of dashes or asterisks. Example:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Professional Experience
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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If you have a cover letter (which you should!), paste the letter on page one (before the resume). Remove extra line breaks by the signature line and add the word “RESUME” where the resume is about to start. Example:
Sincerely,
John Doe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
R E S U M E
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Remove contact information and page data from the secondary pages if your resume is longer than one page. So information such as “John Doe Resume – Page Two” and “ABC Company, accomplishments, continued” should be removed. The ASCII resume is meant to be read on a computer screen, so there is no distinction between pages.
- Add a line break before and after job titles to help them stand out.
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Place “Key Accomplishments” (or whatever the Accomplishments section is called) on its own line preceded by a couple of dashes.
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Add an extra line between bullets if you have text-intensive bullets. Large paragraphs of plain text can be cumbersome to read.
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Add two spaces between sections and between jobs.
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Look for and remove special characters that might have crept in, such as accents over the “e” in “resume” or “San Jose”). Look for special characters that might have morphed into something like the letter “n” or “?” or “1” – this could happen by the address header if symbols were used to separate phone, city, etc. Symbols may also appear in the Education section if symbols were used to separate courses, schools, etc.
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Look for bullets that have sub-bullets (it’s necessary to refer to the original resume), and use a dash to indicate sub-bullets.
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Carefully review the document to make sure the resume is perfect and nothing strange is left in the file.
When you’re ready to email your resume or post to an online form, just open the appropriate file, select the text, copy, and paste the text to the message box or form. Remember to customize the cover letter to suit the opportunity.
You can view an ASCII sample here:
ASCII Resume Sample: TV Network Operations Manager
Best wishes for success with your ASCII documents, and let me know how your job search is going!
Resume Services: You Get What You Pay For
Last night, I spent several frustrating hours trying to plan a trip to London. I used to go regularly and miss my friends too much to put it off any longer. Well, I was in for a shock on the airline prices — round-trip for two was over $1000 (taxes and fees were actually higher than the fare!). Realizing I shouldn’t have spent my credit card points on holiday gift cards, I had to start the mental process of accepting the higher fares.I started thinking about all that I get with my ticket: The employees at Virgin Atlantic who will make the pre-and post-flight enjoyable; the chance to be shot into the sky on a B747 and land safely on the other side of the Atlantic (luggage included, fingers crossed); and inflight goodies like individual TVs on every seat, food and drinks, and a cute little amenity kit (even given to us commoners in Economy Class); and the list goes on and on. When I think about it, the airlines are offering excellent value.I’ll have to remember the initial price shock when some potential clients question the fee for a professionally prepared resume (“You charge how much for a resume?”). They may not realize how much work is involved in creating a dynamic resume that will change the course of their job searches. We spend hours researching the client’s career goal; strategically writing the document to create a value proposition; designing a layout that will stand out from the crowd; rewriting, editing, and proofreading until the resume is perfect; and providing excellent customer service throughout the process. Clients also benefit from the years of education and expertise we’ve developed in the field, and can give them an edge even with tricky situations like job-hopping, employment gaps, or a career change. When the resume starts to generate interviews — often at much higher salary levels than expected — clients have received excellent value.There’s no doubt that our clients receive high-quality services, just like Virgin Atlantic offers high value for their fee. I’m off to book my tickets…