No Resume? No Problem! Creating a Stellar Resume

By: Jerred, jerred@annarbortees.com

almost 8 years

Our online job application is available here

A resume is a paper snapshot of your experiences and accomplishments, and is the pathway to your interview - if you don’t look good on paper, we’ll never get to meet you in person, despite your awesome personality.

No resume? No problem! Here’s how you make one.

1. Begin by gathering the basic information that you would like to include on your resume. Think education. Think employment. Think volunteer opportunities and extracurricular activities. You’ll want to have the dates handy that you went to school, worked in various positions, and participated in various events. Get this information all down on paper, so it will be simple to organize.

2. Next, organize your thoughts into a resume template. There’s no one ‘right’ way to organize your resume - different people will tell you various things that you should include (e.g., some may recommend a section for Skills or Publications) and in what order to include them. A rule of thumb is to include what is relevant for the job you want.

A basic way to organize is with the following headings:

Basic Information

This should be at the very top of your resume and stand out (and does not need to be a formal heading). Put your name large and in bold, and include your address and contact information (phone number and email).

Objective

Include 1-2 sentences explaining what kind of job experience you are looking for. E.g., Seeking an opportunity to utilize my knowledge of printing technology to and grow in a company that shares my passion for apparel.

Some people nix this section - it is not absolutely necessary, but is another opportunity to express your interest in our company or a specific position.

Education

Indicate where you attended (or perhaps currently attend) school, your graduation date or expected graduation date, your major or concentration area and minor if you have one, your GPA, and any academic honors and awards you have received.

If you are in or have graduated from college or an institute of higher learning, it may not be necessary for you to include your high school education in this section, but it is up to you whether you prefer to include it or not.

Work Experience

This will likely be the heart of your resume. For each job you have held, you will want to include the company or organization name, your job title, and the dates you worked. Your work experiences should be listed in order, most recent to least recent. You will also want to include 3-4 bullet points about your responsibilities and results of your work for each position you held.

Use action words, and be specific and measurable with your bullet points. Perhaps you used to work as an ice cream scooper. To explain your role on your resume, you might write:

  • Gave customers ice cream and made them happy.

But this is not specific or measurable, nor does it show action. Instead, write:

  • Scooped ice cream cones for 50-100 customers daily, resulting in 100% customer satisfaction.

If you’ve held numerous jobs, you may consider not including all of them. Include the 2-3 most recent positions you have held, and then choose which others to include based on relevance to obtaining a job at Ann Arbor T-Shirt Company.

Oppositely, if you have not had any work experience, this does not mean you will not be considered for a position. We understand that you have to start somewhere, and we’re willing to give you that shot, as long as you shine in other areas of your resume!

Volunteer/Extracurricular Activities

Have you participated in any events or activities that make you stand out from others? Here we want to see your leadership experience, and take a peek into your values and interests. Also, we do sell to groups - volunteer and extracurricular. Connections that may help us win a new customer make you valuable to Sales.

You can create your own resume template on a basic word processing program, or to really simplify things, you can download a basic template from the internet and fill in your information (simply Google ‘Resume Template’ - your options will be countless). Some word processing programs, such as Microsoft Word, have pre-made templates for resumes as well that you may find helpful for organization.

3. Once you have your thoughts typed up and organized, put your resume away for a night or two. You’ve undoubtedly been working on it for several hours, and will have more to contribute once you look at it with a fresh pair of eyes.

4. With well-rested eyes, read through your resume again. Does everything sound okay? Perhaps you should reword that bullet point that sounds awkward. Are there any egregious typos? Make edits as you deem necessary.

5. Send it off to a couple people you trust to give you honest feedback (maybe not your mom if you already know she will tell you it looks great no matter what it says). Take a look at the feedback they give you, and seriously consider it. If something is confusing to them or difficult to read, there’s a good chance it may be confusing to us here at Ann Arbor T-Shirt Company as well. Again, make any edits that you deem necessary.

6. Finalize it. There is a good chance that you’ll never completely ‘love’ your resume. You could work on it for countless hours and still not be satisfied. Once you feel that it is excellent, send it in! More details on how to go about this in an upcoming post.

We want to hear from you! Send in your resume to jobs@annarbortees.com after applying here!! Or keep following our blog to find out how to craft the perfect email to send with your resume.


Tags: #employment