In this MSU Writing Center produced podcast, writing consultant Elena discusses how to get your resume started.  Have an idea to make your resume better. Leave us a comment below.

Transcript

My name is Elana Adkitns and I am a writing consultant at the MSU's Writing Center. Today I am going to talk to you about starting your resume. We often thinking of resumes as practical texts. they simply present true factual information. This approach isn't the most effective though.

A resume is really a crafted advertisement you use to sell yourself to an employer. When thinking about developing  or revising a resume I think the worst place to start is with a resume template, even a good one. You shouldn't be worrying about format at all at this point. What you should be thinking about is how are going to start crafting an identity for yourself. For this reason I like to think of resumes as works of creative non-fiction.

Creative non-fiction journal editor Lee Goodkin explains that, "Creative non-fictions writers do not make things up. They make ideas and information that already exist more interesting and often more accessible." So a resume is a more interesting and more accessible version of the truth about you. What does it mean to craft an identity basically it means you will pick and choose what advertises you best and will present you in the best light possible. Is you GPA only average? Don't include it. You have lots of volunteer experience but no work experience. Change your resume category. DO you lack relevant expeience in your feild focus on project you completed for class. Sometimes it is hard to tell what information is relevant, so it best to write down everything you can think of. Especially considering education, major class projects, jobs, voulterering, extra curricular activities, organizations, computer skills, and other skills.

These are just a few starting points, you might have stuff to writing down that I didn't even think about. Gathering as much data as possible allows you to see yourself a bit clearer, you might be surprised at the amount inforamtion you have in front of you. The next step will be tailoring this information to your audience, but I think we leave that discussion for another podcast. To learn more resumes or any of your other writing concerns visit writing.msu.edu.

Keep writing!