a) Retrieve or create your resume
If you already have a resume (hopefully, most of you do!), you just need to find your file and move to the next steps where you will modify your regular resume to create a "Web-friendly resume".
If you have a resume but it is not in MS Word (e.g. if it's in a different program like Corel WordPerfect, MS Publisher, etc.), you will need to save / export to a MS Word compatible format in order to complete the following steps.
Here are a few resources that might help if you need to convert your resume to MS Word format from another application:
WordPerfect to MS Word
Opening various file formats in MS Word
If you don't already have a resume, you will need to create a resume using MS Word.
Sample finance related resumes
Sample marketing related resumes
b) Create keyword list
The next step is to use MS Word's indexing functionality to create a Keywords List section at the end of your resume. Approximately 50% of employers use electronic keyword searching of resumes to find or shortlist their potential employees (i.e instead of reading and sorting through a big pile of print-based resumes, they often require job seekers to submit an electronic copy of their resume... they then search all their electronic copies of the resumes to find keywords of specific skills or designations they are looking for).
Here is a guide for how to create an index in MS Word 2007 (when you create a keyword list, this is really just an index but you can call it Keyword List)
If there are important skills that you have that you think employers might search for, make sure those words are included on your resume since the computer program that automatically searches for keywords normally can't read "between the lines". If there are some keywords that you think are especially important to employers you may want to include those words in your resume several times. This will increase your "keyword density". Of course, you want to still make your resume readable and not overdue it with repeating the same words.
Another benefit of adding a keywords list and considering your resume's keyword density is that it will make it easier for search engine "robots" to search your site and appropriately index your website, increasing your chances of someone finding your e-portfolio when typing your name in a search engine (because we have set up the privacy settings so people must be invited before being able to access your e-portfolio, this benefit will be reduced however).
The first step of creating an index in MS Word is to "mark" all the words that you want included in your keyword list. If you forget how to mark up words for an index, use the MS Word help menus to guide you (hint: you access the index dialogue box from Insert Reference Tables and Index).
At the end of your resume, you should then create a heading that says "Keyword List" or something similar (e.g. "Keywords", "Skills summary" etc.).
Below this heading, you can then create your index. Again, if you forget how to create an index, use the MS Word help menus for guidance.
Here is an example of a keyword section at the end of a resume...
Here is the MS Word file of the sample above. Notice how the words in the index (keywords list) have been "marked up".
c) Spell check your resume
There is nothing worse than having spelling errors on your resume! Before we create an HTML version (Web version) of your resume, you should use MS Word's spellcheck functionality to ensure you don't have any spelling mistakes. You may also want to use the grammar check.
d) Link to your resume from your e-portfolio
Once you have created / refined your resume, you should upload it to your file storage space (e.g. Box.net). You can then create a posting or sidebar link from your e-portfolio to the location where your resume is stored.
e) Add the URL of your "public e-portfolio" to your resume
Note: Instructions for this step will be available on Friday, Oct. 10th (they are related to the Step 8 instructions that will also be available on Oct. 10th).
No comments:
Post a Comment