DawnM Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 We are getting TWO resumes together this week. One for DH and one for me. Neither of us has written a resume for 10 years (or longer). He has had the same job for 10 years and I left my job 10 years ago but worked for 17 years before that. Oye. Resumes have really changed. I think we should be ok with the tried and true old fashioned style, shouldn't we? My head is spinning with all these resumes written in 3rd person. Example: Tom Short (address and phone) Then: Tom has served as an executive director for XXX company for the last 12 years. He has done blah, blah, blah and yadda, yadda, yadda and he has earned an award as a top leading whatever. Then: Lists experiences and references WHAT??????????????? It just sounds so strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Dh is applying for another company as he feels he has hit the ceiling of what he can learn from working for his current company. I am applying for a part time position in something I have never done before but do have a degree for. I need to write a cover too and explain that my skills from my 17 years can indeed translate to the new position I am applying for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Check around on Monster and other sites. Not every resume is in third person - it sounds strange to me too. There are many different acceptable options. I think Monster has an area where they tailor resume style to your field of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 This is my favorite resume site: http://susanireland.com/ I particularly like the "problem solved" samples, which I used to rewrite my very old resume when I was getting back into paid word post-homeschooling. We also used suggestions from this site when my husband recently avoided a layoff by transitioning to a new position with the same company. I don't remember seeing any samples there with descriptions written in the third person. That does sound odd. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Of my various gigs over the years, I have been a professional résumé writer. I do not write them like your example at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Check on around on Monster and other sites. Not every resume is in third person - it sounds strange to me too. There are many different acceptable options. I thnk Monster has an area where they tailor resume style to field of work. Oh we have. We know that not all are like that, but he is looking specifically at folks in his firm and they are almost all like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 We are getting TWO resumes together this week. One for DH and one for me. Neither of us has written a resume for 10 years (or longer). He has had the same job for 10 years and I left my job 10 years ago but worked for 17 years before that. Oye. Resumes have really changed. I think we should be ok with the tried and true old fashioned style, shouldn't we? My head is spinning with all these resumes written in 3rd person. Example: Tom Short (address and phone) Then: Tom has served as an executive director for XXX company for the last 12 years. He has done blah, blah, blah and yadda, yadda, yadda and he has earned an award as a top leading whatever. Then: Lists experiences and references WHAT??????????????? It just sounds so strange. The standard for resumes is to leave off names and pronouns (except at the top, obviously), not necessarily to use third person. It would just be "Served as executive director for the past 12 years. Delivered blah blah blah and responsible for yadda, yadda, yadda." I've never said "I" or "She" in a resume. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 The standard for resumes is to leave off names and pronouns (except at the top, obviously), not necessarily to use third person. It would just be "Served as executive director for the past 12 years. Delivered blah blah blah and responsible for yadda, yadda, yadda." I've never said "I" or "She" in a resume. I hadn't either, that is why I am asking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I hadn't either, that is why I am asking. AFAIK, that hasn't changed—at least not in my area. I just saw a stack of resumes several months ago for a job opening in my department. ETA: It looks like using 3rd person is becoming more common, but my brief research indicates that it's not perceived as a positive change and sounds pretentious. I'd stick with the traditional format. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 AFAIK, that hasn't changed—at least not in my area. I just saw a stack of resumes several months ago for a job opening in my department. ETA: It looks like using 3rd person is becoming more common, but my brief research indicates that it's not perceived as a positive change and sounds pretentious. I'd stick with the traditional format. But it has. Several resumes posted to his firm's site have the 3rd person thing going on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Anyway, he changed it. He had it in 3rd person and I told him it was very strange and to change it. It is now all in 1st person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyacinth Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I've been a Certified Professional Resume Writer for nearly ten years, and the industry standard (still) is not to use pronouns. LinkedIn profiles tend to use the first person. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Ok, I need some of you professional resume writers to help me! Particularly since I haven't worked for 10 years. What do you charge? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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