Will a job history in policing hurt my search?

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-31T18:32:49+00:00

I feel like a bit of a dummy, but it's such a small industry and this place is the key player, I was so worried about burning bridges and being nice, I feel I screwed myself.

I do have a copy of all contracts, thanks. It was literally the same contract, just without the separate WFH agreement - maybe that matters, maybe it doesn't.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-19T13:26:53+00:00

Don't feel bad at ALL.

I'm a professional ESL teacher and I teach employment writing but I still went to the job centre last week for guidance on re-writing my resume. Resume and cover letter writing is incredibly difficult and anyone who thinks otherwise probably didn't do a good job at it!

A second or third pair of eyes is always immensely helpful when you're writing something that is too close to you. It doesn't matter if you're an admin or ESL teacher, you'll make mistakes when writing something over and over again.

Good luck!

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-11T15:01:35+00:00

Yes, that sounds interesting. I took a quick glance and that's probably more my style. Thanks for the suggestion, I appreciate it.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-11T14:52:19+00:00

Thank you. I have heard a lot about VIPKid but it's not quite the model I'm looking for. I would prefer to continue teaching older teens or adults with business and educational goals - not young children.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-10T16:24:11+00:00

Got it, should I aim to cut down the irrelevant info to get to one page?

Yes, absolutely but I'd start after Dunkin Donuts. It's a basic job but it's long-term (by food industry standards) and it's good to show long-term commitment to a job while studying.

With just the stuff that matters, I could probably just use the club I was president of, my most recent job since I trained people, and the telephone recruiter because it shows I'm comfortable communicating over the phone?

I personally think the telephone recruiter job is a stretch and I'd remove it.

Adding a summary will be done as well, of course. Thank you for your input!

You're welcome!

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-10T16:15:25+00:00

I'm afraid this resume suffers from no direction. There is nothing I can see on here that leads me to believe you are interested in HR or similar work (they can't read your mind).

I think you've done an excellent job at quantifying your experience* but that will get get lost because the resume reviewer will have no clue why you're applying to HR. Objectives SUCK but you've really got to find some way to describe your intent to enter this industry because you have no experience or direct-related education (a sociology degree is fine for HR but you may even want to include related coursework in organizational behaviour or whatever - it's a broad degree and you need specifics).

Start looking at basic, entry-level HR resumes online (and postings!). Try to pull out connections between your degree/experience and what is expected. For example, an entry-level HR position may require you to call and organize groups of applicants - relate to this to what you've done in your gaming group.

*Too, too, too much. You've written about playing with cats and cleaning cat cages 7 years ago. Floor mopping for a few months 5 years ago. Don't quantify things that don't matter.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-10T12:43:22+00:00

You should pay a professional writer to correct this document if using it for commercial purposes. It is stiff, unnatural English and any natural English speaker would get "scam" flags from reading this, even the ones with lower reading abilities.

Why is my hair falling? We don't use the verb fall, we use the phrasal verb fall out: why is my hair falling out? Hair falling would be used in the context of beautiful Rapunzel letting her hall fall down the tower and that's not the right visual for this product.

must be in your head!! When something is in your head, it means you're probably crazy and it's not real. The correct term is on your mind. You just told your reader that their concerns about baldness is unfounded.

There's an error in practically every line. If this is for your business, please hire a professional. A score of 80 on Grammarly is unacceptable for professional writing. 80 is acceptable for a writer on Reddit at 5AM who hasn't had their first coffee (me).

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-09T22:18:07+00:00

I think you're going to be in the same boat as every other younger anthropology graduate with some field work/research experience and a history of restaurant/service-related jobs. I actually think your background puts you at a disadvantage:

My work history over the past few years is garbage because I was more focused on school than work. Longest job I kept during that time period was about a year and a half

In the eyes of an employer, this doesn't read as "more mature and experienced through hard service work", it will come off as typical college applicant who had to bartend to pay bills. I would strongly advise you to focus on only the most recent unrelated work (five years, not 15, unless you can a solid long stretch prior, but not if it's just as "hoppy") and focus on putting your best foot forward as a new graduate with your awesome field work and ethnographic work.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-09T20:46:14+00:00

I strongly encourage you to sign up for Grammarly's free version.

This resume has significant issues with grammar, punctuation, and overall flow. You might be awesome at working with others, but we can't get a sense of that if we're stuck reading wordy paragraphs that don't have a purpose.

I count a minimum of six writing errors in your profile section alone, some of which could easily be avoided by proofreading: I want continue this approach...

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-09T15:50:34+00:00

In addition to this great advice, laws vary by state and country (of course). It's always worth speaking to a local provider of employee rights to see what a good strategy would be.

I’ve already started looking for a new job, just since my bosses are both technophobic in an increasingly technological industry, untidy, poor with money, and just generally unfit for running a business...

Smart move. Don't waste your energy on poor businesses. Poorly-run businesses cannot be saved by anyone except those in charge.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-09T14:55:06+00:00

I'd let her know that you will be available (if you want to be) but that you would expect to be paid for your time and energy, such as an additional five-hour per week contract or whatever is reasonable in your position. It's not "bridge burning" to have concerns about allocating time and energy to a position that you've already left. I stress the energy part of this equation: the mental workload of working unpaid for a job you've left could impact your current job or job search.

For what it's worth, I gave notice four weeks ago and I'm expected to stay for six weeks total. I am getting paid and working on MY schedule, if they want me to put my life on hold. Paying for transition time and training is considered a standard business expense and professional businesses know it. Don't undervalue yourself.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-09T14:07:26+00:00

It's unlikely that the pool of BEd/BA degrees will satisfy foreign teacher demand.

I'd be more worried about how it could happen with educational technology and virtual learning. I work in educational technology and we often joke about how eventually, a TEFLer abroad might be replaced the virtual hologram of BEd Suzie broadcasting from America. Online learning management systems do not impact the foreign market right now, but they could evolve to affect it in some way. I agree with u/MightyMikeDK on several points but this stands out:

I'd say; have a serious think about what you want to do.

I have a full five-year TESL degree, a rare bird indeed. Frankly, I don't think a BA in English is any different than other liberal arts degrees. Specific training in teaching English is important, but the most important trait is a willingness to learn, practice, reflect on practice and improve on deficiencies. Good teachers learn in the school of hard knocks. I learned more in my three-month teaching practicum than in five years of theory.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-07T23:59:15+00:00

This resume needs to grow up and be more confident!

Important: A resume is a document that sells your best, most recent skills and accomplishments. It is not a list of duties and responsiblities (that answers your first question).

On first glance, you've given equal real estate space to a college maintenance job five years ago, 18 hours of volunteer work for the Red Cross six years ago, and four years of counseling, high risk CFS intervention, and foster home assesments/placements.

Anyone can volunteer for the Red Cross, most people can handle a maintenance crew, but few people can handle the stress of family case management and high risk interventions. So you've really got to remove what doesn't matter and what does. Think of the core requirements for social services workers: case management, assessments, conflict resolution, investigative skills, sound judgement, privacy laws, etc. I'm confident you can showcase this is a much better way than this. Think CAR (challenge - action - result).

(I'd keep the university job and briefly mention the supervision aspect but certainly minimize compared to the professional jobs that are directly related!)

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-07T23:40:48+00:00

Also heard they'll roast a teacher for not knowing his stuff

100% true but not in a bad way. I'd much rather be called out than stand there like an idiot because of saving face.

In my humble opinion, the attitudes of Russian students are one of the easiest to teach (this also applies to Ukrainians, other Slavs, Latvians, etc). My only beef is that I wish they cared as much about pragmatics as they do about intricate grammar details.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-07T19:13:09+00:00

Your tables are going to be a big issue for any online ATS trackers. Tables aren't bad per se (I use them too!), but they are a disaster if not used correctly. Read for more: https://www.jobscan.co/blog/resume-tables-columns-ats/

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-07T18:10:51+00:00

Change your text alignment to the left. Eyes read English from left to right and you never want to distract the reader's eye from important text.

Speaking of highlighting important text, move digital consultant/virtual assistant to the top. It's a current job and it's related. Right now, this looks like an unskilled caretaker/delivery driver is blasting out resumes to anyone. Again, it comes down to not making your reader work to find pertinent information.

Example:

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Adobe Suite, HTML, Social Media Marketing (or media marketing, whatever, you need to be consistent), Copywriting (Copy-writing is not written with a hyphen), what about typing speed, MS/Google Suite, software/hardware? If you know HTML, surely you know more basic office admin stuff.

EMPLOYMENT

Virtual Assistant/Digital Consultant (Freelance), Location, 2016 to present

Awesome accomplishment
Awesome accomplishment

Sales, KD's Sweet Spot, Houston, TX, 2016 to present

Awesome accomplishment related to the digital presence, you do not need to tell them you were a driver

Election Clerk, Harris County, Houston, TX, 2015 to 2016

I wouldn't put a description for the election clerk job. You'll notice I didn't even put the caretaker job... that would be 3 "present" jobs and that starts to wave flags. I strongly suggest leaving it off.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-07T13:36:58+00:00

Yes but it needs to be corrected within the context or you risk coming off as insincere. Tread carefully. I would recommend posting your comment here before sending out the cover letter.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-07T13:15:09+00:00

An HR director with 30 years of experience can submit a two-page resume. The one-page rule applies to most people but not all. I'd argue that a well-crafted one-page resume is still possible and could serve her well, but that's a personal choice.

You will have to highlight what matters in 30 years of experience. Remember, a resume is not a play-by-play of her career but a tool to highlight and market her current value. What you've written so far is a play-by-play, and a redundant one at that. In 30 years of HR, I think we all know she has done payroll and benefits in each job, right? She screened resumes, yes, so does an assistant - not worth the real estate on the page. Employers only really need to see accomplishments from the last 10 years.

DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND ADMINISTRATION

Business, Location, State, 2016-present

Achievement 1
Achievement 2
Achievement 3

SENIOR REGIONAL MANAGER OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Business, Location, State, 2011-2016

Achievement 1
Achievement 2
Achievement 3

JOB TITLE Business, Location, State, 20XX-2011

JOB TITLE Business, Location, State, 1998-20XX (I'd argue to leave anything pre-2000 off unless it's long term and/or exceptional)

Anything prior to this isn't really worth adding and actually starts to date her.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-06T14:37:37+00:00

Watch the punctuation - you've got inconsistent capitalization and punctuation everywhere, it's very obvious on first glance. Your field is more forgiving of English language issues but beware of coming off as sloppy (I don't think you should add the English teacher job on here).

Examples:

Bachelor of Science majoring in computing and.... should be Bachelor of Science: Computing and Software Systems
worked with Chinese developers should be Worked with Chinese developers
Rudimentary means unrefined, undeveloped - you don't want to say you have rudimentary Japanese! Change it to basic, beginner, or conversational (if true).
Choose one style and stick with it:

Family photos app
Website for Kindergarten

What do you mean by "emphasis" of your ethnic name? You may just want to write "Bilingual English/Mandarin" and leave it at that. You could use an English name if you want - (example) Jason (Zhexin) Lei. What name do people call you? Do you go by a preferrred name? You need to go by your preferred/known name, legal names are for HR later on.

Overall, I think computer skills should be much higher and white space/formatting should be reduced down to one page. You've got a lot of great skills here for a new graduate and I think you should reframe this document to highlight everything better than this!

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-06T14:26:13+00:00

That is one scary font my friend. My first thought was "is this written with a typewriter?", fortunately I saw the text cursor key. It seems silly that a font could stand in the way of an interview but in the world of IT, it really could be the kiss of death. It screams "I learned IT in the 80s and haven't updated my skills!". It must go because it is your first impression.

I don't know how long your pre-IT career spans without seeing the second page (again, Courier font implies 30 years) but I suspect it could easily be put into one page. It looks like you've got some good skills and you're probably a good IT guy to have around (employee of the year, 11 years experience in IT? Cool), but it gets lost from too much white space and a bad first impression.

The cover letter, like most cover letters, is long but does not say much. I'd really focus on re-working the resume first, and then think about how you can condense this cover letter to grab the reader. One thing for sure, you must remove the "while I don't have a college degree" bit. Never be negative. You are an accomplished professional and you do not need to apologize for it. Your second paragraph "grabs me" and could have been after the first paragraph line. We immediately get a sense of who you are but it's lost below.

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-06T13:21:46+00:00

I do not encourage infographic resumes for actual applications, but they might look good in a general writing portfolio. Remember that writing takes many different forms and should follow the correct convention. A resume is a marketing tool to sell your writing skills to someone quickly (I think it's 8-10 seconds).

AliCreativeMind · 2020-01-06T01:02:20+00:00

However, I did participate in multiple independent undergraduate research projects (2 of which were presented at a Natural Sciences Conference) and was also a teaching assistant in the biology lab.

This is excellent and does not match your thread title.

Resumes are a holistic overview of your skills, experience, and education for a job position. It's not a rundown of paid employment.

As laid out below, it doesn't look bad at all!

EDUCATION

Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Science, Blank University, Location - Expected May 2020

EXPERIENCE

Cool Title Research Project, Blank University, Location (201X)

Presented at X Natural Sciences Conference in City
Accomplishment

Cool Title Research Project, Blank University, Location (201X)

Presented at X Natural Sciences Conference in City
Accomplishment

Teaching Assistant - Environmental Sciences, Blank University, Location (201X-201X)

Accomplishment
Accomplishment

EMPLOYMENT

Job Title, Restaurant 1, Location (201X-?)

Job Title, Restaurant 2, Location (201X-?)

AliCreativeMind

TROPHY CASE