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Creating Your Portfolio - Basic Classes

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In this lesson you will learn:

  1. Tools For Building your Résumé
  2. Making a Cover Sheet
  3. thank You Letters
  4. Writing your Résumé
  5. Parts of the Résumé
  6. Education
  7. References
Tools For Building Your Résumé
  1. Résumé Worksheet 1
  2. Résumé Worksheet 2
  3. References Worksheet
  4. Application for Employment

    Fill in once and take it with you for job applications.
Cover Sheet, Interviews & Power Words
  1. Cover Letter Instructions
  2. Cover Letter Example 1
  3. Interview Questions
  4. Power Words For Résumés
Thank You Letters
  1. Thank You Letters
  2. Thank You Letter (Example 1)
  3. Thank You Letter (Example 2)
  4. Thank You Letter (Example 3)
  5. Safety on the Job
Writing Your Résumé
Which one?

A résumé focuses on your experiences in different jobs in 1 or 2 pages. It lists the dates of employment from the most recent to the past and shows the Name of the Employer, your dates of start and finish, your job title (what positions you held) and why you left their employment.

As a general rule it is important to show stability in holding a job, but for most students there are reasons for moving on so explain clearly why you left.

The jobs listed should relate to the job you are trying to get, so some gaps in employment will be normal. These are explained in the interview.

If you have never had a job, you may choose to write a functional résumé. A functional résumé focuses on your skills and experience - what you can do.

You can write a combination résumé that includes both your skills and experience along with your employment history.

Open Microsoft Word.

A CV (Curriculum Vitae) can be very long and lists details of past experience, career changes, employment assets to the future company etc.

How Many?

Make two or three different résumés that have different job listings and submit only the one that shows the best experiences in the jobs applied for. By making different résumés for different types of jobs you are applying for you can use your employment history list to reinforce the idea that you are qualified because you have done it before. So try to list jobs that mainly relate to the future. Cooking for restaurants, health care for health, manual labor for industrial etc.

How?
  1. Start >> All Programs >> Microsoft Office >> Microsoft Office Word.
  2. Press the 'File' menu or the colored “Office Button” on the top left of the screen.
  3. Select 'New'.
  4. In the window that opens , in the left pane scroll until you see “résumés”.
  5. In the middle window, select 'basic'.
  6. In the right window click on 'I Accept'.
  7. In the middle window, click one time on a résumé.

    8. In the middle window select different résumés to see how each will look.

  8. In the right window the résumé you select will show the layout, white space and colors.

    9. When you find the résumé you want, double click it.

  9. Save the file using the File >> Save As >> with your first and last name (Looks Professional) as a Word Document.
  10. Save it to your student folder.

If you do not have a student folder then create a new one with your first and last name inside of the 'Students' folder.

Parts of the Résumé

Objective: An objective describes why you want the job and what type of job you want.

EXAMPLES:

Objective:

A full-time-time position working as an entry-level receptionist where my excellent customer service skills can be used and developed.

OR

An entry-level position that will allow me the opportunity to use my current skills and past work experience.

Experience:

List all of your previous jobs (up to 10 years and under) that relate to that job and the start and end dates of employment.

Examples of skills and achievements:

See Power Words for résumés

  1. Ability to handle pressure
  2. Believe in a strong work ethic
  3. Enjoy working with the public
  4. Bilingual – (language name) and English
  5. Excellent telephone skills
  6. Understanding formatting of business letters, memos and reports
  7. Customer Service
  8. Book keeping
  9. Record Keeping
  10. Critical thinking
  11. Typing – ( number) words per minute (show certification if you have it)
  12. Ten-Key (number) keys per minute (show certification if you have it)
  13. Software – Windows XP, Word, Excel
  14. Show certifications if you have them in
    1. Office Computing Basics
    2. Word Processing Basics
    3. Spreadsheet Basics
    4. Presentation Basics
    5. Database Basics
    6. Internet Basics
    7. Keyboarding - Basic
Education:

Follow the outline on the résumé program and include the following info:

          Name of the School

          City / State of the School

          Course of Study: GED, Computers, workplace success, life skills, or other classes
References

On the résumé: References: Available on request

References are your character witnesses. Employers need to know who you are as a person on three levels:

1. The Professional reference person can speak to teamwork, conduct, strengths in the workplace, work ethics etc.

2. The Workplace reference can speak to being a team player, leader, good follower etc. as a fellow employee.

3. The Personal reference can speak about your character, friendliness, family etc.

On the next or different page:

On a separate sheet list three references
          Name 

          Title (who they are to you) 

          Local Phone Number
1st - Professional

A teacher, doctor, nurse, landlord, counselor, caseworker etc.)

2nd - Work Related

A former employer,co worker, supervisor, boss, someone that can vouch for your work ethic, etc.

3rd - Personal

No Relatives! A neighbor, friend, pastor, someone who can vouch for our character etc.

After proof reading and making corrections on regular paper print outs, use high quality résumé paper to print.

NOTE: These are posted for student and staff educational & class use.

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