Writing your resume:
A scot D om estic Services ow ners. Noeleen
Conway. left, end Corine Cherles ere pictured In
th e ir new locetlon et the Cescede Business
Developm ent Center on PCC Cescede Cempus.
The center rents specs et below m erket cost for
new businesses which will eventuelly locete in the
North/N ortheest Portland eree end gives priority
to women- end minority-owned businesses.
The center wes sterted es e Joint project by PCC,
the City of Portlend Privets Industry Council end
the Portlend Development Commission. Funding
for the project includes both stete end federel
dollers. es w e ll es losns from the Portlend
Development Commission.
Business stetlstlcs show thst 50 80 percsnt of
the smell businesses fsll within five yeers end thet
80 percent of the businesses in Oregon ere clessed
es smell business.
(Photo: Alison McKinney)
W hat do you mean I'm fired?
F ire d ! W h a t am I going to do?
M y mortgage! The house! M y car!
W hat about the children? W hat will
my w ife say? W ill she leave me? I
wonder if ...? I f you find yourself in
this p re d ic a m e n t, here are some
steps to take that might lend some
stability to this traum atic period in
your life.
• E xa m in e your present cash
position. Include cash at hand, like
sa lary , sick p ay, and severance
monies owed to you. Also include
assets which can be easily converted
to cash, i.e. bank accounts, savings
bonds, stocks bonds, leases (cash
v a lu e ), land co n trac ts, and cash
value o f insurance policy.
• Contact your creditors and in
fo rm them o f your status. M an y
decent creditors w ill allow you to
reschedule your debt paym ents so
that they meet the realities o f your
new financial position.
• Register at the unemploym ent
o ffic e im m e d ia te ly if you are en
title d to receive b en efits. These
benefits, if due you, begin the first
day you are out o f work.
• C o n ta c t a F a ir E m p lo y m e n t
Practice agency if you feel you were
wrongly dismissed and have enough
grounds for suing the company. So
this im m ediately because it usually
is a drawn-out process.
• Contact friends in your field of
work to have them look out for op
portunities that might interest you.
Some may owe you favors that can
be repaid w ith a good lead to a
prospective job.
• C all on your contacts in the in
dustry w ho m ight be able to in
tro d uce you to freelance or c o n
sulting work.
• Rewrite your resume and send it
to the com panies o f your choice.
You might need assistance in doing
th is, i f so, there are many
professional em ploym ent services
that will help for a small fee.
Support our youth.
A mind is a terrible
The resume is a necessary tool for
every job hunter and is particularly
critic al to the new gradute. There
are two primary reasons for this:
1. The new graduate usually has
little background and experience to
sell a prospective employer.
2. The level o f competition for en
try-level jobs means that a prospec
tive employer has a wide choice o f
applicants, and first impressions are
important; the resume is frequently
the first impression.
T h e most d iffic u lt p art o f
preparing a resume is deciding how
to make it stand out when so many
people with similar backgrounds are
also in com petition with you. P u t
ting several hundred words on one
(or at the most two) pages in a man
ner that w ill convince someone
whom you have never met that you
should be interviewed is a challenge
re q u irin g your best creative and
composition skills.
Before you begin preparing your
resum e, review w hat you know
about the employment process. The
problem the hiring organization has
is th at nonacceptable candidates
must be sorted out so that there will
be m ore tim e to co n centrate on
plausible applicants. Also, most o f
the subjective jud g m en ts in the
selection process are made in the
early stages. So do not give a poten
tial employer any reason not to in
terview you by sub m ittin g a poor
resume.
Y our resume, then, must presell
you. Personality is not yet a factor,
as there is no in terp erso n al
chemistry at this stage o f the selec
tion process. The p o te n tia l e m
ployer reading your resume has no
way o f kn o w in g w hether you are
b righ t or d u ll, elo qu en t or in a r
ticulate, personable or introverted,
because at this tim e you are just a
co lle ctio n o f facts on a piece o f
paper. It is, therefore, critical that
the proper information be conveyed
on the resume so that a positive
decision w ill be made to interview
you.
M any books have been devoted to
the topic of resumes alone. For our
purposes here, it should sufice to
co n centrate on a few p rac tic al
g u id elin es— some ' ‘ d o ’ s”
and
Length is critical. Lim it it to one
page i f you can, never more than
two. The objective is not to write an
autobiography. O nly highlight your
b ack g ro u n d , q u a lific a tio n s , and
skills to this p o in t in your life ,
noting the re ally p ertin en t in f o r
mation about yourself to make these
facts as attra c tiv e as possible to a
p o te n tial em ployer. T his is essen
tially an inventory o f your abilities
and past accomplishments.
Be accurate, factual, and logical
so that w hat is w ritte n form s a
positive im age in the m ind o f the
reader. D o not vo lu n tee r in f o r
mation that might preclude a fact-
to-fact meeting, such as a specific
geographic preference, a percentage
o f acceptable tra v e l, or absolute
salary requirements.
Tailor the resume to your interests,
hopes, and career am b itio n s by
h ig h lig h tin g the accom plishm ent
related to them. This may seem to
be a d ifficu lt task if you have little
specific w ork experience. I f that's
the case, em phasize interests and
am bition s, as well as your energy
and enthusiasm to apply them.
Be as specific as possible in
stating a jo b o b je c tiv e , w ith o u t
preclud in g yo u rse lf fro m some
situation by stating it too narrowly.
Flexibility is an essential ingredient
in finding the first job. You should
have a number o f options in mind.
For example, you want a marketing
jo b , but you might have to start in
sales. Do not attempt to list separate
optio ns here; change the jo b
preference for your resume as each
option is explored unless it is closely
related to your primary choice. This
may mean m ore than one resume
form at, but, within reason, it could
prove useful to you.
Your jo b descriptions should tell
how results were produced, skills
developed
and
used,
and
promotions attained. Every job has
objectives, even the most menial, so
you should not sell any o f your ex
perience short. An assignment or
two might make a difference in your
fa v o r. T o make your jo b descrip
tions as meaningful as possible, use
short phrases and the most positive
semantics. For instance, rather than
say, “ In my summer jo b at X Y Z
C o rp o ra tio n I was made research
assistant,*’ say. " In my summer job
at X Y Z
C o rp o ra tio n
I was
promoted to research assistant.” In
stead o f “ As assistant in v e n to ry
control clerk, I handled liaison with
o ther d e p a rm e n ts ,” say, “ As
assistant inventory control clerk, I
was responsible fo r lia is o n w ith
other departments.”
Most large organizations tend to
look for specialists, so try to convey
your special skills as m uch as
possible. Emphasize special interests
and ce rtific atio n s achieved or an
ticipated; for example, " W ill work
to w a rd M B A in F in a n c e ,” C e r
tification as engineer;” "Com pleted
C A P e x a m in a tio n " and the lik e .
List any meaningful activities in or
out o f school that are related to
your objectives.
Following are some o f the major
d o ’ s and d o n ’ t's o f resume
preparation:
1. D o n 't attach a photograph o f
yourself. What you think is a good
p icture may not impress anyone
else.
2. D o n ’ t say, “ I ’ m lo o k in g fo r
any kind of work that will utilize my
education.” That may well be inter
preted by the potential employer as
lack o f direction and im m aturity. Be
as specific as possible about a jo b
objective without being too restric
tive.
3. D o n ’ t ind icate a specific
requ ired salary. T h a t w ill be
discussed at the appropriate tim e,
when both parties have established
some m u tu a lity o f interest. T h e
right job should be the key now. I f
you are good at w hat you do and
Let Portland Observer
classifieds
work for you!
call 283-0090
“ don’t ’s".
Careers in banking.
First Interstate Bank of Oregon is proud to offer a wide range of career opportu
nities We have positions for people with all levels of education, and support the
advancement of our employees through many educational and training programs
Here are just a few of our several thousand bank employees throughout Oregon
Ann Williams
Ann began her banking career live years ago. and has beer, w th
First Interstate Bank as a manager in the Beal Estare and Loan
Division since 1983 She has a B A in English and a M A in Library
Sciences Ann chose a career m banking because it allows her to
"build on my academic, professional and personal skills"
Kent Walton
Kent lomed the bank in 1975 as a mangement trainee and is now
assistant manager of the bank's Walnut Park branch A graduate
of the University of Colorado. Kent has also been able to take
advantage of continuing his education through American Institute
of Banking courses
Ann Payne
Ann is assistant v c e president and manager of the bank's Market
Research and Planning Department She has a B A from Notre
Dame, and has been in bank marketing since 1980 She finds her
work both challengmg and rewarding "As an industry m the midst of
deregulation banking offers exciting opportunities for marketing
new products"
R.A. Hatch Construction, Co.
P.O. Box 6179 Bend OR 97708
(503) 238-3646
Page 6 Section II Portland Observer, June 6, 1984
Q
First Interstate Bank
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