Concise Language Improves the Quality of a Résumé Interviewers quickly scan a résumé in about 40 seconds to learn about a job candidate's skills, accomplishments, and attributes. Because interviewers spend such a short time reading résumés, the

Question

writing must be direct and simple. Victor, a recent college graduate, designs a résuméand writes the following statements in his résumé to describe his accomplishments. a) I was a receptionist at a doctor's private practice. My work included taking appointments, filing charts, answering phones, and running errands. b) I was a sales person at a hardware store and was selling windows, doors, and tools and providing other customer services. I eventually became a manager at the hardware store. My responsibilities were ordering products and supplies, as well as supervising five employees. c) I spent two summers working at the university's admission office, showing prospective students around the campus and answering phone calls and performing other clerical duties. d) I was a summer camp counselor for special children. My responsibilities included handling special activities and providing daily assistance to kids as required. Required: Rewrite the work experience section of Victor's résumé to make it more effective.

Answer 1

Rewording should be direct and should use action verbs to begin phrases that are shown in bulleted lists. "I" will be omitted. Locations and dates should be added.
Work Experience:
Receptionist at a physician's clinic, [location], [date]
a) Handled appointments
b) Filed patient records
c) Answered phone calls
d) Performed other clerical duties

Salesperson for hardware store, [location], [date]
a) Provided customer service
b) Sold doors/windows
c) Handled customer queries and complaints

Manager for hardware store, [location], [date]
a) Supervised five employees
b) Developed work schedules
c) Managed inventory
d) Placed orders
e) Assisted customers

Student assistant for university admissions office, [location], [date]
a) Conducted tours of campus
b) Handled telephone calls
c) Performed clerical duties

Counselor at summer camp, [location], [date]
a) Planned and coordinated regular activities for children
b) Provided assistance with routine life skills as required by each child