Create an effective resume or improve the one you already have. Transform your resume into a powerful tool that will get you interviews. This workshop will lead you through a self-assessment series so you will have extensive knowledge about the product you are marketing YOU! Learn different resume formats and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Write an employment objective that shows potential employers that you have direction. Make the most of your work experience. Know what to reveal in a resume, and what to keep to yourself. Learn to overcome gaps in work history and age discrimination. Discover how to use references to your advantage. This course includes the use of online resumes and Internet Resume Secrets. This course is invaluable for anyone who wants to create their own resume, or learn how to write resumes and cover letters for profit.

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Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

In our first lesson, we're going to discuss what a resume is and why you need one. Then we'll go over the six sections of a resume: Heading, objective, education, work experience, special skills, and references, and you'll learn how job seekers utilize each one to market themselves to prospective employers. We'll finish up the lesson by discussing some other resources on the Internet where you can look over sample resume headings and objectives.

Friday - Lesson 02

Today, we'll outline the skills that you've developed in five areas of your life—work, education, internships, volunteering, and extracurricular activities. Then we'll edit those skills down to the ones that are most relevant to employment, and choose an important skill for each area. Next, we'll come up with personality traits, and narrow those down to the ones that are useful in a business setting. I'm going to ask you to list the three accomplishments that you're most proud of, and the skills that you used to make these goals come to fruition.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

In this lesson, we're going to cover the rules of resumes. For instance, a resume should be only one page, and it should be laser-printed or typeset by a professional printer, and it should be printed on bond paper. You're also going to learn what not to include on your resume, and why it's perfectly acceptable to use the word "I" on your resume if you so desire. We'll conclude the lesson with a discussion about Truth in Resume Writing. Through example, I'm going to demonstrate how to portray job duties in the best possible light without getting yourself into trouble.

Friday - Lesson 04

In Lesson 4, you'll learn about the most popular style of resume—the chronological resume. In this type of resume, you'll list work experience in reverse chronological order. Your current or last position is listed first in the work experience section of your resume. We'll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this type of resume. You'll also learn how to minimize a gap in work history. Although many people will have a few small gaps in work history, too many gaps, and gaps that are too large will put prospective employers on alert.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

In this lesson, we're going to go over the other two resume formats—the functional resume and the hybrid—the combined resume. Although not as popular as the chronological resume, these resume formats do fulfill a need for some job seekers. Employees who are following a new direction in their career, or who don't have much experience for a particular position, may choose a functional format. You'll learn the differences between functional resumes and chronological ones, and as part of the lesson, we'll look at four people's chronological resumes and practice converting them into functional and combined resumes.

Friday - Lesson 06

In this lesson, we're going to concentrate on your resume. We'll discuss how to set up the heading of your resume and the options you have available to you when you're doing so. Then we'll look at some sample resume headings. You'll learn how to write a persuasive objective for your personal resume, and then we'll discuss career profiles and summaries of qualifications. We'll also go over examples of objectives, career profiles, and summaries. Finally, we'll look at the education section of your resume and discuss what's included in an honors section.

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

In this lesson, we're going to discuss references. We'll begin by looking at examples of two reference letters written by two different individuals. Then, we'll discuss how to request a reference letter, and take a look at a sample dialogue of this. We'll discuss the different people you could request a letter from, and take a look at the difference between a regular reference and a sealed reference. Later, we'll look at a sample reference sheet that you can use as a model to construct your own. We'll finish up with some examples of how you can refer to your references on your resume.

Friday - Lesson 08

In today's lesson, you'll learn how to turn job descriptions into advertising copy. Your resume is an advertisement for a product, and you are the product, and your potential employer is the customer. You need to express the features (actual description of your product) and the benefits (how it will help or aid the customer) of the product. You must be as persuasive and specific as possible when describing your features and benefits. Finally, we'll discuss company job descriptions and why they're important to you.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

In today's lesson, you'll learn all about technical resumes (resumes for engineering, data processing, and other technical and management careers). We're going to discuss how these resumes differ from traditional resumes. You'll learn about buzzwords, and find out how to use them effectively on a technical resume. Then you'll learn some writing tips for technical resumes, and we'll go over a recommended technical resume format. We'll finish up the lesson by looking over some examples of technical resumes—one chronological and one functional.

Friday - Lesson 10

In this lesson, you'll learn the three methods that employers use to locate a job candidate on the Internet. We're going to discuss resume banks, search engines, and newsgroups. I'll explain what you need in order to get Internet access, and the three versions you'll need in order to post your resume on the Web. We'll go over keywords and other online resume tips, and I'll explain why you need to protect yourself on the Internet, as well as ways to accomplish this. We'll finish up with a discussion about how to post your resume

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

In Lesson 11, you're going to learn how to write an effective cover letter. I'll explain what a cover letter is, and when you'll need one. Then we'll go over the different parts of a cover letter, and look at several examples of them. Finally, we'll discuss the follow-up sentence that you might include in the closing of your cover letter and why it's important in your job search.

Friday - Lesson 12

Our final lesson is all about the new resume that you've been working on throughout this course. We're going to take one final critical look at it: Is your name centered at the top of the page? Is it highlighted by a larger font, bolding, or underlining? Is your objective highlighted, along with your education, college, and work experience? Were you consistent with font sizes, capitalization, spacing, and punctuation? Is everything lined up vertically? The left-hand side of your resume should be lined up vertically, but the right-hand side should be ragged. Is your resume perfect with no typos or spelling errors? By the time you finish today's lesson, your resume will be ready to present to prospective employers.

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Stephanie Donaldson.

Stephanie Donaldson is a member of the National Resume Writer's Association and has been writing resumes for the past 20 years. Stephanie earned a bachelor's in English from St. Lawrence University and a master's in business administration from Clarkson University. She has held management positions in the hospitality, paper, and seminar industries. For several years, she was employed in the Marketing department at the American Management Association. For the past decade, she has served as Director of Continuing Education at two colleges. In addition to owning her own business, Stephanie often lectures on Marketing and Business Writing to small business owners. She has taught Resume Writing Workshop for over 10 years and has helped nearly 2,000 people in the U.S., Canada, and Australia to improve their resumes.

Requirements:

Experience with any version of Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or any other word processor; Internet access; e-mail; and the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser.

Student Reviews:

"A most interesting and enjoyable course. I would most certainly recommend it to my friends. Thank you for the course notes - I shall certainly be putting them to the test."

"As someone who just started a new job helping unemployed individuals search for work, this class has provided invaluable information and has increased my knowledge to better serve my clients. Thank you!"

"For two years I have listened to my oldest son talk about preparing his resume. I have had the same job for twelve years so, naturally, my comment was "How hard can a resume be. Just write down your work experience and education." I wanted to learn what has changed over the years and find out what I never knew. This course was very good. My stumbling blocks on cover letters, resumes, and how to handle my long tenure with one employer were answered. My "NEW" resume looks good!"

"I am learning a lot of info. Great job to the instructor."

"I am very happy with the course. The information was well presented and concise. I found the sites provided in the supplementary sections useful also!"

"I certainly got a lot of very useful information for putting a resume together. I want to thank you in advance for helping me achieve greater success in the job market search from the insights and lessons you provided in this course. I have been in the same profession for the past 26 years and with the same employer for the past twelve years. The industry has changed and grown, forcing us to improve or retire.......This course will help me to navigate and focus. Thank you again."

"I decided to take this course because my resume is outdated, stale, and unpolished. Already this course has introduced me to new styles and resources I wasn't aware of. Thanks Stephanie for making this easier and immensely more productive than I thought it would be or could be."

"I enjoyed the class and learned a lot from it. I am proud of my resume. Thank you!"

"I enjoyed the course and I hope my new resume will bring numerous interviews."

"I enjoyed the course very much. I feel that I have learned a valuable skill so that I can get a better job. Thanks!"

"I enjoyed this course and found it quite beneficial."

"I feel that I learned valuable information that I can readily use. The course demystified resume writing for me."

"I felt this was a relatively painless way to end up with a completed resume. I also think this class is much better than reading a how-to book because the information is up-to-date, plus if you have lots of questions like I did, the instructor is right there to answer them. I also really appreciated the instructor's positive messages and encouragement!"

"I found the information well presented and clear, comprehensive and the supplementary material and hyperlinks excellent."

"I found this class very useful. The instructor presented the material in a straight-forward and easy-to-digest manner. I really feel ready to present a new resume to potential employers."

"I have really enjoyed this course and look forward to taking other o line courses. I will recommend this course to other people in my department."

"I just wanted to say that this class has been most informative. I have been at my present job for 11 years and have decided to move on. My resume and cover letter skills were very rusty. This class has given me the insights and positive reinforcement to make my resume shine. Thanks!"

"I loved this course!!!!"

"I'm finding this workshop to be very interesting! In fact, I go to work and share each lesson with several co-workers who are learning a lot just like I am."

"I'm signed up for another ed2go class starting April 19 and I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions of the instructor in that course as well! Thanks for all your patience and time, Stephanie. I think I have a really good idea of how to complete the assignment now."

"It has been a great opportunity to work with you in this important area of our lives. Your feedback and personal experience has been absolutely invaluable! I am so happy. You have given me much to think on and work with and for that I am deeply grateful!"

"I thought it was a very good class. I learned a lot. Thank you!"

"I thought that this course was awesome! It helped me with so many questions that I had in regards to my resume! Plus, any questions that I had the instructor always answered them right away and gave me suggestions on how to improve my resume. It was a very helpful class and I can't wait to start sending out my resume with confidence!"

"My last resume was written in 1985 and so much has changed. It was useful and needed info for me."

"My resume before this course was horrible. It now looks professional and reflects my skills. Thanks!"

"My resume is now much more effectively put together, more concise, better looking, and more easily read than before. Thanks for the information that allowed me to fix it up."

"Since this is the first time I will be considering other employment in over ten years this course was extremely helpful!"

"Stephanie Donaldson did a wonderful job organizing this online course on resume writing. One of the reasons I took the course was to have structure and support for re-writing my resume and preparing for graduate school. My needs were met well and I now have a current resume and all of my materials for graduate school applications are at my fingertips. The online resources and book reccomendations were also very complete and useful. I would recommend this course to anyone who is serious about taking the next step in their career development."

"Stephanie, I run out of words to say how much I owe you. You are the only one in the past six years who was willing and able to help me with my resume. I used to talk to an employment agency where I live. The recruiter cried when she heard my story but was unable to land me any job. I will keep trying the way you have now advised me for the future of my children. Thanks and may god bless you."

"Stephanie, thank you again for sharing your great insights, experience, and know-how. I've been procrastinating and avoided updating my resume (for years) and felt overwhelmed by the prospect of having to figure out where to find the resources and examples that I needed to begin. Your direct and enthusiastic approach gave me the "kick start" I needed, and I am well on my way to completing a freshly polished, formatted, and current resume. All this and it was fun too! Thank you so much."

"Stephanie, thank you for the excellent class. My resume looks great and with minor adjustments I can adapt it to any job opening. Your suggestions were very helpful. Thanks again."

"Thanks, this really helped! I even have an interview already!"

"Thank you for helping me "up-date" my resume. I like the new look and the form. I teach resume writing in high school and will use the information learned in my teaching."

"Thank you for making this course available. It has been very helpful to someone who has been employed by the same firm for 12 years. I thought that my position was secure, so I tossed my resume a decade ago. Now that I’ve lost my job, this course proved both timely and valuable."

"Thank you for the workshop. I feel that my resume looks nicer and clearer now."

"Thank you! I learned a lot. The information presented in this course is very valuable to me. I can now write a resume with confidence and skill."

"Thank you, Ms. Donaldson. I enjoyed the class."

"Thank you so much for your instruction in this course. I really enjoyed it and was able to brush up on my skills."

"Thank you, Stephanie. This course helped me so much in constructing and updating my resume! Good luck everyone!"

"Thank you very much. I couldn't do it without you and your class."

"The instructor provided very valuable feedback to the one question that I inquired about. I would recommend this course to anyone who is seeking employment, promotion or a career/ employment change."

"There are many opinions about how to write a resume. However, I found this course to be very helpful with common sense explanations. I found the lesson on internet resumes very helpful, especially about not revealing your identity. For years, I've had a 2-page functional resume. This course helped me realize that it was too wordy! Thanks again for your answers to my questions and for a very helpful course."

"These lessons were interesting and very helpful to me. I hope to put it to very good use in the near future."

"This class exceeded my expectations. The material presented was practical and timely. It was a very good value for the tuition."

"This course gave me the information to help me write a resume in which I have confidence. Thanks!"

"This course has given me the tools needed to improve my resume writing skills. Excellent!"

"This course showed me where I need to improve my resume to offer the best to prospective employers. Thanks."

"This course was awesome! All the lessons were very clarifying and the tips excellent. The instructor was awesome as well!"

"This course was very helpful in bringing me into the 21st Century in writing resumes. Thanks!"

"This was a great course! I highly recommend it to anyone who needs to update their resume writing skills! Great instructor...thank you Stephanie!"

"This was a GREAT workshop. The lesson material was very well presented. The supplemental information was extremely helpful and I will be able to use many of the sites in the future. I'm very glad I made this investment. I am now more sure of how to present my "proposal" to prospective employers."

"This was an extremely helpful course. I liked the assignments. It was a step-by-step guide to writing a resume."

"Very helpful course. I learned a lot and all of the information is useful to me. Thanks for current resume information."

"Very interesting course; I learned so much just from the reading! I would definitely recommend this course to anyone looking to better understand and utilize resumes. Thank you! Great course!"

"Working in an employment office - this has been very helpful to me in working with applicants who are doing resumes. Thank you. The web sites were good for me to refer applicants to."