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Perfect on Paper: Putting Your Experience To Work
by Valerie Nye

A résumé is one of the most important marketing tools you can create for yourself. As an important key to your next job, your résumé should represent your professional history clearly and honestly. A résumé with confusing information or misspelled words may close the door to your dream job before you even have the opportunity to speak to an employer. Since résumés should aim for perfection, it is important to allow yourself plenty of time to think about your work experience, to write clearly, and to have your finished produced reviewed by several people. Allowing yourself the time to create your résumé will give you the added confidence of submitting a perfect document for your next job.

A sample resume based on this article’s suggestions can be found at: http://www.videosalvage.com/sampleresume.pdf

The Basics

What is the difference between a résumé and a vita? Résumés are generally the preferred form of job application for library jobs in public, academic, and special libraries. Résumés are usually short (1-2 pages), while vitas can be quite lengthy and include a comprehensive list of your teaching experiences, professional presentations, publications and research. Since résumés are the preferred form of application for most library jobs, this article will discuss the résumé format.

The standard length of a résumé for a library job is two pages and should include a header listing your name and contact information. The main section of your résumé will be your job history listing position titles, places of employment, dates of employment, and a description of each position you have held. Finally, you should include the degrees you have earned, publications, presentations, workshops you have attended, service to the community, and a list of your membership in professional organizations.

First Things First

The Header

The top of your résumé should contain a header giving clear and concise information including your name and contact information. Contact information should include one mailing address and one email address. If you have several phone numbers, indicate different numbers with “home” or “cell” notations. Listing too much contact information containing various addresses and several phone numbers is confusing. Keep in mind, if you list your cell phone as a contact you will need to be prepared to speak with an employer every time you answer the phone. It is also best to avoid putting work numbers and work email addresses on your résumés. Some employers consider it unethical to use your current employer to search for a new job.

Job History

Employers generally prefer résumés listing jobs chronologically. While it is important to list jobs chronologically, it is also very important to have the most relevant experience closest to the top of your résumé, to catch the eye of your future employer. If you haven’t always worked in libraries, you might want to divide your work experience into two categories, “Library Experience” and “Other Experience.” Dividing your work experience into categories allows you to list all of your library experience chronologically on the first page of your résumé, while still giving potential employers information about your job history. If you are in school and are looking for your first library job, you can list internships and volunteer experiences you have had in the job history section. Having library experience rise to the top is crucial.

Most library résumés list job duties in a bulleted list rather than in a descriptive paragraph. A bulleted list allows reviewers to scan for key words and quickly understand the distinct duties associated with each position. When describing your job experience in the bulleted list, use action words and leadership terms. Unless it is absolutely necessary, do not repeat the same descriptive words in your résumé. Monster.com provides a plethora of action verbs for job descriptions at: http://resume.monster.com/articles/phrases_verbs/

As you list the duties, responsibilities, and accomplishments for your jobs, describe the activities that show your greatest responsibility first. Keep in mind, the activities that prove your level of responsibility may not be the activities that occupy most of your day. It is important, however, to have the high-level responsibilities at the top of your job descriptions. For example: you are a reference librarian spending 15 hours a week at the reference desk. As part of your job you also supervise 5 student workers. As far as your time allocation goes, supervising the students takes up very little time every week. On your résumé, however, you should consider listing supervising students before listing your reference duties. Supervising students shows management experience and a great deal of responsibility. On your résumé you want your future employer to take notice of the highest level of responsibility you have attained.

Formal and Continuing Education

Degrees earned, schools attended, academic honors achieved, and graduation years are either found near the top (if you are a recent graduate) or after your job history (if you have been a professional librarian for several years). Information about degrees should take up 2 to 4 lines and should provide only the most basic information. Many résumés also include a continuing education section listing pertinent library courses and workshops. The list of courses should be a short list between 2 and 5 courses with the date the course was taken. If you are a recent graduate, instead of continuing education you might create a section titled “Relevant Course Work” listing 2-3 courses that correspond to the job qualifications in each job posting.

Papers, Presentations, and Exhibits

If you have any publications your résumé should include a section listing papers, presentations, and exhibits. If you have presented and published extensively it isn’t necessary to list every paper and presentation. You can choose to limit the list to your most recent papers and presentations, or you may decide to list the papers and presentations that fit most closely with the job for which you are applying. When listing papers that have been published, cite the journal title, article title, and date. When listing presentations and exhibits, provide the title and the date. If the presentation was given in conjunction with a conference, provide the name of the conference or professional organization as well. If you are lacking a formal publication history, include other writing projects such as pathfinders, newsletter articles, or large research papers.

Service to the Community

It is especially important when applying for academic jobs that you include information on community service you have performed in professional organizations and your community. In this section you will list the name of the organization, the position you held, the committee on which you served, and the dates you held the position. In this section you can also include committee work you have done as part of your paid positions by listing the name of the committee and the dates of your service.

Honors and Awards

Recognitions and honors prove you have outstanding qualities your supervisors and/or peers value in your service. Recognition in jobs and professional organizations is usually listed near the end of the résumé. If you have honors on your résumé, include the name of the award, the organization that presented the award, and the year you were honored.

Professional Organizations

Finally, a résumé should include a list of professional organizations to which you belong. It is best to limit the number of professional organizations to the ones that are pertinent to the job, or limit the number by listing the organization in which you are most actively involved. Listing more than five professional organizations on a résumé gives the impression that you are professionally unfocused.

Leave it Out

Information included in your résumé should not go beyond your professional life. You should not include a list of hobbies, a photo, your social security number, information about your family, or your involvement in religious organizations. While some of these facts may make you more interesting on paper, information about your personal life should not be submitted to potential employers.

An employer may request a salary history and a list of references, but this information should not take up precious space your resume. If you are asked to submit a salary history or a list of references, do so on separate pages.

Looking Perfect

Visually, your résumé should look clean with predictable headings and section breaks. The body of your résumé should have a font between 11 and 12 point. It is recommended that résumés be printed with Times New Roman font. While it may not be the most interesting font, Times New Roman is a serif font that has proven to be one of the easiest fonts for people to read. A serif font will allow employers to read your résumé quickly and with the greatest ease.

You may consider sparingly and consistently using bold, italics, and larger fonts to add to the readability of your résumé. When used properly, these little elements help a reader scan a résumé for pertinent information. Do not, however, bold items to highlight job elements you think are especially important. Important aspects of your résumé should be discussed in your cover letter. For more information on writing cover letters visit: “Making Your Cover Letter Work for You.”

If you are submitting a hard copy of your résumé, print it on a light colored, high quality paper that is free of distracting marks. If you are submitting a cover letter with your résumé, the paper for the letter and the résumé should be the same. Most search committees work from hard copy, even if you have submitted your résumé electronically or have posted it online. If you are submitting an electronic copy, make sure it is two pages and includes pertinent information without a heavy reliance on links. If you decide to post an online resume or are requested to submit an electronic version, make it available as a PDF in order to maintain formatting and to ensure it looks good when it is printed.

Finally, ask several people to review your résumé. Have your reviewers look for typos and ask them if they understand each element of the jobs you have described. The American Library Association also offers a résumé and cover letter review service for members of the New Members Round Table. For more information on the service visit: http://www.geocities.com/nmrtrrs/ Most schools also have a career service center that will review résumés and cover letters even after you have graduated.

Conclusion

There are few things in life we can look at with satisfaction and say “this is perfect.” To future employers, your résumé is who you are, and as an important marketing tool it should represent your professional experience in perfection. Sending out well-crafted, thoroughly reviewed résumés will open the door to the next step in the job searching process, the interview. Best wishes!

About the Author:

Valerie Nye is a Public Library Consultant at the New Mexico State Library. She has reviewed résumés for the American Library Association New Members Round Table since 2002.

Article published June 2004

Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in LIScareer articles are those of their respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the LIScareer editors.

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