Resume- give suggestions for my new job

[napoleandynamite]

For those of you who know about my recent job loss, I am not so sure as to what I should do next. During my job search, I don't know what job titles/descriptions are best suited for me. I have researched working for Social Services, but the only job I could get is an entry-level position that pays less than $9 ph, which I can't do since I have to pay rent and bills...even if I worked another job, I wouldn't be able to make ends meat. Unfortunetly, I will have to work an office job. I copied my resume (erasing company, personal names, and addresses for security purposes). Pls review and provide me with realistic job titles. Thanks for all your help!

 

Objective: Administrative Support professional experienced working in fast-paced environments demanding strong organizational, technical, and interpersonal skills. Ethical and committed to supporting various departments.

 

Work Experience:

 

Co. Name-Administrative Assistant (Three Month Assignment: July 2006-November 2006)

 

Managed correspondence for President and Executive Vice President.

Created presentations, prepared letters and confidential documents.

Coordinated meetings and travel arrangements.

Prepared expense reports for Executive Management.

 

CO Name-Receptionist/Administrative Assistant, (October 2005-May 2006)

 

Front desk telephone reception, sorted mail, and maintained office supplies.

Assisted Traffic Manager with coordinating projects for clients.

Proofread material for accuracy, maintained files, typed letters and documents.

Coordinated meetings for Management and clients, scheduled travel arrangements and coordinated company events.

 

Co NAME-Receptionist/Advertising Assistant11749 (Two Month Assignment: June 2005-August 2005)

 

Responsible for front desk telephone reception, typing, and facsimiles.

Assisted creative staff with proofreading all print production material, typed scripts, and maintained files for all processed ads.

Participated in pre-production, production, and post-production for television commercials.

CO Name-Receptionist/Administrative Coordinator, (April 2004-June 2005)

 

Front desk telephone reception, greeted clients, sorted mail, data entry, and faxing.

Coordinated time and attendance for payroll.

Maintained calendars and assisted Office Manager with travel arrangements.

Prepared expense reports for Management.

 

Co Name-Bank Teller/Assistant Supervisor (January 2000-March 2004)

 

Processed deposits, withdraws, money orders, cashier’s checks, travelers checks, and coin orders.

Utilized interpersonal skills to resolve customer issues/concerns.

Interim Bank Supervisor; responsible for supervising staff and managing daily banking procedures.

Education:

 

SUNY Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York

 

Bachelor of Arts in Cinema and Cultural Studies, December 2003

 

SUNY Suffolk County Community College, Selden, New York

 

Associate of Applied Science in Communications & Media Arts, December 2000

 

Computer Skills:

 

Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Internet.

[Fun2BMe]

What type of job titles are you looking for? You already list administrative assistant and receptionist. How about something with "executive" in the title sounds like it would pay a lot more than 9/hr. Like Executive Administrator or assistant, or Executive secretary?

Managers get paid more too so why don't you shoot for the stars, Office Manager, or Administrative Manager (if there's such a position) and so on.

[Severed_Wasp]

It's not that bad of a resume. Here are a few things that stuck out to me:

 

-Definately try to use stronger verbs. You have "coordinated" and "supervised," which are good. Verbs like "prepared," "assisted," and "participated" make you sound more like a passive employee (which I am sure you are not) than a dynamic worker.

 

-For example, move some of those words from your objective down into your resume (fast-paced, experienced, and strong). These are good words, but the objective should be more of a short statement about the position you are seeking than how you are as a worker--that is what the rest of the resume is for.

 

-Are you sending a cover letter with your resume? Don't forget to use the cover letter to "sell yourself" as well.

 

Hope this helped, and good luck with your search!

[Guest]

Take your degree off!!!! If you want to do office work, you can't be overqualified. As soon as I peeled the higher education off my resume, I got a great job. Leave the community college on. And take dates off . Also, I was told to put the position title before the company name.

 

Also, can you add a list of software programs you're familiar with? Have you any accomplishments to add? Or even a short note with respect to your performance? example: Prepared expense reports for Management ahead of deadlines.

[napoleandynamite]

I am planning on working on my resume a little bit more tomorrow...I haven't sent this out to anyone yet. I will start sending resumes out next week. Right now, I need to figure out what type of work I want. I don't think I should do the admin role since it never works out for me.

 

Thanks for the compliments on my resume so far. Any ideas on what jobs other than admin ones, feel free

[alphamale]

you need to expand the computer skills section. most employers are looking for solid skills with hardware and software. put down everything you've worked with in an office setting.

[napoleandynamite]

I don't think it's such a good idea to take one of the degrees I earned off. I understand what you are saying, but I went through a great deal of hard work and money to earn both those degrees and I am proud I have them. The idea of getting a degree is to obtain a decent living. Most employers consider that a preq. to any job. But the admin role is out for me anyway. Maybe I would be better off getting a job that requires a college degree. If you see my previous posts, the job I did before was admin work, which I can't do well, as that is the explanation for my poor work history.

 

Maybe I should become a copywriter? I know that's tough to find, but there could be hope if I keep trying I guess.

[alphamale]

are you good with computers and stuff? the IT field is always looking for new talent and having a bachelors will help a lot even if its not in computers. you'll need to get experience in some hot newer techonolgy or get certified by taking classes...

 

i will give you more advice on your resume tomorrow.

[napoleandynamite]

those are my computer skills and they are intermediate only. I ALWAYS inform my employers of this during the interview, plus, I inform them of the basic types of work I have done with them. I am working on becoming more "computer savvy", but unfortunetly, I know these three programs intermediatly only. What employers see is what they get and that's why I am open and honest.

 

Also, I would rather learn other computer programs on the actual job and grow into a "comfort range" with it. If I teach myself real quick now, I wont know enough to do well while on the job, and that is something that may put someone's job in jeapordy.

[napoleandynamite]

just out of curiosity, how old are you?

[alphamale]

just out of curiosity, how old are you?

i'm 41 and much more experinced than most of these clowns on LS

[napoleandynamite]

oh...for some reason, i thought you were in college.

 

Anyway, what do you do for a living, Alphamale?

[alphamale]

Anyway, what do you do for a living, Alphamale?

I'm a business analyst who specializes in financial/accounting systems for Fortune 500 companies. I used to work for IBM, Arthur Andersen and Kelly Services....

[napoleandynamite]

sounds good.

[bella_girl]

would you consider yourself 'proficient' in the computer packages you have listed? If so you could include that or 'proficient in a range of Microsoft packages such as word, excel... etc an experienced and efficient web user.'

 

Not that you have to focus on your computer skills just thought I'd add that.

 

It looks to me like you've been doing lots of admin work, I was a bit surprised by your degree - why are you not focusing on trying to get work in that area??

 

You can make more of this if you want to work in that area such as skills you learned with your degree, projects you worked on etc.

 

If you have time you could do voluntary work (or work experience) for organisations that you are interested in or will help build your skills in a certain area. Especially if you're not working at the moment.

 

Also use the networks you have, it's hard to cold call potential employers, see if you know people who work there, does have to be a 'get me a job type manner' but do you know of any opportunities, i would be interested.

 

A section I have in my resume (not for everyone and everyone's type of work) is recent personal achievements - I've done a few major things not work related that I like to highlight. It adds a more personal flavour and can outline some talents like 'team leader, supervision' etc that I might not have done in a professional role but have in activities outside work.

 

It amazes me the number of people in interviews at the end have said 'so tell me about blah I see from your resume....' shows they have read it.

[Ladywithafan]

I don't think it's such a good idea to take one of the degrees I earned off. I understand what you are saying, but I went through a great deal of hard work and money to earn both those degrees and I am proud I have them. The idea of getting a degree is to obtain a decent living. Most employers consider that a preq. to any job. But the admin role is out for me anyway. Maybe I would be better off getting a job that requires a college degree. If you see my previous posts, the job I did before was admin work, which I can't do well, as that is the explanation for my poor work history.

 

Maybe I should become a copywriter? I know that's tough to find, but there could be hope if I keep trying I guess.

 

 

I graduated from Michigan State Univ. mid '80s...moved to NYC and could not get a job in Advertising (my degree) as my BA was in the business end... not the creative, which I wanted (i.e. copywriting) I couldn't even get my foot in the door at any agencies because of the "over qualified" status that my degree gave me going for the secretarial end......employers are obviously still weird, but, you will learn your job and become real bored real fast, depending on the business if you're overqualified....I'm planning to redo my resume as well and it's nice to read the comments here....

[rina_r]

Admin. Asst is still considered to be a female profession. Once, in the company I work for, we interviewed people for a similar position. A well-groomed, polite guy with good computer skills was one of the applicants. After they picked a lady, I asked why not him. I was told that because he is a male, he will not be a good fit. Profiling, thats it.

[napoleandynamite]

It's true there is a great deal of "sexism" when it comes to profiling positions within a company. However, I feel that will eventually change, being some admin positions are known to be "stepping stone" positions to gain experience for another level within the company. Every has to get their foot in the door somehow. Since most admin work requires more tasks than intellectual thinking, it's a start to find where one flourishes and where not.