Anyway I'd like to share what I learned from my recent resume critique since you all were so kind to help me with it.
Firstly, I had to rewrite my resume for Lockheed. Not only tailor it for Lockheed, but actually format it as a resume. If you remember, Boeing had me fill in textboxes, which meant my resume didn't have a good format and it was very difficult to judge the length of the document. When I rewrote it as an actual resume, it was very easy to get it to one page + a cover letter.
The Lockheed rep I talked to is an engineer and she told me a cover letter is useless to her and she doesn't read them. Then again, she doesn't actually read many resumes and I heard from people with MoDot who actually do do hiring that the cover letter is something they focus on to get a feel for the person and to judge their intent. They can tell whether or not you're really interested in the job through the cover letter. On the other hand, the Lockheed chick told me that even though HR people have final say, it's project team engineers who really do the picking and select the resumes that they like and pass those on to HR.
So I guess it doesn't hurt to have one but it may not help either. It depends.
The Lockheed rep really liked the way I formatted my title but she really tore apart the rest and ignored the cover letter entirely. I have my work cut out in trying to reformat it and she gave me some tips:
*Action words (tell them what you did)
*Work experience listed from recent to old
*If you are listing something like MS Office because of a specific job listing asks for it, list it very last. Do not put it in resumes for jobs that don't ask for proficiency in it.
*Do not be humble, the resume and the interview are your chance to brag
*Follow up an interview with a personal email or letter
*Take advantage of your schools resume building services and any professional development or career opportunity kind of things they offer
*Take advantage of any opening*
*I'll share my personal experience from this week to show what I mean:
Lockheed participated in a total of 3 events at my campus this week. The first one was a resume critique. Now, at first glance this may not be appealing to everyone, particularly those who have used the schools resume building services and have a good one on hand. But if you think about it, it's pretty obvious that Lockheed is using the resume critique to prescreen candidates because they're recruiting.
How else would they justify sending a team of very busy engineers all the way from Orlando to the middle of nowhere, Missouri? (My rep actually confirmed this for me).
So I went to that and she started tearing apart my resume. Part way through though, she actually read some of it and the whole conversation changed. She saw my leadership experience on the student government and the college board of trustees and my managerial background and was really impressed. By the end of the 15 minute session (which dragged on to 25), she had given me her email and told me to rework the resume and keep in touch with her so that when it was up to snuff she could skip past the automated HR resume systems and get my resume on her boss's desk.
I realized that as I was walking out of the room that I was about to become a faceless name behind an email address and that my chances of being remembered as a stand-out where slim, particularly with the throngs of students waiting to get the same resume critique.
So I decided to go to a 'networking' event that Lockheed put on that evening and the rep I spoke to earlier was there. I sat at her table and chit-chatted and then the Lockheed reps started taking resumes and big lines formed to hand them off. I made a joke about me not having had time to fix my resume after she tore it apart and asked if she wanted the terrible mess of a resume again, and she said 'No, you have my email and I have your terrible resume (laughing), keep in touch'.
I left that event then, I had made my 2nd impression on her.
Yesterday was the third Lockheed event. The school put on a 'Leadership Conference' and listed Lockheed on the brochures. I wasn't sure if Lockheed reps were going to be there or if the company was just sponsoring the event. I also really don't need a leadership conference, I've been to so many that I don't find them useful. But there was a non-trivial chance that actual Lockheed reps would be there, so I got my ass up at 7am on a Saturday and went.
So I get there and go over the schedule and sure enough, Lockheed reps (including the one I'd been talking to) were there and would participate in several panels.
I selected a panel that was about "Landing your First Job" that my Lockheed rep would be participating on. The panel talked for a bit and one of them talked about being 'fearless'. Then they opened up the floor for questions and I shot my hand up and was the first to ask a question.
I stood up and thanked them all for coming and turned to my rep and said, "So about landing that first job...how many Student/Employer things do I have to attend to make an impression on a certain Lockheed rep in order that realizes she needs to hire me for an internship?" They all laughed and I immediately followed up, "and about what Amy was saying with regards to fearlessness...How far should I take that? Should I do a song and dance routine?" more laughter.
Now I am fairly certain that I will not be a random name on a resume or a faceless email address to the Lockheed rep. She's going to remember me for going to multiple, redundant events just to make sure she knew that I wanted the job. She learned that I'm not afraid of public speaking, that I can get a laugh while still being appropriate and she learned from my terrible resume that I have lots of leadership experience.
I talked to her after the panel and asked if I had accomplished my goal of making an impression, and she showed me her special list of three names of standout candidates. I was the first one on her list.
Mission accomplished.
I won't know for a while if this pans out, but the point of this long ass post is to show you to go the extra mile when you've been given an in and to take every opportunity you can to make an impression. You have to sell yourself and you don't do that by sitting quietly at an event (or worse, not even going to the event). You never know what can come of events, openings and brief personal connections, so treat them all like they're crucial.
If you don't feel comfortable speaking in public like this, then you have to do things like putting together a personal professional website that you can link to on your resume. Do whatever you have to do that's within your capability to stand out.
