Resume Building

[Fryte]

I find myself needing a bit of help building my resume. I have been working in the restaurant business for 13 years and it's beginning to grow old. I would like to get a job with a reputable finance company in the area if only at an entry-level position, however I have to make my somewhat unrelated job experience tailor to a different brand of workplace.

I have completed 3 years of college at a major university, however I did not graduate.

In my current job as a bartender/server, I have quite literally done every position available except manager which I have 0 interest in doing. I have led shifts, opened new stores, trained new employees in multiple positions, and worked only 2 jobs in those 13 years.

Should I list my high school qualifications? I graduated very high in my class, did very well on my SATs, participated in community service groups, but I have a feeling employers won't give a crap about high school.

I would also appreciate it if someone could send me a sample resume with a good layout. I don't want to build one from scratch in whatever template Microsoft offers as I'm sure that's what every other applicant does. I'd like mine to stand out.

Thanks ahead of time for your help. I apologize if I posted this in the wrong section. It was either here or spam and spam scares me.

[Sqwunk]

http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69684

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[Not not Mattaru]

I don't want to be a naysayer, but even for entry-level in a lot of things you either need a degree or some experience in the field. How to get experience is often the real kicker. I may be slightly jaded, my field is not finance whatsoever, but it is heavy on having a MA, working on a MA, or a BA with experience for anything entry level that pays you.

I would say first you should narrow down particular places, see what type of openings they have, visit those places to get an idea of the workplace and see if there is anyway to start building experience there. You can start tailoring a resume in that direction.

Employers will give a crap about your academics...but not so much if you are a long way out of them. If you have reasons why you stopped pursuing your degree, at least mention time spent at university. Nonetheless, focus on your work history and be very clear about duties you undertook and advancements gained.

As far as formatting goes, my best resumes were done with Adobe InDesign that I had access to at my old job. That is your best way to be creative and have something better looking in comparison to .doc software...I think Kinkos has InDesign on their machines.

[kyod]

I second the above. In a lot of industries, experience can be interchangeable with a degree. Finance, however, is not one of those industries. BA minimum for entry-level finance jobs or working towards a BA or MBA. Is it financially possible for you to finish college? I wouldn't put your high school on your resume.

I don't mean to be a downer, but the job search is incredibly tough right now. Not having a degree will, unfortunately, hurt you a lot. Not holding the manager position will also hurt you. When HR scans through resumes, if they don't see a management title, they'll probably pass on you (They'll probably pass on you if they don't see a BA or MBA). HR recruiting is such a flawed process, but I'll save that for later.

InDesign or Illustrator are great Resume building tools. Hell, even Photoshop or PaintShopPro (do people still use that?) work great for resumes. In this economy, objectives are worthless. You need to tell a company what you can do for it with your resume. Focus on facts and figures on your resume. Instead of saying "Opened new company stores" say "Opened 12 (or however many) new company stores in key target markets." The more specific you are, the better. Also, use action verbs on your resume and don't use the passive voice.

You're competing with a lot of new graduates for finance jobs. Most of them have had internships in the finance industry. It's not going to be easy, but if this is what you want to do, go for it.