Don't feel shy — we're all here to help! Looks like you have a lot of great experience, and your resume already looks strong to me. Here are my suggestions for making it shine even more.

1. I think it would help to tailor your resume to the particular field. You have a lot of fantastic experience, but if you're applying for, say, a writing job, the hiring manager is going to want to see your writing experience more than your design experience. (And vice versa.) It's all about selling yourself as a focused expert who really wants to do the job you're applying for. Just tweak things a little bit (maybe at your current job, you've done some copywriting for the website? or as a reporter, you worked with a graphic designer to make sure the photos and layout fit the story?) and you will look like even more of a specialist.

2. I would consider going to a more traditionally formatted resume. I think it is well-designed, but my eye goes to the education first. And obviously you have a great education, but if I were hiring, I would want to know what you've accomplished in your jobs. So I would suggest putting your experience at the top. Take it or leave it, of course — but whenever I see education first, I worry that the applicant doesn't have enough real-world experience. Clearly, you do — so let that be the thing that impresses the hiring manager.

3. I don't think you need to list your university courses. I would recommend cutting them to give yourself more space to show what you have accomplished in your internships and jobs. In your cover letter, you can always say "While taking courses about XYZ at ABC University, I learned how to do JKL." I think you can also condense the subheds under "Skills" and just list out HTML, CSS, etc.

4. On that note, I think the experience gives me an idea of what you've done, but by focusing on your accomplishments, you could clarify what exactly you've done. The "Communications Specialist" info is really specific and I get a great idea of what you've done. I'd see that and think, "Wow, she has really done a lot for that organization." But Feature News Writer is a little fuzzy. Could you say something like "Pitched, researched, and wrote four feature stories, two of which lead the feature well"?

For instance, my resume used to say "edited, wrote, and blah-blah for magazine." I didn't get many nibbles. That changed when I added these details:
"Produced four of the 10 best-selling issues of TK magazine in 2006."
"Developed the TK section, which was voted the favorite during annual reader surveys, 2002–2005."

I'm positive that you have accomplishments that could be highlighted like this. If you could do something like that, give specifics on those feature stories you wrote (I personally want to know!), or even mention how much you wrote ("Researched and wrote five stories per monthly issue," etc), I think that would give a more detailed picture of your skills. I feel like you already have a strong resume, but with a little tweaking, you'd have the kind of resume that makes managers drop everything to lure you in for an interview. Good luck!

bella you're the best!

Thanks for the tips!!!!!

Sure thing! Weirdly, I love doing this sort of thing.

probably because you're really good at it!

Aw. Thank you — but Savvy is definitely the expert! And good luck with the job hunt! I know you'll find something right up your alley.

I like to overall emphasis of your resume, but like bella said the layout makes me focus more on the educational aspect, and you have so many skills to offer a company!

I liked your resume emphasis so much that I used your resume as a mock-template. Hope you don't mind.

PS. how is the job hunt going for you?

BLAH! I feel like I'm sending out resume/cover letter after resume/cover letter and barely hear anything. What makes it even worse is that I have an address on everything that says Louisiana, and I'm applying to all these jobs in D.C. (where my husband is being transferred to) so I feel like a lot of them are throwing it out because it's not local.

I actually switched it up a bit and made sure experience was the main focus. I definitely don't mind you using mine as a spring board! good luck!

I would switch your columns, put all the experience on the left and everything else on the right. I agree, not to list your university courses. It is pretty straight-forward that you would take those classes in that major. Honestly, I have my "Education" section at the very very bottom of my resume and with that format, I got four interviews the last time I went job hunting (and three offers!).

I like the two column layout but still think you need bullet points under experience. It's really about readibility since employers spend 30 seconds or less looking at your resume.

I would also categorize your skills better like:
Skills
--QuarkXPress, Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Freehand, Page Maker
--Adobe Dreamweaver, Microsoft Front Page
--Avid NewsClutter, EZNews
--Microsoft Office

I don't list every MS Office program because everyone knows what they are. And if you know Dreamweaver then one can assume you know HTML and CSS. Also, if you can use Adobe Flash then it's safe to assume you understand flashh And, I'm not sure you need to put "digital photography and editing" - an employer can ask you "what do you use Adobe Photoshop for?" and you can say "digital editing", etc.

The employer wants to know what you can do for them! Just remember that

Syako-

You have a lot of great experience that would speak to employers in your field, and I think you may be right about the lack of responses having to do with the non-local address. If you have the exact date for your move I'd recommend mentioning it in your cover letter, and even better, if you have a Washington based friend who would be willing to lend you their address for the time being you may consider asking them to do so.

I realize that I'm slightly late in the game here, but here are my observations that focus mostly on formatting — to me, format is extremely important because you want to make sure an employer doesn't miss any of the amazing experiences that you've had. I hope it helps!

1. Definitely consider rearranging your resume to focus on your experience. While I agree that you can remove the related coursework for your undergrad education, I think it makes sense to include the coursework you completed for your Masters degree. You've only recently graduated (congrats!!) and because it's so fresh you can talk about those courses in an engaging way if a prospective employer were to ask.

2.My instinct is to recommend a more traditionally formatted resume because I think it has a much cleaner presence. A traditional format has a natural top to bottom progression, while my eyes have trouble following the present format. Think about rearranging as follows: Experience, Skills, Education, Honors & Publications. The only reason I say perhaps list education second to last is because you really just finished your masters degree, but the last two sections are interchangeable in my opinon.

3. I like that you've bulked up the most recent experience with more explanation than the older positions. You recognize what's important and have an obviously well-thought out resume. Definitely try and characterize each experience with something that will leave a solid impression with an employer — it's obvious that you have skills to do a job, but how will you add to their bottom line and really contribute to the company? You want to come off as not only skilled, but as unconventional. Bella's suggestions about how to do this are fantastic and it's worth the time to sit down and revisit each job you've had.

I'm confident that with a little tweaking you'll be able to sharpen up your already well done resume to give it an extra edge. Good luck with your job search and please keep us updated! And if you edit your current resume and would like us to give another look, please don't hesitate to share it again.

Thanks Savvy for the tips!

I've already made some changes from Bella's suggestions, and now I'll use some of your's. I have an Aunt who lives in the D.C. area, so I may contact her about using her mailing address - great idea!

If I feel like I still have some hesitations and/or questions, I will definitely re-post it. Thanks again.

all right, let's bring on round 2 (you guys are the BEST!)
http://teamsugar.com/group/1587626/blog/1640296