I recently helped the friend of a friend with his resume. This gentleman has a degree in wildlife biology, but has never used it because he's worked for his family's marble business since graduation (20some years ago). They recently sold the business, so now he's trying to figure out what he wants to do next.
Because I'm not a professional resume writer, this was a challenging project for me. Not only has he only had one job (albeit a long-time one), but it was with the family business, and what he was doing has nothing to do with his degree.
The research I did online said in the case of a family business, you should downplay it as much as possible. Fortunately, his family name is not part of the business name, so that was pretty easy. Then we just did a basic reverse-chronological resume, heavy on the skills, that showed a progression from humble stockboy to manager of one of the teams.
Do you think that was the right approach? Should we have tried something else?
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Little, Big
3 months ago
4 comments:
I detest resume writing and synopsis writing - anything structured - well, 'detest' is a strong word; it's just my brain refuses to cooperate to structure sometimes....but, sounds to me as if you did a good job.
You showcased his good points and hire-worthy skills while minimizing any weaknesses on the resume. Kudos.
That's sounds right. I did one not long ago for someone who was switching careers and had no experience in the new field, but lots of education. Just pull out relevant experience and highlight that, using key words that map over into the new area.
I think you did fine. :)
Thanks for the affirmation, ladies. He seemed satisfied enough with the results, though I don't think he had any really grand expectations going into it . . .
Hopefully he'll find a job--whether it's because of or in spite of my work!
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