After many months of sending out resumes and having interviews, I am considering revising my resume to include a fair portion of my non-design related work experience. Background: I have a MLA and undergraduate degree in Government, and 2 years of experience as an intern. I also have several years of experience as a bicycle mechanic and salesman, a couple more years as a private security guard (don't laugh, it's real work), and some government/politics experience as well. The trouble is I have gotten a number of responses from people saying that my portfolio and resume look good, but they aren't looking for an "entry level" employee.
Perhaps I'm biased, but I don't view myself as an "entry level" person at all - at my landscape internships, I frequently completed projects from concept through final CDs and budgeting with minimal supervision, met with clients, and attended meetings on behalf of my boss. Also, I frequently was assigned to teach the entry level college graduates (getting paid twice as much) how to do their jobs. I have worked a job of some type since I was 15 years old, part time during each semester of school, and full-time during school. But to compare my "design-only" resume with some other people I know who's 1 or 2 internships before graduating were their first job of any kind in their life, either because daddy was paying or they figured out the scholarship system better than I did, I would look not that different. So even if the experience itself is irrelevant, I do think that it speaks of a work ethic and initiative-taking personality which is worthy of note.
So, should I go ahead and include everything on the resume? I have had a few snippy responses from potential employers who seemed to think that including internships as "work experience" was inappropriate. I disagree, and have no plans to work for such jerks. But what say the public and potential employers here? Does such a resume come across as more competitive, or desperate and new to the profession?
Perhaps you are only listing the title of the jobs you have held rather than the experiences you have encountered? A resume doesn't have to be the same boring format as LINE ONE: EDUCATION LINE TWO: LIST OF JOBS. You can put a category on there such as "Qualifications" with a quick bullet list of things that make you stand out!
If you taught people at your work how to do their jobs more effectively, then by all means put that on your resume! If you brought a project from preliminary all the way through completion list that on the resume. Those are important facts that your employer ought to know.
Any kid on the street can get an internship...make sure you present your experiences as different and better than average!
I'd say if you see any way that it might be pertinent to the job you're looking for, or if it says something about you personally, etc, put it on. Otherwise, it might look like fluff. Make sure it doesn't.
I switched to Architecture from another field. My first resume had a fair amount of stuff from former jobs, carefully listed/constructed to be useful office skills that would show me to be a good employee, if an inexperienced one. It was a not great economy--2002--and it worked. My focus was showing that while I hadn't done a ton of cad drawing I had other experience--writing, editing, working with others, that would make me a good employee.
Also, looking at how you explain your experience here it looks like you are not at all an entry level person. So maybe how you are portraying yourself in cover letters and resumes is creating that impression? Things like meeting with clients, training others, and working through a whole job are all great experience. Make sure that what you are sending out is really telling who you are.
Feb 19, 09 2:05 pm ·
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Non-design experience on resume - thoughts?
After many months of sending out resumes and having interviews, I am considering revising my resume to include a fair portion of my non-design related work experience. Background: I have a MLA and undergraduate degree in Government, and 2 years of experience as an intern. I also have several years of experience as a bicycle mechanic and salesman, a couple more years as a private security guard (don't laugh, it's real work), and some government/politics experience as well. The trouble is I have gotten a number of responses from people saying that my portfolio and resume look good, but they aren't looking for an "entry level" employee.
Perhaps I'm biased, but I don't view myself as an "entry level" person at all - at my landscape internships, I frequently completed projects from concept through final CDs and budgeting with minimal supervision, met with clients, and attended meetings on behalf of my boss. Also, I frequently was assigned to teach the entry level college graduates (getting paid twice as much) how to do their jobs. I have worked a job of some type since I was 15 years old, part time during each semester of school, and full-time during school. But to compare my "design-only" resume with some other people I know who's 1 or 2 internships before graduating were their first job of any kind in their life, either because daddy was paying or they figured out the scholarship system better than I did, I would look not that different. So even if the experience itself is irrelevant, I do think that it speaks of a work ethic and initiative-taking personality which is worthy of note.
So, should I go ahead and include everything on the resume? I have had a few snippy responses from potential employers who seemed to think that including internships as "work experience" was inappropriate. I disagree, and have no plans to work for such jerks. But what say the public and potential employers here? Does such a resume come across as more competitive, or desperate and new to the profession?
Perhaps you are only listing the title of the jobs you have held rather than the experiences you have encountered? A resume doesn't have to be the same boring format as LINE ONE: EDUCATION LINE TWO: LIST OF JOBS. You can put a category on there such as "Qualifications" with a quick bullet list of things that make you stand out!
If you taught people at your work how to do their jobs more effectively, then by all means put that on your resume! If you brought a project from preliminary all the way through completion list that on the resume. Those are important facts that your employer ought to know.
Any kid on the street can get an internship...make sure you present your experiences as different and better than average!
just put it all out there...
when i was job hunting, i included all the shop tools/projects/items that i have used/built along with the traditional 'resume' info.
but then again most of my job/work hasn't been in an architecture office.
I'd say if you see any way that it might be pertinent to the job you're looking for, or if it says something about you personally, etc, put it on. Otherwise, it might look like fluff. Make sure it doesn't.
I switched to Architecture from another field. My first resume had a fair amount of stuff from former jobs, carefully listed/constructed to be useful office skills that would show me to be a good employee, if an inexperienced one. It was a not great economy--2002--and it worked. My focus was showing that while I hadn't done a ton of cad drawing I had other experience--writing, editing, working with others, that would make me a good employee.
Also, looking at how you explain your experience here it looks like you are not at all an entry level person. So maybe how you are portraying yourself in cover letters and resumes is creating that impression? Things like meeting with clients, training others, and working through a whole job are all great experience. Make sure that what you are sending out is really telling who you are.
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