Nan Quinlan begins her instruction on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of creating a great job resume.

Today’s guest was Nan Quinlan, a Professional Training and Coaching Consultant and Contractor.  Prior to starting her own consultancy, Nan was the Training and Development Manager at TACO, Inc in Cranston, Rhode Island.

Today’s Life Skills class objective was the creation of a great job resume.

Nan began today’s class distributing a ‘resume template‘ for students to follow as they created their resumes; in other words, what information you should have on a resume and the placement of this information on the resume.

Nan was very specific about the types of information employers look for and where this information should be located on a resume;

Nan responds to a question from Manny Rivas

a place for everything and everything in its proper place:  name, address, email, phone, experience information, education, awards or special recognition, LinkedIn and, most importantly, a person’s summary statement.

 “The words you choose are important on your resume.  

Many companies use software to process resumes and the software is written to look for specific words which correspond to the qualities the company looks for in a specific job”

Nan explained.  “Check out web sites like ‘Indeed.com’ and ‘Beyond.com‘ to find the characteristics companies look for in  different jobs. 

You want to make sure the words you use to describe yourself in your resume are related to the skills in the job you’re applying for. 

So, if you looking at a graphic designer’s position, use words like ‘creative’, ‘imaginative’ and ‘collaborator’ to describe yourself and your skills.  If you’re looking at an accounting position, use words like ‘organized’ and ‘analytical’.”   Nan also advised students not to use special fonts, colors or pictures in their resumes.  “And, please

make sure your email address is professional!  No ‘party girl.com’

or ‘weekend warrior.com’ email addresses; these emails will diminish your brand and possibly cost you an interview opportunity”.

Valentina Gomez-Rincon networks with Nan Quinlan prior to the start of class.

Nan ended today’s class with an invitation to any Life Skills students to send her their resume for constructive feedback.

  Nan is scheduled to return to the Life Skills class on April 1st for instructions on everything one needs to know for a successful job interview.

Ayobami Bankole exchanges business cards with Nan Quinlan during the networking session at the end of class.

Travis Barbour gives Nan his business card to add Nan to his impressive network of professionals.