
Charles asks…
What’s wrong with my husbands resume!?
I appreciate your time with this. I just want to ask people with a “fresh eye” if they can tell me what about this resume is keeping any prospective employers from being interested. This resume is my husband’s and him and I have both applied for countless jobs for him, from as low as sales positions to as high as management positions, but all whithen scope of his qualifications. I’m getting frustrated. He works at a gas station now, but he has his MBA. Any tips would be helpful. (phone # and email edited for privacy) =)
Haitham Borekaa
Phone: 555-555-5555
Haitham-borekaa@xxxxxxxxx.com
EXPERIENCE
Ameri Food & Fuel – Radiant Group LLC, Assistant Manager, Largo, Fl. June 2010- present
Meets personal objectives as set by store manager, and drive up the sales by 40 % after two months
Complete and balance daily paperwork and deposits, neatly and accurately according to company quality control guidelines , which reflect on the store’s performance
Interface directly with customers to provide assistance and resolve problems.
Supervise product inventory; verify quantity and quality of products received.
Health & Shape- Sales Representative, Customer Relationship, Cairo, EG.Dec. 2008- Apr. 09
Implementation of the sales and marketing plans of reaching highest number of subscribers
Determined customer’s needs and met those needs following the organization’s policy
Kept records of sales information and filed them.
Built relations with new customers and maintained a customer database,
Lilly Land Beach Club Hotel, Tour Guide, Guest Relation, Hurghada, EG. Sep. 2006 -Sep. 08
Collected guests from the airport; introduced them to the hotel rules and regulations
Prearranged site seeing trips and accompanied guests when visiting touristic sites
Time share representative; provided information about the time share scheme
Arranged meetings, organized various trips, with high satisfaction rates from customers
ICBI Group, Languages and Computer Center, Data Entry, Hurghada, EG. Jan. 2006- Aug. 06
planned and supervision of computer and language courses
prepared students studies plans
Suez Oil Company (SUCO), Data Entry, Zeit Bay, Red sea District, EG.Dec. 2003- Oct. 05
Data input into the Maintenance Management Data System (G.M.C)
Administration and distribution of incoming and outgoing correspondence between field office and head office in Cairo
Handled company faxes and memos on the PC in English and Arabic
Suez Oil Company (SUCO), Oil samples analyst, Zeit Bay, Red sea Dist., EG.May 2003- Dec. 03
Collecting data and samples from 3 oil pipelines represent the processes of cleaning oil
Checking the samples in the oil laboratory, by testing them and present the results to experts
Collecting data from oil tanks before pumping oil to ships
EDUCATION
Webster International University, FL
Master of Business Administration, General MBAAug. 2009- May 2011
Curriculum Highlights: Marketing, Organizational Behavior, Finance, Corporate Finance, Business Statistics, Management Accounting, Operations and Project Management, Human Resources, Economic Analysis, Strategy and Competition.
South Valley University, Faculty of Education and Art, Hurghada, Egypt
Bachelor of Arts and Education, English Department,Dec. 2003- Oct. 2007
Concentration: primary & secondary schools
Curriculum Highlights: Foundation Of Education, Methods Of Teaching, Public Health, Linguistics, European Criticism, Shakespeare & Drama, Novel And Prose, Poetry, Psychology, European Civilization, Mental Hygiene, American Literature, scientific culture or civilization, Social Origins.
SKIILLS
Computer Skills: Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet access & search
Language Skills: Arabic and English
Training and Development
-Schiller international University, Florida, Advanced English; summer 2009
-AUC American University Cairo, Advanced English; fall 2008.
-El-Amal Primary school & Abd El-Menem Riad Primary school, Training of teaching ; Sept 2005 – April 2007
-Kamel Abo Kazala Education Center, Training on MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, access, internet, windows) ; Feb 2006 – April 2006
INTERESTS & ACTIVITIES
-Coordinated Music Performance for students of different countries with excellent results
-Fulfilled the role off writer and editor of the University magazine
-Leading role as sport coordinator at the University for Two years organized all sport activities for the students
-Traveled to Egypt, Libya, Netherlands, Belgium, Saudi Arabia and Italy
-Highest sales volume in the first quarter of the year while working for Time share company.
Thank you everyone. I appreciate your responses =)
answers:
I think it is WAY better than my resume with a BS in psychology and I still haven’t had a problem finding a job so far. But I live in a major city in Oregon so I guess it depends where you live. I think that he should remove the “interests and activities” part. Also, under his schooling, there’s way too many classes listed. I mean poetry and shakespeare is nice, but you’re rarely going to need that on a job unless he’s an english teacher. I would say focus on helpful classes and specific classes “Motivational Psychology” for example. There’s too much stuff listed and it gets overwhelming.
I also think he has too many jobs listed. I would focus on maybe the 3-4 most important ones that relate to the field he is applying for. Then, if they ask him for his ENTIRE employment history, then he can continuing listing the others ones, even ones that are not applicable.
Good luck! And chin up, Florida must be so much nicer than Oregon to live in!

Nancy asks…
Resume Help?
Well I’m a 17 year old high school student and this summer I’m planning on getting a job to help pay for university.
My problem is that I don’t know what to put on my resume since I don’t really have any job experience or done any volunteer work.
Any tips and help appreciated.
Thanks in advanced, Tom.
answers:
That’s a tricky one, but still doable. Since you don’t have any experience at work or volunteering, you should focus mainly on your skills: computer, customer service, writing, admin work, etc. Also, anything you have done in the past (mowing lawns one summer, babysitting a kid sister, whatever) can be turned into a skill by showing that you are capable of applying yourself to work. If you are doing well in school, your GPA and school honors, clubs, or accomplishments can also show your ability to undertake a task and do it well. Best of luck!

Lizzie asks…
I need some tips on how to stay optimistic?
I’m 22, I’ve been in University for the last two years but still haven’t figured out what I want to do. I’m not going back next year for this reason, but I couldn’t even if I wanted to because I have $2.67 in my bank account, still owe the University $1000, have roughly $10000 of student loans to pay off on top of that, and I’ve been looking for a job since December but still haven’t found one because the job market is apparently so dried up where I live that there’s competition over fucking cashier jobs at grocery stores.
I handed out about 30 resumes two days ago both to random places and places that were advertising they were hiring in some way and still haven’t got any calls back, both online and driving around the city. Obviously, some places may not have even looked at my resume yet, but it’s hard not to get dejected at this point. If I don’t get any calls by Sunday I plan on completely reworking my resume from scratch (not that I can see anything glaringly wrong with it) and going out again on Monday to new places but I’m getting hopeless.
I mean all I’m doing these days when I’m not applying for jobs is sitting on my ass at home playing video games and I feel like such a bum because of it, but what the hell can I do about it? I can’t even go out because I can’t afford it. I’m trying aren’t I?
*sigh*
So please, I need some words of encouragement.
answers:
Hi
I totally agree with the person above. Putting out your time to do some voluntary work wil do you good, and your CV (resume) brill. Not many people go out their way to give time to charitable companies. You do not have to do many hours just two half days a week is a good start. Also you are correct in stating to re look and change you resume. Make it different and stand out, do some research on the net about how to change it so that it is noticeable. Thirdly when you do go out to hand the resume, please be dressed as smart as you can for that typical role or shop you are applying for. If they see you coming, your already making a good impression, and ask to speak to the team leader, supervisor to hand it in to. Remember, clean shave, smell good and look good. You will ooze with confidence once you sorted this out. Fourthly, try getting some fresh air, so a activity like basket ball, swimming, jogging or even footy. Better still why dont you do some voluntary work with playing sports with kids, surely they may be places where they require some people to help out, can put this in your resume, last and not least get fit instead of playing games at home in front of the TV. Your confidence will grow too,which mean you will ooze even more. Last and not least please be ready for short notice interview, get them clothes ready, you never know when you might walk out of a place you handed your resume in and they call you in for a interview within a few hours.Do your research of the company too,before your interview,and brush up on your interview Q’s and answers.
Good Luck, i know i went a bit, but pull out of the games and start focusing and moving ahead, You will get a job in no time. 🙂

Richard asks…
Extracurricular activities for high school student wishing to study business?
Hi, I was just wondering what kind of extracurricular activities or volunteer work I could do to improve my resume before university. Next year will be my last year of high school so I am focused on university programs. I have been thinking of studying international relations but have recently considered studying business (in a leadership way, not like accounting) as it combines my strengths (math and social sciences). I am not really one for entrepreneurship as I am more interested in investing and think I would rather work for a company/bank that is already fairly big and known. I am already very involved (student council, my city’s youth advisory committee, youth forums, tutoring and creating a mentor program within my school as well as other typical volunteer work) and have represented my school in other continents. I also have a job with my city, monitoring and organizing special events during the summer. My concern is that these are activities that would look better for a political science degree. I was wondering if any one could offer me any guidance concerning activities (or organizations I could join, websites that would be helpful information wise, or simply tips) that would help me build a solid resume that would look nice when applying to business schools. If it is of any use, I follow a few IB classes and have an above 90% average.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
FBLA sounds very interesting but I live in Canada.
answers:
FBLA (future Business leaders of America), National Honor Society, SCA, Key Club, DECA, FCCLA

Sandra asks…
Is this an okay resume to submit?
I’m a student in college, and this is for a job at my school computer store. I don’t have ANY work experience or volunteer experience so this was the best I could do.
NAME/INFO
EDUCATION: Bachelor of Art, Psychology, Degree anticipated June 2013
University of California, Los Angeles
Current GPA: 2.96
HONORS AND AWARDS:
AP Scholar with Distinction – 2009
SKILLS AND INTERESTS:
Several years’ experience with both Macintosh and PC computers. Excellent ability in Microsoft Office Word, Pages, Photo Booth, iMovie, and various internet browsers including Internet Explorer, Safari, and Mozilla Firefox. Fairly skilled in computer troubleshooting.
Is that okay? Tips/advice?
thanks!!
answers:
Wow I like your GPA 2.96 just change the degree anticipated, I would write down, “degree expected” What a game, ah?
Powered by Yahoo! Answers