Please give your suggestion- help needed to prepare resume.

soumyapr · Dec 7, 2011

Hello,

I am currently doing a course to get a job as a writer-either technical or web content. I do not have any industry work experience. I am writing my resume and I have these two dilemmas:

1--I have taught in a school long time back and that is the only work experience I have. But I do not have any proof of it, since it was a temporary job that I did for only less than 1 year and the school did not give me any experience certificate. Should I include this in my resume?

2--I have worked voluntarily at a charity organizations, I have got certificate from them. Does it hold any value? Should I include this in my resume? I used to actually do some writing work there so I feel if I can include this it will have some weight.

Please give your inputs, especially those who have ever interview some candidate.

orion80 · Dec 8, 2011

Hi Soumya,

1. You can add your teaching experience in your resume, even if one of your colleagues can give a recommendation letter of some sort. Else, it is better to drop it as without proof, it becomes more of a liability.
2. It would be great if you add the work you have done for charity organizations. If it is related to writing, even better, since many potential employers ask for samples of previous work.

I would suggest you to have some sample writings ready. It would be great if you can add them as an annexure to your resume when you sending your resume to potential employers.

soumyapr · Dec 8, 2011

Hi Orion, so nice to see your reply to my post once again.

I am planning to drop the teaching experience as getting recommendation related to my job from anyone is not possible now. Without that I have zero paid work experience. If asked in the interview can I say that I had worked as a teacher but not included it as I do not have any proof?

I will include the other work but it was not a job so I am doubtful. I was actually preparing informative notes and letters for people interested to join and help, so it wasn't a lot of writing. I also used to talk people into joining us(kind of persuasive talking).

I do not have writing samples of what I used to do for my organization. What kind of writing sample can I prepare to show? I am looking at junior technical writer jobs also. I am learning authoring tools etc. Can you suggest what kind of writing would be good to show to prospective employers? Can I add it as a document along with my resume when I submit it on job sites?

Thank you for the replies.

orion80 · Dec 8, 2011

Any reason why the school will not give you exp certificate? Any (temp or permanent) work is work and they are supposed to give you exp certificate. If you received your pay by cheques or bank transfer, even that would suffice as a proof. The voluntary work you did counts too. Mention what you have done in your experience summary.

If you are aiming for technical writer jobs, then check out for samples on google. Pick out 2-3 topics which are interesting and write a sample on them. Upload only one sample on the site to avoid others from using your work. When someone contacts you regarding an opening, then you can send your other samples.

soumyapr · Dec 10, 2011

Orion, the school did not give me work experience because they had some policy about not giving work ex unless you complete 1 full year. I worked there before I got married and it was not in Bangalore. Initially for some months I was paid cash then I had a bank account where money was transferred by the school but it was done not as salary transfer. I closed that account later. I might or might not have the pass book somewhere at my Mom's house. I have asked them to look for it and send it to me. I do not remember whether it mentions the money credited as salary or something else.

Thanks for the tip, I have started writing about simple tasks like how to install windows XP etc. Although most people know how to do it and it has been documented countless times still does this count as a sample? Thank you for your response.

orion80 · Dec 10, 2011

Yes Soumya, even Installation guides and tips count but i would suggest to move on to more complex topics for the samples you intend to use in your resume. I will try and see if i can find some sample topics.

soumyapr · Dec 11, 2011

Hi Orion can you please clarify what you mean by complex topics? Do you mean software procedures?

How long should the sample writings be?

orion80 · Dec 12, 2011

Hi Soumya,

I was searching for the topics but luckily i found them in one place. Source: Technical Writing Examples

List of Technical Writing Examples

Definitions such as of sickle cell anemia, robotics.

Process Discussion such as environmental cycle, cardiac cycle

Comparisons such as of nuclear reactors.

Descriptions, for instance of wind mills, generators and primitive stone scraper

Feasibility Reports like those of Voice Recognition Software, UPS systems.

Progress reports. For example, Software development, database development

Application Letters such as Technical writer internee, Product Manager, Quality Assurance Manager

Complaint Letters. For example, Cosmetic problems, television problems, microwave problems

Instructions. For example, how to operate a Minolta Freedom 3 Camera, how to install windows XP, Using WS_FTP Pro for Windows etc

Proposals such as academic proposals, research proposals, corporate standard manuals.

Resumes. For example, Maintenance technician for high-tech systems, Project Manager, Technical Writer, LAN system administrator.

I have reviewed installation guides for few products. Most important guidelines for writing installation guides is you should not miss out on a single step how much obvious it may seem and it should be easy for a user to understand as it would be their first time using the product.
The sample writings should be between 500-100 words depending on the topic. Too short will not make the impact and too long ones will stretch the topic.

Conveying what you want in a simple but effective language is better appreciated than complex language which would require the user to pick up a dictionary because guides are to make the user more aware about using the software.

If you dont mind, please send me your samples through PM.

soumyapr · Dec 14, 2011

Thank you Orion for the detailed reply and examples. I have written a few procedures but they are short. I will revise and send it to you through pm. I am not able to send pm right now as I do not have 10 posts last month.