Guia Baylon is an IT professional who quality-checks mobile apps. On the side, she also runs her own online handicraft gift shop. One of her duties is to go through hundreds of resumes every year from on-the-job-training (OJT) applicants, all eager to bag a juicy role in the company she works for. She has been at this for years.
Many times, she comes across duds but every now and then she comes across gems. Over time, she has developed a good sense for resumes that work and those that do not.
She shares that one time while she reviewed resumes with her team, she came across a resume that actually listed a seminar on menstrual hygiene on the “Other Relevant Seminars.”
She says that she finds it ironic that some of the badly-written resumes listed having attended seminars on how to create good resumes. “It made me wonder if these workshops actually encouraged a cookie-cutter resume. Or if the students were listening at all during these seminars.”
Guia Baylon shares her insights on how to beef up resumes with seminars.
She agrees that one common denominator in the resumes from young and green applicants is the lack of professional experience. She was in the same boat once. “As a fresh graduate with little to no work experience, my resume was almost empty.”
But she was able to overcome this challenge because of a pro-tip from a mentor, a Marketing professor, on how to beef up her resume, given to her when she was still an undergraduate at the University of Sto. Tomas.
“Attend as many seminars and workshops as you can. That will be your leverage.”
“Indeed it was,” says Guia. She started to attend seminars to beef up her knowledge and her resume. This helped her gain some leverage in job hunting despite having no job experience and a not-so-stellar academic record.
However, there are some things to take note regarding beefing up your resume with seminars, Guia clarifies. She shares these three tips.
3 Tips on How to Beef Up Your Resume with Seminars
3) Keep your certificates.
Certificates are your proof. I remember being wonder-struck as my professor displayed his file folders filled with certificates from the various seminars and workshops he had attended. I followed his example and kept my certificates in a file folder. I would bring them along whenever I went to an interview and they served as a portfolio to my learning experiences.
2) Write descriptions.
Sometimes the title of the seminar is not enough to describe what it was about. Write a sentence or two about the seminar you attended. Include what you learned or what skills you developed from having attended. It will also be good to add the name of the speakers. Your employer might know one or two and this would add credibility to the seminars you attended.
1) Be relevant.
It will matter little to the employer if you had attended a number of seminars if none of them matched the job you are applying for. It’s great that that one applicant attended that hygiene seminar but it was not at all relevant to the IT post being applied for. The applicant didn’t need to add it to the resume.
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Guia gives this caveat, though. “Your resume and interview can help you get your foot in the door, but it is your attitude and skills that will keep those doors of opportunity wide open.”
Do you agree with these tips? Anything to add? Share your thoughts below!
