I reported the Mission district section of One-Stop Career Center for a workshop on writing a résumé. This was my first real experience in broadening my contacts.
Nina Marillo, an HR professional for many years with FedEx, was a straight talk no-nonsense woman. However instead of discussing résumés she spent most of the session explaining how to fill out an application form. I was disgusted at first since most of the jobs I would be applying for are no longer using the old-fashioned application form method. However I kept my behind in my seat and learned some interesting tips. For instance, if an application form asks you to check which days and hours you are available for work, you should check them all. She reasoned, if a job opportunity comes up that’s not Monday to Friday or 9-to-5, you may still consider it. So why limit your possibilities?
Finally she got on to the issue of résumés and also interviewing and negotiation.
Her manner was intense. She was eager for us to see how personnel people view the résumés they get over the transom. She informed us that we could apply for employment with the city or county of San Francisco at 44 Gough Street.
Then she invited us to send our résumés to her and she would revise them in return them by e-mail. Good as gold two weeks later she did so. I was amazed to see that she had relegated my employers to the bottom of page in bullet points while she turned my journalism and consulting experience into language that made it look as though it had a bottom-line impact.