Resume Questions! (employee, credit, collecting, average)

[BORGUSX]

1.Should I contact my former employer regarding when I started working there? It's because I forgot if I started in June of 2005 or July of 2005!

2.What are the do and do not on a resume?

[BORGUSX]

Here is my cover letter (please help me correct my grammars and improve it!)


Robert Katz
General Manager
Lexus of Wayzata
16100 Wayzata Blvd
Wayzata, MN 55391
rkatz@lexusofwayzata.com


Dear Mr. Katz:


From your website I learned about your need for a valet. I am intrigued in this position with the Lexus of Wayzata dealership because it will help me to gain more knowledge when it comes to automobiles. In addition, I believe that my education and employment background are appropriate for the position.


During my high school career, I was employed as a crew member at McDonald’s. It is because of my work ethic that I was able to become employee of the month and was promoted to crew trainer. I would like to bring my work ethic to the automotive industry. In addition, I already have a year of college under my belt, but since I am at a stage where I am taking some time off from college in order to find a passion in which I would have a future career. Maybe the automotive industry will be the right place for me.


Enclosed is a copy of my resume, which more fully details my qualifications for the position.


I look forward to talking with you regarding the valet position with Lexus of Wayzata. Within the next week I will contact you to confirm that you received my email and resume and to answer any questions you may have.


Thank you for your consideration.


Sincerely,
??????????




Note:I won't reveal my personal information!

[7G9C4J2]

If you left your former employer on reasonably good terms, there shouldn't be any reason at all not to call up the HR department and ask which month it was that you started there. That's a perfectly reasonably question, and they should be able to answer readily.

Your other question is a lot more open-ended. I can tell you what I look for on a resume (and what I don't), but my industry is considerably different from, say, sales or marketing or research. Things that might be important to me would be irrelevant to other professions, and vice versa.

The first thing I expect to see is a clearly defined objective. Avoid waffling, and don't ask for challenges you really don't want just to make yourself sound good on paper. And please be sure to update the objective on your resume EVERY time you send it out. I can't tell you the number of resumes I've tossed into the "thanks but no thanks" pile because the sender forgot to change his or her objective from "a fast paced position in customer service and care" to "a position in accounts payable" or something similar.

Quick hint here: even if you've just graduated and you're really, really proud of your education, don't list it first. I expect to see that at the end, with your references and other activities. Start with the experience you've had that makes you the best choice for this position.

The next thing I look at is a quick scan through the description of each job the applicant has performed. I'm looking for specifics: don't give me "did accounts payable for two years", tell me "handled inventory accounts payable for 40 key vendors, including general-ledger coding invoices and credits, reconciling statements, collecting from vendors in credit balance and communicating effectively with buying group to manage vendor relationships. Annual total invoices processed averaged $ X million, earned 97% of available cash discounts. Assisted staff accountant in reconciling ledger inventory each month, reconciled outbound shipments, and prepared and reconciled monthly and quarterly accrual items." I want to see if your specific experience is relevant to the position for which I am hiring.

Another thing that I look for on a resume is upward movement within the department and/or company. An applicant who started as an inventory clerk 8 years ago and is still an inventory clerk today is not a strong candidate. An applicant who started as an inventory clerk, got promoted to the accounts payable department, then to AP manager, then to internal auditor, is definitely one I want to talk with.

And finally, the single most common mistake I see on resumes is errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. And that will get a resume tossed in the "no thanks" pile just as fast as a resume with an objective for a totally different job. I'm not looking for English teachers, but I do expect my staff to be able to communicate clearly and grammatically in writing, both to internal and to external clients. If something as important as a resume is chock-full of typos and spelling errors, that's a pretty good clue that I'd be embarassed to have that person sending emails on behalf of the company.

That's one person's very subjective view of good and bad resume-writing. But I should stress again that not all professions are alike, and depending on your career path, an entirely different set of expectations may be in place. Good luck in any case!

[BORGUSX]

Here is my cover letter and resume (please help me correct my grammars and improve it!)


Robert Katz
General Manager
Lexus of Wayzata
16100 Wayzata Blvd
Wayzata, MN 55391
rkatz@lexusofwayzata.com


Dear Mr. Katz:


From your website I learned about your need for a valet. I am intrigued in this position with the Lexus of Wayzata dealership because it will help me to gain more knowledge when it comes to automobiles. In addition, I believe that my education and employment background are appropriate for the position.


During my high school career, I was employed as a crew member at McDonald’s. It is because of my work ethic that I was able to become employee of the month and was promoted to crew trainer. I would like to bring my work ethic to the automotive industry. In addition, I already have a year of college.


Enclosed is a copy of my resume, which more fully details my qualifications for the position.


I look forward to talking with you regarding the valet position with Lexus of Wayzata. Within the next week I will contact you to confirm that you received my email and resume and to answer any questions you may have.


Thank you for your consideration.


Sincerely,
??????????


????????

OBJECTIVES
A position as a valet at Lexus of Wayzata will let me ultilize interpersonal skills with the customers and co-workers.


SKILLS
Ability to read and comphrend

Ability to add, substract, mulitply, and divide.




EXPERIENCE

McDonald's
Eden Prairie, MN
Crew Member
July, 2005 to November, 2006
-Perform tasks such as being a cashier, doing drive-thru, inventory, helping customers with questions, and assisting co-workers

Promoted to Crew Trainer

EDUCATION

Mount Mercy College
Cedar Rapids, IA





Note:I won't reveal my personal information!






Anoher question is do you list your last job position at your workplace on the resume or both positions on the resume?

So, I was a crew member, but I was promoted to a crew trainer at McDonald's!

In addition, there is an application that ask about my work experience! Am I suppose to list only crew trainer or both?

What are hard skills and/or soft skills should I include?

Link to the job description: http://www.villageautomotivegroup.com/docs...tions/Valet.pdf (broken link)