I always keep diff. versions of a resume for diff. job applications. I don't send out the exact same version- I tailor to the position.

That being said, when I have to ax mine (same problem you're having- too long) I always get rid of the interests section first- it usually doesn't add any value. Also, I've found (unless it's Spanish), language skill will only be important to very specific employers.

(Again, this is dependant on who's doing the hiring, obviously- if you want to work for an Italian-language newspaper, your resume version for that application would be quite different.)

After that, I take it chronologically - at this point, no one cares that I was a teaching assistant at age 18 for journalism summer camp; so it didn't make the cut.

I wish you luck, I hate updating the resume - it's a lot harder than you'd think it would be.

Strike:

"one of six students who received a newly-implemented full-tuition scholarship in 2005"

"GPA: 3.75/4.0;"

"Dean’s List eight out of eight semesters;"

"Phi Eta Sigma and Sigma Tau Delta (honor societies)"

Reduce work experience summaries, for example:

• July 2003 – August 2005, Editorial Assistant, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, Washington, D.C.
Proofread, write and lay out articles about higher education for magazine using QuarkXPress; help manage project flow and production; marketing for new books and resources; assist redesign and update of marketing web site.

Don't use those actual words, I'm just trying to convey that you need to find a way to abbreviate these. Breaking it up; like this; is fine, but if you can explain to someone in one sentence what you did, all the better. It should be easy on the eye to scan and understand.

Strike the descriptions under "Experience" and just list the title and name of the publication and dates. They know what interns do. They know what a "writer" does at a student newspaper.

I'd keep the skills AND interests, not that the g. is wrong, but personally I prefer to see people's interest on their resumes.

Good luck. Between you and Matty, I believe I'll have a Pulitzer Prize-winning acquaintance out there one day.--s

I say strike the interests unless they have some bearing on the job. Something like "Interests: new media ethics, viral networking, or whatever" might be worth adding for some applications.

cutting down the school and employment stuff makes sense, but i like my experience stuff under dcist and the angle...i do think my experience with online stuff helped me get into medill in the first place, and plus it's a lot more what i want to do than what my past couple of jobs have been. so personally i think i would keep it, but pare it down some.

some recommendations:

1. get rid of the "objective" line. if you're applying for a journalistic position at the Web site of a major news publication, they already know that that's your objective.

2. instead of just calling it "employment" and "experience," change the latter to something like "recent relevant experience" to drive home the point that your non-employment positions are in fact relevant to the job for which you're applying.

3. employment and experience first, education later.

4. in your 1999-2002 experience description, you need to capitalize the word "writer."

5. extern?

6. i'm with the "get rid of the interests" people. i deal with a lot of resumes in my job, and i always make fun of the interests on people's resumes.

7. "deadline-driven" may be a better way of saying "good with deadlines."

oh yeah, good call on the recent relevant experience. that sounds more like how i would be intersted in listing it, but do you think employers would be put off by me not strictly categorizing my actual jobs?

It's not as if she wrote "long walks on the beach"! I guess you could say "Interests: Available Upon Request". No, not really. I must be the only one who's interested in interests. You young businesspersons are cold...and cynical!

not sure what you mean by "not strictly categorizing my actual jobs."

like, actual employment vs me just doing shit on the side. i mean, i don't necessarily think the difference between how passionate i was about all of it is that big, but i have no idea if employers would rather see "real" jobs listed separately/first.

I'd change up the word "wrote". Throw in "authored", for example. Also, if it's not too innacurate, instead of using phrases like "helped manage project flow", make it more direct, such as "managed project flow" or "project flow management"--this means maintaining a consistent past-tense verb type of phrasing or present tense description of skills. (I notice that the tense changes throughout; my suggestion is to make everything past tense unless it relates to current work, though whichever you tense you choose is probably fine.) "Worked on" is another phrase that should go; for example, change "work on marketing for new books" to "marketed new books". In other words, as much as you can strengthen & tighten all of the verbs/descriptions to make it sound less passive without sacrificing the truth, do so (seeking irony's point 7 is another good example).

I'd change up the word "wrote". Throw in "authored", for example.

For all I knew this is good advice, but ew.

since your "shit on the side" is so similar, and as important as your actual employment, my first instinct when reading your resume was to actually combine it all.

yeah it makes sense to me - was just concerned about potential employers and if they thought it was a bad way to combine it. but i think it's good advice and will do it!

Catherine, have you ever tried taking your resume, deleting your name and contact information, and in its place substituting mine?

Seriously. Could you? I'd like to have some money.

heh, thanks dceiver.

a couple more questions: should education or relevant experience go first? should i keep on the milan teaching thing and the agency internship? the agency internship was forever ago and the milan teaching is not at all relevant to what i want as a career, but for some reason people usually find them interesting...so i dunno.

oops i see that natalya already addressed the education vs. employment first.