Writing a resume (construction/carpentry specifc)?

Question

I'm on task to help my dad write up a resume (i'm 18 and have never been employed, but I'm good at finding stuff on the net).

He's a carpenter currently working for a construction company that doesn't look to have good days ahead, so he's looking for new work. I believe this march he'll have been working for the same company for the past 20 years, so he doesn't have alot of previous careers to put down (I don't know if things before that were "big" enough to even be included). He's a "skilled" worker (carpentry, etc. not just a laborer) and I know he's worked as a foreman before (ie: the head guy on the job).

Is there some sort of specific resume for this job field, or anything that can narrow my work in this?

I'm gonna wait to select the best answer, but I would like to thank everyone who answered as they were all very helpful.

And no, Home Depot wouldn't work out, he'd probably get frutuated, lol (He'd probably pick Lowes over HD anyway because they get employee discounts :D). He's still looking to do the same thing, but somewhere where he's more secure, like at a local college where he's always "working", but really just on-call for matenience or what-not (as opposed to his current job, where if the people who run the company can't get a bid on a job, he's SOL).

THANKS AGAIN.

Answer 1

Your father should put together a finctional resume rather than a chronological one if he has a lot of skill and experience, but only a few different employers. I'm not sure how I would attack a construction resume, but for my secretarial resume I broke it up into sections.

Overview - Paragraph about qualifications and the type of job your seeking

Skills Summary -
- Office and Organizational
* Bullets for each task/responsibility

- Computer and Software
* Bullets for each each skill/task, and software list
- Writing and Editing
* Bullets for each large project
- Special Projects
* Bullets for each project I completely of contributed to that might be outside the usual skills or expectation for a secretary.

Employment -
One line per employer with company, location, title, and date range

I hope this gives you some ideas. My functional resume was very well received. Templates will help with layout, but the content is all anyone cares about after the fact it's readable.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

I work for a recruitment agency and my job is to write resumes for people.

Working for the same company for 20 years can work in his favour. It means he is a devoted employee and obviously one which a company has faith in keeping around.

If you have Microsoft Word you look at their proformas and go online to their site and have a look at other formats to give you an idea how to set it out.

Always good to start out with a career summary like "An experienced and reliable carpenter, with extensive training in Occupational Health and Safety standards. My commitment and dedication throughout my time with xxxxx company has ensured a long and successful career." or something along those lines.

Make sure that you list some of the important skills/responsibilities he has with his job. Don't make it too long. Studies have shown that employers get bored after about 7 points.

However, do make an effort to put in a large number of achievements eg. various projects he has worked on, ability to meet tight deadlines, any major things he did which saved money/time/materials etc.

If you need anymore help email me and I can send you some proformas you can use as a set out.

Answer 4

I say construction carpentry sounds good. It is always handy to have a resume book, even the cheap 10 dollar books usually have some good pointers, like keep it breif, use positive action words and phrases.

Answer 5

two things can happen: (1) by taking out the "terminated" jobs (got fired from), depending how long your sister worked in those jobs, it might create a "pause" in her career and oftenly viewed as a negative by would-be employers. now, (2) including the terminated jobs in the work experience might lead to the employer knowing your sister got fired during the actual interview. best approach; include the terminated job details - her responsibilities, whatever was accomplished if any, then during the interview where it would take a lot of self control under pressure, a safe answer will be that she left those jobs for personal reasons. The interviewer will normally ask "Why did you leave the job?" and not "Were you fired in those jobs?". At some level it is lying, but by not putting those "unfavorable" job experiences in the resume and presenting something else to the employer is the same form of misinformation. Of course, if the employer makes an reference call to the previous company then your sister can only cross her fingers.

Answer 6

I would suggest you take some professional help (for FREE) from MS word which has inbuilt resume templates for making your resume.

You can also follow the step-by-step instruction to make your free resume, using the resume builder provided with MS office.

Resume styles differ according to profession, and sources of sample resumes are available in my profile, check my profile for more details, all the best :)

Answer 7

Here's a resume template for carpentry/construction from Microsoft. Even though the graphic is a little hard to read on the website, if you download the template, it opens in Microsoft Word and is easy to read.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/templates/TC010758311033.aspx

Answer 8

pay the money and hire a professional, and not just a professional typist, someone that can provide testimonials that their resumes get results

you hire a real estate agent to sell a house, car sales people sell cars, and so on

what can be more important than a persons livelyhood??

Answer 9

First start with what he would like to do and why, as you can't write something without knowing where you want to end up.

I would think Home Depot would be a good choice if he is a people person.

Answer 10

if you have microsoft word there are templates online for just about any type of resume, cover letter, etc.