ABOUT WRITING RESUMES.( 1)

 
     The tragedy of resumes is that they are usually written soon before one’s graduation, as a formality for the school’s “student affairs” office.  By then, it is too late!  Why so?  A resume is a “living document”, that chronicles your life.  If that is true, then why not plan out your life, rather than just “let it happen”, and record it after the fact?  You should therefore write out two resumes : (a) one for your school’s files (your “xue sheng dang an”), and (b) another for your own, personal job-search.  You should do both, as they each serve different purposes. 
 
     (a) The resume, for your school’s files.  Before you graduate, your school will distribute an official resume form to all the students in your class.  What usually happens?  First, many students copy off each other, as if it was another homework.  Second, many students complain that they have nothing “interesting” to write down about their life-history.  This is tragic, and reflects a lack of life-planning, and more.  Hopefully, this will not be your story!  When you get the school’s resume form, please do the following: 
       –Follow the school’s directions. 
       –Write neatly. 
       –Keep copies of what you write for yourself.  If this means running out of the classroom, across the street, and into the local “copy shop” to make a copy, before giving the form back to the classroom “monitor”, then so be it. 
       –Also, try to get copies of your school transcript (a list of the courses you took, and your grades), and any “recommendation letters” from your teachers. 
       –You should keep the documents you acquire in a special, “ready-to-use” file, and keep it in your apartment, wherever you go, for the rest of your working life. 
 
     Here is some more information about transcripts (ke cheng).  A transcript is a document, showing what courses you took, and what grade you got in each class.  You need to have your own copies (photocopied), for unofficial use, or real copies (originals) from the school’s registrar, in your own folder, so you can show them to prospective employers.  (I have about 20 transcripts in my files, as I do not want to be constantly dependent on my old school’s registrar–I left school over 21 years ago!) 
 
     (b) The resume, for your job-search.