In my search for sample resumes, I came across the website Blue Sky Resumes. In addition to sample resumes for a variety of industries and positions, the website also offers a free resume course as well as articles and advice for job searches. Here are a few good ones:
The 7 Mistakes You’re Probably Making on LinkedIn
What Would Steve Jobs Say About Your Resume?
I’m in a rather transitional point in my career; the time between a having a job and making a career. I’ve been with the same company for about 7 years, and have held a variety of positions from sales to project management and marketing. So that puts me somewhere in that middle area of above entry level, but below management. I tried to find a sample resume of someone at a similar point in their career and in a similar field.
I chose this resume sample for a Social Media Specialist.
I like the layout of this resume. The professional profile is like the summary field that appears in LinkedIn and VisualCV. During the class, we’ve discussed this is similiar to an elevator speech as it gives a snapshot of your professional personality.
- Professional profile
- Career History
- Technical Skills
- Education
- Education
- Work Experience
But, how can I add more interest to my existing resume? Is a new layout enough?
- blogging/blog commenting
- youtube production
- business development
- project management
- emerging technologies
- technology implementation
- digital asset management
- technical skills: working knowledge of HTML and XML, OS, etc…
Anyone have any thoughts on adding Microsoft Office as a skills set? Aren’t these expected now?
- Add my website/Twitter/LinkedIn accounts
- Bold key career highlights/accomplishments.
- Qualify my career successes with more numbers (“increased digital sales by 40%…)
I definitely found it beneficial to take a look at how other professionals with similar backgrounds structure their resumes, and I have some new ideas on how to add more interest to my own.
Source:
Blue Sky Resumes. http://www.blueskyresumes.com/
Remarks 
What a great post! It was good that you were able to find a similar résumé and compare and contrast yours to it. I think it’s great you had some takeaways that you can now add to your CV.
I agree with your thought process about changing the hierarchy of your sections. Since you have been out of school for a decade, it makes sense that your work experience and life come through rather than your student identity (as Professor Porter would put it).
To enhance your résumé, I sometimes think a new layout can be enough! There are always changing trends in CVs the same way there are changing trends in social media and changing it up a bit never hurt anyone!
I think your list of skills you have written there are exceptional! They seem extremely outside the box to me, but definitely applicable to many different careers. I also agree with you that Microsoft Office as a skill should be a given (for anyone) and I have been told many times that it should not appear on my résumé (and I’m still a student). Also, if you can write in HTML and XML, I find that much more impressive than making a PowerPoint or something similar.
Lastly, your ideas to “perk up” your résumé are great! I’ve always heard that quantifying your experiences give others a better sense of your accomplishments and I would highly suggest it!
A truly great blog post and I’m excited to look deeper at your CV on niihka!
Thanks for your feedback, Sarah! Appreciate your thoughts!
This is a great post. Especially valuable, I think, is the list of ways that you can demonstrate “soft skills” — not by listing them on a resume (which isn’t very effective) but by actually showing them through various kinds of online activities. Online you can “perform” effective communication! You could turn this into your own “advice article.”