On a resume?

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AnnieColleen

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I'm applying for a job that involves a lot of writing. Any suggestions how to go about putting NaNo on a resume? I also have one short story pub. to include, and not a lot of space left (or a lot of time).
 

TheIT

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Maybe something like: "Has demonstrated the ability to produce a large volume of writing under strict deadlines by doing NaNoWriMo"?
 

AnnieColleen

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One of my concerns is explaining what NaNo is... I thought about maybe putting in the goal and my wordcounts (74K and 114K), and specifying "winner". And I'm not sure about a header, either. (The others are "Work History", "Education", and "Responsibilities - [company I work for]")

What I'm currently thinking is something like:



Publications/Writing Achievements​

National Novel Writing Month Winner, 2007 (74,000 words) and 2008 (114,000 words)
Goal: 50,000 words in 30 days

"Wish You Were Here", Southern Gothic Online, [year - I forget!]




Probably in between Education and Responsibilities...

I dunno. Still thinking about it.
 
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rhgibson

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I think what you've presented here would be fine, but possibly put your actual publication first unless it's way in the past. You might also put "Nanowrimo" in brackets after your mention of the National Novel Writing contest because somebody might google it to see what it is. (although I'm sure they'd get a hit anyway if they put in National Novel Writing... but by being more specific it doesn't look as if you're trying to hide what it is) If it's a job that requires a lot of writing, this might help, I don't think it would hurt.
rh
 
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AnnieColleen

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The story pub. was 2007. I'd originally thought of putting it first, but resumes usually go chronologically latest to earliest... I guess since this is an unusual section anyhow, putting them by importance could work.
 
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veinglory

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Honestly, I would advise against mentioning it. It is an amateur activity and I would be rather surprised to find it on a resume outside of a 'hobbies and interests' section.
 
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rhgibson

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Yes, I think importance outweighs chronology here in terms of traditional resume writing.

Nano is an important exercise but in the end that's what it is. It shows a skill that you have, but it's a personal win and not a traditional type contest where you've won out over others. Doesn't hurt to put it on your resume but an actual publication credit definitely is more impressive and you don't want to give the impression that you're making Nano into something that it's not.

Edit: Just saw Veinglory's post and I would say that it depends on the job you're applying for. In a sense, yes, this category that you're adding into your resume IS similar to a hobbies and interests section because you really don't have a lot of "professional" writing experience, so anything goes as far as I'm concerned. If you had several publications in good literary journals, I'd say don't mention Nano at all, but in this case I don't think it would hurt. Just my opinion, of course.
 
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AnnieColleen

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Neither the pub credit nor NaNo really relates to the job at hand, except that they all involve writing of some kind. I was actually surprised that my boss (this is for an internal job posting) was advising me to list the short story pub. (I told her it was speculative fiction; after that she said I might/might not want to use it as a writing sample, but still recommended listing it.)

I had to explain to her what NaNo was (writing 50K words in a month, with a winner's certificate for succeeding at the challenge); she was less sure about NaNo than the story, but still thought it would be a plus.



eta: Hmm, doesn't look like I'll have room, anyhow, with her other edits. I don't want to go over a page.
 
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Yeshanu

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Paid jobs don't usually involve writing lots and lots of fiction. I'm with vein on this--put "fiction writing" under hobbies and leave it at that. Don't put novel writing credits on your resume unless they're either published or about to be published.

In your experience section, you should have all the non-fiction writing credits (professional or volunteer, but not school) that you can pack in there.

ETA: Oh, and good luck, Annie! :)
 

Lavinia

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I wouldn't mention nanowrimo at all. The term "winner" sounds as if you were chosen from among hundreds or thousands as a winner. I think all of us who do nano realize that the term "winner" is a bit tongue-in-cheek. The winning is a personal goal of just putting words on a page. A simple check by a potential employer will find "no plot-no problem" and wonder what in the world kind of thing this is. If you really want to include it, I'd put it under things you do for fun, or in your spare time, something like that. ~Lavinia
 

IslaMujeres

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I just found an interesting job offer but honestly have no idea how to create a cv. Anyone can recommend a good program ?
Thanks in advance
 

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IslaMujeres, welcome to you. We hope you'll make time to stroll over to New Members and introduce yourself so we can get acquainted.

Meanwhile, though, you've necroed--brought back from the dead--a post last active 14 years ago. We urge you to pay attention to the date of the most recent post to avoid this in the future.

Have you looked at AskAManager.org? They have lots of job-seeking advice and information.
 
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