Wendy S. Enelow - Best Resumes and Letters for Ex-Offenders: The Ultimate Rap Sheet-to-Resume Guide for People With Not-So-Hot Backgrounds

W E WOULD LIKE to extend our appreciation to the following individuals. Without their insights and support, this book would not have been possible.... To Diana Bailey, Workforce Development and Transition Coordinator for the Correctional Educational Program for the Maryland State Department of Education, and to three members of her team who gave so generously of their time Elizabeth Crimi and Constance Parker at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCIW), and Lizz Smith at the Metropolitan Transitional Center (MTC). Ms. Bailey and her team work tirelessly to bring educational programs and services to the ex-offender population through the state of Maryland, preparing them for release and positioning them for job search success.

... To the inmates at MCIW and MTC, we want to thank you for your hospitality, great questions, and wonderful insights into the issues you are facing as you make your transition from prison to the outside workforce. You know who you are and we thank you and wish you the very best of luck today, tomorrow, and in the future.

... And to all of the talented resume writers, career coaches, career transition specialists, and workforce development professionals (see pages 260-264) who contributed their expert resumes and cover letters to this publication. We thank you for your wonderful work and want you to know how greatly we respect you and your contributions to this most unique job search population. You truly are making a difference in the world!

Writing this book was a great experience for both of us and opened our eyes to the complex issues impacting the job search of ex-offenders. Now, more than ever before, were committed to helping these individuals make successful career transitions, regain control of their lives, and move forward positively and productively.

Wendy Enelow and Ron Krannich

T HE FOLLOWING WORKSHEETS are designed to help you capture all of the information about yourself that youll need in order to write your resume. Youll want to make extra copies of some of the forms (e.g., Employment Experience Worksheet) so that you will have enough for each of your jobs. In this section youll find:

1. Employment Experience Worksheet
2. Training and Education Worksheet
3. Military Experience Worksheet
4. Volunteer Experience Worksheet
5. Skills and Special Qualifications Worksheet

We have created these worksheets so that any job seeker can use them from mechanic to vice president. As such, there may be questions on the worksheets that do not apply to you or your particular situation. If so, just ignore them and move on to the next question. Be as thorough as possible, for the more information you generate about yourself, the more information you can pull from when you sit down to write your actual resume.

If you take the time to document all the information about yourself, you will find that the actual resume writing process moves along more easily and much faster. What's more, you'll also discover that your resume is better it includes better information, it better highlights your skills and qualifications, it looks better, and it better represents who you are and what you can do. Simply put, its a more effective job search tool that should help you in generating an employers interest and capturing interviews.

1. Name of employer: _____________________________________
2. Address: _____________________________________________
3. Dates of employment: from __________ to ________ (month/year) (month/year)
4. Job title:______________________________________________
5. Type of company: ______________________________________
6. Salary:_______________________________________________
7. Responsibilities/duties:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Achievements: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Demonstrated skills:_____________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________

1. College degree and/or major: _______________________________
2. College:______________________________________________
3. Address:_____________________________________________
4. Dates: from _____ to _______ GPA: _______ (on ____ scale)
5. Honors and activities:_____________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________
6. Certificate or license:______________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________
7. Company or organization:__________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________
8. Address: _____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________
9. Dates: from _____ to _______
10. Training program:________________________________________
11. Company: ____________________________________________
12. Address: _____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________
13. Dates: from _____ to _______

1. Service:______________________________________________
2. Rank:________________________________________________
3. Inclusive dates: from _________ to _________. (month/year) (month/year)
4. Responsibilities/duties: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Significant contributions/achievements: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Demonstrated skills and abilities:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Reserve status: __________________________________________

1. Name and address of organization/group: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Dates: from _________ to _________.
3. (month/year) (month/year)
4. Offices held/nature of involvement: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Significant contributions/achievements: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________