An interesting exercise that brings together some family
information might be to write a resume for parents or grandparents or for
individuals even further back.
Many of us have used resumes or curriculum vitae to
show prospective employers what our education, background or work experience
was (or is). Over the years, of course, these documents got bigger and
contained more detailed information about jobs held or projects worked. Now
they provide a great summary to show family members what we did to support our
families.
If you don't have a resume your parents wrote, try to do it yourself with data you may have in your files.
You may be fortunate to have photographs of parents,
etc. taken at their workplaces, perhaps with co-workers. You might have old tax
returns that show how much they earned or how long they were employed in a
particular position. Perhaps they obtained patents for designing implements or
processes important in their line of work. That would be a valuable piece of
information to include.
Serving in a country’s armed forces would be an
important part of a resume. If you have or can get a copy of someone’s service
record, you will find a great deal of information about when and where they
were posted, what their responsibilities were and how they were seen by
commanders. I have obtained several military service records for family members
on both sides and, using information in the summaries written blogs posts and
articles that showcased their participation and added significantly to the
histories of our families.
Education is the first piece of information necessary
for writing a resume. The various levels or degrees attained will show what
direction or career a person was to follow.
If you have copies of certificates awarded from
educational institutions, they will give you a great start in putting together
a resume. Perhaps there are class notes or project summaries among your
family’s memorabilia that illustrate what they did in school.
I have the original report cards and other information
for my wife and me, and for all our children. Again, this data adds a great
deal to our family history. Our descendants may find the material of great
interest and they ponder what went on in the olden days.
I keep copies of business cards used by me, my wife
and my children that, when put together, show work history and achievements as
people moved up the management or responsibility ladders and/or changed
employment. You may have letters from employers offering jobs or giving
recommendations to future employers.
Some people may have published articles related to
their work or expertise, including post retirement hobbies (In my case. I have
a long and growing list of these.). Newspaper articles may summarize work
achievements, promotions or new positions or advertise presentations given or
scheduled.
Participation with service or other clubs show how a
person is/was active in a community. These are things that may give an employer
a good idea about what kind of person a prospective employee may be as well as
what interests they may have.
An obituary may summarize a person’s career so these
should be checked.
All this information is what may be incorporated into
a resume.
Looking over my own resume one will see a multitude of
companies for which I worked or provided consulting services to. Some positions
were not of very long duration and you could get the impression I could not
hold a job. My story is that there were always more challenges, with other
companies that enticed me to move as well as a few situations – corporate and
personal – that arose that led to my moving. I will say, though, that not all
moves were great decisions on my part. I look back now and wonder why I made
those decisions to change direction.
Writing resumes is much like writing family histories
although for ourselves they must be current. Resumes, though, mainly
concentrate on work or employment, not on any of the family or personal
information that is part of complete family histories. Still, it is worth
looking through old correspondence, school records, income data, photo albums
to find information about how people spent their workdays.
Today you can go online to find many different templates
for writing resumes. Or choose from a multitude of books that will show you
how. They show you how to organize and lay out a document but also list what
types of information will be useful and necessary to include.
Shown below are brief resumes for my parents from
information gleaned from personal documents and photo albums. I will continue
to add to these summaries as I find more information
Work History
for William Calvin Shepheard (b1914-d1963)
Education
1928-1929 Olds
School of Agriculture
1931-1932 Public
High School – Kathryn Rural High School – Alberta – Matriculation
1936 Coyne
Electrical School – Chicago, Illinois, USA
1945 No.
1 Wireless School R.C.A.F. – Calgary, Alberta
Employment
1939-1943 Hudson’s
Bay Company Radio &
Refrigeration Service
1943-1946 Royal
Canadian Air Force Leading
Aircraftman
1947-1952 Hudson’s
Bay Company Radio, TV &
Appliance Service
1953-1955 Shepheard
Electronics Ltd. Radio, TV &
Appliance Sales & Service
1956-1959 Sacker
Electronics Co. Ltd. Radio, TV &
Appliance Sales & Service
1963-1968 Shep’s
Service (Proprietor) Radio, TV &
Appliance Sales & Service
1968-1971 Hillhurst
Electronics Radio, TV & Appliance
Service
1971-1983 Quilchena
Golf Course Golf Course
Proprietor
Hobbies, Memberships & Service Clubs
Kiwanis Club
Calgary Motion Picture Club
Work History
for Norma Mabel (Miller) Shepheard (1917-1974)
Education
1937 Department
of Education – Calgary, Alberta – Interim Second Class Certificate,
Teaching
1939 Department
of Education – Calgary, Alberta – Professional Second Class Certificate,
Teaching
1962 Department
of Education – Calgary, Alberta – Permanent Second Class Certificate, Teaching
1963-1970 Calgary
School Board – Calgary, Alberta – In-Service Training Certificates
Employment
1938-1939 Lake Thelma School Elementary School Teacher
1956-1959 Sacker Electronics Co. Ltd. Office Administration
1963 Northmount
Kindergarten Kindergarten Teacher
1963-1971 Brentwood Kindergarten Kindergarten Teacher
