In many respects, the resume is your personal agent. It is a direct reflection of and on you as it offers employers a first, perhaps only, glimpse of your abilities and accomplishments. For this reason, crafting a resume is of vital importance. The resume serves four basic functions: it acts as a self-inventory, as an extended calling card, as an agenda for an interview and as a memory jogger for employers (Bolles, 158).
The Resume
The two most common resume styles are the chronological, and functional formats. The chronological resume is one which presents your abilities through a historical sequence of job experiences, starting with your most recent. It may also contain a list of selected accomplishments after the responsibilities are outlined, or in place of listing responsibilities. This is the resume style recommended by most recruiters and is especially useful if your most recent work experience directly relates to the position you are applying for and if you have had a solid work history with demonstrated progression through the years. If you have little or no relevant work experience for the position of interest, if you wish to change career directions, or if there are noticeable gaps in your experience, then this format is not recommended.
Functional resumes, on the other hand, describe experiences by categories of skills such as engineering, finance, administration, etc. This resume format is flexible and the skill headings can be tailored to the job requirements. It is a good choice when your direct experience is limited, when you wish to change career directions, when your work history is sporadic, or when your experience has been gained in activities outside traditional employment, for example volunteer work, academic studies, job placement or travel. For those who have not done a skills assessment, this style of resume is useful as it forces them to think in terms of job requirements and transferable skills. However, recruiters generally do not prefer this style; they are often suspicious that you are trying to hide some gaps in your work history or experience. They also find this resume style more difficult to screen as the information is usually presented in a fairly generic syle which may not provide the recruiter with enough infomation to make an accurate assessment. If you opt for this style, try to quantify/qualify wherever possible.
For individual help go to our contact page. We can help you to develop an award winning resume or cv that gets you interviews.
Functional resumes, on the other hand, describe experiences by categories of skills such as engineering, finance, administration, etc. This resume format is flexible and the skill headings can be tailored to the job requirements. It is a good choice when your direct experience is limited, when you wish to change career directions, when your work history is sporadic, or when your experience has been gained in activities outside traditional employment, for example volunteer work, academic studies, job placement or travel. For those who have not done a skills assessment, this style of resume is useful as it forces them to think in terms of job requirements and transferable skills. However, recruiters generally do not prefer this style; they are often suspicious that you are trying to hide some gaps in your work history or experience. They also find this resume style more difficult to screen as the information is usually presented in a fairly generic syle which may not provide the recruiter with enough infomation to make an accurate assessment. If you opt for this style, try to quantify/qualify wherever possible.
For individual help go to our contact page. We can help you to develop an award winning resume or cv that gets you interviews.