Types of Resumes

In today’s competitive job market, more and more qualified applicants are competing for fewer positions. Job-seekers and job-changers have a major challenge just getting into an interview.The resume — a typewritten summary of experience and education — is the key to getting that all-important interview. Its purpose is to influence favorably the employer to screen you into an interview. But the resume that worked five, ten or twenty years ago is not likely to be effective today.

The typical employer today may face the challenge of having to select five people to interview from a stack of 200 applications. Therefore, he or she needs to screen out the majority of job applicants to select only the best candidates to interview. The employer may prefer a particular resume format because it speeds the task of eliminating candidates. Your strategy will be to choose the format and contents of your resume to maximize your chances of getting screened in. You have unlimited choices to make in determining what information you will include and how you will present it.

Most of the printed material on resume writing is from the United States, so some of the instruction you may come across in your research are not appropriate for the Canadian market. Always consider the source, geographic region, and date of any research materials you use on this subject.

TYPES OF RESUMES

Chronological

The chronological resume is the most familiar type of resume. It highlights your employment background, education, and training in reverse chronological order (most recent or current experience first). It includes names of employers, dates, and key duties performed. It tells what you have done, but not how you performed.

The vast majority of hiring employers probably prefer this format. It makes it easy for them to screen applicants out. They can quickly determine if you have the particular combination of education and work-related experience they’ve asked for. If you don’t have it, you’re out.

The chronological resume is most likely the one you learned in high school, college or university, and it’s the most likely resume to support you in landing a job in today’s competitive job market.

To choose the right resume format you need to analyze your job target, the employer’s needs and the competition. If you feel the chronological resume will work for you, you’ll still want to use an effective cover letter to highlight some of your strengths and convince the reader you’re a desirable, motivated employee.Functional

A functional resume lists skills or accomplishments instead of employment background and may illustrate the use of these skills. The resume either omits references to past employment or only lists past employers with no description of key responsibilities carried out. Frequently no dates are supplied. This resume format is NOT appealing to Canadian employers. They want to see employment background, including dates and key duties in sufficient detail so that they can assess its relevance for them.

This format would be suitable ONLY for the job candidate with no paid employment background or for an individual who has been out of the job market for an extended period — at home raising a family, in jail, in the hospital or out of the country traveling, for example.

Combination

The combination resume combines a chronological and functional resume. It is a chronological account of your background with information about how you have performed, the results you’ve achieved, or the particular skill strengths you’ve developed.

The combination resume makes you appealing to a potential employer by showing what you’ve contributed to past employers. It helps you sell the reader on what you can do for him or her. A targeted combination resume can be effective in today’s market.

CHOOSING THE MOST EFFECTIVE RESUME TYPE FOR YOU

Your background, job target and the competition you face are all variables to consider in writing your resume.

A “Curriculum Vitae” is an expanded detailing of academic and employment background, research, and publications. To write your resume will require a lot of self-knowledge.

➔ name
➔ address
➔ phone number
➔ profile/summary/highlights/skill strengths/accomplishments or ➔ contributions (one or more of these)
➔ employment background
➔ education
➔ community/volunteer activities
➔ leisure interests

other

➔ “references available on request” statement

Your strategy as to what to include and where to place it is critical to achieving an interview.

Myth: You can’t get a job without experience.
Reality: You can, but you’ll have a hard time accomplishing this with a chronological resume.

© Wordscapes® (David Turner). All Rights Reserved.

Gathering Information For Your Resume

WRITING YOUR RESUME

Several resources follow to assist you in developing your resume. They include a personal biography form, a list of effective action verbs to use in describing your key job responsibilities and a list of useful resume headings.

Personal Biography

If you’ve never had a resume, this will be useful to you in documenting your background, which will also be helpful when you’re completing an application form.

Employment Background

List all of your previous work in reverse chronology (most recent experience first), giving year to year of your employment (months, no longer are necessary to indicate on your resume). Describe key responsibilities using incomplete sentences starting with an action verb. Use extra paper if necessary.

For example:

Wrote a training manual which increased operation efficiency 20 percent.

1. ____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Education & Development

Have you taken or are you now taking any extension, adult education or other courses? ____ Yes ____ No

What are they? ___________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Membership in Organizations – Past and Present (community, political, cultural, professional, social)

Hobbies/Pastimes/interests – List everything, past and present, even activities that may seem unimportant to your career.

Do you see any work-related applications for your hobbies or interests? ____ Yes ____ No

Headings

Below are some possible resume sub-headings. Choose the headings that will be the most effective for you. Select one heading from each category. Use your imagination and come up with more of your own.

The headings should be in the order in which they usually appear on your resume. The top two groups are optional and may not be particularly relevant for you.

© Wordscapes® (David Turner). All Rights Reserved.