Things To Know About Resumes

What is a Resume?

A resume is a summary of your educational background, employment experience, and skills. It is a way to communicate your qualifications and market yourself to an employer.

There is no single best way to write a résumé. While there are some general guidelines (e.g. clarity, accuracy, neatness) there is no single format that will work for every person for every job application. It is important to choose the résumé that will work best for you. Here are some questions you can ask yourself with the decision:

What are the employer's needs and interests for the position for which I am applying?
What are my strengths for the job? How can I emphasize them?
What are my weaknesses as far as this position is concerned? How can I downplay them?
How can I use format, organization, and content to make the most of what I have to offer?

Types of Resumes

The Chronological resume lists work experiences by date, with your most recent position appearing first. This style works well for people with solid experience and minimal job changes or people who have advanced in a single profession.

In Functional resumes the information is organized in skill clusters and work experience. This type of résumé can work well for people with limited experience, people with lots of job experience and many jobs, people who are changing careers, military personnel searching for civilian jobs, people with minimal experience or experience unrelated to their area of interest or the job, and people who have done a lot of volunteer work or college activities (class projects, coursework).

The Combination resume combines aspects of the functional and chronological. It contains a section that discusses the skills that you bring to the position plus a chronological listing of work experience. This resume is useful for people with diverse backgrounds because in can effectively communicate numerous types of work skills, as well as, experiences that have helped to develop those skills.

The Electronic Resume

The electronic resume has the same content with the traditional resume but different formatting and is intended to be send in e-mail messages, paste into electronic forms, or post online. Find out how to create a plain-text version of your resume.

The resume should be saved as a Rich Text File (RTF) or converted into PDF if it is intended to be an attachment to e-mails or if keeping the formatting is important (unless there are specific directions from employer to use another format.)

Since many employers use keywords searches to find qualified candidates it is very important to use relevant words associated with particular job openings, industries, and professions, especially words that appear on the job announcement (NOT their synonyms). In addition, action verbs like "Managed" or "designed", which are recommended for use in traditional paper resumes, are not effective in electronic resumes because most applicant-tracking systems (ATS) keywords are nouns. Nouns indicate your accomplishments rather than verbs that focus on duties. It is better for you to use the noun version of these verbs like “management” instead of “managed” or “design” instead of “designed.”

The Scannable resume is formatted in such a way that it can be easily scanned and stored electronically. Many employers use automated applicant-tracking systems that scan traditional resumes and store them in a database. Then, employers search the database for candidates whose resumes contain specific keywords relevant to a particular position. Tips on how to write a scannable Resume.

The Web Resume is created using HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and displayed on a personal Web page. The Web resume is preferred for people in professions where they benefit from multimedia and rich detail such as actors, graphic designers, photographers, dancers, etc.

Quick Facts about Resumes

The function of a job resume is to get you an interview, not a job. It is also the script that employers use for the interview.
Resumes need to be clear, concise, and specific to the position in which you are applying.
Resumes need to be a quick and effective presentation that sells your skills and work experiences to potential employers.
Employers typically spend less than a minute reviewing each of them. A resume should be layout in a way to provide information about the candidate’s main skills, abilities and accomplishments at a glance.
The order of information on the resume is very important. Strong achievements and skills should be listed near the top because employers normally scan resumes from the top to bottom of the page.
Employers usually prefer chronological resumes.
Effective career objectives should be specific and quantitative. Generalized objectives show that the candidate is unsure about his career direction.
A resume should only be as long as it takes to tell your story in a concise and powerful way.
Neatness is a projection of the candidate's personality on paper.
Spelling or grammatical errors in a resume disqualifies the candidate immediately.

What to include in a Resume?

Heading - The heading should include your name, permanent and present addresses, telephone number and the e-mail that you check most often.

Objective Statement - This states the specific position that you are applying for.

Education - Include all degrees and certificates earned including the name of the college or university. Start with your most recently earned degree.

Work Experience - Include descriptions of jobs and relevant skills. Also include any internships, practicum’s, or any other cooperative learning experiences with a list of responsibilities.

Special Categories - This section can demonstrate how you stand out from other applicants. In this section, list special memberships, activities, experiences, or personal strengths that make you the best candidate for the job.

References - Create a separate sheet for your list of references. Personal references should be able to give an accurate and complimentary account of the abilities that you brought to the position. Try to avoid using family or friends as references, instead use employers, supervisors, and teachers.

Additional Heading

Accomplishments, Affiliations, Assets, Certification, Education, educational Highlights, Employment, Experience, Honors, Interests, Internship Experience, Languages, Leadership Activities, Licenses, Objective, Presentations, Professional Affiliations, Publications, Qualifications Summary, References, Scholarships, Skills, Technical Skills, Training, Travel , Volunteer Activities.