Choosing the Perfect Resume

If you are preparing to write a résumé, you may be aware that are more than one style. There are 3 major styles of résumé writing, there is the Chronological résumé, the Functional résumé and the Combination résumé. We will go over each style and see if it will work for you. All a résumé is is a sheet of paper with all of your accomplishment in both education and work experience. An interviewer is looking for someone to hire who can get the job done and have the experience they are looking for.

The chronological résumé is formatted to show your employment experience and your education in time order. This can be done with the most current time or from oldest to newest. When an interviewer looks at a résumé he or she looks for the important information first. The will want to see what you did before or while you are applying for their job. They don’t really want to see what you did 10 years ago so try to use the most current jobs first, so they will look at what they need to know and not have to scan the entire document looking for simple information.

The functional résumé is a list of your work experience and skills that you posses and sort them out by job function or skill. This style résumé is not used that often. It works in the sense that the jobs are listed by job function. Interviewers want to see what you can do for them and if the job you were at before or still on is similar to what they need they want to see it. Interviews do not want to spend time reading a lot of information that is not pertinent to them, that is why it is recommended that you keep your résumé short and to the point.

The combination résumé is just that, a combination of a chronological and a functional résumé. You begin with a functional list of jobs and then a chronological list of employers. This style of résumé writing is not recommended. It comes off too confusing. If you send a résumé like that you may not get a chance to explain it, if an interviewer does not like your résumé they will just toss it aside.

Remember a résumé is a reflection of you. If you present a sloppy résumé, they will not give you a chance. A good résumé will guarantee you an interview.