Chronological Resume

Counting upon a chronological resume

With the post globalized scenario gradually setting in the nations all over the world and the job market becoming more and more competitive in every sectors, the various factors and steps associated with the recruitment process in different organizations are gaining increasing importance. One of the major shifts that have been witnessed in this regard is the change in the attitude of the employers who traditionally sought candidates with striking academic records and professional experience and always looked for impressive facts and figures on one.s resume.

But under the present circumstances, just like in every other aspects of life, even in case of an official recruitment of a candidate for a particular job by a HR department of an organization the preventability is given more importance rather than the core substance.

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As a result it seems that all of a sudden the whole world has woke up to the importance of a properly written and well presented resume which can actually be considered to the first significant step in the entire procedure as the entire decision of the authorities to call a candidate for an interview is totally dependant on the resume and its influence on the relevant personnel. As far as the present day circumstances are concerned more or less two broad categories of resume are found to be in use among the candidates and job hopefuls and are recognized by the organizations and concerned authorities. While in case of fresher pass outs without much of an experience of work, people looking for a change of profession, individuals resuming their professional life after a considerable gap or those who have academic qualifications as well as work experiences from varying fields and do not have a clear cut well defined career objective people tend to go for a functional resume.

In this format, the facts are figures do not appear in a sequential order but are rather clustered into groups of qualifications and experiences highlighting them and withholding the fact about the gaps in the working career. Though there are quite a considerable section of people who use this particular format for presenting their resume, there are certain disadvantages to it, the primary among them being the fact that these kinds of formats are seldom accepted in traditional set ups or organizations such as Government offices, legal sectors or even in the financial organizations. Thus, the second type or format of resume that people have adopted is called the chronological resume.

As the name suggests, one can easily understand that in this format the facts and figures pertaining to the job requirements or the organizational set up appear in an orderly fashion. However, one common misleading idea regarding the chronological resume is that the qualifications and experiences are not presented chronologically but rather in a reverse sequential order with the latest data appearing first followed by the previous ones and ending with the first ones.

Considering the fact that a chronological resume is better suited for the people with a focused career objective and a properly channelized academic and vocational qualification adding up to a certain kind of career goal, one still must keep in mind certain directive principles while preparing the resume. One of the most significant aspects that one must take into account during the procedure is the fact that a resume must be like an identity document for the candidate and must function as a well made advertisement which should be able to reveal one.s positive potentials and convey the personal details especially the contact numbers, addresses, e mail ids, etc in a precise and summarized manner. One must take care of the fact that since the resume will be one among hundreds put in a stack, in order to stand out the information conveyed through it must somehow individualize the candidate rather than being reduced to a name printed on a paper and thus being a step ahead in the race of getting the much coveted interview call.

Another very important thing for a chronological resume is stating the career aim or the objective very clearly and thus one must arrange the facts and figures about his or her academic background, qualifications, the work experiences and every other relevant information accordingly with that intention. As it has been already mentioned earlier, a chronological resume or any format of resume for that matter must act as an advertisement and so in order to make it a successful venture the candidate must remember to add a section under a broad head like accomplishments or something similar. Under this, one must state every kind of achievements accomplished by him or her and highlight or draw attention to the major ones. In other words, this section should be like a well written synopsis of the entire resume.