Selecting an appropriate resume style will help you communicate your (qualifications more effectively and give you an advantage over your competition. Some common resume styles are traditional which includes chronological) and functional. Different styles must be used for resumes that will be e-mailed, scanned, or viewed on the Internet. Some combination of styles is often very effective, and more than one resume may be necessary. One person may best present his/her qualifications with a traditional resume, while another may use a functional format. You may need to use more than one style of resume, depending on the positions you are considering. Understanding how and when to use each type enables you to present yourself in the most powerful manner. While these are the basic styles, there are others; and there are variations of each of them. Learn about a variety of resume styles; don't hesitate to modify them so the resume fits your situation, not vice versa. The differences in resume styles or types affect primarily the way that experiences, activities, skills and achievements are presented.
This style is the most traditional and includes a listing of the job seeker's work history starting with the most current position and working back in time. Organize experiences in reverse chronological order when you want to show that you have uninterrupted, progressively responsible experience (over a period of time) directly related to your objective. Dates are placed in the left margin for emphasis. This order can be useful for experienced candidates to show career progression. It can work against you if your most recent experience isn't related to your current goals or if you have gaps in your employment history. This resume style is good if (1) you have a good job history with no gaps in employment, (2) if the new job you are considering is directly related to your work history, or (3) you want to list one or more well known company names where you have worked.
This style incorporates a listing of the job seeker's major areas of experience and/or accomplishments; usually arranged in priority from the most to the least developed skills. In this style, instead of putting your descriptive phrases with each job title, group the phrases to demonstrate a skill, ability, or function you know is desired for the positions you are considering. Use phrases from several different experiences in one group; include 2-4 groups and place them in priority order. Name the groups by the skill or function you are illustrating. Place your position titles, organization names, cities, states, and dates in a separate section with no descriptive phrases. When a reader skims a resume written in the functional style, the names of related skills or functions are most apparent. This is a good way to present skills gained and tasks performed in class assignments, activities and volunteer experiences. If your position titles and organization names do not communicate the skills and experiences you have that are related to your goals, this style may be effective for you.
This style requires that you first study the company(ies) you would like to work for to learn what their business objectives and employee needs are, and then prepare a business oriented letter describing how you can be of help to them. This style requires more preparation work than the other styles. However, it can offer individuals with limitations (i.e. work gaps, no or limited work experience) a chance to be seen as a promising job candidate and employee. This style can also been used successfully by those who use one of the three other styles listed above, but who want to demonstrate a particular experience or uniqueness.
This style includes information found in all of the styles listed above. That is, information about your work history and major areas of skills and knowledge. The primary difference with a targeted resume is that you
DO include the title or description of the position you are seeking. You also list those skills, accomplishments, and relevant work experience which are related or "targeted" to your job objective(s). This resume style is recommended when you have the work experience to support your objective(s).
A combination style is any resume you create which uses elements of more than one resume style. Many resumes are written in this way, resulting in your personal style. One person may, for example, choose to include a "Capabilities" section and present experiences in the traditional style in priority order. Another person may choose to include two or three "Skills" sections in the functional style and present the position titles, organization names, and dates in the traditional style in chronological order.
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A Resume for Electronic Submission
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A discussion of resume styles usually is meant to be applied to resumes that will be mailed or personally delivered and will be read by a human being. The increasing use of technology in the transmission, storage and retrieval of resume data has introduced new considerations for resume construction and formatting. If you plan to use technology to transmit your resume, or if the organizations to which you are applying use scanning or imaging technology and computerized databases for the storage and retrieval of candidate information, some basic considerations are: A resume that will be forwarded by electronic mail should be created in a plain text file format or an ASCII file in order to be certain that it will be readable by its recipient. (It will appear as the "typewriter font.") If you plan to post your resume on the Internet, you may wish to create one in HTML format so that it can be easily read by Internet browser software.
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