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 type-written summary of experience and education -- is the key to getting that all-important interview. Its purpose is to favorably influence 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 in order to select only the best applicants to interview. The employer may prefer a particular resume format because it speeds the task of eliminating applicants. 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 is 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 specific 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 how these skills have been used. The resume
either omits references to past employment or simply
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.
Your strategy as to what to include and
where to place it is critical to achieving an interview.
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