How Can I Do A Resume

There are a number of ways that you can do a resume, depending on format, industry, and position to which you want to apply. Here are the basic options and the details you need to know about them, to see which is best for you.

Based on what your experience, industry, and position is; should determine what kind of format you will use. Though few know it, there is more than just one standard format for explaining your skills, education, and career experience. There are the following:

• Functional Resume: This format focuses on your skills in your career and educational experience. A functional resume is usually best suited to someone who may not have a lot of career experience, have periods of unemployment, or employment positions that did not follow the same career path. So, instead of showing a chronology of employment that would otherwise look negative to a potential employer; you show a number of main transferable skill sets that could add value to the position you are applying for, and examples of where you showed achievement in each. So, for example, you should include “Communications Skills” and then listed underneath that, bulleted points in which you were a great communicator-perhaps, as lead debater on your college debate team or as a Retail Associate.

• Chronological Resume: Another way to do a resume is to show a standard chronology of previous career positions starting with the most recent. Most often, employers will want to see the past ten years of employment. This is a great way to approach a resume for candidates who have a solid career history of employment at companies that might be impressive, positions that are related to the position you are applying for, or positions in which you worked for a long time. This will show value in these respective areas for a potential employer and show them that you are a great candidate based on these values.

• Combination Resume: Another way to do a resume is through the combination resume format. This format is best used for those who have solid career experience and skills gained. So, this candidate would offer an introduction with various achievements, skills sets, and accomplishments in most likely a summary form; and then, list the chronology of their employment history. This is a good choice for someone who has both solid employment history they want to show, as well as exemplary and/or impressive skills and qualifications that they want to draw attention to.

• Targeted Resume: Lastly, a person can also do their resume in the targeted resume format which is exactly as it might seem-targeted to the specific position to which they want to apply. This type of resume format has the applicant edit their current resume or create a new one based solely upon the skills and qualifications listed in the job posting. It can follow any of the previous resume formats, but each skill set, aspect of education, and priorities in it should be directly in keeping with the job posting for the position they are interested in.