What format should I use for my resume?

Question

There are 2 formats one chronological and the other functional. All I have is one year work experience in a non-profit and before that I worked contract assignments. I am currently looking for another job, but don't know how to write my resume to make it more impressive to beat out the crowd. So, are there any tips to help me?

Answer 1

Besides setting all margins to 1", the most important criteria for setting up a professional resume besides relevant text, is "scanability." Here are some helpful tips:

1. Place just below your identification header [your hame, address, phone, email address] any Conditional Warning Statement such as "Confidential Resume,"Do Not Contact Current Employer," etc.

2. Always fill-in an Objectives category [just below the Conditional Warning Statement] and make sure that he Objective will contribute to the profitability of your future employer;

3. Select a mono-type font such as Helvetica, Arial, Courier or Times Roman; do not select any cursive handwriting styles which cannot scanned;

4. Keep font sizes within a range of 10 to 12 pts.;

5. Avoid styling text with a justified alignment, keep it flushed left;

6. Instead of using tabs to set up blocked text entries, generate a table and use the column and row settings accordingly;

7. Do not place an i.d. picture anywhere on the resume, this is a major taboo due to discrimination issues;

8. Do not place any graphic text [saved as .gifs] onto the resume since it may be overlooked during the scanning phase;

9. List at the very end of the resume your interests which should include travel experiences, language skills, social interactions such as golf, team sports, tennis, etc.

In conclusion, the above helpful hints were designed to allow ease of scanning of your resume into PDF which can then be text captured for seach purposes by your potential employer. If the original resume was created in Word, WordPerfect or Mac Appleworks, it can be Saved As a PDF file which then can be saved as an email attachment. Otherwise, you can simply use a scanner and scan a hard copy of the resume and then save as a PDF file.

Failure to conform the resume to appropriate fonts and styles as outlined above will result in rejection of the resume simply due to the inability of the scanning device to properly index relevant resume entries.

Good luck!

Answer 2

It depends on what field you are going into now. If you are going into the non-profit arena or something related to your contact positions then chronological is fine, otherwise go with functional.  

Answer 3

I used this resume writing service in my area, this is the email address, ([e-mail]) you should try them, it only cost me $35.00 and I got a great job from this new resume, I never thought about the format that they use but the turn around time was less then 24 hrs.  I would have to say it was the best service I have ever used and it was worth every dime.  Also they let me pay through paypal.

Answer 4

Use a functional format to emphasize your skills.  List your jobs in chronological order at the end of the resume.

Highlight your educational experience or credentials, GPA, etc.