Choosing the most appropriate format is sometimes difficult for women whose experience is limited or whose job experience does not fit into neat little time periods. For example, suppose you took several years off to raise a family after having held down a responsible job before you were married. How do you emphasize your work experience and not the gap in your work background? This article examines the advantages and disadvantages of three common resume formats and one alternative style so that you can consider which format will work best for you.
Before you examine the resume samples, take a moment to reemphasize in your mind the major objective of your resume: to get you interviews. The resume achieves this objective by clearly presenting key information about you and by accentuating skills, abilities, and accomplishments that will attract the attention of a potential employer. Keep these objectives in mind as you choose your format.
The three most common resume formats are: The Chronological Resume, The Functional Resume, and The Combination Resume (If none of these suits your needs, there's one more possibility the Resume Alternative)
The Chronological Resume
The chronological resume is the most widely accepted resume format and the one with which employers are most familiar. It also is the easiest to write. Jobs are listed in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent (which generally receives the greatest emphasis), and working back through the years.
Employment dates are usually listed first followed by name of organization and then job title. You may be expected to give both month and year of employment, but short gaps probably won't be questioned until the interview.
The chronological resume has several advantages:
- Professional interviewers are more familiar with it.
- It is the easiest to prepare, since its content is structured by familiar dates, companies, and titles.
- A steady employment record (without much job hopping) is put into the best perspective.
- It provides the interviewer with a guide for discussing work experience.
- It can starkly reveal employment gaps.
- It may put undesired emphasis on job areas that an applicant wants to minimize.
- Skill areas are difficult to spotlight unless they are reflected in the most recent job.
This is a typical chronological resume. It shows major responsibilities as well as a diversity of experience. There are no employment gaps.
Roberta Simon 415 High Street Portland, Oregon 97201 (503)555-4183
Staff Assistant
Work Experience:
1971 -Present Staff Assistant to Chairman,
Department of Sociology University of Oregon
Responsible for smooth day-to-day running of department of 15 persons.
- Prepare university and government surveys and reports.
- Prepare agenda and faculty meeting minutes.
- Authorize expenditures of $175,000 budget.
- Analyze quantity audits, projections, and financial statements.
- Interpret and apply university and government policies.
o Carried out administrative policies of section processed payroll, coordinated work schedules, ordered supplies and equipment.
- Scheduled meetings and appointments.
- Directed day-to-day journal operation.
- Handled all general queries with authors.
- Served as liaison between authors and publisher.
- Prepared statistics, agenda, and minutes of editors' meetings.
The Functional Resume
The functional resume is organized to highlight the qualifications of the applicant, with little emphasis on specific dates. The functional resume has some distinct advantages:
- It stresses selected skill areas that are marketable or in demand.
- It helps camouflage a spotty employment record.
- It allows the applicant to emphasize professional growth.
- Positions not related to current career goals can be played down.
- Many employers are suspicious of it, and will want to see additional work-history information.
- It doesn't allow you to highlight companies or organizations for which you've worked.
This applicant worked for a number of years on a freelance basis as a consultant for various government departments and private agencies. She has chosen a functional resume to play down the large number of different assignments, which she feels she could best handle at the interview.
Ms. Alice Hunt 125 West 89th Street New York, New York 10024 (212) 555-0600 (office) (212)555-3878
Major Work Experience Program Development
(1965-1976) Conducted research into the representation of minority students in medical colleges. Developed proposal for a major study in the field. Secured funding for the project; coordinated and administered the program and assumed responsibility for accountability of $845,000. Program has had major effect on medical education.
Initiated and developed a national minority student recruitment program for 20 medical colleges.
Writing
Compiled and published reports in a variety of educational areas. Produced several booklets on urban problems for general distribution.
Research
Gathered and analyzed information concerning higher education in a variety of specialized fields. Familiar with data collection and statistics. Good knowledge of computers.
Administration and Management
Hired and trained research assistants. Managed medium-sized (30 people) office.
Public Relations
Prepared press releases and conducted press conferences.
Education Barnard College, B.A. English Literature, 1958
Columbia University, M.A. Journalism, 1959
The Combination Format
The combination resume is similar in format to the functional resume; however, company names and dates are included in a separate section.
The combination format allows an applicant to stress the preferred and most relevant skill areas, and at the same time satisfies the employer's desire to know names and dates. The combination format has the following advantages:
- It provides a good opportunity to emphasize the applicant's most relevant skills and abilities.
- Gaps in employment can be de-emphasized.
- It can be varied to emphasize chronology and de-emphasize functional descriptions, or vice versa.
- The Combination Format takes longer to read, and an employer can lose interest unless it is very succinctly written and attractively laid out.
Because her experience is chiefly with one firm, this applicant's best resume type is a combined chronological-functional resume. It highlights the areas of her experience that she considers most important, and only touches on earlier experience, which at this time in her career is not so significant.
Jane Hardwick 1736 D Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 (202)555-8192
Sales Management: Responsible for planning and directing sales program for several divisions. Made major policy decisions in all phases of sales activities. Successfully built sales 85 percent above preceding year's business.
Market Planning: Investigated the market for new products and analyzed new markets for established product lines. Introduced new chewing gum package for supermarkets, following a marketing study recommendation.
Merchandising: Through close liaison with merchandising executives in major chains, developed point-of-purchase displays which gave added shelf space to company products. Coordinated merchandising and advertising programs with stores.
Sales Training: Hired and trained numerous merchandisers and sales persons. Established formal company sales training program.
Sales: Maintained close personal contact with buyers in major supermarket outlets. Have personally sold products to chains all over the U.S.
1964-Present Acme Chewing Gum Company Started as Sales Representative and worked through sales ranks to current position of District Manager in 1971.
1960-1964 Sucrose Company Sold candy to supermarkets, drug, and variety chains and vending machine companies. Covered Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Opened 32 new accounts in first year. Generated $72,000 in new orders the highest ever attained by a new sales representative.
Education: B.A., Florida State College 1960
Market What to Leave Out
We'd like to add a word about a few items that do not belong in your resume, no matter which format you choose. Anything that does not contribute to getting you an interview should be eliminated. For example, the names and ages of your children, leisure-time activities that have nothing to do with your job targets, and lists of personal friends as references. All these tend to clutter the resume and detract from essential information you want to get across.
As for the often-used statement at the top of the resume about "Position Desired" or "Job Objective," remember that it could greatly limit your range of job possibilities. Usually the best place to emphasize your interest in a particular job is in the cover letter that accompanies your resume.
The Resume Alternative
Outside of certain entry-level and clerical positions, and most blue-collar jobs, the resume is the basic door opener. There are, however, a few exceptions, particularly if:
- You have been out of the labor force for an extended period of time, without activities directly related to the world of paid employment. Your time may have been spent as a housewife with few outside involvements, as a person with extended leisure travel, as an unpublished writer, or as a convalescent from prolonged illness or incapacitation.
- You have been involved throughout most of your career in work that holds no further interest for you. You may want to get away from being typecast as a bookkeeper, teacher, or secretary, for example, and move into management training or another field of work.
If you have good references that would be known to the employer, be a name dropper. Mention their names as close to the opening of the letter as possible. Also include any of your present or former business or organizational affiliations that are relevant. The writer of the following letter does this well:
1722 Napa Drive Sonoma, California 95476 (213)555-2596 March 1, 1980
Mr. Alex B. Cowan
Med-Search Inc.
425 La Brea Drive
Pacific Dunes, California 92316
Dear Mr. Cowan:
Dr. Paul Parish at the USC Graduate School suggested that I contact you about the studies your firm is currently making into the utilization of nursing homes in this country. He also remarked that you might be thinking about hiring someone to coordinate the field Investigations that are part of your study.
As an officer of our local Women's Community Center, I have had a great deal of experience with the operation of day-care centers, which, as you know, are quite similar in administration to nursing homes. This experience includes familiarity with the financial and administration aspects of the centers as well as knowledge of the programming and educational considerations. I have met with the staffs of most of the day-care centers in the county, and am certain that my ability to work with these professionals would enable me to facilitate the execution of your study.
In addition to this experience, I have had two years of administrative work on an important research project in health care at USC while working on my master's degree in education.
I plan to be near your office next week and wonder if we could get together on Wednesday or Thursday for an interview. I'll call you to confirm when you will be available.
Yours truly, Diane Sims
Notice how Diane Sims was able to create interest in her ability by showing her knowledge of the employer's needs and her potential for meeting them. Notice, too, that she suggested specific dates for meeting in the near future, a suggestion that underscores her interest in getting the job. In sales parlance, Ms. Sims is making an important step toward "closing the sale."
A Resume Alternative could be longer than the one shown here if additional information would attract attention and persuade a potential employer. Be concise, however. You should be sure to follow the rules of good resume writing because, even in a letter format, you must try to identify the needs of the employer and indicate how your abilities and accomplishments can address those needs. Your problem-solving skills will stimulate the employer's interest in you.
Now let's go over the choices again and briefly summarize their advantages. The chronological resume, the most familiar format, puts a steady employment record into the best perspective; the functional resume emphasizes major areas of strength and experience, and plays down employment dates; the combination resume combines major areas of expertise with the dates and places of employment. The Resume Alternative is a well-structured letter that should be used in special situations where a resume might not be appropriate, or where a more direct pitch might be the most effective approach.
