Types of Resumes and Finding Out Which One Is Best For You?

Before you begin writing your resume, you need to be aware of the different types of resumes. There are at least seven different types of resumes:

1. Chronological
   
   
2. Functional (also called a skills resume)
   
   
   
   
3. Narrative
   
   
4. Combination
   
   
5. Teaching
   
   
6. Curriculum Vitae
   
   
7. Creative
   

If all this seems confusing, remember: if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck! A resume is a resume no matter how you design it or what name you give it. The chief distinction between types of resumes is whether they are chronological or Functional.

Chronological Resumes

A chronological resume stresses time when you went to school or had a certain job. Thus you state in your resume that from September 1988 to May 1989 you worked at Foster Steel Foundries or you attended Bloom College. Every year, every month, every day of your working life is accounted for in such a resume.

Functional (or "Skills") Resumes

A functional resume stresses skills and is organized by skills, duties, or functions.

Sample Chronological Resume

The resume illustrates a typical chronological resume which lists organizations where you have worked. They are listed in reverse order, beginning with your present, or most recent, employer. Your first full time job is listed last and is usually given less space. You should give less detailed descriptions of accomplishments, duties, and responsibilities of your earliest jobs.

Sample Functional Resume

The typical functional resume lists the kinds of functions you performed on the jobs you have held. The functions are grouped together by their relationship to one another or by projects or assignments. This resume emphasizes the skills you have, rather than the places you have worked or the periods of time you worked at each organization. Functional resumes are used less often than chronological resumes.

You needn't always include dates in a functional resume, and you can account for your employment history in terms of the skills you used rather than the dates you worked. Lengths of time such as "Three Years" may be included. And names of companies may (or may not) be given depending on your preference.

There are pros and cons for each type.

Which Resume Type Is Right For You?

If you have an excellent work record and educational background and you can account for each segment of your life, the chronological resume may be fine for you. But if you have any gaps that you don't want to include in your resume (like the year you were unemployed because you just didn't feel like working ... or backpacked around Europe ... or whatever), including dates will immediately raise the question, "What was she doing during this time?" Employers are suspicious of gaps in a resume. When they spot a gap, or a period of months or years you don't explain, they assume the worst. If your resume omits the months and years in which you worked at each place, you'll be "suspect."

Remember the traditional selection process is a negative one. Employers use resumes to screen people out. They toss out many resumes before they choose the small number of people they will consider hiring.

You might use a functional resume if the dates when you acquired your skills or worked in a particular job have little to do with the job you're applying for now.

Absolutely right! But you're making a major mistake in your viewpoint. Always try to see things from the reader's point of view, rather than from your own. People who read large numbers of resumes are, from experience, suspicious.

In a functional resume, you usually list most marketable or highly prized skills first and your special accomplishments, honors, or awards, regardless of when you acquired them.

Many supporters of functional resumes say the chronological resume makes it too easy for employers to screen you out. They say, correctly, that you'll be rejected for being too young, too old, having too much experience in one job, for not having moved up rapidly enough, and on and on. And remember that you're trying to remove reasons for being screened out. It shouldn't matter that you earned your B.A. in 1975 (or 1965 or whenever) rather than in 1989. Or that you learned to supervise people in 1981 rather than more recently. The question is or should be: Do you now have the skills needed to do this job well?

But before you decide to use a purely functional resume, let's look at its advantages and disadvantages so you can see what you're up against.

Pros and Cons of a Functional Resume

A functional resume can do these good things for you:

1. Remove emphasis on age
   
   
2. Place emphasis on results
   
   
3. Show skills you have and how you have used them
   
   
4. Is ideal for returning to work housewives, mothers, students and others who haven't done paid for work for some time
   
   
5. Lets you transfer skills into results... and transforms "old" jobs into skills that are in demand
   
   
6. A functional resume makes these problems for you:
   
   
7. Most resumes are chronological, so yours is different.
   
   
8. Lack of chronology may lead to the suspicion you're covering up something bad, even if you're not.
   
   
9. They're more difficult to follow or read.
   
   
10. It is difficult to find out the most recent experience, which is what most employers are willing to pay for... and on which they may be basing salary, and so on
    
    
11. Can seem devious to some readers
    

So put yourself in the reader's place and think about what type of resume will work best for you.

The Combination Resume

The combination resume, combines elements of the chronological and functional resumes. It may be a solution for people who insist on avoiding an out and out chronological listing of the months and years they have worked at each job. Such a resume incorporates the best features of functional and chronological resumes. For many people, this is the format I suggest they consider.

Sample Combination Resume

It combines elements of the chronological resume and the functional or skills resume. The combination resume may be best for certain situations, even though it is slightly more difficult for readers to follow, because sections of the resume do not follow in a perfectly logical order.

The Basics of a Good Resume

No matter what type of resume you decide to use, you'll need a lot of time to do your best resume. One draft won't do it! In fact, it may take four or five drafts to complete a resume you'll be proud to send out. You must edit, edit, edit... down to a manageable length. You need to tailor it to what the reader wants to read, rather than saying everything you'd love to say about yourself.

Design for Readability

No matter how well qualified you may be, the design and readability of your resume will be most important to the reader. The design: the look and the graphics of your resume will determine whether your resume will be read at all. That's the purpose. There are many resume books on the market. This one is designed to show you how to have the best resume possible, based on content, design, and readability.

Finally, I want you to be invited to an interview and to be offered the job you want! This and your new resume will help!