Resume Writing

Which Resume Type is

Best for You?
 Two Types of Resumes:

Chronological
Functional
1. Chronological Resume

What is it?
A chronological resume lists your experience from most recent to least. Job titles and employers are
emphasized in order to show a progressive job history. Your responsibilities, skills and
accomplishments are described in detail. This type of resume very clearly displays your work history
and is the most commonly used resume type.

Who uses it?

People who have recently graduated with a bachelor degree.
Anyone with a consistent work history and no significant time gaps in his or her work history.
Those who have progressed in their career and can show their progress through a work history.
People who are staying within the same career field.

Who should not use it?

Candidates that change employers frequently or have gaps in their employment.
People who are changing career paths.

What do employers think?

This resume is the preferred type for employers because it is an easier format for them to follow and
find time gaps. Employers view this as fact-based and easy to skim.
 2. Functional Resume
What is it?
A functional resume takes the skills and accomplishments you have learned
from previous employment and experiences (i.e., classroom and/or volunteer)
and divides them into three or more categories according to a common, skill-based theme.
This format allows the writer to focus on relevant skills rather than recent positions.

Who uses it?

People who are changing career paths.
Those who lack experience directly related to the job they are trying to get.
Anyone who only has seasonal or temporary employment experience.
Candidates who have significant gaps between employment experiences.

Who should not use it?

Individuals who have little work or leadership experience.
People who are entering a traditional field (education, government, etc.) where
employment history is important.
Candidates who want to emphasize their career growth.

 Functional Resume Cont.

What do employers think?
This type of resume is sometimes hard for employers to
follow. It does not make it immediately evident what type or
amount of work experience a candidate has and it also does not
clearly demonstrate employment growth and development.

The benefit of using this type of resume is that it allows one to

highlight skills sets, as they relate to a specific job, and to show an
employer what you can bring to their organization (experience and
capabilities).
 Creating a Resume
Think of your resume as a marketing tool that promotes
you as an ideal candidate to potential employers.
The goal in writing a resume is to make yourself
attractive to potential employer, securing you the
opportunity to interview with the organization.
While writing a resume can seem overwhelming, once
you break it down into sections, it is not as difficult.
The simplest way to think of a resume is to compare it to
a traditional paper or essay.
All of the essential ingredients to writing a paper are
the same as writing a resume.
 The Resume Ingredients
Resume Section Paper Section Purpose of Section
Heading Information at the top Lets the employer
of paper (i.e. name) know who you are and
how to reach you
Objective Thesis or Summary What you can offer the
employer
Education Introduction Educational
experiences and
degrees
Experience Supporting Details Include your
responsibilities, skills,
and accomplishments
Other Relevant Conclusion Volunteer,
Information Professional
Membership
 Placement and Style
When organizing the content of your resume, put
your most marketable information at the top of
your resume.
The rule on page length is this: if you are a recent
graduate or have not had at least 3-5+ years of
professional experience, then you should try to
limit your resume to one - 2 pages maximum.
If you have had 3-5+ years of experience you
may use 2-3 pages for your resume.
 Dressing up your resume
The right way: make it look professional with no spelling or
grammatical errors, use italics or bold lettering to draw attention to
significant points.
The wrong way: using colors to attract attention or highlight
certain areas, using too many fonts, making it too dense and/or
using pictures.
Make your resume look professional: After you are done
putting your resume together, have it printed on resume paper.
Resume paper is thicker, more expensive paper. Just like when you
have to dress up for an interview, your resume needs to look dressed
up to be the best representation of you.
 The Heading
Things to include:
Name: first, middle initial (optional), and last
name
Your name is the largest font on the resume
Address: permanent and/or school with street
name, apartment #, city and state
Contact Information: phone and e-mail
address
Make sure you have a professional sounding
voice mail message and e-mail user name
 The Heading
Things NOT to include:
Personal information such as: a picture, your race, gender, age,
social security number, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation or
identity, etc.
None of this personal information is relevant to the hiring process.
The only thing the employer should be interested in is your
professional experience.

Sample Heading 1:
Jenny Coppery
5615 Almond St. Apartment 23p
Chicago, IL 60614
Home Phone: 773-867-5309
Email: Jennycop@hotmail.com

 Objective
An objective is an optional component in your resume.
There is some controversy concerning objectives, some believe it
can help and others believe it can hurt.
Benefits:
It can help you to organize your thoughts and determine what
should be included on your resume.
A well written objective provides the employer with a framework
of what kind of experience you are pursuing.
It helps you think more concretely of what kind of skills you
have to offer to your prospective employer.
If done correctly an objective will help focus your resume.
 Objective:
Negatives
If too general, it will be ignored and therefore become irrelevant.
Depending on the employer, an objective may limit your chances of
getting a job within the company.
Human error: You may not remember to always update your
Objective to reflect the position you are applying for.
If too specific, will also have to go through the task of changing it
every time you send out your resume.
If you feel very strongly about the information you have in your
objective but are unsure about your objective as a whole you can put
the information in your cover letter.
A Summary of Summaries
Career Summary
It is a comprehensive professional summary of who you
are as a professional.
Someone who has worked 5+ years in his or her
chosen industry generally utilizes it because it allows for
an employer to get a brief synopsis of work history.
Summary of Qualifications
List of your qualifications for the current position you
are trying to obtain (use bullet points for easy reading).
 Education
Things to include in education section:
Name of college, city and state
Degree earned or earning spelled out completely (Bachelor of
Arts, Bachelor of Science).
Expected Graduation Date or if you have already graduated
the date you graduated (month and year)
GPA if you have a 3.0 or above. Be sure to indicate the schools
grading scale (4.0 scale). It is also ok to use your major GPA if it
is higher and your major relates to the field you hope to enter.
Study Abroad Program
Related Coursework or Project Work
Other Optional sections are: Honors, Certification, and
Special Training.
Eliminate high school information-Your high school information is no
longer relevant because employers assume you have graduated high
school due to the fact that you are either now earning your college
degree or have already received it.
 Experience
Work History
Volunteer Experience
Professional Memberships, Civic Activities,
Extracurricular Activities
LEADERSHIP
STUDENT ORGANIZATION EXPERIENCE
 Work History
Generate a timeline of every professional position and
select the most relevant work experience
It is important to include:
Company/Organization Name
City, State
Dates Employed
Job/Position Title
Bullets highlighting your accomplishments and
demonstrated skills
 Experience
Skills and Accomplishments
When disclosing your work experience, be as pecific as
possible to show exactly what you have done.
Tip: Remember that positions you are currently in are written
in present tense while previous postions are written in past
tense.
When writing the experience section be sure to include
the responsibilities you had, the skills you have acquired
and accomplishments youve made.
To effectively present your work experiences use this
formula action verb + phrase
 Other Relevant Information
Volunteer Experience
Company/Organization Name
City, State
Dates Employed
Job/Position title
OPTIONAL: Bullets highlighting your
accomplishments and responsibilities
 Professional Membership/Civic
Activities/Extracurricular Activities

Student Organization Experience

Organization Name
Dates participated in the program
Position title
OPTIONAL: Bullets highlighting your
accomplishments and responsibilities
*Tip: In order to distinguish yourself from other
applicants highlight your activities or positions
where you obtained a leadership role.
 Example
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE:
Student Government Association, XYZ University
Vice President/Academic Affairs 2003-2004
Chaired 60-member body representing each academic
department and student perspectives on curricular issues
Participated in college-wide policy decisions concerning
commuter students
Met with President of the University, to advise
administration concerning student issues
 Example
Marketing Club, Member 2006-Present

Marketing Club, Events Coordinator 2005-2006

DePaulia Campus Newspaper, Staff Writer 2004-

2005
 Additional Skills Section
Accomplishments/Awards/Honors
Coursework
Project work
Technical Summary (Word, Excel,
PowerPoint)
Language Skills
Certification