Resume Format Tips

Your resume is your face at the time of job search and interview. A resume give a summary of your your education, your work experience and accomplishments, and reflect your special skills and strengths. The resume format is an important factor that can lure prospective recruiters or employers to hire you. A proper format of resume is one which is clear, clean, logical, well ordered and easy to read and comprehend. At times choosing the most perfect resume format becomes very difficult. But then for any job seeker, your resume is the deciding factor that will help you to get interview calls and also the job that you are looking for.

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Resume Format Styles

Chronological Resume

As the name suggests, you make your resume chronologically, where you present your career information beginning with your present job to your past ones, by dates. This type of resume style gives importance on the positions you have held and the companies where you have worked.A typical chronological format will have this:

• Name / Contact Information
• Education
• Honors / Certifications / Licenses Held
• Work Experience

Functional Resume

Here the resume stresses on your skills, abilities and achievements without providing detailed information on when and where you acquired these skills. A typical format will have these:

• Name / Contact Information
• Education
• Honors / Certifications / Licenses Held
• Careers Skills / Knowledge
• Career Achievement

Chrono-Functional (combination or Hybrid) Resumes

Some job-seekers have structured their resumes in a functional format but at the same time include work history in reverse chronological order. This is the chrono-functional, hybrid, or combination format of resume.

• Name / Contact Information
• Education
• Honors / Certifications / Licenses Held
• Work Experience
• Careers Skills / Knowledge
• Career Achievement

Technological Format of Resume

The resume technological format includes the following:

• Print
• RTF
• Formatted
• Electronic
• Text
• Scannable
• PDF
• Web-based

The Common Elements

• Contact Information: A proper contact address with your postal mailing address, email address, cell phone, phone number etc.
• Accomplishments: Accomplishments mean not duties and responsibilities but the ones which you have successfully achieved in your work span, that will sell you to a potential employer.
• Education/Training: Include degrees, training, and certifications. Spell out names of degrees.
• Appearance: This gives the first impression. Should be well-organized with consistent headings, fonts, bullets, and style. Twelve points is ideal. You might make your name and contact information slightly bigger, like 13 or 14 points. Never overcrowd the resume.
• Avoiding Spellings Error: Take the time to carefully proofread your resume for misspellings and typos.
• Targeted and focused: Make your basic resume to specific jobs and specific employers. You cannot have one generic resume. You should prepare your resume as per the needs of your employer.