Your resume is a marketing tool that should effectively sell your skills, experience, and educational qualifications to prospective employers. When developing your resume, there are two different types of resume formats you should consider: a chronological resume and a functional resume. Your decision to choose one format over another should be dependent on your career background and personal circumstances. The ultimate decision will be based on that format that allows you to most effectively present your qualifications.

Chronological Resumes

Q. What is a chronological resume?

A. In a chronological resume format, your employment experience history is organized in reverse chronological order so that your most recent job position is listed first. This type of format emphasizes your job titles and employers, as well as your dates of employment with each employer. Your responsibilities and accomplishments should be described in detail for each individual position.

Q. What are the advantages to using a chronological resume?

A. Chronological resumes are easy to read, use a logical flow, and can effectively highlight career growth. Since this type of resume emphasizes the details of each position, using a chronological resume will draw attention to impressive titles and prestigious employers.

Q. What are the disadvantages to using a chronological resume?

A. Because of the format of a chronological resumes, this style easily undercover gaps in your employment history and frequent job changes. It also draws attention to the fact that you may be relative experienced in the workforce or in a particular career.

Q. What types of candidates should choose to use a chronological resume?

A. Chronological resumes are best suited for those individuals whose job history reflects steady career growth, those who are remaining in the same field, and those whose career goals are clearly defined and in alignment with their work history. This type of resume is also suitable for candidates who have prior employment with a prestigious employer that they want to highlight.

Functional Resumes

Q. What is a functional resume?

A. Functional resumes have often been referred to as problem solving resumes in that they allow you to organize your resume by functional skills as opposed to purely chronological order. This allows individuals to make sense of their work history by matching up skills and accomplishments from different jobs that might otherwise be overlooked by an employer in a more traditional chronological formatted resume. The goal is to highlight specific key qualifications which have been demonstrated through a variety of work-related achievements. As opposed to a chronological resume, skills do not have to be presented in the order of accomplished in a functional resume, but instead may be presented in order of importance and relevance to the job for which you are applying.

Q. What are the advantages to using a functional resume?

A. Using a functional resume keeps the emphasis on key relevant skills you possess that make you a good fit for a position. It allows candidates to align accomplishments from several different positions for a more powerful impact, since these skills might otherwise be lot in the shuffle in a traditional resume. Functional resumes also minimize the impact of inexperience in the workforce or field, frequent job changes, and any gaps in your employment history.

Q. What are the disadvantages to using a functional resume?

A. The presence of a clear career progression can easily be lost in a functional resume, as can extended experience in your targeted industry or field. Impressive employers or job titles are de-emphasized, which is a disadvantage if these are strong selling points in your experience. Additionally, some recruiters and managers dislike functional resumes due to their perceived lack of logical flow.

Q. What types of candidates should choose to use a functional resume?

A. A functional resume is a solid option for individuals who are looking to change careers, returning to the job market after a long absence, trying to minimize fair-to-average career growth. This format is also appropriate for new graduates, candidates with limited work experience, and individuals whose work history is a mixed bag of unrelated experience.

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Your CV is a gateway to getting an interview for that ideal job. It is your opportunity to provide a good first impression but you only have two sides of A4 paper in which to do it. It is not surprising then that most people have trouble getting started.

Firstly, you need to know what the employer is thinking.

The employer suddenly has a vacancy. Filling the vacancy is going to take up valuable time that he would rather spend doing his normal job.

He would love to find the perfect person immediately rather than plough through hundreds of CV's. It is often a dull, thankless task.

The employer has a job description in front of him. It includes experience or qualifications that are essential for the job and some attributes that are desirable but not absolutely necessary.

He starts going through the pile of CV's on his desk. He scans each one for about 30 seconds and makes a judgement.

He simply hasn't got time to read the CV that is more than two pages and all the relevant information is hidden in long paragraphs. - He files it in the bin.

Fancy formatting, coloured text or multiple fonts do not impress him. Is this person trying to hide their lack of experience for the job behind an artistic CV? - He files it in the bin.

He notices spelling mistakes and poor punctuation. This person is just sloppy! - He files the CV in the bin.

He breaths a sigh of relief, the pile on his desk is smaller already. He makes another coffee and then starts reading............................

This should tell you a few things about writing your CV.

Keep it concise and to the point. The employer needs to see your work experience, skills and achievements in the first 30 seconds of scanning your CV.

He knows what he is looking for. You have what he is looking for. Don't distract him from your relevant skills by adding in lots of unnecessary information.

Keep it simple. Plain formatting, simply laid out under headings. The employer wants to see exactly when, where and what you have done. Fancy formatting makes your CV difficult to read. It may make your CV stand out from the rest but for the wrong reasons.

Keep checking your english. Good spelling, punctuation and grammar are essential. It is the first step in your personal presentation to an employer. It says a lot about you. Also, poor english distracts the employer from reading the content of your CV.

Now the content:

Contact details should be displayed on the first page. When he decides to invite you to interview you want him to see immediately how to contact you before he changes his mind!

Personal details should be limited to those that are absolutely necessary. Most employers expect to see your nationality and date of birth but you can choose to leave these out if you think they may go against you.

Other personal details such as number of dependents, driving license and marital status can be included if it is not going to make your CV too long by including them. These can help employers to get a rounded picture of the person they are going to interview. Do not include names and ages of children or name of spouse. The employer is not interested at this stage.

Interests can be included but only in one or two lines. It may provide a starting point at interview for general conversation before getting down to serious questions about your work experience. It also gives a rounded picture of you without taking up too much space on the CV.

Profile is positioned prominently in your CV and should be used to sell yourself in one paragraph. It is an opportunity to sum up your skills, experience and general suitability for the job for which you are applying.

Career History or Work Experience. The heading you use depends on the length of time you have been in fulltime employment. If you have recently left school or university you should use the heading 'Work Experience' and include all placements, paid and unpaid work. If you have been in fulltime employment for the last two jobs this should be under the heading of 'Career History'. Do not use both headings in the CV. Whichever heading you use you must include dates, name and location of company and a brief description of what your job entailed including all the positive contributions you made to the company.

Education should be described in terms of selling yourself to the employer. Include all relevant courses, dates passed and name of school or college. But, leave out poor grades and failures. These will not help you get invited for interview.

If you have a university degree you can leave out all of your lower qualifications. Mature applicants may want to leave out 'Education' altogether, as your career history and skills are probably more important.

Skills can be described under three headings: Technical Skills, Professional Courses and Additional Skills. Technical skills are those related to a technical, mechanical or engineering job. You need to list your skills and how recently you have used them e.g. Java Programming used in the last 3 years. Professional Courses are those that you have attended specifically for a particular job e.g. sales courses, hairdressing. Additional skills are anything else that may be relevant e.g. languages, keyboard skills, health and safety courses.

Finally: Make it easy for him!

Remember, the employer has very little time. He doesn't know you yet and is only interested in what you can offer him and his company.

Make it easy for him to:

Scan your CV,

Identify that you have the skills he is looking for.

Pick up the phone to invite you in for an interview.

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A perfect CV layout has 2 objectives:
To illustrate your strengths and maximize your chances of getting through to interview and to put factual information, such as dates, places, names together in a presentable and readable form.

Focal Point
It is claimed that the human eyes are naturally drawn to a focal point one third down from the top of the page. Therefore, put your most useful information in this area. It might be your Profile, Key Skills, Professional Qualifications or details of your most recent employment. You can choose whichever you think is most important and relevant to your application. Always get a second opinion when you have put your CV together. It is difficult to be objective about oneself.

Presentation
It is often thought that a good CV should be fitted on to one side of A4 and a professional CV over two. This can be difficult if you are a mature applicant with a long employment history. If you need to go on to a second page make sure that the CV is spread out over 2 whole pages, not one and a half pages as this looks messy.
As a 'rule of thumb' there should be more white than black on a page to make it easier to read.
Always write a rough draft first. It can be as long as you like as you will edit it later. Always start with your Career History as this will highlight your Key Skills and help you write your Profile.

Once you have compiled your draft copy you must edit it
1. Take out anything that will not help you get where you want to be
2. Write in the 'third' person as much as possible keeping 'I' to a minimum
3. Never use the past tense e.g. use "supporting senior management" rather than "supported senior management"
4. Use short sharp sentences cutting out any waffle and jargon

Headings
Name
Print your name in bold type at the centre top of your CV. If there is any doubt as to which is your surname, e.g. James Martin, indicate by using capitals or underlining.
Address
Top left of CV. Full address including post code.
Telephone
Top Right of CV. Full dialing code and daytime and evening numbers if possible.
Date of birth
Put in full such as 13th December 1962. Do not put your age. Bearing in mind that you will be close to the Focal Point now, this might need to go at the end of the CV under 'Personal' along with other details such as marital status and children.
Marital status
You do not have to include this at all. If you choose to, make sure you use only "married" or "single". Do not use divorced or co-habiting. Put at the end of the CV under 'Personal'.
Children
Its up to you whether you include this information or not but if you include it put it at the end of the CV under
'Personal' Profile
This is an introductory statement about who you are and what you have to offer. You should complete this last although it is positioned prominently in the CV, possibly in the Focal Point. It should be no more than two sentences and include the most important facts about yourself. You can include skills, achievements, responsibility or personal qualities.

e.g. Highly motivated Account Manager with successful direct and telesales experience in hardware and software industries.
Key Skills
Several Key skills should be highlighted after you have analysed and edited your employment history.
Pick out no more than six.
Make sure they are relevant.
Do not include dates. A key skill can come from an earlier job or an outside interest.
If you are short on direct experience and qualifications you may have skills arising from your personality, i.e. Interpersonal skills, e.g. "the ability to relate and communicate with others". Some examples of descriptive words to use in key skills are:
Administering
Implementing
Budgeting
Leading
Reorganizing
Forecasting
Advising

Employment History
Always start with your most recent employment. Break down your job functions as much as possible. The job description on your contract might provide a starting point or, consider how your employer might advertise your job. You should have more to say about your most recent, and therefore most relevant, employment. Include successes and achievements especially if it saved the company money. Don't have any employment gaps. If these occur explain them briefly.

Qualifications
If you are a mature applicant you can leave these out as career history is more important. Put the highest qualification first with year achieved. If you have a degree you can leave out the lower qualifications altogether or include the basic information. Do not include poor grades or failures. Professional qualifications Only include those that are still current. Training Only include training that is relevant to the position for which you are applying.

Interests
Only include interests that are unusual or which indicate transferable skills, achievements or responsibilities. Reasons For Applying This finishes the CV off with a concluding statement and puts the application into context. Don't imply you are out to gain advantage to yourself such as "I would like to join the company to gain additional experience". Instead, concentrate on what you have to offer, "my experience at......would be useful to the company because............."

Finally
Your CV should be available soft copy or on good quality plain white A4 paper. Do not use double sides. Only fold once and enclose an SAE.

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We all know what a CV should contain, and in general terms how it should be arranged on the page. Inspite of knowing all the technicalities, people still commit the mistake of writing a run-of-the-mill CV with the same headlines, the same order of ideas, and the same general matter in a dull business language. In this way the CV looks indeed as a poor copy of a standard template.

The formatting should be backed up by the right information of course, but in order to have a good flow of ideas, the CV should have a building-up style of presentation. You start at the personal details, or educational qualification and slowly build up to show how your talents are best suited for the job at hand.

Bullet points look perfect when listing job responsibilities, or personal traits, or overall achievements headings. However, if the bullet points do not have an anchor which explains what they are, it will be difficult for the CV to really hold the prospective employer's interest.

Do not state the obvious - depending upon the job achievements do not re-inforce certain traits which are self-evident such as good leadership, good communications skills, etc. Go ahead and use the paper for traits that are not visible from what you have presented so far. For example you are successful marketing manager - it is understood that you are a good strategist - but you could also add that you are a tough negotiator who saved a great deal of money to the company. This would be a trait that would add value to your CV and identify you as having good potential.

The impression of the paper presentation - the quality of the paper, the arrangements of the text, its font, typesetting will create an unwitting impact on the prospective employer. Be sure that you use this trait to your advantage. Use the skills of a good typist and/or word processor to make your CV a work of art.

Each and every aspect of your CV should work towards creating the right impression with the employer. This will be done with the help of a lot of research to know what he/she wants in the first place. Search the net and libraries for reports and news, ask around old and present employees and use the information to form a critical focus on your best talents and traits.

Writing a CV is hard work - do not kid yourself that it is any other way. It is not just the way you put together your personal data - but rather the way you arrange that personal and professional data to attract the attention and interest of the prospective employee. It is an art that has to be perfected with time, patience and practice. It is the most important tool in job searching since it gives the opening line to the employer and thus creates the first impression about you in his/her mind.

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There are five major CV styles:

• Targeted CV
• Inventory CV
• Chronological CV
• Functional CV
• Combination CV

Each CV style is suitable for different situations. Follow the links above to learn more about each CV style.

CV Writing Considerations

More important than your CV format is the actual content of your CV and how it is presented. You only have a limited time to show your skills and capture the reader's attention. Make sure the most important information is in the top third of the CV document. Your skills summary, objective or personal profile will achieve this objective.

A CV must have focus. When a recruiter reads your CV he should understand your career path. Always keep your objective in mind while writing your CV.

Avoid lengthy and boring job descriptions; whenever possible, write your job description in bullet point form. Make sure potential employers will understand how they will benefit from employing you. The employers need to see your achievements and understand how you are able to implement these achievements in your company.

Examples of accomplishments would be: save money, increase turn over or profits, improved productivity, better customer quality. Include actual figures where available.

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• No leadership skills or managerial experience
• Missing skills, knowledge and/or experience
• Patchy career history
• Employment gaps
• Many employers
• Having worked for only one employer
  

It's important you understand what your weaknesses are. You will be questioned during the interview about anything unclear in your CV and should be prepared for such questions. Balance your weaknesses with achievements.

If there is a clear unbalance between the job requirements and your skills and experience, you will not be offered the job. One should then investigate how to bridge the gap. If education is an issue then a course or formal qualification could help you compete with the other candidates.

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The Functional CV is usually two pages in length and covers your entire career history. Unlike the most common chronological CV it focuses not on your career history but on your skills, abilities and expertise. It may not even refer to a specific industry, as the skills as detailed are deemed transferable.

It is important that the skills you detail are relevant to the position you are applying for. It is no use highlighting your great accounts experience if the position is in sales. You should highlight your achievements in a sales environment and focus on relevant aspects of that field of work.

A Functional CV format is useful if:

• You lack experience or have gaps in your work history; these can be de-emphasized in a functional CV while your skills and potential are highlighted.
• You have changed jobs frequently and have had a variety of unrelated work experiences.
• You want to promote skills and experience obtained through college or volunteer experience.
• You are changing careers or re-entering the job market, perhaps after taking a career break to be a full time parent.
• Your most recent work experience is not relevant to the job, but past experience is.
• You have been working freelance or in temporary employment.
• You do not want to advertise your age.

A functional CV format is less useful if:

• You have little work experience and thus not much to highlight.
• You have a progressive career history, which reflects promotions, and growth and you want to emphasize that.

What is the layout of a Functional CV?

• The Functional CV starts with a Profile that highlights specific skills, achievements and relevant personal qualities.
• Grouped beneath subheadings, you should then present your range of skills and abilities beginning with the most important. Present the functions as bullet points. Rather than focusing on experience in a particular job, detail your abilities as demonstrated in that job in such a way as to show that they are transferable to the job applied for. As previous employers are not mentioned by name you can include voluntary and unpaid work.
• Following this section is a list of employers and employment dates.
• Qualifications are covered next including professional and academic qualifications.
• The Functional CV may conclude with a brief outline of your personal details, hobbies and interests.

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The Inventory CV is used when sending your CV to:

• Various recruiters
• When you do not have a specific job objective

This kind of CV is a more general overview of your skills, achievements and qualifications. A general objective or career strategy behind an inventory CV helps in being slightly more specific towards your career goals.

General career goals can be:

• "a secretary working with a local company"
• "a computer programmer"
• "a sales person"

Having a general career objective in mind can help you focus on those particular skills, abilities and experience required for the job. Your CV should show that you are competent by demonstrating your relevant previous experience and qualifications. If you are unemployed or desperate to switch jobs, the inventory CV is a good time saver. You can write a custom cover letter for each job you apply for and you can send the same CV to all recruiters. If you are interested in several careers write several inventory CVs each for a particular career goal.

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The combination CV format is normally used by job hunters who have a solid background associated with their career objectives . You will include sections that highlight your education and experience, followed by the job history. Use the combination CV when you have a definite career path and a targeted job area that is related to your job history and experience. This type of CV combines the best of the functional and the chronological CV styles. You can also use it when each position or job had unique responsibilities and when a shorter type of CV would not suffice. List responsibilities, and or accomplishments and skills developed after each job experience or training listing. Stay focused; use less rather than more words. Begin each sentence or idea with a verb, for instance, Awarded, Assisted etc.

Advantages of the combination CV

• Combines the best of the chronological and functional CV writing styles.
• Emphasizes your achievements and strengths, as well as experience
• Starts with a profile, followed by job history, which is ideal for getting the attention of the employer.
• Focuses on important skills which are supported by the job history.
• Accomplishments are noticed.

Disadvantage of combination CV:

• It is lengthy.
• If you fail to get attention through the profile, the recruiter may not even read the job history division.

Don't use the combination CV when:

• Your work experience is limited.
• You have several or unexplained employment gaps.
• You changed jobs frequently.

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Make sure that you have common weaknesses or, even better, turn your weaknesses into strengths.

• Switch something from a weakness to strength.
• Highlight other skills that make up for the weakness

For example:

• If you never went to university, you need to emphasize your job experience.
• If you are new to the field of work, try to show your qualifications and related hobbies
• If you have worked for small companies, you could, for example, try to highlight the benefits of having to solve a lot of problems on your own with tight budgets

Have a friend or yourself look at weaknesses in your career through your CV. Which points would potential employers be likely to question you about?

Once you prepare answers to common questions you're able to start tackling the more difficult parts of your interview and tune your CV accordingly.

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This kind of CV is a way to focus your career towards a particular objective, within a specific industry or a specific company.

A targeted CV is written in a way that highlights skills, qualifications and experience that match the requirements of the advertised position. Writing a targeted CV is effective when:

• You know the requirements of a particular position
• You know which company you will be sending your CV to
• You are sending your CV in reply to a specific job advert
• You need to compose different CVs each corresponding to a different career objective

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The chronological CV is named thus as it details your career history most commonly in reverse chronological order with the most recent employment detailed first and working backwards. A complete record of career history is detailed along with a complete education record. It is the most frequently used CV and is usually 2 sides of A4 in length.

Job Titles and company names are emphasized with skills, duties and achievements detailed under each job title. A chronological CV is most useful if you are staying within the same industry and wish to show career progression.

Additionally, if your employer was a familiar household name, it may be wise to highlight that as often they set a precedent for the type of people they employ so the mere mention of their company name may be enough to demonstrate that you are a high caliber candidate.

Most employers prefer the chronological CV formats, as it is easy to see who you have worked for and what you did in each particular job. If you do not have many achievements you can take the emphasis off this fact when using a Chronological CV.

Reasons why a chronological CV may not be the best format include:

• If you are changing direction and the most recent employer is not relevant to your new chosen career.
• If your career history shows gaps in your employment due to poor health, unemployment, having children etc or that you have changed jobs frequently.

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