Employers are getting hundreds of resumes and you have about 15 seconds to make it into the call pile. So a good resume is critical. How you approach gathering and presenting information will help with the finished product. A resume has one purpose, to get you an interview. There are basically 5 different formats you can use, Targeted, Inventory, Chronological, Functional and the Combo/Hybrid. For my clients who have spotty employment history and many have criminal records I use the Combo/Hybrid
A Targeted resume targets a specific career objective or specific industry, to highlight skills for what the employer is advertising.
An Inventory resume is for when you have a general objective, but don’t want to limit yourself to one job title.
The chronological resume documents progressive career movement and is easy to read. Document your work history In reverse chronological order. This emphasizes a progressive, steady employment
A functional resume highlight skills and qualifications and focuses less on the amount of work history you have. The top of your resumes highlights skills, qualifications and the bottom contains your work history and education.
The Combo/Hybrid combines several of the key benefits of them all. Start out with A Summary of Qualifications and highlight your best most competitive skills or traits. Then if education is your next best selling point put it next or maybe it is your work history.
Now take your finished product and test it out, post on a national job board like monster.com or try Worktree, one of the nations leading job boards, with thousands of postings.
