Most companies like to see specific dates such as 01/10/05 - 12/20/08. If you present you dates without specific months it can lead to questions. For example 05 – 08 (well did you work for 12 months in 05 or just 1)? Keep your dates in order to avoid a lot of questions later.

• Have stable work histories
• Don’t have a great deal of expertise in any one occupation or skill
• Have advanced steadily throughout your career and can show an increase in level and responsibility.
• Have had few career changes and have spent a year or more in each of your jobs.

• Name, Address, Contact Info
• Objective
• Skills Summary
• Experience (broken out by date)
• Education
• Certifications, Designations, or Awards

• Most resumes on the internet are found by someone performing a search. Use keywords and industry lingo in your resume since this is what will most likely be search on.
• If you put certain dates on your resume to also put those same dates on any applications or background checks you might fill out for a position.
• Don’t just use all bullet points on your resume, write a little something under each position you have held.
• Spell check your resume and have others read it for errors many times before you post it to the internet or send it to someone.
• Don’t be afraid to use different versions of your resume in response to different jobs.
• Always have your contact information on the resume. Don’t put it in the header or footer, some applicant tracking systems can not read headers and footers and will not process your resume correctly.

Chronological Resume Example

In the functional resume, emphasis is placed on what you have achieved and not where and when you achieved it. The idea is to highlight your skills in particular areas.

If you don’t have a stable work history, or if you have changed careers midstream, the functional resume may present your experience and accomplishments in the best light. With the functional resume, your qualification, experience and accomplishments are grouped together according to areas of skill, rather than tied to specific positions and dates.

• Change jobs frequently
• Are looking to change career paths.
• Have a long work history and want to showcase knowledge over dates of employment
• Are experts in a niche within a certain occupation (example – Lion Trainer as opposed to just an animal trainer)

• Name, Address, Contact Info
• Qualifications
• Skills (you may have multiple skills sections)
• Education, Certifications, Designations, or Awards
• Work Experience

• Most resumes on the internet are found by someone performing a search. Use keywords and industry lingo in your resume since this is what will most likely be search on.
• Spell check your resume and have others read it for errors many times before you post it to the internet or send it to someone.
• Don’t be afraid to use different versions of your resume in response to different jobs.
• Always have your contact information on the resume. Don’t put it in the header or foots. Some applicant tracking systems can not read headers and footers and will not process your resume correctly.

Functional Resume Example

Obviously and occupational resume is one that is written with a focus on a particular occupation or niche career. These types of resumes can be writing in either a Functional or Chronological format. A Functional format tends to work best since it focuses on your knowledge and skills.

It is important in an occupational resume to make it loud and clear your expertise in that field of work so be sure to use as many industry words, lingo and names. This will help when recruiters and employers are doing searches online for people like you, as well as, make it clearly understood that you are targeting your resume at a certain occupation. Sometimes peoples resumes seem to fall into a grey area where it is not clear if they are truly skilled or knowledgeable since there are other unrelated work history or information presented.

If your work history doesn’t pertain to the occupation list it on your resume under Other Experience or not at all. Remember this is a targeted occupational resume.

• Have a lot of experience in a specific field of work.
• Someone looking to make a career path change and has either gotten the certifications for the position or interned/volunteered in some capacity to the occupation they are looking to make a move into.
• Are networked well in a particular occupation and their name holds weight with those that they are sending it to.

• Keywords, phrases, and lingo that are used in your field of work should be plentiful. Special certifications, training or groups you belong to should be highlighted and toward the top of your resume.
• A Functional format works best for occupational type resumes.
• Past unrelated work experience should be listed under the title “Other Experience” or not at all on your resume.
• Numbers speak loader than words so if you have statistics or other numbers that give a clear picture or the volume or size of business you have been involved with in the past put them on your resume (example: ran 2 billion dollar division…, generated 172% over quota…., managed staff of 34 direct reports…)

Executive Resume Example

Sales Resume Example

Technical Resume Example

We all live different lives and have had different experiences in the workplace so be sure and take the time to tailor your resume to enhance the experience which speaks most closely to the job for which your applying for.or detract from some of those situations so as not to eliminate our chances of getting an interview.

Employers also don’t like to see resumes that have large gaps in work history or a history of job changes every few months or years. Whether you’re about to be graduated from school and looking for your first job or looking to change your career path there are ways to present your resume so you aren’t overlooked.

In most cases when some has large gaps in work history or a lot of job changes a Functional resume is the best way to present their qualifications since dates and times are not emphasized as much.

If you are new graduate, coming back from maternity leave, illness or looking to change career paths a Chronological resume is the best way to go. You will want to put together a nice cover letter to explain your current situation or future career objectives.

If you are a recent graduate or looking for your first real job it might seem difficult to write a good resume, because you don’t feel you have a lot to say. Many companies look specifically for new graduates and understand that you don’t have a lot of experience to reference on your resume. What they do want to see is other information so they can get a feel for who you are.

To get a feel for who you are they will be looking at things such as how long you have stayed with positions you held while in school or on summer break. Any volunteer work, internships, or organizations you belong to. Let it be known if you helped fund your education by working while going to school. All of these things will add up to a general feeling about who you are.

• Name, Address, (Both School & Main Home Residence if you went away for school) Contact Info (both school and any other email account or phone numbers your might have, don’t make it difficult to track you down).
• Education (Since you just got it let everyone know. If you start looking for a job prior to graduate put your graduate date down so employers know when you will be fully available to start a new position).
• Work History (If your position only lasted over a summer break or was short term due to the nature of the work let them know that).
• Associations, Extra Curricular Activities
• Awards, Scholarships, GPA (If it is good)
• References

• Grammar and punctuation since you might not have a lot to say on your resumes means what you do say needs to be right.
• Contact information should be current, even put your parents home number on the resume if you are going to be moving and changing phone numbers or addresses.
• Employers do search sites such as myspace and facebook, so get the pictures of yourself drunk and puking off the internet before you start looking for work.
• Most resumes on the internet are found by someone performing a search. Use keywords and industry lingo in your resume since this is what will most likely be search on.

Recent Graduate W/O Work Experience

Recent Graduate W/ Work Experience

If you are a recent graduate or looking for your first real job it might seem difficult to write a good resume, because you don’t feel you have a lot to say. Many companies look specifically for new graduates and understand that you don’t have a lot of experience to reference on your resume. What they do want to see is other information so they can get a feel for who you are.

To get a feel for who you are they will be looking at things such as how long you have stayed with positions you held while in school or on summer break. Any volunteer work, internships, or organizations you belong to. Let it be known if you helped fund your education by working while going to school. All of these things will add up to a general feeling about who you are.

• Name, Address, (Both School & Main Home Residence if you went away for school) Contact Info (both school and any other email account or phone numbers your might have, don’t make it difficult to track you down).
• Education (Since you just got it let everyone know. If you start looking for a job prior to graduate put your graduate date down so employers know when you will be fully available to start a new position).
• Work History (If your position only lasted over a summer break or was short term due to the nature of the work let them know that).
• Associations, Extra Curricular Activities
• Awards, Scholarships, GPA (If it is good)
• References

• Grammar and punctuation since you might not have a lot to say on your resumes means what you do say needs to be right.
• Contact information should be current, even put your parents home number on the resume if you are going to be moving and changing phone numbers or addresses.
• Employers do search sites such as myspace and facebook, so get the pictures of yourself drunk and puking off the internet before you start looking for work.
• Most resumes on the internet are found by someone performing a search. Use keywords and industry lingo in your resume since this is what will most likely be search on.

Recent Graduate W/O Work Experience

Recent Graduate