Monday, October 31, 2011

Preparing a targeted resume ...

There are four basic styles of resumes -- and what will work best for you may depend on your circumstances and history.

 We label these resume styles as:

1.  Chronological – which works well if you have a solid work history with no employment gaps.

2.  Functional – which is a style that is often used if your work history has some gaps where you weren’t employed.

3.  Targeted – which is a resume style that focuses on what the employer wants in an employee.

4.  Guerrilla – which is a targeted resume that breaks most of the rules. It may be an excellent option for a professional person who is searching for a new job.

If your situation is such that you have a solid work history without any employment gaps, you may want to use a chronological resume. But for most of us, that just isn’t the case especially in today’s economy.

For many job seekers -- that leaves a functional resume as an option. However, job finding experts caution against using a functional resume because it is a red flag that recruiters often see as a deal breaker. It signals there have been some things in your past that you are covering up.

So, I’d like to suggest you develop either a targeted resume or a “guerrilla” resume …

And, for the next several days, I will cover how you can put together a targeted resume that will help you in your job search.

But first, I need to explain a few things.

With a targeted resume, your resume will focus on your skills and experiences – not so much on your chronological work history.

With a targeted resume, you will not create just one resume – instead, you will develop a basic resume that can be adapted to each job. You will have a resume for each job you want.

With a targeted resume, you will be attempting to show that you are a good match for the position being advertised.

An outline for a targeted resume:

1.  Contact Information

2.  Objective Statement

3.  Skills and Experience

4.  Work History

5.  Education and Training

6.  Additional Honors, Awards and Activities

7.  Interests

Come back tomorrow and we’ll break it down.

Good Hunting!

Dana


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