By Bruce A. Love
Labor Day is upon us, and we must accept the fact that summer has come to an end. For many, this means recognizing that our vacations are over, and it’s time to get back to work. It is an exciting time of year, as students start new classes and learn new skills and life lessons that will prepare them for adulthood, and exciting careers.
Vacations serve a vital role. They allow us to reenergize, and re-apply ourselves with new zeal, as we return to work. With the return of workers, businesses reenergize too. This is a time when new strategies are formulated and implemented, and many companies go into a hiring mode before the final push of the year. If you are dissatisfied with your current job, this can be a great time put your renewed energy into efforts to find a new job.
It is important to have the proper tools before beginning a job search. The primary tool you will use is your resume. A good resume can effectively represent your career accomplishments and make it easy for employers to understand your value to their organization. A poorly constructed resume can make it easy for an employer to place your application for employment in the “not interested” pile. There is no time like the present to update your resume, and make sure it effectively represents your skills and accomplishments.
Writing a resume can be challenging. Sometimes, the task can seem like too much of a bother, and we decide to use the same old document we’ve always used, which is probably about as current and fashionable as a 1980s sitcom. Every so often, your resume, and your career, deserves a good makeover.
There are a variety of resume formats. Each form is acceptable, though some are more effective under certain circumstances. Three popular resume formats are: “chronological,” “functional,” and “hybrid.” Depending upon your situation, and the career highlights you want emphasized, you can select a format that best showcases your value to targeted employers.
The “reverse chronology” resume is the one most job seekers use. This form has sections for Career Objective, Experience, Education, Skills, and Interests. It lists jobs and education in reverse chronological order, and emphasizes most recent activities. This enables potential employers to quickly assess your career progression, and view your current job responsibilities. This is a good format to use if your career has followed a predictable path, and the job you are seeking is consistent with the career path highlighted by this progression.
The “functional resume” has topic headers that are similar to those of the chronological resume, but emphasizes career accomplishments over what activities you performed for your most recent employer. If your most recent job was not as exciting, nor as impressive as previous ones, this is an ideal format to use, since it allows you to shift the emphasis to the most impressive accomplishments of your career. My son’s first job was in a 4-star restaurant where he started as a dishwasher, but quickly advanced to performing pastry prep and banquet arrangements. This is an impressive accomplishment for a young person. When we relocated, Tim took a job as a “cook” at a local chain restaurant, where he basically reheated pre-cooked food. The “functional resume” allowed him to showcase his accomplishments with the more prestigious employer. This enabled other restaurants to focus on the more skilled tasks rather than the more recent position, which required very little culinary skill.
Sometimes a “blended” or “hybrid” resume can be the most effective. The hybrid resume lists career accomplishments (functions) in great detail, and briefly lists employment history in chronological order. This allows you to showcase the most important accomplishments performed during your career, while giving potential employers a quick overview of your employment history.
As you enjoy this Labor Day weekend, use your renewed energy from the time off to focus on improving your career. If it is time for a change, give your resume a makeover and use it to land a better job.
To see examples of the three resume types, visit: www.enetsc.com/ResumeTips25.htm.
