Back to Home Page
Despite what you may read or hear about how most people get jobs, most people need to have a resume prepared when then they are considering a job change. This is true even if you find your new position through personal networking, so you may as well do it right.
There are lots of books in stores and libraries about putting a resume together and you should probably glance through a few before settling on one. Start with a couple of basic ideas in mind. Tell the truth. It sounds obvious but statistics show that a lot of people don't. Not telling the truth is not only dishonest, but it could come back to haunt you. You don't want to give someone an easy excuse to get rid of you sometime in the future.
Tell the whole truth. Apparently, some career advisors recommend just disclosing the more recent positions on a resume. It's misleading and not a good idea. If you had several job changes early in your career and those experiences aren't that relevant today, you can mention them in one paragraph at the end of your resume.
The two major types of resumes are the chronological, and the functional. We favor the chronological, which is actually reverse chronological. The top paragraph should be a summary of your qualifications and interest, or a brief statement of your employment objective. Then get to the meat of the matter, starting with your current position. Give the dates, the company, your title and a brief description of your responsibilities. You can also mention some accomplishments in this kind of paragraph, but keep it concise. Then write about your previous position in the same format but a little shorter, and so on. At the end of this chronology you should list your educational credentials and designations, and some other personal information if you think it's necessary. You don't need to give the names of your family and pets.
Some prefer the functional resume where you describe the responsibilities and accomplishments through most of the resume, and briefly list your employers at the end. It's a lot more subjective and most employers consider it a biased source.
Use the third person when writing the resume. It sounds objective and unbiased. Proof it for errors and make sure it's neat. Don't cross things out. Change a mistake and reprint it. Finally, be selective where you send it. You don't want to be updating it again in the near future.
The Insfile Administrator