Just curious, fellas. I'm looking to get into a technical or copy writing field, but my resume doesn't reflect any abilities to that affect. With this in mind, I'm engaged in covert ops this afternoon, trying to draft a functional resume versus my previous chronological model.

Which format do you use and why? Any suggestions? Latz.

Poll question: Resume format?

Poll result (8 votes) Chronological (6 votes) Vote Functional (1 votes) Vote Other (1 votes) Vote (0 votes) Vote (0 votes) Vote (0 votes) Vote

I've always done chronological, just the way I was taught I guess. It seems easier to explain functional during an interview. Of course if there's nothing functional on the resume then you may not get an interview. I'd maybe shorten up the chronological section and then add in a skills section

Chronological is the standard, but the content in each position is where you can include relevant skills. Put the most relevant abilities first, even if they weren't your primary responsibities. This really tailors the resume to what the inital screener wants - an easy to read resume with the necessary skills for the position. This is always the way I've seen it done.

Other-
What's the point if you don't have relevant experience. Do you think they are interested in knowing you worked for 13 years at Burger King and was promoted to assistant manager of the Fry machine?

I would keep the completely irrelevant shit off the resume especially jobs that are so old and so outdated that it reads like a high schoolers summer. And make sure the entire resume is no more than 1 page long. period. end of story.

i selected "other" as well....

put your most relevant first, and make a cover letter....

cover letter should be less than 120 words...

read up on moster.com/msn.com/etc... for tips/ideas on a cover letter and resume writing...

i can email you my resume if you want to "steal" some of the formality of it... (i'd need your email addy though)

seangordon@hotmail.com

cheers

Functional.

Working at BK for 5 years may be relavant if you don't have any jobs relavant to the field you trying to get in. At least employeers see you had a steady job and no job gap. Not that you worked at BK for 5 years :-p.

Keep it 1 page long. The most important always goes on top. On average someone will look at the top 3rd of you resume for 15 seconds and decide to junk it or keep it so have your good, eye-catching stuff there!

Originally posted by vegasdsmr
i selected "other" as well.... put your most relevant first, and make a cover letter.... cover letter should be less than 120 words... read up on moster.com/msn.com/etc... for tips/ideas on a cover letter and resume writing... i can email you my resume if you want to "steal" some of the formality of it... (i'd need your email addy though) seangordon@hotmail.com cheers

Shoot that over to dino2GNT@gmail.com .. my resume is horribly out of date and i need sopme formatting ideas.

hey that would be real helpful if i can check out you're resume as well.. sj_buzzacco@hotmail.com
in search of a new 2g....

Something tells me that there are going to be a few more people with Mortgage Brokering experience after Sean sends them copies. :P

Originally posted by eclipzGST
Something tells me that there are going to be a few more people with Mortgage Brokering experience after Sean sends them copies. :P

hehe... im actually "part time" in the mortgage business now... long story.. partners stole a lot of money, after they committed a bunch of fraud... thew them in jail for the imbezzlement and now the fed's have em on several indictments....... (i didnt know about the fraud until after they stole the $$)...

i'm selling internet TV commercials www.itvmercial.com with my father, nationwide..

p.s. i will be sending my resume to the people that asked... and i've already been working with DR11665....

cheers

Thanks for the input, fellas.

I'm liking this functional version better than the old chronological one. Bugs me to apply for a job more aligned with a technical management degree (recently technical, copy and proposal writing) with a resume that says:

Job 1 - Loan Processor. (Pissant with no future.)
Job 2 - Marketing Asssitant.
Job 3 - A/R Processor.

Now it's more like:

Contact info
--------------
Objective
(generic format uses adapted Throeau quote - always customize the objective for the position applied)
--------------
Education
-DeVry
-HCC
--------------
Experience

Writing & Managment
-Press Liaison, Board of Governors, California Rally Series
-Admin, 2GNT (You bet your ass I'm gonna give it a shot.)

Web Development & Graphic Design
-Freelance Graphic Designer, partnered with major dot-com, provider of HTML banner and sidebar ads for nationwide clientele. Use of Illustrator and Photoshop.
-Freelance Web Developer, clients in IT, Real Estate, Theatre, and Photography. Use of Macromedia Dreamweaver.

Finance & Accounting
-Loan processor
-Accounts Receivable
--------------

/*--At this point, it looks like I have some room for an abridge chrono:--*/

-Paddock/Paramount - 10.04 to present
-Motorola Computer Group - 06.04 to 09.04 (contract)
-Paddock Marketing - 04.04 to 06.04 (contract)
-Homestore.com - 11.03 to 04.04 (contract)

This is just the skeleton of my actual rezzie as it's sitting right now. Not sure if I'm going to add the chrono at the bottom, but I do have the room. What I like about this format is that it allows me to showcase my abilities beyond generic job descriptions. The sub-headings under "Experience" attract readers to the points in which they have the most interest.

Suppose I apply for "Technical Writer with Experience in Finance/Accounting," (which I did last night, actually), I can focus on a shorter cover letter (like Sean suggested) which gets the reader to flip to the resume without having to sell myself entirely with the cover letter because I know what I've done has nothing to do with what I can do. The reader flips the page, sees "Finance & Accounting" and boom. That's where he goes first. Likewise for proposal and copy writer positions (my main target these days).

I might add a technical sub-head for "IT & Automation" where I can relate my experience with object-oriented programming, system analysis & design, and general business courses at DeVry as well as my favorite job ever - electronics automation service technician - back in the day, revealing electro-mechanical aptitude as well. Dunno yet. We'll see.

One thing is for sure, though. I need to get the hell out of my current position. There is zero room for advancement due to the horizontal structure of this organization and I've got to increae my take home by more than a third if I'm going to be able to keep up with these damn student loans. :(

Wish me luck.

em>Sean.

Just remember the most important thing about resumes: The person reading it will spend no more than 30 seconds on yours.

Once you think you have something good, hand it to a business-oriented friend (preferably someone in the industry you're breaking into) for 30 secs and then ask them what they remember from it.

IMO worrying about technicalities are what kill people when writing a resume. It's more important that it's accurate, easy to read, spell checked, and leaves the person feeling like you might be worth interviewing.

Chronological would probably be best. Good luck getting a job in either of those fields. I'm looking to get into technical writing as well; fairly easy job and pays well.

Originally posted by injendsm
Chronological would probably be best. Good luck getting a job in either of those fields. I'm looking to get into technical writing as well; fairly easy job and pays well.

Yeah, but you've got the English degree working to your advantage, Greg. Mine's a bit of a streth, especially when I don't have a fabulous Flash site to back it up, selling my abilities as a writer.

Hmmm... /scratches head...

Originally posted by DR1665

Originally posted by injendsm Chronological would probably be best. Good luck getting a job in either of those fields. I'm looking to get into technical writing as well; fairly easy job and pays well.

Yeah, but you've got the English degree working to your advantage, Greg. Mine's a bit of a streth, especially when I don't have a fabulous Flash site to back it up, selling my abilities as a writer. Hmmm... /scratches head...

LOL, well that site is more for my creative writing than my professional (technical) writing; although I guess it doesn't hurt. Keep your head up though man, I'm sure you'll get a good job in that field shortly.

I've read that having an "objective" was considered to be really old-fashioned, and was only acceptable if you were just getting out of college. They mentioned all the objective stuff will be covered in the first part of your cover letter anyway.

Seriously, I find the rules for resumes so subjective. I had picked up a couple books on resume writing - and they conflicted on their recommendations on almost everything. It's like you're at the mercy of some fool in HR and whatever they feel that day determines if your resume it hits the bin. I've also heard what Dan mentioned above, that they spend 30-45 seconds looking it over. That puts emphasis on being neat and consise.

Originally posted by DR1665
Yeah, but you've got the English degree working to your advantage, Greg. Mine's a bit of a streth, especially when I don't have a fabulous Flash site to back it up, selling my abilities as a writer. Hmmm... /scratches head...

Spelling mistakes are another obvious immediate shoot down...

Originally posted by djtrickee
Spelling mistakes are another obvious immediate shoot down...

Indeed, Farts McGhee. Indeed. ;)

Originally posted by DR1665

Originally posted by djtrickee Spelling mistakes are another obvious immediate shoot down...

Indeed, Farts McGhee. Indeed. ;)

hehe.