Resumes, CVs and More: Organizing Your Qualifications

By Todd Anten

Salespeople have a variety of pitches they can make when selling a product. It's just a matter of deciding which pitch is the right one for that customer.

Now, think of a potential employer as a customer and yourself as the salesperson -- and the product.

In order to successfully sell yourself, you have to face a tough decision: How to advertise your qualifications in the most effective way possible. It may involve a chronological resume or a functional resume ... or perhaps no resume at all.

Here are your basic options:

Chronological Resume

"Chrono" is Greek for "time," so it's no surprise that a chronological resume is organized by your employment timeline.

Chronological resumes are the most common choice for job seekers -- and for good reason:

• They're easy to write. The organization is predetermined, so it's one less thing to stress over.
• Recruiters prefer them. A recent HotJobs survey revealed that 84 percent of recruiters prefer chronological resumes.

So unless you have a good reason, you should generally stick to the chronological resume format.

To create a chronological resume, begin with your most recent experience and work your way back. For each job, list the name of the company, your title, where the job was located, your dates of employment and a few bullet points discussing your major achievements and responsibilities.

Functional Resume

Chronological resumes are great if your career path has been sure and steady. But there are circumstances where a chronological resume may not be the best choice. For instance, maybe you have ...

• a major time gap on your resume,
• a hodgepodge of experience without an overall focus,
• or a desire to change career fields.

In these situations, a functional resume might prove more useful than a chronological one.

Functional resumes highlight your skills instead of the companies you worked for. Functional resumes also downplay time gaps and career missteps.

A functional resume generally splits your work history into two sections. In the first section, list the skills and experience you have that relate to the job you're applying for. In the second section, provide a list of the places you have worked, as well as the dates you worked there.

Recruiters tend to be wary of functional resumes, but if you suspect that a chronological resume won't get you through the door, a functional resume is a good second choice.

Curriculum Vita

When most job postings ask for a resume, the implication is that they want a chronological or functional resume -- one page long, work experience, all that jazz.

But some jobs out there -- especially in the education and research fields -- require a curriculum vita (CV).

CVs are not resumes. Commonly used among academics in the U.S., CVs are much more comprehensive than resumes. A CV lists almost every work-related accomplishment you've ever had, from papers published to presentations given to classes taught to awards won. In short, they're long. Some CVs extend over 30 pages.

CVs for non-education related fields are sometimes used in other countries. In Europe, for example, CVs are generally accepted for everyday jobs. In the U.S., however, you should never send a CV unless the job ad specifically asks for one.

Candidate Profile: The Anti-Resume

You may be surprised (and relieved) to learn that there is some movement away from evaluating job seekers only by their resumes.

Some employers, faced with a stack of resumes, are using an alternative: Candidate profiles.

Candidate profiles ask online applicants to rank themselves on job related characteristics, including the ability to manage stressful situations, creativity and problem-solving ability, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Employers use the results to find qualified candidates and reserve traditional resumes for later in the selection process.

While candidate profiles probably won't mean the death of the resume, it may take some of the pressure off having a perfect one.

As you decide which organization works best for you -- chronological resume, functional resume, curriculum vita or candidate profile -- keep in mind that employers don't hire pieces of paper. They hire people. So do your best to let the real you shine through.