The Essentials of a Good Resume

Everyone writes a resume at some point in their lives. Simply put, it is a document that you use to let your potential employer know that you have what it takes to handle the job. Depending on what sort of job you are applying for, resumes have four different layouts. While it is pretty straight forward, The Essentials of a Good Resume will help separate you from rest.

Layout number one is called the chronological layout. That’s just a big way of saying that you arrange your work history from your current job going backwards. Some jobs don’t need all that information. You could be applying for an accountant job, for example, so you create a resume that highlights all the financial skills you have and leave everything else out. This is what you call the targeted resume.

The other two types of resume are the functional and combination resumes.

The functional resume

This states what you’re good at and barely touches on your work history. On the other hand, the combination resume does it all- it lists your work history in order like the chronological one, highlights your skills much like the functional resume and is written in such a way that targets the specific job you have in mind. All these formats are unique and they vary depending on what you want to achieve with it. However, these formats have a lot in common. These common features are what you call the essentials of a resume.

Header – this is basically the introduction to your resume. A header is brief since it mostly just has your contact information. If you really want that job, make sure your header includes your:

• Full names and address
• Email address – only use your professional names on this one
• Phone number
• Personal website/portfolio if you have one

Summary statement/Objective – this should be a brief (3-4 lines of text) paragraph outlining your employment goals with the company’s while also highlighting your qualifications. Structure this statement around the job you’re applying for.

Experience /Qualifications

This part is the meaty section of your resume since you list your work history and duration. Employers like to get straight to the point so type out your experience in bullets.

Education – education levels sometimes determine if you get the job or not. Under this section, write all the places you studied in, when you studied there and what you studied for. Start with your highest degree then down to the lowest.

Skills and abilities – Show how the skills you have align with the post you’re applying for here. A good skill set helps you stand out

Other information – There is always that little bit of information that’s left out but is relevant to the job position. Such information includes volunteer work, military experiences in addition to awards. This is the segment where you put it all down.

Once you have all these parts on your resume, polish it. You can do this by:

• Avoiding simple spelling and grammar mistakes
• Keeping the resume as concise as possible
• Leaving out all the irrelevant information. Nobody wants to know if you’re married or have a thousand friends on Facebook