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Resume Formats

There are several different types of resume formats, and the one you pick, could be the tipping point as to whether or not your resume is good enough to get you an interview.

Sample Resume formats

The job heavy resume format
If you are weak on the education side, you should emphasize the jobs and experience you have. Put specific attention on jobs that you have held for longer than two years. So many employers these days get stacks of resume's filled with people who have worked for ten years, and haven't held a single job more than a year to eighteen months. If you have had more than one job for several years, highlight the time period at the heading.

Example: January 1998 to March 2005 Second shift supervisor

The Education heavy resume formats
If you are just entering the job market, or you have had only one or two jobs, you should emphasize your education. Even if you don't have a college degree, you can emphasize training you've received. If you have a college degree, add more to your resume than just the college you attended, the program and your graduation date. Add detail about what you studied, and any specific projects you may have worked on that have real world experience. Also include any co-op work you did in the resume. If possible (in other words, if you've had at least a decent job with some relevance to the target job) put the work experience first, and don't worry if there is only one job. But you'll need to prepare an answer to any questions in an interview that may arise about experience.

Experience heavy resume formats
These are particularly effective resume's for people searching for technical jobs, or skilled positions. But they can also work very well for management positions. Your best bet is to not just emphasize what you did, but to put it in context as to how it solved a problem, or even better, increased the profitability of the company

The best thing you can put on a management resume is a short narrative (no more than a paragraph or two) that states why you would be best for the job.

The Killer resume' tip.
You can sleep sound at night with the full confidence that when I get to work in the morning, I know exactly what is expected of me.

This is particularly effective if the person vetting the resume's is not actually the hiring director or manager. There is always stress involved in hiring people, and giving the reviewer a confident feeling about you can go a long way towards getting an interview.

Tooting your own horn is one thing, and a little exaggeration probably won't hurt, but never lie. You'll get caught, and it will kill your career at the company that hires you.

If you are light in any, or all of the format areas, keep your resume to one page, and make it look full. Use bulleted points to highlight technical skills, or job related skills.

Sample resume formats