[MUSIC] In the previous two modules you learned how to write the important elements of a resume. How to write strong accomplishments statements. How to write keyword rich summaries or objectives. You learned how to get that all important marketing document known as a resume past the robots, and into the hands of the decision makers. Now that you know how to write the elements of a resume you're going to learn how to put those elements together. That is, you'll learn about the variety of resume formats available and when to use each. Here are the basic elements of every resume. Under the headline with your contact information and target job title comes either a summery of qualifications or your job objective. The resume will include your experience, namely your employers, dates of employment, and job titles. Your accomplishments will be presented using the strategies you learned earlier, as will your competencies, also referred to as skills or capabilities. Education appears as well your schools, degrees, any honors, majors, thesis topics, and the like. Now, none of these should be terribly surprising. The resume formats vary in how these elements are presented and what emphases are given to each. Beyond these elements it may be relevant to add a section for volunteer work. You may be licensed for skills that are relevant to the position. Your language competencies, human or computer, generally have relevance. A resume may also include any special skills that are relevant to the position. Publications whether books or articles, white papers or other materials, may be relevant. Any special honors or awards you've been given may be relevant. Seminars you've attended, or seminars you've given may be relevant. These are also sometimes referred to as workshops. And finally, any affiliations that you have in professional associations may also be relevant to the specific marketing purpose that you've chosen for a resume. Remember, you are not including every possible item on every resume you write. Each resume you write is a marketing document with a specific target audience. As such each resume you write is crafted for a specific purpose. No where in this ad do you see any mention of BMW or any of BMW's other offerings, even though Rolls Royce is a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW. And BMW offers many other fine vehicles. But this is a specific ad for a specific offering to a specific audience. So it not only features one brand but it focuses its attention exclusively on that one brand. Similarly, every resume you write will be written for a specific audience and a specific purpose. The format you choose follows from that purpose. Broadly speaking, there are three standard resume formats. Then there are quite a few special resume formats. We'll look at the most popular standard format in this lesson and then at the remaining formats in the next lessons. The most popular standard format is one I'm sure you're familiar with. It's the chronological format. The term chronology comes from the ancient Greek word kronos, meaning time. In this format, you emphasize your experiences over time. You start with your header section including your contact information and target job title. You then follow with a summary of qualifications or a job objective, whichever is most appropriate. You then present the jobs you’ve had in detail in chronological order. Begin with your most current job, and work your way back in time. List accomplishments under each position using the same competency based focus you learned about in the last module. You can delete any work experience that makes you appear too old for a certain position. For example, let's say you're seeking a managerial position in a trendy retail shop. This is a position usually occupied by people in their thirties. But let's say you're in your forties. You can delete ten years of your earliest experience to make yourself look younger, and therefore, qualify for an interview for the position. The logic works this way. Employers figure most people enter the workforce at around 22. So if they see 20 years experience on the resume, they assume you're around 42. But if they see only ten years experience, they'll think you're around 32. Which is exactly what you want them to think. And the trick works the other way around too. Say you just graduated from college and you're applying for that same retail manager position in that same trendy shop. In this case you'll look under qualified. So you dig in to your employment history and list jobs you held during your high school and your college days. Bringing your perceived age up ten years. After listing your experience, you'd close a chronological resume with education, listing the highest or most recent degree first. Again, you do not necessarily include dates in this section. It depends on whether you choose to convey your age, either how young you are or how old you are. Under education, you may choose to list a relevant thesis title or topic, along with any academic awards or honors. Grade point average should generally be left out unless you're a recent graduate without much experience and your GPA is exceptionally high. You may also find it relevant to mention special seminars or conferences you've attended or training you received. If you're a technical professional or in another rapidly changing field, showing that you have the most up to date training could well be important. The chronological format is effective if your career has moved into a steady straight line progression. That is if you have consistently moved to better and better jobs with no significant periods of unemployment. Also your jobs will have been in more or less the same field, so that your career has been a logical progression towards the job you're seeking now. Many people's careers do proceed in this way. If so, the chronological resume shows an employer that you are a person that has been groomed for the job you're applying for. It shows that you're focused. It shows that you know what you want and where you're going. It's also a good choice if you've held the same job for many years and are now applying for a promotion or the next step up. That could be at the same or a different organization. This type of resume can also be a good choice if you have always worked in the same field and want to continue working in that field. Chronological resume is very effective with traditional companies and organizations because it's what they are most familiar with. However, it may not be the best format for you. In fact, it can even hurt your chances of getting an interview if you have a limited work experience or are changing careers. If you are re-entering the workforce after a period of unemployment, a long term disability, raising children or a divorce, than a chronological resume will draw attention to the gaps in your career. You do not want that because gaps make employers uncomfortable. They wonder what you were doing during the time you weren't working. You don't want to invite them to start filling in the blanks with their wild imaginings. Similarly, if you are switching to a different industry, for whatever reason, a chronological resume will make you look like the wrong person for the job. It will draw attention to the fact that all your experience is in a different field. If you're a recent graduate who doesn't have much experience a chronological resume will only underscore this weakness. And if you were laid off or fired from one job and had to take a lesser job in a different field then a chronological resume will make this only too obvious. In these cases the functional resume is often the one to use. That, or a direct competency resume or even a combination format. You'll learn about these formats in the next lesson. [MUSIC]
