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 One of the first steps you're going to take when writing a resume is deciding on the format to use. Generally, there are two recognized formats for a resume - chronological and functional. From these two formats comes a hybrid resume known as the combination format. In this publication we're going to offer you a couple of resume writing tips to help you get started with the right resume format.
Resume Writing Mistakes
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is over-engineer your resume. Some folks get so caught up trying to figure out how to get started that they give up early in the process. While it is certainly a good idea to give your resume the thought and attention it deserves, resume writing should not be a burden.
Thankfully, we've prepared some resume writing tips that are aimed at getting you off on the right foot. And that's important because choosing the right resume will get you the results you're looking for when trying to find a job.
Choosing the Right Resume Template
So how exactly do you go about deciding which is the right resume template to choose? Most resume writing sources will have a lengthy list of simplistic pros and cons that really just serve to complicate the decision-making process. But let's step back and think about the results we want to get from our resume in the first place.
Writing an Effective Resume
Quite simply, we want to create an impact on the reader which will in turn create good marketing response. Fundamentally, we want our resume to move the reader to action - just like a good advertisement or marketing message does. So the single most important resume writing tip is simply this: use the resume format that will best highlight your most marketable assets.
So what exactly are you're most marketable assets? They are your career accomplishments and the job skills you've acquired along the way. The two formats that will highlight your skills and accomplishments most effectively are the chronological resume and combination resume formats.
Our Second Resume Writing Tip
A second resume writing tip is to group and present you job skills and career achievements in the first half of your resume, while presenting a list in reverse chronological order of the jobs you've held in the second half of your resume. Using this approach has several significant marketing advantages:
- By grouping your skills and achievements together in the first half of you resume, you are presenting to the reader your most marketable information first. This is an important part of any marketing effort. You are like a product and your resume is the chief sales tool that you have at your disposal.
- By using a combination format, you are demonstrating that you have respect for the employer's valuable time. The chronological portion of your resume is an efficient format for displaying job descriptions, dates of employment and other items of lesser marketing impact. So the non-selling portion of you resume is best organized as concisely as possible and should come after your skills and achievements.
Resume Writing Resources
Our third resume writing tip has to do with finding good resume writing guides and templates. If you're struggling trying to write a resume, then it's a good time to slow down and plan out your next steps. That's where a resume writing guide can help.
Another helpful hint is to leverage the work already done by others. There is no sense in reinventing the wheel when you can look at a couple of good resume examples. Finally, you want to leverage the resume templates and resume wizards that are probably already packaged with your word processing application.
That's all our Tips for Now
Hopefully we've given you enough resume writing tips to get started. You should also have a good understanding of why the resume format mentioned above is so effective. It is a marketing approach to help solve a marketing challenge. You can also take a look at our articles on creating a resume outline, resume power words and resume cover letter samples to get some more ideas to help you move quickly along the resume writing process.
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