Resume Ricochet, Part 1

Resumes are funny things. We all know that we need one – make that a GREAT one – but sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. It can be one of those things that we procrastinate over until we have a career fair the next day and then we start freaking out about it. Hopefully that doesn’t sound familiar, but if it does, read on.

Resumes typically come in two flavors: Chronological and Functional. The main difference is in the layout. Chronological resumes lay out your life history in the following format:

• Contact information
• Objective
• Education
• Experience
• Awards, Activities, Etc… (this section is fairly flexible depending on your individual situation)

In contrast, functional resumes do things a little differently:

• Contact information
• Objective
• Education
• Areas of effectiveness (or expertise, if you will)
• Activities
• Etc…

Some basic tips to keep in mind are to SPELL CHECK your resume!!! Believe it or not, some people don’t do this. It’s late, they’ve been hammering on getting the margins just right and remembering the start and end dates of their various college jobs and just want to go to bed. Please, for the love of all things maroon, SPELL CHECK the thing before you print it off! Better yet, spell check it and have somebody look it over with a fine tooth comb for any mistakes that Word might not pick up. Need an example? Look at the following objective statements:

• Hard-working, dependable, punctual marketing graduate looking for a research position to help achieve the goals and objectives of a progressive organization.
  
  
• Hard-working, dependable, punctual marketing graduate looking for a research poison to help achieve the goals and objectives of a progressive organization.

Notice anything a little funny in the second objective? Microsoft Word didn’t either. Take a closer look if you still aren’t sure.

Remember – your resume is your advertisement to potential employers. Make it difficult for them NOT to select you for an interview!