Creating a resume can be overwhelming. There are many factors to consider, including education, experience and other relevant skills. The best resume formats for one career or job don’t always translate well for another. It’s good to be familiar with several types of resumes so that you can craft a strong one.
There are three standard resume types. It can be helpful to create one of these resumes when you’re pursuing your degree, such as an online MBA program. Once created, you can ask professors and colleagues for feedback and suggestions. Here are the three standard types:
- Chronological: This resume lists your employment history in chronological order and works best when you have a lot of experience in one area and no gaps in your employment.
- Functional: This format can be useful when you do have gaps in employment or have spent time in different careers. A functional resume gives you an opportunity to emphasize your skills, rather than your previous employment.
- Hybrid: This is a combination of the chronological and functional formats. This can be an especially good choice when you are looking to change careers entirely and want to show how skills from various jobs pertain to a new position.
In addition to traditional formats, the list of best resume formats includes some specific types of resumes that offer greater flexibility.
- Networking: A networking resume is a short, well-crafted picture of your strengths and skills that you can give to friends and colleagues to pass on to interested employers they may know.
- Visual: Nontraditional resumes are popular. This type of resume uses different fonts, colors and graphics to set skills, value and strengths apart in a visually appealing manner.
- Portfolio: This type of resume offers a short portfolio of your work, or directs potential employers to a website of your full portfolio.
- Web-based: Web based resumes offer job seekers an opportunity to craft a visually pleasing outline of job skills, while also providing the chance for hyperlinked content, such as portfolios, writing samples, school projects and more. For online students, this may be a compelling option because so much work is completed virtually.
- Video: A video resume is a way to give potential employers a brief introduction to your personality. This can be an option for those who have created a personal website or a web-based resume.
- Profile: This resume uses a concisely honed profile statement to open the resume, in place of an objective statement. These profiles can be crafted to a specific job, career or employer. The profile statement can be thought of as your elevator pitch about yourself, a quick 30-second snapshot of you and what you have to offer.
- Targeted: Targeted resumes take careful planning and research to pull together. All information about skills and experience is targeted to the values, mission statement and culture of the specific company to which you’re applying.
These 10 best resume formats are full of variety. Each one has a different way of meeting your needs, no matter the job you are applying for, whether it’s within your current company, or it’s an entry-level position you’re seeking after completing your online MBA program. It’s wise to take note of the various formats and choose the one that makes the most sense for the type of job you want.
Learn about the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi online MBA program.
Sources:
http://www.careerealism.com/top-resume-trends-2015/
http://www.hcareers.com/us/resourcecenter/tabid/306/articleid/965/default.aspx
http://susanireland.com/job-lounge/types-of-resumes-how-to-write-master-and-target-resumes/
