What is a Resume?

• An outline or summary of the applicant’s qualifications for

employment
• A marketing tool, a selling tool, and a promotion of you as an ideal
candidate for the job you are applying for
• A picture of you in words and may be the only information a potential
employer seeks for to determine whether or not you will be
interviewed
• It highlights your education, work experience, job-related skills,
accomplishments, and other relevant information.
• It gives the reader a quick, general idea of who you are.
Elements of a Successful Resume
There is no best format, but most resumes follow one of the four formats.
❑ Chronological Resume
✓ The most common and perhaps the most conservative format
✓ Summarizes your education and work experience starting with
the most recent and working backwards in time
✓ Works well for candidates who have experience in their field of
employment and for those who show steady career growth
✓ May not suit you if you are light on skills in the area you are
applying for, or if you have changed employers frequently, or if
you are looking for your first job
❑ Functional Resume
✓ Highlights your skills, accomplishments, talents, and abilities
rather than your work history
✓ May be a good format for new graduates entering a field
with little or no actual work experience, switching fields or
industries that differs from what you have done in the past,
or if you have had an inconsistent work history
✓ Specific dates may be included but are not as important as
what you wished to highlight
✓ Well suited for people with unconventional careers
❑ Hybrid Resume or Combination Resume
✓ A combination of chronological and functional formats
✓ Focuses on work experiences, education as well as relevant
skills
✓ Provides a list of your job skills as most prominent and then
followed by the list of previous employers in chronological
format
✓ Most effective when your well-rounded background, specific
skills, and job experience need to be emphasized
❑ Video, Infographic, and Website Resume
✓ This resume format allows you to make your information
electronically friendly.
✓ Suitable for people in multimedia and creative careers
✓ With the expansive use of technology today, a job seeker might
at least try to create a media-enhanced resume.

* However, the paper-based traditional resume is by far the most

commonly used. In fact, some human resource departments may
not permit submission of any format other than the paper-based.
Components of the Resume
▪ Your contact information
✓ Includes your complete name, address, contact number/s, and professional
E-mail address/es
▪ A summary of your skills or capabilities
✓ Lists hard skills as well as soft skills
✓ “Hard skills” are technical knowledge or training that you have gained
through any life experience, including in your career and education such as
programming languages, database management or marketing management.
✓ “Soft skills” are personality traits or habits that shape how you work on your
own or with others such as leadership, communication or time management.
▪ Work Experience or Employment History
✓ Depending on the resume format you choose, you may list your most
recent job first
✓ Includes the job title, company name, address, and employment dates
▪ Education and Training
✓ Includes academic degrees, professional development, name and
location of the school, and dates of attendance
✓ May include details of certificates earned, seminars attended, and
workshops completed
✓ Includes academic honors or special recognition you have received
✓ If education is incomplete, include such statement: “B.S. degree
expected on March 2021” or “80 units completed in a 120-unit program”.
▪ Character References
✓ Provides a list of people who can help discuss your job-related
qualifications and skills with your potential employer
✓ You will need at least three (3) character references.
✓ The following are the kinds of references:
A. Professional references provides the potential employer with
specific work habits and abilities.
B. Academic references can attest to your knowledge base and study
habits such as your former professor.
C. Personal references may be your friends, neighbors or other
acquaintances who know you well and understand your values,
morals, and integrity.
Optional Components of a Resume
✓ Volunteer experience
✓ Activities and interests
✓ Membership to
organizations
✓ Trainings attended
Tips for a Successful Resume
✓ Aim to make a resume that is one to two pages only on a letter-size
paper.
✓ Make it visually appealing.
✓ Use action verbs and phrases.
✓ Highlight your qualifications or skills to attract the employer’s attention.
✓ Be positive and reflect only the truth.
✓ Be excited and optimistic about your job prospects.
✓ Proofread carefully to eliminate any spelling, grammar, punctuation,
and typographical errors.
References:

A. Book

Cuerda, F. & Peñaranda, P. (2012). Technical writing. Cebu City: GJC Copy Systems.

B. Internet

Doyle, A. (2020, January 3). Different resume types. Retrieved from

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/resume-types-chronological-functional-combination-2063235.