Chapter 5

Professional Resumes
the Easy Way

Professional Resumes the Easy Way

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 Learning Outcomes
1) Understand the importance of a professional
resume.
2) Differentiate among a chronological resume,
functional resume, combination resume, and a
plain text resume.
3) Use keywords and power words to strengthen
your resume.
4) Understand how to write skills using the Skills
TM
Formula
5) Create a professional resume and measure its
success
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 The Importance of a Professional Resume

• There are hundreds of ways to create a

winning resume
– Find the style that appeals to you and learn
what key elements you should use to make
your skills shine
• Employers usually look at a resume for 30
seconds or less!

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 Resume Don’ts
• Don’t use sentences
• Don’t use font under 10 or larger than 13
• Don’t lie! This is cause for termination
• Don’t add unnecessary words
• Don’t provide personal information including
marital status, age, race, religion, health, height,
weight, family, and so on.
• Don’t use first person: no I, me, my, and so on.
• Don’t right justify (align margins) – only left justify.

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 Resume Do’s
• Do use power words/verbs to highlight your
skills
• Do quantify your skills. In other words, use
numbers. For example: Billed over 50k in direct
hire revenue in the first three months
• Do use bullets
• Do emphasize transferable skills
• Do tailor your resume to the job opportunity
• Do use correct tenses
• Do include leadership roles and volunteer work
• Do keep your resume looking sharp and focused
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 Target the Position
• Each resume should target the company and
the position that you are seeking
• Target your resume to a specific company,
position, and even a specific hiring person or
committee
• The more your know about the position,
company, and person who will make the
decision, the better!

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 The First Cut
• First cut
– When employers sort through a pool of
applicants, and accept or reject them based
on their applications or resumes
• Having a professional resume says
volumes about who you are
• Details matter!

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 Types of Resumes
There are four basic types of resumes:
1) Chronological
2) Functional or skills
3) Combination, hybrid, or custom
4) Scannable, plain text, or online

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 Chronological Resume
• A resume that lists specific skills under
each position held
– Works best when the candidate has recent
education and/or work experience directly
related to the position

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 Resume Presentation Overview
• Resume Header or Identification
– Name, address, phone number, and email address
• Objective
– If used, make sure it is tailored to the specific
position and company
• Summary of Skills
– Optional, include up to five bullet points
• Education
Work Experience or List of Positions
– List your jobs in reverse chronological order, from
most recent to the least recent
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 Resume Overview cont…
• Work Experience or List of Positions
– List in reverse chronological order, from the most
recent to the least
• Other Optional Sections
– Honors or Rewards
– Activities or Community/Civic Involvement
– Professional Affiliations
– Publications
• References
– Should not be included on the resume

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 References
• Professional References
– Someone who knows your work, such as an employer
or a co-worker
• Personal References
– Someone other than an employer who can make
statements about your ethics, trustworthiness, and
personality

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 Functional or Skills Resume
• Functional Resume
– A resume that organizes skills and
accomplishments into groupings that support
the position objective; also known as a skills
resume
• Works well for candidates changing career
fields or who are seeking jobs not related
to their majors

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 Functional Resume Organization
• Header
• Summary or Objective
• Targeted skills headings with bulleted skills
• Chronological work experience with company
names, dates of employment, and title (don’t
include skills in this section)
• Education (you can place this earlier in the
resume if it is relevant to the position you seek)
• Other optional sections

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 Combination, Hybrid, or Custom Resume
• Combination Resume
– A resume that combines both the chronological and
functional resume types; also known as a custom or
hybrid resume
• List skills in groupings under the positions which
are similar in nature rather than repeating
yourself for each job

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 Scannable, Plain Text, Electronic, or
Online Resume
• Scannable Resume
– Formatting removed, which would change when
sending the resume electronically
– Should always have a resume that is ready in the
scannable format so that it retains its professional
qualities

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 Fonts for All Resumes
• Use one of the san serif fonts or Times
New Roman
• Keep font size 10 – 14 for scannable
resumes
• Avoid italic, underlining, or shading
• Bold Sparingly
• Send your hard copies if you can as a
back up

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 Self-Check
1) What are some of the differences between a
chronological resume, functional or skills
resume, and a combination resume?
2) Which type of resume is best if you have
several gaps in your work history? Why?
3) What is the difference between a professional
reference and a personal reference?

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 What to Include in Your Resume
• Keywords
– Terms related to specific skills or
qualifications that employers search for in
electronic resumes
– Nouns
• Power Words
– Verbs in your resume that best describe and
emphasize what actions you did in the
position

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 Self-Check
4) What is the main purpose of a resume?
5) What is a keyword? How might you
know which keywords an employer is
looking for?
6) What are power words?

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 The Skills Formula
• Skills formula
– Uses bullets, power words, and keyword skills to
create quantified outcomes for your professional
resume

• Bullet + Power Word (verb) + Keyword skill

(noun) = outcome (quantified results)

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 Quantifying Skills
• Quantified skills
– Are those that include specific, measurable
amount(s) in numerical form
• Reader’s eye is naturally drawn to numbers

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 Formatting, Saving, and Sending Your Resume

• Make sure you have a clear understanding

of the type of resume you will create
• Quantified skills
• Target the job
• Create visual impact
• Integrity

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 Resume Challenges
• Gaps in Work History
• Held Many Positions in One Company
• Fired, Down-sized or Quit
• Short-Term, Summer, or Temporary Positions
• Overqualified
• Breaking into a New Field

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 Portfolios: Putting it All Together
• Portfolio is to enhance your marketability
• Great for teachers, graphic artists, artists, and
journalists, but anyone can create a portfolio,
regardless of your profession or program of study
• Traditional Portfolios include the following:
– Cover page; Table of Contents with Clear Divisions;
Career Components and Evidence of Skills

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 Delivering Your Resume
• You can:
– Mail it to the company, respond to an ad, apply
online, have a networked inside contact pass it on, or
present it yourself
• Anytime you can present the resume to the
person who does the hiring, do it.
• Remember to dress appropriately for this face-
to-face meeting as well

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 Chapter Summary
• Create a winning resume either a chronological,
functional, or combination
• Use the Skills Formula
– Keywords to target the position, power words to
promote your skills, and numbers to quantify your
skills
• Minimize the challenges in resume writing

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 Skill/Term Check
1. Which type of resume best suits your skills
(chronological, functional, combination)? Why?
2. When do you use a plain text resume?
3. What is the difference between a keyword and
a power word? Provide an example of each.
4. Choose one of the skills you might add to your
resume and write it using the Skills Formula.

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