Formatting A Career Change Resume
I'M CHANGING CAREERS - HOW DO I FORMAT MY RESUME? The best
resume format to use is the combination resume. This resume
format is not chronological nor functional. It combines both! It
is extremely flexible and allows you to use strategies in a way
that would normally be considered wrong. The difference between
the combination format and the chronological format is that the
chronological format resume is very easy to follow. The hiring
manager will typically start to read the chronological resume at
the bottom of the work history or professional experience
section (heading depends on your career level) and will continue
reading his or her way up towards the top to trace your career
history. If there are employment gaps, it will be obvious
because it is difficult to hide breaks in employment using this
resume format. This is why most hiring managers prefer the
chronological resume format. It is easy to read and leaves
little to the imagination. This can be a great advantage
(marketing tool) if you have been in the same type of position
because it shows continuity and progression in your industry.
But what happens when you've held different types of positions
across several industries? Some reasons for gaps in employment
or holding too many/unrelated jobs include raising children,
caring for a family member, illness, returning to college,
corporate downsizing or merger, joining the military, and
difficulty finding work for long stretches of time because of a
tight job market or weak resume! Hey, things happen. That