With as many as 400 and more applying for many jobs advertised online, every chance that you get when putting together your resume/CV to make the right impression counts. I have written many times before that when your resume/CV is seen by the person or people responsible for hiring or read by scanning software it may well be the first and only chance that you are going to get to make the right impression and get an interview.

There is more to it than just writing a resume /CV, because actually there are different formats best suited to different circumstances and which format you use can make all the difference.

1. The chronological format

This is the most traditional, professional and often the version preferred by hirer's, it shows your dates, places of Employment, and job titles.  If you have experience in the job that you are applying for and you are staying in that field or industry then this is the format to use, especially if your career shows almost continuous growth and you have no gaps in your employment.

However, for many people this is often not the case and their Employment History is less consistent and stable, in this case use ~

2. Functional resume

A functional resume or CV shows your work experience using skills headings, i.e. what your skills are and examples of them, i.e. your achievements, you also add your work history ~dates, name of employer and job title. This style of resume /CV is not liked so much by employers but it works well if you are changing to a completely different career where your previous experience is no longer relevant, or if you have an employment history with periods such as breaks that you want to downplay, e.g.  you are going back to work after raising a family or taking time out for carers responsibilities. If you need to draw on experience and achievements from some time back in your work history then a functional format is ideal.

3.  A combination of the two ~

Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where a combination of different systems works, combining both the chronological and functional formats shows both your work history and relevant skills. The basic format is the chronological one but you use skill headings under the job titles. This often works well if you are changing careers and would benefit from illustrating your transferable skills that are suitable for the job you are applying for or if you want to show your skills to prove that you can advance and be promoted in the field you already work in. Maybe your job titles do not fully reflect the amount of responsibility you have held. An example of this would be my previous career as a nursery nurse, which to many employers sounds sadly too often non -transferable. However, I worked in social services, children and families with special needs children, doing Child Protection work and family support. Many of my IT skills were gained in this field, writing child development reports and reports for child protection case conferences. Maybe you have had gaps in your employment history, which may well be the case for those who had been in receipt of disability benefits and are now forced by welfare reform to claim job seekers allowance instead and apply for jobs, in this situation maybe you have not been in paid work for a long time but may be doing voluntary work and have gained relevant experience for the job that you are applying for.

Valerie Hedges