Page 65 - Complete Idiot's Guide to The Perfect Resume

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Chapter 4 ➤ Chronologically Speaking

When to Use It

Many employers (especially those in conservative fields such as
law and finance) like chronological resumes for the following rea-
sons:
➤ They’re used to reading chronological resumes and therefore
feel comfortable with an applicant who uses this conven- Career Casualty
tional approach.
The templates in this book are
➤ They can see a job seeker’s work history in a flash because it’s not boilerplates! The bullet-
highlighted in the body of the resume. point statements are ideas that I
might suggest if I were with you
If you are applying for a job in a conservative industry or com- as you create your resume.
pany, use the chronological format. You should also use this for- Because not all of these state-
mat if you want to emphasize your work history for any of the ments will apply to your situa-
tion, use only the ones that give
following reasons:
you the opportunity to support
➤ You want to make a horizontal career move within your cur- your job objective. If these prod-
rent field. ders aren’t enough, check out
the brainstorming exercises in
➤ You’d like to make a vertical career move within your current Chapter 8, “Step Three: Been
field. There, Done That.”
➤ Your most recent (or current) position is one you are
proud of.
➤ You have no major gaps in your work history.

Now let’s look at some sample resumes from real job seekers that
demonstrate situations in which the chronological resume is the
best choice.

The Horizontal Slide

Andrew Gregory had been in audit management for a number of Terms of Employment
years and wanted to remain in that line of work. His chronological Chronological implies that
resume (following) clearly showed that he had a stable history as events (such as the jobs in your
an audit professional with experience in management. Without Work History section) will be
reading the small text of the bullet-point statements, the employer listed in the order in which
could see from the headings of his chronological resume that they happened. However, in
Andrew was a likely candidate for the job. most chronological resumes,
the events are listed in reverse
If you’re making a horizontal career move and have no gaps in chronology (most recent listed
your work history, the chronological format is an excellent way to first).
market yourself.

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