5 Chronological Resume Samples Made From Functional Resumes

I've been updating some of the resumes in my collection of resume examples. In particular, I've converted five of the functional resumes to the chronological resume format. Take a look: Chronological Resume Example: Project Manager Chronological Resume Example: Medical / Pharmaceutical Sales Chronological Resume Example: Flight Engineer Chronological Resume Example: Editing Chronological Resume Example: ESL Teacher

Video Resume for Barney Stinson

I'm not a big fan of the TV show How I Met Your Mother, but I thought this video resume for its lead character, Barney Stinson (played by Neil Patrick Harris), was pretty funny. It's only a few minutes long and might give you a chuckle.

25 Fresh Resume Phrases

There's been more buzz lately about overused resume phrases. Recently CNN wrote about LinkedIn's Top 10 Overused Resume Phrases.

Want to see some fresh ideas? Check out Kit Samuels's 25 Juicy, “Ready-To-Use" Phrases You Can Use To Supercharge Your Own Resume. Here my three favorites from Kit's 25 phrases, published here with her permission. Notice how Kit uses bold to emphasize the essentials.

• Effective contributor—capable of voicing opinions about ideas/projects and giving valuable input when needed
• Experienced at taking overwhelming, confusing situations and creating organization, efficiency and productivity
• Conveniently flexible—can easily adapt to any changes that may occur within an organization

If you plan to use any of Kit's phrases, better hurry! If too many people get their hands on them, they'll end up on the overused-phrases list along with "Think outside the box."

Want to add some good resume phrases to this list? Just leave a comment!

5 Ways to Spotlight Transferable Skills on Your Resume

Spotlighting transferable skills on your resume is always a good idea, especially if you're making a career change, upgrading your professional image, or have a less-than-perfect work history. Do all you can to make your transferable skills pop out during an employer's initial eight-second scan of your resume. Here are a few techniques for making that happen. Continue reading....

No Job Objective on Resume

I'm always snooping around for good ideas to create a better resume. Here's one from Maureen Nelson, Senior Career Counselor at the Oakland Private Industry Council:

Use an occupational title at the top of the resume instead of a job objective statement.

For years I've advocated that established professionals use their professional title in place of a job objective statement (see my article, Job Objective Statement). Maureen's suggestion takes it a step further, saying this is a good idea for blue, pink, green... all color collar jobs.

For instance, instead of:

Jose Ruiz
Job Objective: Seeking a position as a plumber's assistant

Maureen contends the following will make a better impression on an employer:

Jose Ruiz
Plumber's Assistant

Likewise, a job seeker could state her general area of work:

Mary Johnson
Clerical Support

This approach is helpful in two ways:

1. It makes a powerful presentation to the hiring manager, which may increase the chance of winning a job interview and influence how much pay is offered.

2. It boosts the job seeker's self-esteem. Just looking at the resume, he can feel proud that he's a such-and-such worker, not just a wannabe.

Thank you, Maureen, for offering this advice!

Video Letters for MindValley Jobs

MindValley is an organization that requires video resumes (or video cover letters, as MindValley calls them) from their job applicants. Video applications are fitting for this innovative group, and the YouTube clips they receive are creative, each ranging from around one to nine minutes in length.

Before you take a look at the string of submitted videos, read MindValley's Career page, which explains what type of video cover letter they want.

Here are my two favorites from the group:

In-Your-Face Resume

Jim sent me the following untraditional marketing piece he calls his "in-your-face" resume. Most notable is its lack of a job history. There are no dates or company names anywhere in the document! While I don't recommend this for most job seekers, I value Jim's creativity, and thought others might benefit from his out-of-the box thinking.

Here's Jim's resume, with the limited font and graphic effects offered on my blog:
________________________________________________________________

Jim Doe
Business development 2.0
His Street • His City, State zip • 123-555-1234• his email

MISSION 2009+

To help your company grow revenue and stay competitive in this economic downturn through my proven salesmanship skills and experience.

PERSONAL SELLING HIGHLIGHTS

20 years experience – documented top producer selling both tangible and intangible products.
• Fast learner, street smarts, ability to close, six-figure earner, top firms.

Consummate relationship builder and consultative sales professional.
• Decision makers buy from people they respect and who offer value, especially now.

Experienced road warrior covering multi-state geography.
• Proven ability to communicate using all media sources.

Comfortable selling and presenting to all levels of management.
• Respected by the boss and all those working for the boss.

MY SALES APPROACH

Resourceful, creative, idea driven.
• Customers and prospects actually look forward to working with me.

Provide solutions, work to be a partner as well as a customer relationship manager.
• Customers appreciate that I ask good questions, strive to understand their business and operate with empathy of current economic challenges. I under promise and over deliver.

Persistent, relentless, goal oriented, make things happen.
• Help customers get what they want. Do it sincerely. And we will get the results we want.
• No time for order takers in this economic environment.

EDUCATION & REFERENCES

BA Business – University of Dayton, Dayton Ohio
MBA Candidate – University of Phoenix

Upon request
• Detailed traditional/chronological job history
• Trade and personal references

________________________________________________________________

I asked Jim how this unconventional resume is working for him. Here's his response:

All firms that responded asked for my chronological resume or asked "what industry did you work in?" Three of them commented something to the effect that "you are obviously an experienced sales professional." That was, of course, my desired response because many firms want to get away cheap and hire someone who was selling retail or telemarketing. Nothing wrong with retail sales or telemarketing, it's just not the professional sales I do (I am not hourly or cheap). This format is a qualifier. So I look at these employer responses as positive reactions.

I use a cover email. In the subject line I write a quotation about adversity, such as, "smooth seas do not make skillful sailors." That seems to get them to open the email, read my quick note, and then open the attached resume.

Thanks for sharing this with us, Jim. We wish you speedy results with your job search!

Resume for Project Work

When the economy tightens up, employers look for ways to trim costs. Aside from laying off workers and downsizing operations, they tend to hire people for whom they don't have to pay benefits (healthcare, social security, retirement, vacation pay... all that good stuff). Here are some examples of consulting resumes. Continue reading...

Quit Over Boss's Verbal Abuse

Question
I quit my last job because the boss/partner was making inappropriate remarks to me (along with remarks and looks about a certain feature of mine). I was enduring these remarks because I needed the job. I was an excellent employee (during my seven months there I had three raises) and was well liked by my co-workers. Continue reading...

Resume for My ZENN Electric Car

Zenn E. Car
0 Gasfree Way
Clear Air, ME 000000

Zero Emissions No Noise (ZENN) street-legal neighborhood car

What’s Hot
• A real head-turner, even without the rumble of a gas guzzling engine.
• Ranked sexiest and most affordable among all small cars, including Porsche, Ferrari, and Lamborghini.
• Zero to 25 in 3.9 seconds.
• Hatchback that can carry two passengers, two dogs, a case of brewsky, and seven bags of groceries with room to spare.

Features
• All electric motor that delivers amazing pickup, even on substantial inclines.
• At three cents a mile, costs less to drive than a gas-powered lawnmower.
• Washes down with one gallon of water and three paper towels.
• Cheaper to maintain than a Saint Bernard (smells better, too). No oil or filter changes and, did I mention NO GAS?
• Fully loaded: power windows, door locks, security system, CD/radio/IPOD dock, heat, and AC (2/20 – that’s two windows down/20 mph).
• Brilliant blue exterior that can be seen 20 feet away in pea-soup fog.

Dimensions
• About the size of a big sofa (but more comfortable)
• Length: 120.8 inches
• Width: 58.8 inches
• Height: 55.9 inches
• Wheelbase: 70.7 inches
• Track: 50 inches

Technical Specs
• All weather, ABS body with welded aluminum space frame
• 4-wheel hydraulic disc brakes
• Digital instrumentation
• Alloy wheels
• Rear window wiper / defogger

Options
• Fast charging station
• Air conditioner (the real kind)
• Sun roof
• Colors: Electric Blue, Earth Friendly Green, or Recycled Silver

Performance
• Front wheel drive
• 3 Phase 300 Amp 7.6 hp AC Motor by Advanced Motors and Drives
• 10.33:1 single speed transaxle


_____________________________________________________
Resume written by Susan Ireland, susanireland.com
with Charlie Vincent

Five-Month Gap in Employment

Question
I worked at a company for 5 years, left for 5 months, and then returned to the same company. On my resume I have listed just years, thus leaving out the 5-month gap (because the gap happened within the same year). Continue reading...

Medical Work Gap on Resume

Question
My daughter recently stopped working for 3 months to recover from surgery. She now needs to find a new job. How does she acknowledge the employment gap and the fact that she is currently working temporary jobs while searching for a full time position?
-- Debra

Answer



Dear Debra,
Because the gap in employment is only three months long, and those three month are all within the same year your daughter left her last full-time job, there's no need to even mention the time off. Just be sure to list only years -- no months -- in the work history on the resume, like this:

20xx-2008, Job Title, ABC Company

Don't refer to the temporary jobs she's held most recently. She'll have to list those jobs on her job application form, but she doesn't need to list them on her resume.

Best of luck with the job search!

Job Hopper's Resume

Question
I recently quit a job after 3 months of employment because I felt it was unprofessional. I do not want to put this on my resume as it adds to the many short-term jobs already listed. None of the jobs pertinent to my job field (administrative assistant) lasted longer than 8 months. I have a few about 6 months long, one 8-month position, and the aforementioned 3-month stint. With the exception of the last job, it was not my fault that I was let go. I quit a part-time job, was laid off due to a slow market, fired after a car accident and again, quit the most recent job. I want my resume to stand out, Continue reading...

Employer Name Change on Resume

Question
I have been in the same job for 8 years, but due to mergers and acquisitions my "employer" has changed a few times. How are you supposed to list that?

Answer


Here's how I suggest you structure your work history for that job:

2000-present, Job Title, Current Name of Company, City, State
Retained as Job Title through mergers and acquisitions (XYZ, Inc. to LMN, Inc. to Current Name, Inc.).
- First achievement statement.
- Second achievement statement.

Online Application at Kaiser Permanente

As part of my research about Electronic Resumes, I investigated Kaiser Permanente’s online application process. For this post, I’ll refer to Kaiser Permanente simply as Kaiser.

Notes from my interview: I spoke on the phone with a Kaiser Permanente employee, who kindly answered questions about how Kaiser uses the recruitment system on their Careers webpage to handle job applications. Following are my notes from that conversation.

Each applicant (whether a current and prospective employee) creates a profile in Kaiser’s online recruiting system and manages his or her Kaiser job search using that system. Once a profile is created, the applicant can enter her resume and cover letter manually line-by-line or copy and paste her resume into the profile.

If someone doesn’t have access to a computer or the Internet, she can walk into a Kaiser Permanente recruitment center, which is manned by a receptionist who will scan the applicant’s hardcopy resume. (The scan is a snapshot of the hardcopy – which has not been processed by Optical Character Recognition software .)The receptionist will also help the applicant create an online profile and attach the scanned resume to the profile.

It’s up to each applicant to check job postings at Kaiser and apply for desired positions, using the online recruitment system. Multiple job applications are allowed simultaneously. However, only one resume and cover letter can be in an applicant’s profile at a time. The applicant can edit her resume, cover letter, and profile at any time. In her profile, the applicant can create a list of preferences and indicate that she would like to receive email alerts when a new job opening matches her list of preferences. She can then apply for ones that interest her.

Part of managing one’s profile includes ensuring accuracy and appearance of content. In other words, there are no data entry people at Kaiser cleaning up resumes so a job seeker must take responsibility for proper spelling, grammar, spacing, etc. When a resume is copied and pasted into the system, features such as horizontal lines and borders are stripped from the document, but overall the resume formatting is not changed much. The system preserves most symbols, including bullet points. However, the applicant should carefully review the text and formatting before clicking Submit. There may be some changes needed for the resume to look appealing and easy to read. As the saying goes, “What you see is what you get.” In other words, what the applicant sees on her screen is what the Kaiser recruiter or manager will see on his screen.

Speaking of Kaiser recruiters: Each recruiter is seeking to fill a particular set of jobs. Once an applicant applies for a job, the appropriate recruiter is automatically notified to look at the applicant’s online profile and resume. The applicant can apply for more than one job at a time, in which case the same resume and cover letter will be pulled up (as part of her profile) by more than one recruiter.

My online experience: I went to the Kaiser Career site, where I created a profile as if I were applying for a job. It was incredibly easy to create a profile in which I copied and pasted a cover note and resume directly from my MS Word document. The system accepted all my characters perfectly, except it did not keep my italics. In the copy-and-paste window itself, the resume looked like a mess. But when I clicked “Done” and went back to View the resume, it looked almost perfect. The only thing I had to do was delete an extra space that had replaced one of my horizontal decorative lines on my original MS Word resume. It kept all my bullet points, quotes, spaces -- everything except the italics! All my text was left justified (even lines that had previously been indented or right justified) and the font was changed from my original Palatino (a serif font) to a sans serif font (probably Geneva or Helvetica) – similar to what happens when a document is converted to Plain Text.

Here’s what my resume looked like in MS Word before I entered it into my online profile:


Here’s what my cover letter and resume looked like once I copied and pasted them into the online profile:

Dear Hiring Manager,
I am a freelance writer who would like some part-time assignments creating technical or marketing copy for your organization.

Thank you for considering my application.
Susan Ireland

Susan Ireland, Resume Professional
(510) 524-5238 • sireland1@aol.com • susanireland.com

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
• Author of four job search books and resume writing software.
• Manager of professional resume team that has served thousands of clients since 1989.
• Featured on TV and in major publications.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1989-pres. Author and Resume Professional

Publications and TV
• Authored four books, each about 300 pages. (Alpha Books)
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Resume (now in 4th edition)
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Cover Letter
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cool Jobs for Teens
Get a Better Job the Lazy Way

• Created Resumes That Work, a CD-ROM featuring interactive resume, cover letter, interview, and salary negotiation coaching. (Macmillan Digital)

• Self-published Ready-Made Resumes and Cover Letters, which is sold to job seekers as downloadable software and licensed to organizations.

• Former editor of Resume Pro Newsletter, published by Yana Parker for career development professionals.

• Featured in segments of "Career Advantage," a 26-part telecourse distributed by PBS and syndicated to colleges nationwide.

• Interviewed for national and regional TV, radio, and print media.

Resume Writing
• Worked individually with more than 1,000 clients in three-hour sessions to create personalized resumes — not boiler-plate forms.

• Wrote resumes for diverse careers and levels of employment: executive and middle management, academic, technical, and trade.

• Manage Susan Ireland's Resume Team (also called The Damn Good Resume Team), a national resume writing service.

Teaching
• Presented hundreds of resume writing workshops and lectures at career centers, universities, professional conferences, and corporations.

• Former resume instructor and counselor at Alumnae Resources Career Center, which received more than 100,000 client-visits a year.

• Led train-the-trainer resume workshops for federally funded One-Stop Centers and as part of professional seminars by Yana Parker.

EDUCATION
Graduate, Yana Parker's Resume Apprenticeship Program
Liberal Arts, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio

I was truly impressed with how friendly the Kaiser career site is and how it empowers the job seeker to conduct a Kaiser job search. I want to thank my interviewee at Kaiser Permanente (who did not want her name disclosed) for sharing her insight with me.

Walked Out on Last Job

Question
I recently left a job because of a health issue that was frustrating me. At the time I didn't know what the problem was and I just stormed out and never came back. After a diagnosis with my doctor, we found out that the health problem that was frustrating me caused my outburst and sudden resignation at work. Continue reading...

Sample Resumes by Occupation

Browse through the 90 sample resumes by occupation on my website.

Four-Month Job on Resume?

Question
At the end of last year I decided to change jobs. Unfortunately the new position was not what I had hoped for and I decided to go back to my previous employer after four months. How do I handle this on a resume? Do I have to include the job I was at for only four months?

Answer
No, you do not have to put the four-month job on your resume. Here's how I suggest you list that span of time:

Your Job Title, Name of Company, 2004-2006, 2006-present

(I used a starting date of 2004 only because I don't know when you actually started working for your current employer.) Notice that this technique is honest, although admittedly mysterious.

On your resume, you never have to refer to that mysterious span of time (2006, 2006), however, on the job application you must reveal the four-month job. Hopefully, by the time you fill out the application form you will have won the job interview and you'll have a chance to explain the short-term employment in person.

To see how others have handled this sort of situation, check out 22 Sample Resumes for Job Seekers Who Have Had Short-Term Jobs.

Good luck with it!

Sample Resumes that Solve Problems

Learning by example is sometimes one of the best ways to solve a problem. If you have an issue you need to resolve on your resume, click on one of these links to my collection of 90 Sample Resumes to see how others handled a situation similar to yours.

Tons of Sample Resumes

I’ve just posted 40 more sample resumes on my website, Susan Ireland Resumes. Combined with the 50+ already on the site, that makes a total of more than 90 sample resumes categorized according to Occupation, Problem Solved, and Resume Format.

Happy browsing!