Pronounced "re-zoo-may," a resume provides prospective employers with your work history, educational and professional credentials as well as a summary of your outside interests. Although there are a number of different styles that can be used, almost all resumes include at a minimum the following components:
- Heading (this will consist of your name, address, city and state, ZIP code, and increasingly, an email address and/or a fax number).
- Employment objective (this tells prospective employers what type of job your are interested in and why).
- Work experience (typically, this section is arranged in reverse chronological order, with your most current position being listed first, and your first job being listed last).
- Education (this section will usually include what diplomas, degrees or certificates you have earned, where you earned them, and the date you completed the course of instruction).
- Honors (this section will highlight any special recognitions that you received during your academic career).
- Activities (you should list extracurricular activities in this section, such as being a member of 4H, membership in a fraternity, sorority, or sports team and so forth).
- Certificates and licenses (as the terms suggest, this section will typically include any special certificates you have received or professional licenses that allow you to practice in a given field).
- Professional memberships (this section should list any memberships you have in professional organizations such as the American Bar Association, the International Association of Business Communicators, the American Society of Association Executives and so forth).
- Special skills (you should be sure to list any special skills you may possess, even if you don't know if a prospective employer might be interested in them – skills such as expertise with various computer applications such as word processing programs, graphic art software and so forth can be highly desirable attributes for a wide range of positions that may not specifically require or list them in an employment advertisement).
- Personal information (this is a judgment call, but many people include things such as interests in hobbies, volunteer work and so on that reflect their involvement in the community).
- References (this is another judgment call, and some applicants merely state that "excellent references are available upon request" until they receive a response from a prospective employer; others simply prepare their references on separate pages and send this along with their resume and cover letter if they are requested).
There are several different ways you can arrange these foregoing basic elements, depending on the type of position you are seeking. The different types of resumes include:
- Chronological resumes: This type of resume is basically the style described above in which your work experience is listed in reverse chronological order. This type of resume is probably the most common and provides prospective employers with a quick and easy way of seeing what type of work you've done and for how long.
- Functional resumes: This type of resume focuses on your skills and experiences instead of a chronological listing of your work experience. This approach can be useful if you have significant gaps in your employment history, but the truth will come out eventually so don't expect to hide anything in this fashion, but a functional resume may help you get your foot in the door so that you can explain any such gaps in your employment during the interview process.
- Combination resumes: These are essentially the same as chronological resumes, only you list your skills and summary of experience first, and then provide a reverse chronological listing of your work experience.
