Welcome to BestResume, where our goal is helping you achieve your career goals. An effective, professional resume is the first step, followed by polished and professional interview skills, and BestResume can assist with both. This site contains some helpful job process information below, as well as information about BestResume and getting your own best resume and best interview techniques, to start you on your way to the job you've always wanted!

Job Process Information

• The Best Type of Resume
• Resume Tips
• Special Interest Groups
• Cover Letter
• Interview Tips
• Follow-up Letter
• Sample Resumes

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• The BestResume Advantage
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The Best Type of Resume

Chronological Resume

A chronological resume is what most people picture when they envision a resume (see Sample Chronological Resume). It lists jobs held, starting with the most recent, and describes duties performed in each one. It is a good way to show job skills that you've acquired, as well as to show a progression in those skills. A good thing to add to a chronological resume is a Qualifications Summary, where before you describe your jobs, you stress five or six key abilities/characteristics that you want to "jump out" at the reviewer. This helps achieve some of the focused nature of the functional resume, while maintaining the format of the chronological resume.

Functional Resume

A functional resume is good way to stress your skills when you haven't had a lot of paying jobs that show your strengths (see Sample Graduate Resume), because you can choose the headings that best capture your unique skill set and then stress the skills you've acquired from a variety of experiences. You should choose three or four skill categories, and then have at least three, but preferably four, examples of the work you did in those skill categories. After the skills section, you must still do a brief chronological listing of the jobs/experiences from which you gained the skills. And as with the chronological resume, you should consider adding a Qualifications Summary, where before you describe your skills experience, you stress five or six key abilities/characteristics that you want to "jump out" at the reviewer.

A functional resume is also good if you have gaps in your employment (see Sample Re-entering Work Force Resume), because you can stress your skills and strengths, but in the chronological list at the bottom you only list the jobs/experiences from which you gained the strengths. Since these include volunteer experiences as well as paying jobs, gaps can be camouflaged.

Additionally, a functional resume is good if you want to change careers (see Sample Career Change Resume), because you can stress skills and strengths that would not normally be associated with your particular job(s), and reviewers will not have a pre-conceived notion about your abilities based on your job title(s). And again, you can include volunteer experiences.

Resume Tips

• Above all, keep in mind that the reviewer may have only 15 seconds to review your resume before interviewing you. Therefore everything needs to be easily visible, and if you want something emphasized, it should easily stand out.
• When listing employment dates, show just the year and not the month. This is especially important when you have gaps in employment that you'd like to minimize.
• Keep the resume to one or two pages if possible. Do not feel you need to have two pages; reviewers can tell when a resume has been padded for length purposes.
• Do not describe your job duties in lengthy paragraphs. Instead use phrases (called "bullets"), and begin each bullet with an action verb. For example: Increased sales from $20,000 to $100,000 in less than two months
• Use numbers to quantify your accomplishments, as in the example above.
• Do not include any personal information, such as marital or health status.
• Don't forget to include any activity that has contributed skills relevant to the job, even if it's volunteer work.
• Be sure to include courses you've taken that are relevant to the job you're applying for.
• Do not rely on spell check programs. The following phrase will not be questioned by a spell checker, but is obviously incorrect:

-- Increased sails from $20,000 too $100,000 inn less then to moths.
• Proofread your resume. Have several friends proofread it. Then proofread it again.

Special Interest Groups

Many recent graduates make the mistake of thinking that they must use a chronological resume that features only their "real" jobs. And if they've only had one or two paying jobs, such as house painting or tutoring, that makes for a pretty skimpy resume, one that probably doesn't highlight the skills that most employers are looking for. Instead, recent grads should consider a functional resume (see Sample Graduate Resume) that features whatever experience (paid or unpaid) is most relevant to the desired job.

Re-entering the Work Force

For individuals re-entering the work force, or entering it for the first time late in life, their paying job(s) may have been many years ago or they may never have held a paying job at all. In this situation, a functional resume (see Sample Re-entering Work Force Resume) really is essential, to stress the skills that have been acquired from volunteer positions or education during the period of "unemployment."

Changing Careers

Often, after years of working in a particular career field, people decide they want to do something completely different. But a chronological resume, where duties are described for the jobs held, would not likely suggest to an employer that the individual could do something in a completely different field. A functional resume (see Sample Career Change Resume), however, could highlight the relevant skills gained from past jobs, as well as any volunteer or educational experience relevant to the desired career field.

Cover Letter

There are three different types of openings, depending on the situation you're in:

• If you are answering a "blind" ad from a newspaper, where you do not know the company's name, then your opening should simply state which ad you are replying to. If you do know the company's name, make an effort to find out who the manager is for the area you are applying to, so you can address your letter to that individual. (Note: If you cannot find out the manager's name, do not let that stop you from sending your letter.) Ideally, if you know the company's name, do a little research on the company; then mention a few tidbits about the company, to distinguish yourself from the other respondents.
• If you are fortunate enough to be applying for a job and you know someone in the company, mention that individual in the opening. (But be sure your acquaintance has given you permission to do so, and that they are well thought of in the company!) Many companies give immediate priority to such resumes.
• If you are sending resumes "cold" to companies where you do not know anyone, and you are not responding to a known job opening, then it is essential that you convey some knowledge about the company and why you would like to work there. Also, in this situation it becomes more desirable to find out who the manager is of the area you would like to work in; otherwise your resume may simply go to the personnel department, which may or may not forward it to the appropriate department.

There are two approaches to the closing. In one, such as with a blind ad or when you do not address your letter to anyone in particular, you include a summary sentence, express your desire for an interview, provide your phone number, and thank the individual, perhaps adding that you look forward to hearing from them soon. This approach is also acceptable when you do address your letter to a particular person. However, the other approach, only possible when you address your letter to a particular person, differs in that instead of taking a "passive" role and expressing a desire to be called for an interview, you take an "active" role and state that you will call them to arrange an interview. There are obviously drawbacks and benefits to this approach, and you must use your judgment to determine if it is right for you in a particular situation.

Interview Tips

• Try to learn as much as possible about the company, and casually sprinkle that knowledge into the interview.
• Know everything on your resume and be prepared to discuss it.
• Dress appropriately for the company and position. If the company requires suits for women, then wear one. If everyone wears jeans all the time, then a suit may not be appropriate.
• Greet the interviewer(s) with a firm handshake. (Yes, this applies to women as well as men.)
• Maintain eye contact on a regular (not constant) basis.
• Where possible, give examples. To the question, "How do you handle pressure?" you wouldn't just respond "I handle it well." You would instead reply, "I handle pressure well, as I found first-hand when our customer came in at 4:30 and demanded that ...."
• If you need time to think about your answer, then repeat the question to buy yourself some time, or say "That's a good question."
• Be prepared with an answer to the question, "Tell me your greatest strength and weakness." It is essential first of all that you are able to list a weakness, and second, you should say how you are overcoming the weakness. For example, "My greatest weakness is a tendency to overcommit, which is why I've been using the DayTimer system, and I've seen my ability to prioritize improve greatly."
• Be aware that many interviewers, either intentionally or out of ignorance, still ask illegal questions. You cannot be asked your marital status, or whether you have children, or what your future plans are in those areas. Be prepared with what your answer will be. You may want to go ahead and answer, and complain later. Or in a pleasant manner make an issue of it then. Just be prepared for what you'll say.

Follow-up Letter

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