By Fernando Espinosa

I wrote in my last article that we see many people that are still not properly prepared for what is emerging as a very different job market.  We are also continuing to encounter many candidates that lack a good, well-defined job search strategy.

An important foundation of that strategy is to have a properly written and formatted resume.  The objective of your resume is to serve as a quick introduction of your skills, experience, career history, and education in relation to an employer’s needs.  If writing or document formatting is not one of your strengths, you may want to consult a professional for help.  Otherwise, you run the risk of distributing a resume that does not reflect the values that you want to project to a prospective employer.

Your resume serves as your “face” or “calling card” to the job market.  You need to have a clear understanding of what your competencies, experience, education and skills mean in terms of current market conditions.  You need to be conscious of what your “unique selling proposition (USP)” is.  If you don’t know what your value is to an organization or what you do better than others, then you aren’t going to be able to effectively sell it or yourself in an interview.

Hiring managers look for the following elements in a resume:

  Chronological versus Functional

There are two primary types of resumes – the chronological and the functional.  Each type of resume has its place and purpose.  The table below will summarize the differences of each resume for you.  We strongly recommend that “if” you are in doubt about which type of resume to use, that you consult with a professional resume writer prior to sending it to a potential employer.

In summary, your resume needs to be a skillfully designed, well-written summary of your education, work experience, critical technical knowledge and competencies, training and achievements and other qualifications relevant to the needs of a prospective employer. 

Please avoid doing a detailed job description of positions you have held in your career.  The purpose of your resume is to serve as a tool to generate interest about your overall profile and serve to produce invitations to interview for jobs or potential opportunities within a company.

You cannot effectively build your personal brand with a resume that reflects poor grammar, sloppy formatting and does not accurately portray your skills and experience.  If you desire to be viewed as a top performer in your field, you need a resume that reflects attention-to-detail, is properly focused and is formatted in an easy-to-read format.

Fernando Espinosa is an Executive Recruiter in Qualifind, Inc. and is Mexico’s only member of the prestigious Pinnacle Society.  He can be reached at (619) 421-7134 or  fespinosa@quali-find.com  for questions and comments.

Qualifind, Inc. provides professional and executive search services for specific disciplines and industries throughout the U.S. and Mexico. We are a U.S. based firm with our corporate offices in San Diego, California. We have branch offices and recruiting staff in the U.S. (i.e Chicago, Austin) and Mexico (i.e. Monterrey,  Mexico City).