By Marshall Brown and Annabelle Reitman
The traditional chronological and functional résumé formats are not usually the most efficient and effective ways for senior level professionals to present their varied, specialized, in-depth experiences and qualifications. A quick review of the descriptions of these types of résumé will indicate why. In today’s highly competitive job market where there are more candidates than positions, you do not want the reader to have to take too long to figure out whom you really are and what you have to offer. Many reviewers take only ten to thirty seconds to scan a résumé and decide whether to place it in the call-in-for-an-interview pile or reject pile.
A chronological résumé takes a historical approach by outlining your work history, starting with the most recent position and ending with the oldest. Most reviewers and hiring agents prefer this format since it is the easiest one to follow and find needed information. Your career progression is shown over time by linking together a detailed job description of responsibilities with employer data. Additionally, if the organizations you have worked for, particularly your most recent employer, are well known and have excellent reputations, they will be more visible in a chronological resume format. Disadvantages for a senior level professional are: a) age more obvious, b) not particularly imaginative for you to stand out, c) not selective or allows for highlighting specific qualifications up front, and d) does not allow a reader to quickly see the overall picture of the extent of your background.
A functional résumé presents skills and experiences and stresses accomplishments and strengths rather than a progressive career history. One of its main features is a background summary statement. This is a synopsis section, one or two short paragraphs, and highlights experience and expertise, specializations, and competitive edge, including both work-content-specific and transferable skills. This format is particularly useful when making a career change and you may need to pull up experiences from several years ago to a more frontline placement. Disadvantages for a senior level professional are: a) does not naturally highlight details of promotions and career growth, d) details of employment information are deemphasized and minimized, c) does not necessarily contain all the information required for a particular defined work opportunity, d) is not as a matter of course results- or outcome-oriented, and e) it could seem as if you have an erratic work history or gaps of unemployment.
If traditional résumé formats do not work for senior level professionals, what will? A targeted résumé configuration is one that is really quite appropriate for people in this category. This is one version of what many people refer to as a combination résumé format since it has elements of both chronological and functional résumés. Basically, you are extracting selected information, arranging the facts and data in blocks, thereby bringing it to the forefront. This is quite different from showing your capabilities in the traditional résumé manner of listing information in sequential time order.
For a highly experienced professional, a targeted résumé setup works best because experiences, savvy, and competencies that have produced measurable results are highlighted. Skills, knowledge, and, most importantly, your successes for how you used or applied the competencies listed reflect your creditability. Aptitudes in high demand are clearly seen for: a) solving problems with effective outcomes; b) providing leadership to an organization, a work unit or a project team; c) seeing the big picture; and also d) having a package of other strengths and expertise that is an added value to the employer. A targeted résumé can bundle qualifications and achievements in a way that tells your story directed towards the specific needs and culture of a potential employer.
As a successful seasoned professional with an in-depth and varied work history, you have more than one avenue of employment to consider in your job search efforts. With a targeted résumé, you can more easily and readily rebundle your qualifications and customize your experiences to match different types of job specs and employers’ requirements.
From High Level Resumes, by Marshall Brown and Annabelle Reitman, copyright ©2005, Career Press, Franklin Lakes, NJ. Reprinted with permission.
