There is clearly an overload of information out there these days when it comes to the “how-to” of anything job search or career-related.  And there is a lot of opinion based on outdated job search practices that used to be highly effective, but no longer suit the call of the modern job market (“Resumes should always be one page in 12-point Times New Roman ONLY…” for instance).  But any good career professional or hiring manager will agree that certain standards never go out of style when it comes to marketing yourself effectively as a candidate – professionalism, good communication and effective branding. Resumes are often the topic du jour, from my clients and readers, and with so much information out there, it’s hard to know where to start, and which direction is due north. Here are a few basics on which I stick to my stellar, well-informed guns on:

Chronological, Functional, or Both?

• Use a chonological resume if you are applying for a role in the same or similar career field, wherein your experience is your selling point. This is not as effective for someone with several or significant employment gaps, nor is it the best option for career transitioners, who aren’t relying on experience to market themselves.
• Use a functional resume if you are changing career fields, have employment gaps or little work experience, or are in a specialized field requiring very specific skill sets or clearly defined personality traits.
• A combination or “hybird” resume balances functional and chronological formats by focusing branding a candidate through both skill sets and chronological experience.  This can work well for some career transitioners, if done correctly.

How Long?
1-2 pages is the acceptable standard for most industries, though some specialized fields including medicine or academia may be particularly longer.  Remember that a resume is most often scanned over rather than read word for word, and it is important for this reason to pay attention to the readibility of the document when laying it out.  If you’re a senior-level candidate, in many cases it’s acceptable to chop off roles and experience that go more than 12-15 years back, and if something is pertinent to your branding, you can list it under “Additional Experience” to avoid dating or over-qualifying yourself.

Summary or Objective?
Most of you already know my take on this, and I vote hands-down for Summary statements instead of Objectives on resumes.  Why?  An objective is focused around your personal needs/wants as a job seeker- what kind of role you’re  targeting or company you want to work for, which really has little interest to the person reading the resume. What does gain interest is a clear and well-communicated summary statement about your skills, strengths and core competencies, which more effectively brands you as a qualified candidate by directly explaining what qualities and attributes you can bring to the table that will make you successful in the role.

Do I really need to tailor my resume to every job I apply to?
This is all about putting effort into most effectively branding and positioning yourself as the best possible candidate for the role.  If it’s not immediately apparent in your resume what skills, experience or both that you possess that will make you a successful professional who can solve the challenges of the organization to which the role that you are applying for is responsible, then you need to rework it.  I would say in most cases you are going to need to tweak SOMETHING in your resume each time you send it out.  That could be as simple as moving a specific skill from 4th place to the top of your skills list, or maybe adding a line in your summary statement that speaks to something specific in the job description.  It could also mean completely tearing apart and rewriting your resume to omit anything having to do with sales because you want your copywriting experience to be more prominently highlighted.  Whatever.

Is it worth paying someone to write my resume?

• If you don’t consider yourself very strong with grammar, communication or writing in general, then yes.
• If you’re not getting any responses or interviews from what you are currently putting out there, then big yes.
• If you are changing career fields and need to rebrand yourself for a different type of role, then absolutely.

Professional resume writers typically have prior experience in recruiting or HR, so they are trained to know exactly what type of information hiring managers are looking for and if you are communicating it effectively.