You’ve reached the “samples” page of The Résumé Center operated by Jerry Bills, Ph.D., MBA, CPRW (Certified Professional Résumé Writer) and the world’s premier résumé/CV writer recognized as the “Résumé Wonk.” Dr. Jerry also holds the professional designation of CPCC (Certified Professional Career Coach). In addition, this firm is operated by Dr. Jerry and his associate, Dr. Virginia Swisher, Ph.D. (Public Administration, MA (Public, Administration), MA (Psychology), and BS (Psychology).

This website is the only firm in the world dedicated to writing professional résumés and cover letters that is operated by two professional writers, each with a doctorate degree.

(Wonk (noun) “Someone who studies a subject or topic so thoroughly and so completely that he becomes an expert for all to admire.”) Dr. Jerry and the firm’s “Chief Editor,” Dr. Virginia Swisher, have written more than 32,000 success stories and would like to write yours. Dr. Jerry, with more than 25 years of experience as a Certified Professional Resume Writer and Certified Professional Career Coach, is known, internationally, as the “best resume writer” and has won many awards, including “best resume,” “best functional resume,” “best certified professional resume writer,” “best resume tips provider,” and “best executive resume writer.

It is in your own selfish best interest to e-mail your present resume/CV to Dr.Jerry@JerryBills.com for his, or that of Dr. Swisher,  the firm’s “Chief Editor,” FREE evaluation.  It costs you nothing and you will get some valuable tips.

Resume Samples and Resume Styles

There are only a few actual resume styles regardless of whether you are looking for opportunities in the USA, Canada, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom (England), France, or elsewhere. While the nuances are significantly different from country to country and region to region (even across career fields) it is important to understand the few basic styles and when they generate the most interviews:

REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL STYLE

The “Reverse Chronological Style” is the most common style and has employment history presented starting with the most recent down to the oldest and generally limited to the past 10-years or so.

This style often starts with an “objective” but, please note, professional résumé writers have not used an ‘objective’ statement in more than 12 years. The reason?  A résumé is NOT about what you want, it is about what you bring to the table.

A variation of this style is the “Chronological” and a pure ‘Chronological Style’ would have the oldest job listed first, followed by the second job, and then followed by the current job. Since this style is seldom used today, it is not displayed and would not be used by any professional résumé writer without special cause.

FUNCTIONAL STYLE

A second common style is the “Functional” style. This style is generally out of favor and is used when there is a problem area such as major gaps in employment (hence the nickname “Liar’s Style”). This style is taught in academia and often used by amateur résumé writers. There are only a few clients where this style is appropriate.

NARRATIVE/BIOGRAPHICAL STYLE

A third common style is the “Narrative” or “Biographical” style and is more like a biography than a résumé – and is like writing a short story (with the biggest error being that the story gets too long and can become boring). Nearly all résumés self-developed or prepared by a nonprofessional résumé writer follow this style.  The end result is that the document looks more like a biography than a résumé.

This is a sample of a style seldom used.

SKILLS STYLE

A fourth common style is the “Skills” style and many amateur résumé writers confuse this style with the “Functional” style. However, when properly used it is unique and can present an applicant’s credentials with a sequence of skills, knowledge, and abilities. On the other hand, it is best suited for students and entry-level workers who have not found a career-path to follow.

This is another sample of a style seldom used.

TARGETED STYLE

A fifth style, quite uncommon and developed by Dr. Jerry, is the “Targeted” style. This style should be used when the job search focus is extremely narrow or a career path is intentionally limited. This style often uses a great number of bullet items (with the danger that too many bullets will steal the message).

NEWSLETTER-IMAGINATION STYLE

A less common, but sometimes highly effective style is the “Imagination” style. Dr. Jerry developed the “Newsletter” style just for individuals needing to express their ‘creative’ or ‘imagination’ skills. Here credentials are presented to look like a newsletter. While this is often a style of interest to many, it is a good style just for individuals looking for opportunities where artistic skills need to be displayed.

HYBRID STYLE

In most circumstances, a blending (or hybrid) of styles becomes appropriate.

TAKE CARE IN SELECTING YOUR STYLE

Once again, the standard recommendation is to delegate the style selection issue to your professional résumé writer – picking your own may not produce the desired results.

METHODS OF PRESENTATION

There are two basic methods of presentation:

1. Presentation – The document is mailed to employers and looks nice and pleasing to the eye, generally in MS-Word.
2. Printable – Here the document is printed and mailed to the potential .

Everyone should have their resume in “Presentation” format since the statistics for successful job searching highly favor mailing the resume and cover letter to potential employers. We do not recommend that you should not post your resume online – quite the contrary, you just should not rely upon such a method to produce any significant result.

It is fairly simple for anyone with some technical skills to covert a “Presentation” resume to a “Digital” resume – so do not pay extra for such a service, all you need do is to open the document, click on the “save as” button and select ‘plain text.’ You will need to do some minor tweaking of the final product for the simple saving as plain text may result in a document that is difficult to read.

It is best to not determine what style would be best used as a foundation until AFTER determining where you want to go at this point in your career – and often the final product is more “hybrid” than a set style.

Regardless of the style that is used there are some basic rules that should be followed:

The Rules of Successful Resume Writing:

1. Preparation: Define your core strengths, skills, knowledge, and abilities
2. Style then Content: Style first (Reverse Chronological, Chronological, Functional, Bullet, Narrative, Biographical, Hybrid), then content
3. Revising: Review, revise, and edit – read it out loud to be certain it makes sense
4. Proofreading: Check your writing mechanics (spelling, grammar, punctuation, format, etc.) – then do it again
5. Short is better than long: Keep it under 500 words – shorter if you are looking for management positions – it is hardly ever beneficial to have a really long resume – there are exceptions but a professional should tell you if a long resume is appropriate for YOU.
6. Don’t include everything: More interviews are lost because of what is in a resume than what is missing
7. Style trumps substance: Like it or not, style will win out over substance every time – but it is the ‘right’ style that takes your breath away
8. Know your core strengths: Everyone has something to contribute
9. Exclude outside interests: Not everyone loves hunting or cats or fast cars
10. No “Objective”: The employer does not care what you want, only what you can do for the company
11. Clarity: Do not make the company guess what opportunities you seek
12. Seek Professional Help: If you start to work even a single day earlier, the professional help was, essentially, FREE

Not only is it wise to separate “proofreading” from the “writing” and “revising” process, it is wise to set the document aside for a couple of hours, and then return with a fresh approach.

Writing and revising concern such matters as content, message, and style while the function of proofreading addresses the mechanics (spelling, grammar, punctuation, and format).

Don’t work alone when proofreading: Someone else can detect mistakes in your work easier than you can for they bring fresh eyes to the material. Never be afraid to get another opinion. Sometimes you will get some outstanding suggestions on how to improve your presentation.

Don’t just proofread a single time – Professional proofreaders and editors often proofread as many as ten times.

Even when the document is proofread by professionals, errors still happen. Reading the document aloud can be a great help in finding errors.

Question everything and take nothing for granted. If you have a history of making certain mistakes, double and triple check for them. Most errors are made unconsciously. Here are some common, unconscious, and repetitive errors:

• Misspellings: never, ever, trust the spell checking program contained in word processing software
• Keyboarding: “form” for “from” keyboarding errors are repeated without thinking
• Usage errors: “which” for “that”
• Right word usage: “advice” or “advise”
• Inattention: Letting your fingers move faster than your mind.

Always read the document out loud, word for word, and, ideally, with someone listening: Using this method allows you to take advantage of two senses: hearing and seeing. Sometimes you will hear a mistake easier than you will see a mistake.

Take your time: Even with deadlines, you must read every word on the page, not just what you think should be there. This can be very difficult, especially if you are the one who wrote what you are reading – hence the need for a ‘listener’.

Why should you take your time? When you read like you normally read, you often see only parts of words. When you take your time, you will actually see each and every word completely.