Know your Resume: To tell your own story

The word 'resume' has its origin from the French word résumé meaning "summarized". This is a concise document that a job aspirant circulates to secure a desired position. A resume depicts the candidate’s educational background, professional expertise and other attributes, relevant to the job opening. A resume is normally accompanied with a cover letter, to enable targeting a particular position or opening in a particular organization.

A Curriculum Vitae (CV, as it is popularly known) is a detailed version and normally runs into multiple pages, whereas a resume is a summary candidature.

There are two layout styles of writing resumes, which help highlight different aspects of the profile being showcased. Reverse Chronological and Functional layout are the most commonly used by resume writers. These layouts should be applied based upon the candidate’s skills, education and experience.

When to go for a Reverse Chronological Resume? It is recommended using a Reverse Chronological write-up, in case you have a wide range of experience with expertise at a high level hierarchy.

Where to use a Functional Resume style? In case you are starting off your career and poses key skills, it would be appropriate to draft a Functional write-up

There is always a Hybrid to every situation, isn’t there? The Hybrid resume is a mix of both the Reverse Chronological and Functional style of resume writing. This style embeds skills with functional expertise in a chronological framework. Thus bring out the best in a blend.

Bottom line is, make the resume attractive but the most significant aspect is, to tell your story in a somewhat interesting manner!