Even though many people might claim that there are a lot of resume styles the most important three types of resumes according to me are chronological, functional, and combination. The type of resume must be chosen keeping in mind your experiences and industry or one that you are comfortable with. Here I will give a brief description of each type of resumes.
Chronological Resume:
Chronological resumes present information in a timeline approach. Typically, the most recent work or educational experience is listed first, followed by the next most recent. Employers typically prefer this type of resume because it's easy to see what jobs you have held and when you have worked at them.
Keep in mind that this type of resume is best if you have demonstrated experience within your desired career field. It highlights the positions you have held and the companies for which you have worked. So for a fresh graduate with little work experience choosing the chronological resume type may not be a very wise decision.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Sample Chronological Resume
Functional Resumes:
Functional resumes group work experience and skills by skill area or job function. Use functional resumes pointing out your skills over your specific employment history.
You can showcase the work experience that is most important to your career objective. The functional resume can be used to minimize employment gaps. It highlights more relevant skills instead of position titles. This type of resume may work best for first-time job seekers, those reentering the workforce after a long break from employment, or those changing careers.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Sample Functional Resume
Combination Resume:
Combination resumes merge the chronological and functional styles. They present the knowledge, skills and abilities gained from work in a reverse-chronological order. With this type of resume you can highlight the skills you have that are relevant to the job you are applying for, and also provide the chronological work history that employers prefer.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Sample Combination Resume
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Sunday, February 17, 2008
Career: Introduction to Resumes
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Avoid Procrastination: Save Your Career!!!
"Procrastination is the thief of time"-Joseph Keller. Stop Procrastination- -Now! (From about.com) I don't know who coined these phrases, but they must have been a depressive. The symptoms that we face, such as fatigue and hopelessness, make it so easy to say to ourselves, "I'll just put this off until tomorrow when I feel better". Before we know it, that deadline is creeping up on us and we're starting to panic. What's the best way to deal with panic? Hide your head in the sand and hope it goes away! Not really, but procrastination an easy habit to fall into and as the panic mounts, so does the depression. The more depressed we get, the more we avoid reality. Why We Procrastinate Why do we fall into the procrastination trap time after time? Because procrastination becomes a way--no matter how maladaptive-- of coping with the emotions and physical symptoms that accompany depression. It may bring some temporary relief, but we eventually wake up the following day and find that no brownies have dropped in overnight and done our work for us. Which style of procrastination fits you? Organizing thoughts and actions and keeping on track with plans is difficult. (People with ADD/ADHD may fall into this category.) a. Tasks seem overwhelming so it's futile to even try. b. Hostile feelings towards someone cause you to want to punish them by putting things off. c. Routine and schedule causes you to feel rebellious. d. You fear disapproval. These procrastination styles can overlap in one of four themes: Self-Doubt - These people feel there are rigid standards about how thing ought to be done and they fear they will fail. They second-guess themselves and delay taking action. Discomfort Dodging - This person avoids activities that will cause them distress, discomfort or anxiety. Rather ironically, the act of dodging the activity doesn't make it go away so tensions mount because of this avoidance. Guilt-Driven - The person feels guilt over tasks undone, but rather than correct the original lack of action continues to procrastinate in order to not face up to the guilt feelings. Habitual - The person has procrastinated so many times, it becomes an ingrained response. The person no longer thinks about why they do it, they feel it's just a part of themselves. It becomes an automatic response to say, "This is too hard", "I'm too tired", or to laugh it off as a character flaw. Once you recognize your style of procrastination, you can take steps to stop it. Time Management Tips to Avoid Procrastination One of the most important things you an do for yourself is to get organized. Make lists, take a class in organization, or purchase an organizer. Do whatever works for you. One word of advice: follow the KISS principle (Keep it Simple, Stupid). If your organization system is too complicated, it will become just another task to avoid. Here's my own system. You are welcome to use it if it works for you. Make a list of what needs to get done. This can be listed in no particular order and will give you a handle on just what you need to accomplish. Prioritize these. My way of doing this is by deadlines. I arrange them in order of when they are due. You may also choose to rank them by how important it is to get them done. For example, paying your bills on time may be more important to you than cleaning out your closets. Do that first. Get yourself a calendar with room to write notes in. I personally use a bound notebook and write in dates as I go. I make pages with dates for long-term planning and also keep a separate list that I transfer my short-term goals to. Take what's at the top of your priority list and determine how long it will take to accomplish it. If it's a quick task, put that down to be done the current day. If it will take a longer time, divide it into smaller tasks to be spread out over several days. Write this in your calendar with specific dates for accomplishing each. Include your deadline for completion of this task on your calendar as well. Keep filling your calendar until you have a time set aside to do each item while still meeting your deadlines. Be careful to not overbook yourself and allow plenty of time for delays. This will allow you to feel confident that you can accomplish all you need to in the time you have. Now you can relax and work on one item at a time without feeling you have to do it all at once. Bite Off Only What You Can Chew Ever notice how broken up large shopping malls are? Lots of twists and turns, levels, and side corridors? There's a very good reason for this. If malls were laid out straight we could see just how far we are really walking. If we actually knew how far apart stores are, we would probably leave the mall, get in our cars and drive from store to store. By having our view broken up into small chunks, we feel as if it's a smaller distance. This same psychological trick can be used to help us overcome procrastination. Break large projects up into smaller tasks. For example, doing your taxes can be broken up into: pick up necessary forms, get records organized, fill in forms, double check forms for accuracy and mail. It won't seem nearly so burdensome if you take a small bit at a time. Just Do It! Next time you catch yourself saying, "I can do this later", think Nike. Just do it! Push on through the feelings and do it now. The feeling you get when you finish will be so much better than any relief you get from putting it off. Schedule Reward Time As you go work through your tasks, you may find your mind drifting off to all the activities you'd rather be doing. You will find it much easier to concentrate on your work if you know that you have scheduled time for these activities. Tell yourself, I will work hard today accomplishing my goals because tomorrow is Saturday and I have scheduled time to go fishing. Knowing that you have finished your tasks will also make it easier to relax and enjoy your leisure time. Anxiety Busters Does the thought of performing a certain task fill you will anxiety? First, try this: a. Inhale deeply while counting five heart beats (you may check this easily by feeling your pulse). b. Exhale as you count five heart beats. You should notice after each breath that your heart rate is actually slowing and you are feeling less tense. Now, do something, not matter how small. Just make a start. The very act of accomplishing something will ease your anxiety. Change Your Expectations Perfectionism and feelings that things should be a certain way, can be stumbling blocks to beating procrastination. Next time you catch yourself using language like "should" or "must", evaluate if these are only restrictions you are imposing on yourself or they backed up by the reality of the situation. Perfectionistic thinking: "I must get an A on this paper or I'll be a total failure. There's just so much work to do. I'll wait until tomorrow when I am feeling better and can do a better job." Reality: Not doing your work now will lead to a sloppy, rushed job just before your deadline and will leave you feeling too anxious and depressed to do a proper job. Coping Strategy: Look at why you are procrastinating. Does the thought of failing make you feel anxious? Take deep breaths, replace your negative thoughts of failure with thoughts of your previous academic successes, and select a smaller task (such as preparing a bibliography) to begin chipping away at. Mental Tricks to Give You Momentum If you have several small items to do which are directly related to the project at hand, do these first. Even though you have some larger tasks left, psychologically it feels as if you have less to do when the list isn't so long. It gives you a feeling that you have accomplished something. Just remember, it must be a task that is relevant to accomplishing your goal. Raking the leaves may be a quick and easy task, but if what you really need to accomplish is a big term paper, you won't be helping yourself. When you have accomplished a task, mark it out on your list with a pen. It gives you visual confirmation that you are getting somewhere. Again, this gives you a psychological boost. Sometimes I feel as if I'm getting nothing done, but when I look over what's marked out I see I've actually done quite a bit. I'm just constantly adding new tasks. The Best Laid Plans... Remember, if something can go wrong, it will. Allow yourself more than adequate time to finish each task. If you do not need all the time you've allowed, you will be able to progress ahead of schedule. This will be a psychological boost to you. At the very least, you won't be left rushed to finish. Don't panic if you get behind schedule. If you've allowed yourself extra time each day, you will simply shift everything forward until you catch up. The key is to leave yourself room to be flexible.
I really don't know who Joseph Keller is and what he did (he must have been pretty important because when I searched procrastination quotes on Google this was the first quote that I found") and I really don't intend on finding out.
At first I thought that it would be a great idea if I wrote an article on how to avoid procrastination. Usually before writing something I do a thorough research on that topic. That is where my wish of writing an article on procrastination vanished. This time I came upon an article which I think is a hundred times better than what I could have wrote. So here it is for you.
Never do today what you can put off for tomorrow. Better yet, never put off 'til tomorrow what you can avoid altogether!
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Saturday, January 26, 2008
Speed Reading: Part II
This post follows the previous post on speed reading and will elaborate further on the topic.
How to prepare for speed reading?
Nothing in our life comes easy. To achieve something we must really want it. There are three main factors involved in improving reading speed.
a. The desire to improve.
b. The willingness to try new techniques.
c. The motivation to practice.
How to read faster?
Reading speed can be improved by following the tips below.
a. Often, very slow reading is related to uncorrected eye defects. Before embarking on a speed reading program, make sure that any correctable eye defects you may have are taken care of.
b. A lot of us try to read out what we are reading and are not comfortable while reading silently. However, by reading silently we can increase our reading speed by up to 2 to 3 times.
c. The average student reading at 250 words per minute regresses or rereads about 20 times per page. Rereading words and phrases is a habit which will slow your reading speed down to a snail's pace.
d. Try to develop a wider eye span and read a bigger block of word at a time. Written material is less meaningful if read word by word and more when read in phrases or units.
How to optimize your Speed Reading?
Poor results are inevitable if the reader attempts to use the same rate for all types of material and for all reading purposes. He must learn to adjust his rate to his purpose in reading and to the difficulty of the material. The effective reader adjusts his rate; the ineffective reader always uses the same.
Rate may be adjusted overall for an entire article, or internally for parts of an article. Reading rate should also vary according to your reading purpose. To understand information, for example, skim or scan at a rapid rate. To determine the value of material or to read for enjoyment, read rapidly or slowly according to your feeling. To read analytically, read at a moderate pace to permit you to interrelate ideas.
The nature and difficulty of the material also calls for adjustments in rate. Obviously, level of difficulty depends greatly on the particular reader's knowledge. While Einstein's theories may be extremely difficult for most laymen, they would be very simple and clear to a professor of physics. Hence, the layman and the physics professor will read the same material at different rates. Generally, difficult material will entail a slower rate; simpler material will permit a faster rate.
Increase Speed When:
a. Unfamiliar terminology. Try to understand it in context at that point; otherwise, read on and return to it later.
b. Difficult sentence and paragraph structure. Slow down enough to enable you to untangle them and get accurate context for the passage.
c. Unfamiliar or abstract concepts. Look for applications or examples of your own as well as studying those of the writer. Take enough time to get them clearly in mind.
d. Detailed, technical material. This includes complicated directions, statements of difficult principles, and materials on which you have scant background.
e. Material on which you want detailed retention.
Decrease Speed When:
a. Simple material with few ideas which are new to you. Move rapidly over the familiar ones; spend most of your time on the unfamiliar ideas.
b. Unnecessary examples and illustrations. Since these are included to clarify ideas, move over them rapidly when they are not needed.
c. Detailed explanation and idea elaboration which you do not need.
d. Broad, generalized ideas and ideas which are restatements of previous ones. These can be readily grasped, even with scan techniques.
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Speed Reading: Part I
Reading is one of the biggest “inevitable” of our life. Whether it is an English assignment, or an office report or simply a gaze at an attractive billboard we are all continuously reading. Since we all have to do it, why not improve our ‘reading skills’?
Reading skills in my opinion refer to two things. The first is the speed of reading. The other is the comprehension ability. I am going to go through some simple methods of improving ones ‘reading speed’ aka ‘Speed Reading’ which will be covered in two parts. Here is part I which will explain what speed reading is.
What is Speed Reading?
Speed reading is the act of quickly absorbing written information. The goal is to read very quickly, but at the same time retain the information. Otherwise it would not benefit anybody. The average college student reads between 250 and 350 words per minute on fiction and non-technical materials. A "good" reading speed is around 500 to 700 words per minute, but some people can read 1000 words per minute or more on these materials.
Speed reading relies on chunking, skimming, and eliminating sub-vocalization to increase speed. Readers will not "read" the words aloud in their minds. Their eyes skim through the material and comprehension is formed within the brain processes. A speed reader may not read every word on the page. They may skip some sections as it as little overall consequence to the meaning. Some researchers believe that as long as the first and last letter is in place, the arrangement of the other letters in the word can still be understood by the brain because it logically puts each piece into place.
Why Speed Reading?
The name says it all. Speed reading saves time, and time is money. It is safe to say that almost anybody can double their reading speed while maintaining equal or even better comprehension level. Studies have also shown a positive relationship between speed and understanding. Contrary to popular belief, slow reading speed actually decreases ones comprehension ability.
This is the end of part I of speed reading. The next part is coming very soon and will explain the techniques of reading faster.
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Career: Internship Resume 101
In the previous post in the career section I have tried to outline the difference between a Resume and a CV. Now its time to know a little bit more about 'resumes'. For a revision purpose a resume is a document, usually one page in length which serves as an introduction to prospective employers. A Curriculum Vita on the other hand is much more descriptive and is usually at least 3 pages in length.
Internship Resume vs Normal Resume
Now, whenever students search for sample resumes online they find themselves baffled. That is because they actually look at normal resumes and not internship resumes. Normal resumes are meant for individuals who already have a good amount of work experience. However, we cannot expect that fresh graduates would have that much work experience. So fresh graduates usually resort to internship resumes which contain more information on academic learning.
The goal of an internship resume is to help you obtain practical experience to compliment your academic experience in a particular career field of interest. An internship resume helps the employer place your current level of knowledge and skill development in your college educational process. The focus for an internship resume is not on knowledge and professional skills, but on the academic background and transferable skills you will be able to apply in an internship setting. Transferable skills like interpersonal communication, teamwork, initiative, and self-directed leadership are gained through campus involvement and employment during the school year and college breaks.
Resume Content
1. Name, address, telephone and email—if you are living on campus include your current and permanent address and use a telephone number where you can easily be reached. Remember to ensure your current voice mail greeting is professional and others answering your phone take accurate and complete messages once your resume has been sent to an employer. Your name should be typed in a larger font size to make it easier for an employer to identify and remember your resume.
2. Internship objective—the objective is a concise statement of exactly what you want to pursue in an internship experience and should be catered to each internship position for which you apply. It is better not to include an objective at all than to use one that is too broad or extremely narrow.
3. Education—emphasize the highest level you have achieved, including study abroad experiences. If your GPA is at or above a 3.0, include it as well as academic honors and awards.
4. Relevant coursework, academic highlights, and/or research experience—list courses relevant to the type of internship you would like to pursue and describe research projects or academic experiences related to the type of work your hope to do in an internship.
5. Skills—list language skills, computer skills, and special certifications that relate to the internship opportunity.
6. Work or relevant experience—use this section to highlight the transferable skills you have developed by tying them to the responsibilities you have had in employment experiences. If necessary, employment from high school may be listed in this section, although it is not preferred.
7. Campus and Community Activities—list transferable skills by tying them to involvement in campus organizations, church and volunteer activities in which you participated at Hope or during college breaks.
8. Additional information—if may be necessary to include publications of poetry, articles, etc., posters, or other artistic work. Faculty and OCS staff are available to help you determine if additional information is expected in your career field of interest.
How to Describe Experiences
Transferable skills are outlined through descriptions of your work experience and campus/community activities. Because the employer wants to see the most relevant information first, each description begins with a subheading that includes a position title first, followed by an employer name (if applicable), the geographic location (if applicable), and the dates of the experience.
Descriptions may be in the format of a paragraph with several phrases/sentences that outline each experience or they may be represented in a bulleted list below each description’s subheading, but the format must be consistent throughout the resume.
Action Verbs
Each descriptive phrase used each sub-heading should begin with an action very in the past tense; no subject nouns or pronouns are used. Be sure to use a variety of action verbs in order to keep your resume from appearing repetitive.
Links
List of Action Verbs
Sample Internship Resume
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Thursday, January 10, 2008
Career: CV vs Resume
It is surprising that being a Business Administration student I did not know the difference between a CV and a resume until some time ago. Then I decided to ask my friends about this, and know what, none of them knew the difference.
Basically the primary differences between a resume and a curriculum vitae (CV) are the length, what is included and what each is used for. A resume is a one or two page summary of your skills, experience and education. While a resume is brief and concise - no more than a page or two, a Curriculum Vitae is a longer (at least two page) and more detailed synopsis.
A Curriculum Vitae includes a summary of your educational and academic backgrounds as well as teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, awards, honors, affiliations and other details. In Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or Asia, employers expect to receive a curriculum vitae. A curriculum vitae is used primarily when applying for academic, education, scientific or research positions. It is also applicable when applying for fellowships or grants.
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