By Liz Kudwa
A: We’ve been helping many, many folks with this question in the last several months. We have a wide variety of resume, interviewing and cover letter books available at the library. Plus, some databases that can help you brush up on your interviewing skills and provide ideas for refurbishing your resume.
But first, let me share with you a couple of tidbits on resumes. There are two main types of resumes from which you can choose: the typical chronological resume and a functional resume. The chronological format is very common and focuses on showcasing your employment experience in chronological order with your most current job listed first. This format is well suited to individuals with a solid work history and/or those who are seeking jobs in the same field in which they’re currently employed.
Functional resumes, on the other hand, focus on your skills and not the timeline in which you acquired those skills. The emphasis is on grouping like skills together and highlighting what your abilities and talents are. I get a lot of questions about whether or not a job seeker should consider using a functional resume. There are a few specific situations in which a functional resume will work better than a chronological resume. An article found on www.quintcareers.com by Katharine Hansen, Ph. D., entitled “Should You Consider a Functional Format for Your Resume?” clearly outlines these specific situations: job seekers with very diverse experiences that don’t add up to a clear career path, college students with minimal experience, career-changers who wish to enter a very different field, job seekers with gaps in work history (such as homemakers), job seekers whose most relevant experience has been unpaid (such as volunteer work), job seekers whose chronological resume would make them look overqualified, and older workers wanting to deemphasize a lengthy job history. If you fall into any of these groups, a functional resume may be just the thing for you!
Here is a sample list of titles from our collection that may help you brush up your resume.
o Expert Resumes For People Returning To Work by Wendy S. Enelow And Louise M. Kursmark
o Knock ‘Em Dead Résumés: Smart Advice To Make Your Online And Paper Résumés More Productive by Martin Yate
o Resumes For The 50+ Job Hunter by Editors Of Mcgraw-Hill
o Hire Me, Inc. Resumes And Cover Letters: That Get Results by Roy J. Blitzer
o Gallery Of Best Résumés For People Without A Four-Year Degree by David F. Noble
We also offer access to two excellent databases! One is LearningExpress Library which provides test preparation materials, practice exams for a wide variety of tests (EMT, Cosmetology, CDL, Nursing, etc…), and Job Search & Workplace Skills resources. The other is CBT Nuggets which offers hours of streaming computer certification training videos for the beginner through expert. Many of the topics are correlated to IT industry certification exams. Visit www.cadl.org/answers/research-tools/ and click on the “Test Preparation” link for access and more details. All you need is a library card!
If you are interested in some in-person assistance, we’re offering a Job Searcher’s Workshop on Thursday, June 11 at 6:30 pm at our Holt-Delhi Library (2078 Aurelius Rd.). Attendees should have some working knowledge of the computer mouse and keyboard. If you’d like to attend, please call the Holt-Delhi library at 517-694-9351 to register as seating will be limited for this program. Part one of this class will focus on the “do’s” and “don’ts” of creating a resume and part two will look at email accounts and why it’s important to have one in today’s job searching world. We will also look at a few job searching websites and explore their features.
Elizabeth Kudwa is the Business Reference Librarian at the Capital Area District Library located at 401 S. Capitol Avenue in Lansing, MI. Contact her at 517-367-6301 or by e-mail at kudwae@cadl.org.
