chronicle.com/jobs/99/12/99120301c.htm
Site Sampler The Chronicle in print 10 This Week's Issue 11 Back Issues Services 12 About The Chronicle 13 How to Contact Us 14 How to Register 15 How to Subscribe 16 Subscriber Services 17 Change Your User Name 18 Change Your Password 19 Forgot Your Password? What's the difference between the two, and how do you make the transformation? Think of a rsum as a compelling introduction of your experiences and skills as they relate to a particular career or job. By contrast, a curriculum vitae displays your academic credentials and accomplishments in great detail. A rsum indicates to employers your seriousness of intent. By the time you are actually seeking jobs, your rsum -- along with a cover letter -- is essential for getting an interview, unless you have managed to network your way to an interview. Although they provide incomplete information, rsums are typically your only means of persuading an employer to take a risk on a career changer. Therefore, you need to tailor your presentation of skills, experience, and motivation to fit the requirements of the job you are seeking, while making the entire "package" irresistible. Your rsum will emphasize the experience and skills most relevant to the new career and probably play down your academic credentials and experience, as does Erin's. Here are some common-sense rules for creating a rsum: * Try to keep a rsum to one page, particularly for business and media fields. Often you can present the second page as an addendum listing publications and similar material, as Erin does. Make it easy for the eye to scan, using capital letters, bold print, underlining, and spacing to highlight your strongest credentials. Use a white or cream bond paper (the same as for your cover letters). Proofread your rsum several times and then have someone else proofread it as well. Or consider putting a Skills summary first if that is your strongest point. Erin places Education first because it is important for a job in science publishing and writing, and because she has relatively little relevant experience. Here you summarize the qualifications most relevant for a particular career or job, including experience, credentials, and skills. In general, avoid "Job Objective" statements, because they usually sound vapid or canned and can limit you. The reverse chronological, starting with the most recent and working backward, is easiest to construct. Functional formats are most appropriate for people who have little work experience or whose capabilities have been demonstrated in non-professional situations. The functional rsum categorizes your experience (including paid and unpaid work and personal achievements) by skill, followed by a brief section listing employment history. Functional rsums are harder to pull off successfully, partly because readers wonder if you are hiding something. For that reason, a modified chronological rsum (items described in reverse chronological order within different categories of experience) is often more effective for career changers. In Erin's case, it allows her to emphasize the experience most-closely related to the field she hopes to enter.
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