Resumes come in several structures, and you should choose the one that works best for you. The most common is the reverse chronological, which begins by listing your most recent jobs first and goes backward into your history. But this approach may not show you off best. You may want the functional resume, which highlights your achievements and capacities, or even the biographical letter, a non-resume resume. There’s another resume format that has been used but never before designated. I dub it the Palin Resume, or a resume with the Palin Effect, described below.
Reverse chronological. This classic format presents your life looking backwards, selectively. You start with your current position, list others back in time, and then describe your education. It’s conventional and effective, much of the time.
Functional. What if your prior achievements are more important than your most recent experience? Or you have relevant experience in several different areas and want to highlight them? The reverse chronological approach may fail to deliver, and instead you may want the functional resume. Here, you highlight achievements and results first. This approach can also help obscure older age, a multi-job history, long hospitalization or unemployment, and any other drawbacks that the chronological form highlights. Hence, though the functional resume is perfectly acceptable and often clearly the best choice, it may raise suspicions. As always: Be aboveboard if asked. Don’t apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong.
Biographical letter. The biographical letter is less a resume than a mini-bio. It’s all prose. You need it if you have an outstanding record of achievement, such as if others are considering you for a major seat on a board. The biographical letter is usually much easier to read than the resume. It has narrative flow, records significant achievements, and uses sentences with variety and explicit subjects. In fact, it can be enjoyable and powerful. It can also directly address an issue a company might have. For instance, a biographical letter aimed at a firm having morale problems might allow you to directly address this need and your ability to handle it, and might work much better than an resume. But note that since it abandons the standard formats entirely, it lets the user hide basic credentials that would otherwise come out. That’s why typically only high-level individuals use it.
Handbill resume. You’ll use these at networking events. They are one-page condensations, resumes of your resume. Keep them brief and highlight only the key factors. You can provide your full resume later.
The Palin resume. Perhaps you are simply not qualified but you want to apply for a job anyway. Or, maybe someone has invited you to apply for a top-tier job that you never imagined possible. The job has such appeal, so many benefits that you just have to come up with a resume to show that you would not be in over your head. This is when the Palin resume is most appropriate: It’s for the ill-qualified individual in search of higher position. Some exaggeration is needed here and it’s an art to get it just right. Mistakes can result in embarrassment, but occasionally in lucrative book deals, too.