Sunday, June 12, 2011

Resume Writing is Not Fun

I've been working this weekend on re-doing my resume; this not fun.

First, there is the big question I have to ask myself: functional? or chronological?

For the longest time, I'd used a functional format. Then, a couple of years ago, on the advice of a recruiter (who never did find me a job), I changed it to chronological. The thing is about as fun to read as it was to write: first I did this, then I did that, then I did it again..  It pretty much reads like I wrote it for the "And then.." lady at the drive-thru from Dude, Where's My Car?

There are other questions, too, that I'll have to answer for myself before I commit it to resume: what, other than the obvious (i.e., getting a job), is my objective?

Then there are the multitude of formatting questions: bulleted or not bulleted? headers in the left margin, or at the top of each new section? and are those same headers bolded or underlined – or both? Do I use a serif (more traditional) or sans serif (more contemporary?) typeface?

Whatever typeface I use, it'll be one designed by Hermann Zapf, whose work I consider beautiful. I had the great honor of meeting him years ago in a class at my alma mater, where he demonstrated his amazing calligraphy skills for us.

Even with the prospect of selecting a new typeface, resume writing still is not fun.