Question:
I'm stuck, working on my resume for my grad school
application. In my research, I'm finding advice for and
against a reverse-chronological resume. The arguement for
it, is that it shows the pattern of work and they can see
what you've been up to. The arguement against it is it
focuses more on when you worked, rather than the skills and
accomplishments you claim.
If the application packet reads "hilighting work history and
experience working with children and youth" would that
command a chronological work history, or would arranging it
according to the skills they'd like to see emphasized?
Answer:
-The latter, I think, although it might be helpful to provide
chronological information for those skills, so they would have some
indication of the length of time each experience lasted. (Ex. "While
working as a teacher's aide, I assisted with the development of IEPs as
part of a team that performed ongoing student assessments [2 years].")
As the current chairwoman of a search team, I think the more clearly and
specifically you present your background the better. One thing that is
a bit of a red flag is a resume that is so vague it's hard to see how
long experiences lasted or what they actually involved. I would
encourage you to list volunteer experiences that are related, because
sometimes they show exactly the commitment and skills that are
desirable.
-I don't think it commands a chronological setup. I've seen
gadzillions of resumes and cvs in my day, and just about every
permutation you can imagine. I'd say the skills list works best
only where there are concrete things you want/need to highlight,
like language fluency, proficiency with programming languages or
operating systems or other specialized equipment or systems. Also
you should do this if you have any certifications or licenses or
significant awards in your field.
I've also seen resumes work really well in which the author wrote
a narrative of their career path, showing progressive
responsibility and major projects completed and all that jazz.
Then a reverse-chronological job list under that, single-spaced,
with just Company Name/Position Held/Dates and no descriptions.
