3 Resume Types to Support Your Job Search
Hi there! My name is Joe and I work on Esri’s University Programs team.
Whether you are a current student or a seasoned professional, I know that the job search process can often feel daunting, confusing, or just downright hard. Most people know that a resume is an important aspect of the job search process, but the type of resume you use can make or break your job search efforts.
I’m here to share some tips and offer some new ways to approach your job search in hopes of making the process more efficient, more rewarding, and (hopefully) more successful.
Quick note: the advice shared in this article relates specifically to US-styled resume types. Please note that guidelines and expectations surrounding CV’s, military resumes, and other resume types can differ.
Resume #1: The General Resume
The General Resume is the most common type of resume. General Resumes tend to include the most impressive skills, experiences, projects, and previous work experiences that help candidates to stand out. It’s sometimes helpful to think of these types of resumes like a “Greatest Hits” album.
General Resumes are often a great opportunity to showcase the varied experiences that you have and to provide a holistic overview of who you are as a person and as a professional. But most people tend to use their General Resume to apply for jobs (and for multiple jobs).
Using a General Resume to apply for jobs is like using a “one-size-fits-all” approach to the job search. While this may seem like a good option to save energy, it is more likely that your resume is not adequately meeting the required skills and experiences for the jobs that you are applying for.
The General Resume is a great document to use when there is not a specific job to apply for. Think about events like career fairs or conferences where you are introducing yourself to new people and giving an overview of your experiences and skillsets.
There is a better resume type to use when applying for jobs, but before we get there, let’s talk about our second resume type: The Master Resume.
Resume #2: The Master Resume
The Master Resume is a collection of all of the skills, previous work experiences, volunteer opportunities, projects, and other experiences that you can think of.
The Master Resume can be two, or three, or even four-pages long and should be formatted just like a regular resume would – with clean headers, concise and informative bullet points, and various sections highlighting your varied experiences.
But here’s the thing: you won’t apply for jobs with your Master Resume.
What? I’m building a resume that I’m not even going to use?!
Hang on – hear me out!
The biggest benefit of building a Master Resume is that you are knocking out the most time-consuming work up front.
By adding in every experience that you can think of, even if you think they aren’t necessarily the most relevant experiences, you are collecting everything into one place. By formatting your Master Resume just like you would a General Resume, there is no writing or re-writing needed and no formatting or reformatting required.
To create a Master Resume, start with your most recent resume and keep adding to it. Add in details from older resumes, or from other resumes that you might use for different types of jobs. Add them all into your one Master Resume and spend some time making sure everything looks good.
Once you’ve created your Master Resume, this is where the third resume type comes in: The Tailored Resume.
Resume #3: The Tailored Resume
Since you’ve made it this far into this article, I’m going to share an insider tip from the recruiting world: you should tailor your resume for every job that you apply for.
What? Tailoring my resume for every job that I apply for? That’s going to take forever!
Well, yes, writing a new resume for every job that you apply for certainly would take forever – but think back to your shiny new Master Resume: all of your experiences, skills, projects, and work experiences are now all in one place. There is nothing new to write; there is nothing new to format or reformat. Everything is already in one place.
OK, well, what comes next?
To build a Tailored Resume, here’s what you do next:
- Identify a job that you want to apply for.
- Review the job description to get a good understanding of the required skills and experiences that are being asked for.
- Go to your Master Resume and delete any entries that aren’t directly relevant to the job you are applying for.
- Marvel at your newly created Tailored Resume that is fine-tuned and specific to the job you are applying for.
- Save as a new copy and apply for the job!
Following these steps should save you time and will help to ensure that your application materials are written for the specific jobs you are applying for. Creating a Tailored Resume for each job that you apply for will help to better your chances of making it to the next stage and save you a bit of time and energy.
Conclusions
I sincerely hope that you found some of these details helpful. The job search can often be complicated, tricky, and time-consuming, but you are not alone.
If you are a current student, consider visiting your university career center for more details and support around the job search.
If you are a young professional, consider learning more about the three different resume types we explored today to better support your job search.
Regardless of where you are in your career, consider joining Esri’s Young Professionals Network (YPN). Esri’s YPN offers frequent professional development workshops, networking opportunities, and tips and tricks to further support your job search and your career development. Don’t miss out on these exciting opportunities!
Thank you for your time – and happy resume writing!