| Dear Bart and Jon, I have had a lot of jobs - eight in my fifteen year career since college. I have progressively advanced from Buyer and Planner to my last two positions as Purchasing Manager. What style of resume would you recommend I use that will get me most favorably considered for a new Purchasing Manager position? Signed: Experienced. |
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Bart Crispen manages the N.E.D.S. program for the Institute of Supply Management, NAPM Georgia affiliate |
Jon Harvill CPC, Professional Search of Atlanta, is the Recruitment and Employment Coordinator for APICS the Association for Operations Management, Atlanta Chapter. |
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Bart's Response: A Hybrid resume will probably serve your purpose best, as compared to a Reverse Chronological resume or a purely Functional resume (which would omit employers' names and employment dates altogether). You can itemize the most important functional proficiencies, bulleting your related and quantifiable accomplishments within each proficiency, and then later itemize one-line entries of employers' names, periods of employment and job titles. |
Jon's Response: Be aware that the first task of a hiring official or recruiter upon receiving a Functional or Hybrid resume is to figure out what it is designed to hide. Everyone knows that these formats are used to disguise the appearance of excess age, gaps in employment, changes in careers, the lack of experience of a recent graduate, military transition to civilian, or job hopping (which happens to be your situation). I would suggest you make sure your next employer is a relatively stable company and one you feel you can build a longer term career with, and make an effort to stick it out. |