Sarah Palin

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 unqualified for a specific job, but you want to apply anyway. Maybe a friend or official has invited you to apply for a prestigious position that  you never imagined possible. The job is so appealing, carries such clout, that you feel compelled to apply and you need a resume to match the job requirements. You don’t want to seem that you are in over your head. This is when a resume writer can apply the Palin Effect, or develop an entire resume in the Palin Format: It is 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.

Some of the greatest help for your job interview will come from your résumé, believe it or not. A well-thought-out résumé will be an excellent source for hiring manager’s questions, so be prepared to speak to any, and every, point you’ve placed-or had placed-on the document. Granted, hiring managers will throw you some curveball questions, but the best way to answer these is to speak to the position and maintain your focus on the interview’s primary goal-marketing yourself to the company.
Getting Ready: Key Approaches
You know yourself, but no matter how good you are with people, don’t walk into an interview cold. Here is a baseline strategy:

• Prepare thoroughly. Know the company, as well as why you want the position and how you can help. Preparation heightens your confidence, deepens interviews, and suggests your caliber of work.

• Anticipate questions the employer will ask and develop answers.

• Devise questions to ask in your turn. Don’t hesitate to inquire about drawbacks of the position. Every position has drawbacks.

• Have someone conduct a practice interview with you.

• Don’t worry too much about nervousness. It’s normal and usually helpful, since it can spur your quickness, memory, and resourcefulness.

• In the interview, focus on how you can help the company, not on how it can help you.

• Don’t offer negative information about yourself or criticize prior employers.

• Listen. Concentrate on what the interviewer is saying.

• Seek common ground. If possible, do pre-interview research to see what the interviewer likes and doesn’t like.

• Express interest in the position. Make your motivation plain.

h5z2i8tbsq