This was a surprising result because functional formats have been the least favourite format of employers on our last two employer surveys. Roughly, the same number of respondents that stated that the template was very good identified the example resume either as a combination or as a functional format resume, so the format appeared to have no effect on the respondents’ judgement of the quality of the resume template. On this survey, we asked respondents to identify the format of the sample resume.Ībout half of the respondents identified it as a combination format, while the same number identified it as a functional resume format (and one respondent identified it as a reverse chronological resume). Microsoft identifies the template we used in our example as a functional template, but to us, it looked like the combination format and we wanted to know how human resources professionals categorized this template. We have tried to define the structure and organization of these formats many times on our surveys, but we have always wondered: do our employer respondents categorize resume formats the same way that we do? What Format is this Template?Īt the Career Centre, we have identified four resume formats: reverse chronological, functional, combination (combining reverse chronological and functional formats) and a new format we describe as pre-formatted (LinkedIn is an example of a pre-formatted resume). One respondent stated that the Objective was redundant and not necessary on this resume, which is not a surprise since the trend does seem to be moving away from including an Objective on the resume, especially when it is obvious for what position the candidate is applying. We have advised students to make this change for several years since their education is usually a required minimum qualification for the position. From the comments, one respondent would have preferred to see Education before Experience, while another comment stated that Experience before Education depended on the position. Overall, the response to the template was positive with 63% of respondents stating that the resume template was very good and 21% stating that it was good. I made no changes to the format, styles, organization or structure beyond adding content. I filled it with fake content based on several job postings for a specific field and kept the document to one page so survey participants could skim the document quickly. The first resume template tested was from Microsoft Word (Color) template. What we wanted to know was would the resume template provide an acceptable resume structure. The poll did not ask for any impressions about content or wording of the document. We included a link to the sample resume as well as to a poll asking for a rating on the template's appearance and format. In late fall of 2018, I put together some sample resumes using readily available templates. On the employer survey, we ask for feedback in general about resume preferences and we have not provided specific examples for survey respondents to provide a rating and a rationale. However, students and some of our clients are pressed for time: between exams, work and classes, as well as family and community demands, why not use a resume template? We frequently see students and clients use resume templates and not all of these templates showcase the applicant’s information in the form that respondents to our Employer Resume Survey have said that they prefer.
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