Firstly, one has to ask oneself: what exactly does one mean by a resume? A resume is a one or two page summary of your education, skills, accomplishments, and experience. It should describe not only your experience, but also your achievements. It should also highlight how you were acknowledged or rewarded for doing the same, while trying to predict how you could possibly work in the recruiter's particular environment.

To prepare a successful resume, you need to know how to review, summarize, and present your experiences and achievements within a few pages.

In the earlier days, when the Internet was a distant dream, a resume was more commonly known as a Bio-data, and referred to a sheet of paper that had personal and academic information about an individual. As time passed, people realised the importance of arming themselves with a proper professional resume. Which is when the different types of resumes we have today came in.

Functional Resume: The preferred format of a resume for an individual who is changing careers and has transferable skills or experiences.

Chronological Resume: Ideal for an individual who has had a series of positions within a field or industry, one who wants to develop a career in the same field, or wants to start an industry of his own.

Combination Resume: Highlights the chronological employment history and also an individual's unique skills and achievements. It can be a combination of different styles.

Electronic Resume: Resumes that can be scanned using optical scanning and search systems. They are used in resume banks to match the needs of applicants and recruiters. The advantage here is that these can be sent as email attachments. They can also be hosted at recruitment sites or on ones own homepage .

Tips for writing a good resume: Essential features to look out for include content, design, relevant information, an objective, etc.

Keep in mind the fact that individual skills and abilities should be highlighted; contact details should include your name, address, telephone number, email address and web site (if you have one, of course). You should try and portray an objective that throws light on the type of job you are looking for. After that, add your academic qualifications and previous work experience, pay a little attention to design and formatting (simple yet appealing) and add a couple of references from previous employers. Voila! You stand a pretty good chance of getting that dream job!

Bubbles has been trying to find a job for years now. Thing is, not everyone' s enthusiastic about recruiting a parrot. However, the sites he's been visiting may help.

For more information, you can also click on links on how to write your resume

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