Job Discussion Forums

[Imdramayu]

What do EFL employers like better: functional or chronological resumes?

Recently, I've revamped my resume. I kept it chronological but listed duties and accomplishments under each job title.

Since I've held the same job in all my experience (English Instructor), I'm wondering if a functional resume would be better. I list the accomplishments and skills in the first section and then the work history in the bottom.

[Glenski]

If you have a boatload of experience, go with either type.

If you have little to no experience, go with chronological.

[ls650]

I think you'll find that there really is no set standard in the world of EFL, and that one interviewer can have quite different preferences from another.

My advice would be to worry less about the specific order, and more about making it both brief and precise. The person/people reviewing your resume might well be looking at a stack of dozens of resumes, and you want to make a good impression as quickly and as briefly as possible.

[spiral78]

It may depend a bit on where you are going to send this resume. For Europe, one page is standard, and a photo, your citizenship, marital status, and birth date are normally included. Other regions, I don't know...

[Teacher in Rome]

I don't think you can apply the same rules Europe-wide. In the UK, you don't need to include details such as age or marital status. Employers are not allowed to ask you these questions at interview, either.

For Italy, employers would need to know your nationality. (Read: non-EU without visa etc are not generally invited to apply!)

In the EU, there are standard EU format CVs which have been adopted EU-wide. These certainly help you write more concisely.

Sorry Glenski, but I don't agree. If you have been working in the same field and are looking for promotion, a chronological format would be better, because a potential employer can see how you have progressed in the one field up to the present. A functional format would be better if either you are changing careers, or if you have little experience in the field you are applying for. Functional formats tend to highlight skills over direct, related experience.

Personally speaking, I like CVs with an initial profile paragraph (or even bulleted list) of key skill areas. Small language schools (and there are many in Italy) often need people who can do a variety of tasks, such as teaching, testing and even materials development. The more you can do, the more valuable you are. Don't forget, either, that you may be required to teach across a number of age groups, and for a variety of purposes: exam preparation, in-company teaching, revision lessons for teenagers, state-school teaching and so on. If you have wide experience, it's useful to mention this first in a skills section so employers can see at a glance.

[Glenski]

[Imdramayu]

I'll let you know if my hybrid CV lands me a job. My target are universities & colleges in the Gulf.

Do bullet points need to be taken out of CVs that will be emailed? Do bullet points need to be replaced with astericks (**) b/c the email program may mess up the bullets?

The toughest part: making concise achievement OR skill sentences.
ANd not including too many. I don't want to mention EVERY little thing I did at my previous school. But I'm trying to frame the duties I did in terms of their achievements: how did it benefit the school.

My examples:

1) Approached classroom teahcing as a faciliator of student learning, providing a wide range of learning actiivities in a warm, non-threatening environment
2) Dedicated to maximizing students� learning by means of outstanding teaching.
3) Created courses in EFL for vocational training.
4) Participated in committee work (CALL committee, testing committee).
5) Enhanced students' learning in intensive English immersion program.

[Stephen Jones]

[SueH]

>I don't think you can apply the same rules Europe-wide. In the UK, you don't need to include details such as age or marital status. Employers are not allowed to ask you these questions at interview, either.<

I was updating my Italian CV the other day for potential non-Italian tour operator employers: the first thing I deleted was my birth date and marital status!

As for the EU CV format, I think the last thing it is is concise: all the padding prevents a convenient two page format.

Must admit my CV doesn't contain 'facilitation', 'maximising' or 'outstanding'....

[Glenski]

[naturegirl321]

I do chronological. In Peru, you'll need a photo and should list your ID number. Mine's about two pages, which is the norm here. I often copy and paste key words from adverts that I see. Might try doing that.

[Teacher in Rome]

I'd also take out 1 and 2: the skills need to be specific. The profile paragraph I was referring to shouldn't be hype, but a concise summary of what you can do. You should back it up by saying what you did (for example, saying exactly what vocational courses you created) in the other sections of your CV.

If you are attaching your CV as a word doc, you can keep in punctuation marks such as bullet points. If you are writing the CV directly into an email, then you can use dashes instead.

[coledavis]

I tend to agree with Glenski. My main point, and I'm a qualified careers adviser and have successfully enabled people to get interviews when they hadn't hitherto, is the fit it round the individual. Main points:

As suggested, chronological suits the inexperienced candidate. There usually isn't a huge skill applied skill set to get enthused about. Even in this case, however, some choice is possible. You don't have to follow the text book's advice about put employment experience before qualifications or vice-versa. Put the stronger one first. Remember: your job is to slow down the progress of your cv/resume towards the rubbish/garbage bin/can.

The skill set may be more useful for the experienced person in some cases. Ok, where the person has performed interestingly different, or obviously more responsible jobs in a generally linear direction, then perhaps stick to chronological. Where, however, there is the danger to bore, or you have acquired some skills that are not obvious, then functional (or hybrid) may make more sense. For example, you might opt for a list of jobs under employment experience. Then opt for sections on particular work areas (spoken conversation, or whatever), if you've done some weird and wonderful projects which otherwise wouldn't be discernable in the conventional cv/resume.

A couple of general points, however. Avoid wordiness; this tends to lead to rejection. Consider the conventionality or otherwise of the target country; all of the above comments may be a waste of time if they tend to be so conventional that only a chronological cv will do regardless of the effect.

[coledavis]

And profiles should be short (what you are and what you want) or absent. If you're applying a job, it's plain TEFL and your career has been pretty much plain TEFL, then you might do without a profile. What I hate is identikit profiles, 'I work well by myself and as part of a team'; awful and probably not true.

[Glenski]