Career Guide US 2019

19 / 44

by Kristine Penning, Creative Marketing Specialist, & Kristi Sproul, Education & Marketing Specialist
YOU’RE ABOUT TO sit down and write
or update your resume. However, as you
scan your work history and education,
you feel it does not effectively speak to
the kind of employee you are. You know
that you have more to share and offer
beyond a brief list of internships and
bulleted tasks performed. But how can
you demonstrate what you are truly
capable of to a prospective employer?
What if we told you that you don’t
have to adhere to the traditional resume
format that is often expected? The skills-
based resume is an excellent choice, both
for those with plentiful education and
experience and for those whose may not
fill the page. Learn about what a skills-
based resume is, whether it may be right
for you, and how to build one.
What Is a Skills-Based Resume?
When most professionals think about
resumes, they picture the chronological
style. A reverse-chronological resume is
the standard resume format which lists
and emphasizes your work and education
history, with most recent experience
first. This format is great, but it’s often
not right for everyone. Recent graduates,
skilled trade workers, or anyone who has
spent substantial time in just one position
all likely have abundant experience and
skills, despite being able to list only one
or two jobs on a resume.
Enter the skills-based resume. This
style of resume highlights specific skills
gained from your experiences, honing in
on their transferability to the current role
you’re applying for. This type of resume
doesn’t exclude your work history; rather,
it simply puts less focus on it, presenting
your value as an employee and the skills
you could bring to the workplace in a
more comprehensive fashion.
Is this format for you? If any of the
following apply, it may be a good fit:
• Your work history consists of
numerous short-term roles (internships,
work studies, temporary positions,
on-campus jobs).
• There are long gaps in your employment
(one year or more).
• You are seeking a new role that does
not relate to your previous titles.
• You are far removed from your
education experience (i.e. internship
roles) but have only held one role since
and have spent significant time in it (5
or more years).
• Your work history looks redundant on
paper as many of your titles and
experiences are similar in nature.
• You have no experience to list as you
are just starting your career!
A skills-based resume isn’t just a good fit
for you. Employers may prefer a skills-
based resume (or a combination of the
skills-based and chronological resume)
as they get a better picture of what you
bring to the table as a potential employee.
You’ve likely heard that employers spend
just seconds scanning any particular
resume. A skills-based resume allows for
the most important information to jump
off the page and catch the reader’s eye.
Think that a skills-based resume is for
you? Great! Still not sure how to write
one? Not a problem. Here’s an easy guide
to assembling a skills-based resume.
How to Build a Skills-Based Resume
As with a traditional resume, crafting an
eye-catching header that includes your
contact information is necessary. Follow
these tips for formatting the next
sections of your skills-based resume.
1. BRANDING STATEMENT A brief
branding statement provides a quick
summary of your attributes and
capabilities. A branding statement is a
better use of space than a career
objective and allows you to tell the
hiring manager more about yourself.
To help craft your branding statement
think about what you would tell the
hiring manager if you only had 15
seconds to sell yourself.
2. SKILLS Start with a self-assessment
of your skills. Do this simply by
conducting an internet search for “list of
transferable skills.” Print off an example
list and mark the skills that you possess
and can expand on with your
experiences. These can be skills learned
from course work, class projects,
internships, volunteer experience and
even student organizations. You may
need to prioritize which skills to include
on your resume due to space
limitations. A good rule of
19 Ag & Food CAreer guide
W R I T I N G A
SKILLS-BASED RESUME
>>>