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A resume is a qualifications brief that highlights skills and work experience, and it introduces a job seeker to a prospective employer. Its main objective is to create enough interest in you to secure an interview. Done well, your resume can be one of your best job search tools, but a poorly written resume can get you weeded out as a serious candidate on the first pass.

By midlife, most job seekers have sampled a variety of jobs or will begin to seek career changes. Others may have taken a career break and face reentering the workforce after an extended absence. In these cases, the traditional chronological resume with its focus on sequential work experience can unduly emphasize your age or unrelated work history. Here are some alternative formats you can explore when crafting your resume.

Functional Resumes

The functional resume provides a framework that stresses pertinent skills and accomplishments, organized by title or function. You can use this format to present information directly related to a specific career objective. While this style is tightly focused, some employers interpret the use of this resume format as an attempt to cover up something, perhaps age or a sporadic work history.

Combination Resumes

Career military personnel and long-term educators who are eligible for early retirement after 20 or more years of service also find that the traditional chronological resume may not be the best format for showcasing their portable skills. A combination resume, incorporating aspects of both the chronological and functional styles, is another alternative. Beginning with a strong summary section, it emphasizes experience and accomplishments relevant to a new career target, and then it focuses on translatable skills or noteworthy achievements rather than previous job titles or employers.

Modified Cover Letter/Resume

Another option for midlife and older job seekers is the modified cover letter/resume. The more personal cover letter style lets the job seeker highlight qualifications and experiences in narrative form, explaining how an employer's specific needs can be met by tailoring the seeker's information to an existing job opening. This approach can be an effective follow-up to a warm lead or personal networking contact.

Experiment with several styles of resumes and road test them for effect. Today's employers are looking for applicants whose portfolios relate to their current market needs. Creating a hybrid resume that best displays your work and life experiences will accentuate your strengths, not how long you've been in the workforce or with a certain employer.

Resources

Get more information here:

• Monster Resume Center FAQs

• AARP's �?A target=_top href="http://www.aarp.org/careers/">Writing a Winning Resume�?