There certainly no right way to write a CV or resume. This is because people have different ork histories, different educational background, different qualifications, different field of expertise, etc. There is no perfect resume. A good resume will properly reflect your skills, a bad one will not. A good resume will get you an interview, a bad one will lose you an interview. You goal is to write the best possible resume given your education, qualifications, and skill set. My goal here is to help you design your perfect resume.

All resumes and I mean all resumes should have the following.

* Name, address, and telephone number
* Skills and experience
* Education and training

Your resume should never have any of the following

* The word "resume"
* Salary information
* Testimonials
* Personal statistics
* Personality profiles
* Photographs unless you are a model or living in Europe
* Spelling mistakes
* Erroneous dates

Types of Resumes

The are three types of resumes.

* Chronological Resume
* Functional Resume
* Combination Resume

Chronological resume is the best choice when all or most of the following apply:

* You have a history of employment or volunteer work that shows stability
* You've been working in the same field for a while and are seeking another position in that area
* You have had a steady upward progression of the titles and levels of responsibility
* You have not been a job-hopper and have been able to endure at least one year with every employer you've had

Functional resume is the best choice if:

* Your work history does not exactly match your new career goals
* You don't have a great deal of experience related specifically to the position you seek. Hence, you want to play up some of your other strengths.
* You have noticeable gaps in your employment history

Combination resume is the best choice if you have a weakness or two that you want to hide or a strength you want to emphasize. For example, you have only a few years of experience but have a wide range of skills and awards. You would want a functional resume but you would list you experiences in a chronological format. The functional style would emphasize your wide range of skills. The chronological style within would show that there are no gaps in your work history.

Resume Length
If you are student your resume should not be longer than one page. Attached here is a sample resume for a bioinformatics student or recent graduate.

Chronological Resume
In a chronological format you would detail the various positions you've held, beginning with the most recent and working backward. For each position, provide the following information:

* Employer's name and location
* Dates of your employment (month nad year of the start and end dates are sufficient)
* Position(s) held at the company
* Responsibilities and accomplishments in those positions.

Functional Resume
In a functional format you would arrange your information based on categories.

Combination Resume
The combination resume, like its name implies, is a combination of both functional and chronological resume.

Download sample bioinformatics resume.