Overview

• Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  For many, finding a job is the toughest job they've ever had. They can send out dozens of resumes with absolutely no call backs or interviews. If this is happening to you, it may be because of your resume. An antiquated resume may turn off employers who are looking for people with fresh ideas and outlooks. Modernizing your resume means adapting it to contemporary resume styles and concepts.
  
  

Simple

• HowDesign.com states that resumes these days look best with a simple layout, including a fresh font. They also recommend using plenty of white space to prevent too busy of a resume. While the thought used to be that your resume should never go onto the second page, HowDesign.com says for contemporary simplicity's sake, those with more than five years of experience can go on to a second page in order to make the information more digestible and readable.
  
  

Objective-Free

• Objectives have been considered a must-have on resumes for years. But nowadays, many people are forgoing the objective statement for either more space for experience or for alternatives such as profiles or summaries. Profiles and summaries work similarly to objectives, but rather than state what the applicant is looking for they state what the applicant has to offer. A summary may be four bullet points of a professional's strongest skills for a particular job for which he is applying. Any specific information about applying for the job directly is addressed in the cover letter rather than the resume.
  
  

Functional

• Rather than arranging job experience or accomplishments in a chronological order like traditional resumes, a functional resume arranges experience based on how developed skills are. Names of skills and functions are highlighted more than anything else, which may be beneficial for a person whose organization and job title don't accurately reflect the experienced and skills she received.
  
  

Targeted

• This resume style may have been considered too brash or bold many years ago. This resume style takes the skills of the job the applicant is applying to and uses these as the central focus. Relevant work experience, accomplishments and other points are related directly to the skills that the job requires. This style is best for those with a lot of work experience in the field to which they are applying.
  
  

Combination

• This resume takes cues from each resume style in order to make it more customizable to the applicant's personality. This is a contemporary move in that today resumes are much less looked at as job applications than they are as personal marketing tools. A combination resume takes a cut and paste approach. One person may decide he wants to include a “Relevant Experience” section like a target resume and a “Skills” section as seen in the functional style.