Which is more preferable to hiring decision-makers – a resume with an isolated list of accomplishments, or a resume that is entirely accomplishments-driven?

In this day and age, it's a crap shoot.

Someone will find fault with every resume; my advice is try both and see if either gets better traction.

My father use to say something that is more and more appropriate - "Tell me what you achieved and I can tell you your title and what you made?' If you are from the stand point that your resume receives only a glance, a CV format is better, which shows all accomplishments first and job descriptions at the end.

For a targeted resume (I know the job, hiring manager, filters), I prefer Regis's approach. The first glance should provide a summary of accomplishments that relate directly to the requirements.

For a networking/broadcasting resume, I prefer a narrative with the accomplishments interwoven. It shows how you advanced through each stage, and tells your story.

This should be done in the context of your overall job search and how you brand/package your profile. For more senior positions, provide insight to the complexity of the business environment and how you achieved the said accomplishments (e.g.size of staff, third parties, global, international, technologies, budget etc.). Hope this helps.

I use [currently updated, but not in use] a "combo" format that is primarily selected accomplishments, with a "skill" collection [think key words], and a brief chronological summary at the end. You will not get anything close to universal agreement on the "best" format. The accomplishments [verb driven - for human readers] is used with skills [noun driven - for machine reading]. The chrolonology is for HR or recruiters many of whom will not consider resumes withough some chronology.

A resume is not about "what you did" it's about "how you delivered." How you've taken away a company's pain, solved its problems, resolved issues, and improved situations. Impact is critically important - so is the resolution of whatever got you to the impact.

The most high-value piece of real estate on a resume is the top-half of the first page. If you haven't sold the read in that space, it probably doesn't matter what follows ... because you've already lost them.

Once you have moved beyond the "above-the-fold" section of your resume, it should be enough responsibilities for an "apples-to-apples" comparison (with a new opportunity) and then an IMPACT story. One great story is infinitely better than 5 short bullets IMO.

And in our "Twitter and text" world, a 2-page resume today is plenty, even for the very accomplished CFO.

I suggest a balanced approach with metrics, where possible. Bob Green, Raleigh, NC