How To Choose The Right Resume Format

Depending on your employment situation, there are three different resume formats that you can use. The three types include chronological, functional and combination. This article will explain each resume format and know which one to use for your situation.

Chronological Resume Format

This resume format is the most common and the most popular out of the three. With this, you will list your employment experience in chronological order, but reverse. This means that you would list your most recent employment first. You must also include how many months or years you were employed there. Along with that, include the employer’s name and location.

You will also need to put the position you held along with a brief job description. You only have so much room on the paper and if you have other employment, it will have to fit on the paper as well. After your work history, include your education. Include up to where you stopped going to school. So, if you just went to elementary and high school, then just put that down there. The resume will show that the most education you had was high school.

This resume format works well if you want to show growth of your employment career. If you have a spotty employment history, or changing careers a chronological resume is not the format to use.

Functional Resume Format

This resume format is used to list your skills by function and highlighting your abilities. If you are in the process of a career change, you can use this if you are looking to change your skills to something else. A functional resume shows future employers what you can do as far as your skills are concerned.

You will have to provide a functional job objective along with a few paragraphs that discuss a variety of your job functions. The one that is highlighted the most should be at the top. You can always make changes if you are creating your resume for different employers. It’s also important that you list any previous employment. If you don’t the person that looks at your resume may think you have something to hide.

Combination Resume Format

This resume format is a combination of a chronological resume and a functional one. You will have to provide an objective at the top after you have typed in your name and address. After that objective, you will list your job functions in separate paragraphs. After that, you will have an area called “Employment Experience”. You will include chronological information here. The employers and dates will be put here.

You don’t have to list descriptions again as you have already done that in the functional part. If you are seeking a career change and have a good employment history, you can use this format. It is also good to use is you want to show your different abilities. This resume format is also good if you have been on a job for a long time, but got promoted within the company.

So, depending on your situation is what resume format you will use. Whichever one you do use, make sure that it is free of spelling and grammatical errors.