Choosing Your Resume Format

Before beginning, you want to a choose your main resume format. There are three types:

A Chronological Resume is the most common resume format. You list your job experiences by date with the most recent first, and it is fairly the simplest format to create that doesn't take as much time as the others.

I recommend a chronological format if you are just looking for a job within the same field as your previous work. Students or entry-level job candidates can use this format as most of their past jobs are similar. Also, it is easy to read for employers and explains your history in a straight-forward manner.

However, you possibly may not be able to design an attractive-looking resume with a chronological format as much as you can with the other formats. But it is the easiest way to go if you just want to list your history.

Click here for a chronological resume sample.

A Functional Resume is entirely different from a chronological one. It is used to put the most emphasis on your accomplishments and skills. You don't have to list your previous jobs by date, and you focus more on the talents that qualify you for a particular job. This is written in paragraph form.

I recommend you only use this if you are switching career fields, just graduating from school, or going back to the workforce after a long break. For example, this would do well for someone who took a break to travel or a stay-at-home mom who wants to work again.

If you are changing careers, see how your current skills can be applied to a new job by clicking here.

This can be tricky because you are fully writing out and explaining each of your skills that are relevant to a job posting. It requires extensive evaluating of which accomplishments you should focus on and how exactly you can contribute your knowledge to a new career/job. But if done well, you can make it look great!

The biggest advantage of this particular resume format is that you can easily hide any empty gaps in your history because your skills are the main focus.

Click here for a functional resume sample.

A Chrono-Functional Resume is a combination of both types of formats. This is growing to be a pretty common and likable one, especially in this economy, because people want to display everything they possibly can on their resume.

You can use a mix of paragraphs, bullets, and dates. Use this if all your previous jobs are diverse, and you don't have an exact direction of your career goals. This would also work for students with more volunteer or after-school program experience. And like the functional way, you can use this format if you're switching fields and want a different career path.

Personally, this format is my favorite because you can create a very attractive resume due to the mixture of details you can include.

Click here for a chrono-functional resume sample.

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