Learn about the common types of resumes鈥攕uch as chronological, functional, and combination鈥攁nd decide which resume type is right for your job search.
Your resume is your opportunity to tell your career story. Regardless of your type of resume, you鈥檒l share a narrative detailing your many professional accomplishments and skills and demonstrate how you hope to continue growing.
Just as there are many ways to tell a story, there are many ways to format your resume. As you consider which type of resume is right for you, think about your audience and how they鈥檒l be able to understand the story you鈥檙e trying to tell best.
In this article, we鈥檒l go through the three most common types of resumes鈥攃hronological, functional, and combination. Depending on your needs, we鈥檒l also detail some less common resume types that you may prefer.
The three most common resume types are chronological, functional, and combination. Before we detail each format, here鈥檚 a quick introduction:
Resume type | Description | When to use | Key sections |
---|---|---|---|
Chronological | Emphasises your career path | When you鈥檙e applying for jobs via an applicant tracking system (ATS) or showing career growth | Work experience, education, certifications |
Functional | Emphasises your skills | When you鈥檙e changing careers and applying directly through a recruiter or hiring manager | Skills, brief work history, education, certifications |
Combination | Combined emphasis on career path and skills | When it鈥檚 important to show skills as well as career progression | Skills, work experience, education, certifications |
When to use it: When you鈥檙e applying for jobs via an applicant tracking system (ATS) or showing career growth
What to include: Objective or summary, work experience, education, skills, and certifications
Pros: Easy to read and straightforward outline of your accomplishments
Cons: Doesn鈥檛 highlight skills as explicitly as other formats
With a chronological resume (sometimes called a reverse chronological resume), you鈥檒l linearly present your career story by listing your work history, starting with your most recent role. With this format, you鈥檒l show how your professional experiences built upon the last.
This format is generally the most common, making it easy for prospective employers to visualise your career trajectory. It鈥檚 also the format that an ATS is best equipped to scan, so if you鈥檙e applying for jobs online, you鈥檒l probably want to submit a chronological resume first.
Navigating applicant tracking systems (ATS)
Most companies use ATS software to screen submitted resumes before a person reviews your qualifications. The ATS is programmed to filter resumes with specific keywords deemed a match for open positions. Some ways to help your resume stand out in an ATS are:
1. Align your resume keywords with the job description.
2. Include the dates of your employment.
3. Avoid over-formatting and choose standard colours and fonts.
4. Spell out acronyms.
When to use it: When you鈥檙e changing careers and applying directly through a recruiter or hiring manager
What to include: Objective or summary, key skills, brief work history, education, certifications
Pros: Emphasises your transferable skills
Cons: De-emphasises your work experience
You鈥檒l highlight your journey of acquiring specific skills with a functional resume. You鈥檒l still list your work history, but typically, this format doesn鈥檛 include dates of employment, accomplishments, or job tasks for each role. Instead, your functional resume names your dominant skills, and you鈥檒l consist of a few bullets underneath each skill that show how you acquired, strengthened, and used it throughout your career.
Although you can incorporate several resume keywords in your functional resume, this format isn鈥檛 super ATS-friendly, as the software is typically programmed to scan the chronological resume format. Still, if you are applying for a position where it makes more sense to highlight your skills than your previous roles鈥攆or example, changing your career鈥攜ou may decide to have a functional resume on hand to send directly to recruiters and hiring managers.
When to use it: When it鈥檚 important to show skill development for a role as well as career progression
What to include: Objective or summary, key skills, work experience, education, certifications
Pros: Benefits of both chronological and functional resumes, flexible formatting
Cons: Can be lengthy and repetitive
A combination resume is a more flexible option that incorporates aspects of both chronological and functional resumes鈥攁nd you get to decide which sections to include and how to utilise them. You鈥檒l include a section that explicitly outlines your work history (dates and description included) and a section that highlights your skills.
With this format, you can traditionally present your career path while still emphasising your skills. It can be helpful if it鈥檚 important to demonstrate your skills development to qualify for a role, for example, if you are changing careers or trying to level up. However, this format can get lengthy, and you鈥檒l want to remember not to repeat bullet points across various sections.
If you don鈥檛 want to go the traditional route and aren鈥檛 submitting your resume through an online job board that uses an ATS to filter applicants, you may want to show off a different set of skills with a specialised resume. Here are some specialised resumes you may want to consider:
Targeted resume: With a targeted resume, you鈥檒l create a highly tailored resume to demonstrate your fit for a specific role and, often, to a particular company.
Infographic resume: Infographic resumes are more visual than the common resume types, incorporating graphics and colours for a visually appealing presentation.
Video resume: A nontraditional resume format, video resumes are reels that demonstrate your accomplishments and goals in just a few minutes.
Mini resume: A mini resume is both a business card and a condensed version of your resume that notes your job title and a few accomplishment bullet points, which you can give to prospective employers you may meet at job fairs, for example.
Learn best practices as you write your resume with the project-centred course from SUNY Online, or explore your potential with the . Sign up today and begin a 7-day, full-access free trial to browse more personal development courses.
Editorial Team
糖心vlog官网观看鈥檚 editorial team is comprised of highly experienced professional editors, writers, and fact...
This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.