Types of Resume

There are many different schools of thought on the resume format. There are even more schools of thoughts on resume contents, the use of action verbs, the use of highlighting, the order of sections, font choices, etc.

There is, however, a fixed set of types of resume one can create:

Chronological
It is the most traditional type of a resume. The structure of your Professional Experience section is to list positions held, in chronological or reverse chronological (most prevalent) order. Each job is described in detail, listing duties and responsibilities. This format makes the most sense when you are staying in the same profession, in the same type of work. It makes it easier to understand what you did in what job. It highlights employee names and makes it fairly straight forward to follow your career path.

Functional
The functional resume highlights your major skills and accomplishments – hence the name “functional”. Actual company names and positions are secondary. The primary goal is to help the reader see what you can do. It is a very effective type of resume, that is based on action words, thus making it deliver a strong message. The disadvantage is that it is hard for the employer to know exactly what you did in which job, which may be a problem for some conservative interviewers.

Combined
A combined resume includes elements of both – the chronological and functional formats. Variations of this format include a shorter chronology of job descriptions preceded by a short “Skills and Accomplishments” section. Alternatively, it may be a standard functional resume with the accomplishments highlighted for each of the jobs held. This combined approach maximizes the advantages of both kinds of resumes – providing the reader with tightly formatted chronological job list along with accomplishments. This, however, may lead to a longer resume.

There is no right or wrong format. The best format is the one that shows you in the best possible light. Keep in mind who the reader is – it will help you identify the structure and the amount of information needed for the best presentation!

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