How to Pick The Best Resume Format
Essential résumé writing guide October 26, 2023 ·Your resume is there to tell the potted story of you, what you’ve done, and what you’re capable of. Indeed, Curriculum Vitae literally means “life story”. It’s not a cover letter, which is a different beast altogether, and we’ve covered the differences for you in another article.
The way that you tell your story is as important as what you say, so you need to pick the right format. It’s something a lot of job seekers tend to overlook, so if you get it right, you’re one step ahead of the pack already.
You need to find the most effective way to show your skills and experience and we’re going to give you some tricks and tips about how to get your formatting on point. There are different resume formats to choose from.
In this article we’re going to go over:
- Switching up the chronology of your resume
- A skills-based, functional resume
- A hybrid, combination resume
- Targeting a resume to your dream job
Reverse Chronological Resume Format
This resume format is what you’ll have seen, and probably handed out a thousand times. It’s one of the best templates that are simple and easy for recruiters to understand and navigate their way through. However, since it’s the norm, it’s also pedestrian and ordinary.
Pro-TipProud of your strong, solid work history? This is the style for you. If you’re switching industries or starting out in your career, go for something different. If you’re torn about adding your photo to your resume, check out if it’s right for the country you’re applying in.
Your work experience gets all the limelight in this resume format, you lay it out detailing your most recent job and work your way back through time. Education, qualifications, and skills come after you’ve listed your jobs when you do things in this way.
- Tells a clear story of your career and shines a light on relevant experience
- Easy for recruiters to navigate and understand
- Companies that use Applicant Tracker Systems will find it easy to use
- Pulls out employment gaps in your past
- Doesn’t show creative flair
- You need to have the experience to fill it out properly
Functional Resume Format
When your skills and hands-on experience is more important that your year-to-year job history, you need to use the functional resume format. In this resume format, you ditch the “work history” title and instead start with “professional experience” or “ accomplishments”. Here, you list the skills you’ve honed and the things you’ve achieved over your life.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have periods without a job…
Pro-TipEmphasize your skills and capabilities when you’re changing careers, applying for your first role, or have gaps in your work chronology. A functional resume focuses on what you can do rather than going through a strict history of your job and shows you’re still qualified.
As well as having a diverse range of jobs, and not having a lot of actual work experience shouldn’t hold you back. These examples are relevant for both fresh college graduates or those looking to get into a new field. To get the message across that you’re still extremely capable of the job you’re applying for, go for the functional resume format. Just be aware, it’s the format your recruiter will be least likely to have seen before.
- Takes focus away from employment gaps
- Doesn’t spend time on irrelevant when you’re changing industries
- Shines a light on technical and soft skills
- Your inexperience in actual job roles can look quite obvious
- Most recruiters won’t have worked with the format before
- Companies that use automated systems for CVs will struggle to work with the format
Combination Resume Format
To bring out the best of your skills and experience, whilst preserving the veracity of your work with full work history, you can use a combination resume. This is a flexible resume format and it is great for tailoring your resume to the specific job you’re going for. You can use a combination resume to clearly tell your story to the hiring manager.
Pro-TipA career packed with experience and skills is best highlighted with this resume format. When going for a career switch you can also play on the relevant skills for the role using a combination resume.
Choose this resume format to make sure the recruiter gets a broad understanding of not only what you can do, but who you are as an employee.
- More fun and interesting than a standard reverse chronology format
- Works well with a range of skill and experience levels
- Covers up gaps in employment history
- Can miss details in education and skills
- Needs to have a fair amount of information to flesh out the format
- Needs detailed planning to avoid repetition between experience and skills sections
Targeted Resume Format
🎯 A targeted resume is very clearly aimed at the specific role you’re applying for. You customize every detail and highlight what you’ve got in your past that’s relevant to the job description.
You’ll spend a lot more time on a targeted resume, but it can be very effective because they are tightly aligned with what the original job posting is looking for. It’s tempting to start embellishing the details of your career history to hit everything the employer wants, this won’t be great when you’re expected to back these things up in the role.
Pro-TipHave a go at writing every resume to be targeted at the specific job. A generic CV is easy to spot in a pile; show the recruiter you’ve really spent time applying for their role.
If the job is in the creative industry, adding a photo might be worth considering. We have a guide to choosing the right picture and the key differences between a LinkedIn and a resume shot.
- Shows you’ve read the details of the job you’re applying for
- Can cover up gaps in employment history when you highlight everything else relevant
- You need targeted skills and experience to produce a complete targeted resume
- Needs a lot of research about the job and company to be really effective
Final Takeaway
Every type of resume serves a different purpose, and you’ll probably use different ones throughout your career path. The right one to use now will depend on your circumstances at the moment.
Check out our table to give you a guide: 👇
| Your Situation | Suggested Format |
|---|---|
| Career progression | Reverse chronological or targeted |
| Changing career | Combination or targeted |
| Freshly graduated | Functional |
| Gaps in job history | Functional or combination |
| Applying for a traditional position | Reverse chronological |
| Creative role being applied for | Combination or targeted |
Whichever way you go with the format of your resume, you need to make sure that it looks professional and is easy for the recruiting manager to extract the details they need. Readability is key, and you achieve this with a good layout and well-defined section.
Don’t download any resume you find. Get only the most suitable template for you!
Our online resume builder makes it easy to customize your resume and make it specific to you and the exact role you want to land. Choose one of the creative samples available and tailor the perfect resume for your dream job!
