Resume Formats:
Which Type of Resume is Best for You?

The chronological format is the most recognizable and traditional format for resumes. It is preferred by most recruiters and hiring managers because it requires less guesswork than other resume formats. In a chronological resume, your experience is laid out in a familiar and easy-to-understand manner. It also presents your skills in context, making it easier for a recruiter to see your career progression and development.

Also referred to as “reverse-chronological,” this resume format lists your most recent experience first then works backward through time. This helps recruiters and hiring managers see your highest-level achievements and most timely experience first. For example, in a chronological resume’s education section, you would list a master’s degree above a bachelor’s degree because you earned your master’s more recently.

The chronological resume format accommodates most industries. It emphasizes the where and when of your employment history more than other resume formats. Its straightforward layout also makes it the easiest format for recruiters and hiring managers to digest. This is beneficial as recruiters rarely take extra time to hunt for information. If they can’t locate the required skills and experience immediately, they might move on to the next applicant.

How to set up a chronological resume

Contact information: Your contact information should go at the top of your chronological resume. Include your name, phone number, email address, location (city, state, and zip code), and LinkedIn profile URL. Make it easy for recruiters to contact you for an interview.

Work experience: List your work experience in reverse-chronological order, with your current or most recent job first. Be consistent in the way you list each position. Each position should contain the following information in the sub-heading:

• Company name
• Job location (city, state)
• Your job title
• Start and end dates

Use the same formatting style for each new listing. For example, if your start and end dates are “04/2018-09/2020” on one job, don’t switch to “May 2016 through January 2018” on another. If you’ve had promotions, make them clear in this section. There are different ways to format your promotions.

Education: List education in reverse-chronological order as well. At very least, your education section should include:

• Name of Institution
• Degree
• School Location
• Years Attended

High school experience is not typically required on a resume unless you have recently graduated. Focus on collegiate experience if applicable. If you are a recent graduate or in a field that emphasizes higher education (like legal or medical), move your education section above your work experience. Recent grads can also expand this section to include GPA (if it’s above 3.5), relevant coursework, extracurriculars, and other information a recruiter might find valuable.

The functional resume format offers creative solutions for job seekers whose experience isn’t best represented by a traditional format. In fact, the functional resume format is essentially the opposite of the chronological. On a functional resume, work history is listed without elaboration at the very bottom of the resume. Instead of focusing on specific jobs, this format offers expanded sections for qualifications, skills, and accomplishments. These sections are flexible and can be mixed and matched based on your work history and preferences.

Job seekers with large gaps in their work history tend to like the functional resume format because it minimizes work experience. Career changers like this format because it allows them to focus more on transferable skills rather than less relevant companies and job titles. However, some recruiters dislike the functional resume format because it takes skills out of context. Furthermore, ATS are unlikely to accurately parse this format because it doesn’t categorize information under standard headings.

A functional resume format could do more harm than good for your job search. Only use this format if you haven’t had success with the chronological or hybrid formats. Because recruiters see this format as a way to hide shortcomings, work extra hard to ensure your skills and accomplishments are communicated clearly and in context.

How to organize a functional resume

Contact information: This is the same regardless of which resume format you choose. Include your name, phone number, email address, location (city, state, and zip code), and LinkedIn profile URL.

Qualifications: Rather than detailing your work history job by job, this section allows you to cherry-pick and combine experiences to paint a clearer picture of your qualifications. Think about the projects you completed, certifications you earned, or the teams you’ve contributed to that address each requirement listed in the job description. Ask yourself, “What life experiences have made me especially qualified for this job?” and “What projects have I worked on that best represent my abilities?” Use specific examples and context to add credibility to your claims.

Skills: Skills are tools you have developed and honed over the years. Skills can be broad, like “accounting,” or niche, like a proficiency with specialized software in your field. A skills section on your resume can help a recruiter or hiring manager get an idea of what you have to offer. It can also provide you an easy way to optimize for ATS by matching the resume keywords found in the job description. That said, remember that simply listing hard skills and soft skills isn’t enough to convince recruiters and hiring managers. You need to provide context for your listed skills further down in your resume– where did you acquire the skill, how many years experience, etc.

Additional sections: The functional resume format can be customized with other sections, like Achievements, Awards and Honors, Testimonials, Volunteer Experience, or other information that will strengthen your application.

Professional experience: List each position’s company name, job location (city, state), job title, and start and end dates in reverse-chronological order. You do not need to provide job duties or accomplishments for each job.

Education: New graduates can swap this section with Professional Experience. Include the institution’s name, degree, school location, and years attended for each degree in reverse-chronological order.

The hybrid resume format, also known as the combination or combined resume format, has grown in popularity to the point where many job seekers don’t even realize they’re using one. Hybrid resumes combine the other two resume formats’ best elements into something practical yet customizable.

With a hybrid resume format, you can highlight skills and accomplishments at the top while still using a chronological format to detail your career trajectory. This format is highly flexible and can take many forms based on your preferences.

How to organize the hybrid resume

Contact information: Include your name, phone number, email address, location (city, state, and zip code), and LinkedIn profile URL as you would with the other resume formats.

Summary statement: A summary statement is your first opportunity to explain your strongest experience, accomplishments, and skills. It distills your entire resume into a short, easy-to-read blurb for the recruiter or hiring manager. Summaries can be especially beneficial to career changers who need a place to explain a shift in career trajectory.

Here are a few examples of resume summary statements:

• Experienced and driven Advertising Manager with international experience in Digital Display, Programmatic, VOD, and Social Media Planning. From 2012-2017, my direct efforts expanded the company’s active customer base by more than 15%.
• Industry recognized executive in General Management (P&L) with over 20 years of experience working for leading technology companies in core networking, security, and wireless infrastructure space.
• Graphic designer, problem solver, and adventurer with over 11 years of experience creating and crafting digital experiences, services, and utilities for more than 100 brands. I’m skilled in both design and production, and I thrive in startup environments where I can take control of what needs to be done.

Skills: As mentioned earlier, this section helps get your resume through ATS by listing relevant skills and resume keywords. Compare your resume with the job posting to make sure you are matching all the most important keywords. Use Jobscan to ensure you don’t miss any.

Professional experience: List your work experience in reverse-chronological order, just as you would with a chronological resume format. Each position should contain the following in the sub-heading:

• Company name
• Job location (city, state)
• Your job title
• Start and end dates

Under each position, summarize the skills, accomplishments, and experience relevant to the job description. If you used a skills section, add credibility to those skills by showing when and where you developed and used them.

Education: Again, list your education in reverse-chronological order with the most recent degree first.