There are five popular styles/formats of resumes. Reviewing the style summaries and resume samples before you start to writing a resume will you help you determine, which format will work best to highlight your skills, professional successes, and educational accomplishments.
Chronological Resume Examples
Chronological resumes are a good option if you're looking for a position similar to the position you’ve left. This is the most commonly used resume style. It's easy to read and well received. When writing a chronological resume, start with your most recent position and works backwards through your work history.
A chronological resume may not be a good choice if there are gaps in your employment history, or you're changing careers.
Functional / Reverse Functional Resume Examples
Functional resumes are frequently used by people across many industries and by those making a career change. This resume style presents information in a concise format. It works well for people who have a long tenure with one company, where the chronological format can become repetitive.
- Brings past experience forward.
- Emphasizes functional and often transferable skill sets.
- Repositions the names of your previous employers, job titles and total years of experience in favour of specific accomplishments and achievements.
- De-emphasizes gaps in your employment history.
- A good choice if you're making a career change (e.g., looking for a different position that uses similar skills).
- A good option for self-employed consultants who want to emphasize competencies throughout a number of assignments.
Note: Many agencies tend to dislike this format because they have to spend more time asking "Where were you when you did this?". If you choose this format, you may want to consider writing a resume that uses a chronological format as back up.
Functional Resume Samples
Executive Functional Resume Samples
Technical Resume Examples
Technical resumes are the ideal for individuals who need to highlight special technical, IT, or equipment knowledge and skills.
Technical Resume Samples
Combination Resume Examples
This format combines concepts from both chronological and functional style resume formats. In terms of layout, the combination resume is similar to the chronological resume, but differs because it organizes your accomplishments under functional title headings. This is a good style for individuals with long tenure in one company, especially within a similar role or department.
Combination Style Resume Samples
Creative Alternative Resume Examples
Creative resumes are used primarily by people targeting creative or artistic fields of work that require more originality. These resumes can be structured in either a chronological or functional format; however, when you are writing a resume like this you will have more flexibility on the presentation and style, as it will be viewed as the initial presentation of the candidate’s portfolio.
Creative Alternative Resume Samples