What are the most common resume styles and when should you use them?

Crafting a standout resume is vital for showcasing your qualifications professionally. Understanding various styles is crucial. Let's explore impactful options: 1. Chronological Resume: Ideal for a consistent work history, emphasizing steady career progression, starting with the most recent position. 2. Functional Resume: Suited for gaps in employment or career changes, highlighting skills and achievements over work history. 3. Combination Resume: Blending chronological and functional elements, offering a nice overview of skills, experience, and work history. Choose a style based on your career history, goals, and industry standards for landing your desired job.

I have 52,000 hours of executive recruiting experience. I've evaluated thousands of resumes. The key to a good resume: Make it readable the way human beings read. Chronological is the easiest to read. Hybrid resumes have caused many a dent in many a recruiter's forehead!

There are two main resume styles/formats: Chronological and Functional. Chronological lists your experience from present to past and your accomplishments are embedded within the experience section/employer where they occurred. A functional resume lists your accomplishments and then lists where and when you were employed. The challenge with a functional resume is that there is no way for the reader to tell when and where your accomplishments happened. A person's most recent 10 years of work experience are usually the most important and applicable, and for that reason, I suggest a chronological format whenever possible. Your resume should not be a static document. It should be tailored to the job you are applying for.

The functional resume is strongly disliked by recruiters and hiring managers. A functional resume is often confusing, as dates are inconsistent, and sometimes they appear "shady." A functional resume may often present varying career experiences that leave the reader to wonder how valuable any of the relevant experience may actually be. I discourage anyone from using a functional format, even when they have an inconsistent work history, or other career challenges. For readers, a functional format immediate raises red flags; and, if it's read at all, will be read with a lot of skepticism.

To be honest, as much as I like functional resumes (especially for folks facing big gaps in employment due to mental health challenges), I strongly discourage them from going with this format because the reality is that recruiters hate them - they say a functional resume automatically raises red flags. It's sad because people could focus on skills instead of trajectory but that's not how the world works! So go with a chronological resume and focus on relationship building so people learn about your value and your resume becomes a mere formality.

I find that most recruiters and hiring managers don't like reading functional resumes as much as hybrid or chronological ones. Functional resumes can deliver a big hit of value, but due to the lack of transparency around work experiences, they seem to raise red flags and cause the resume to be read with scepticism. Just my 2 cents! If you want to focus on your skills, you might find that a hybrid resume works better for you! I've found that these can work exceptionally well. Another good option is to split your experience into "highlighted experience" and "additional experience". Hope this helps!

This is a style we've used many, many times with success. It's consistently landed our clients offers with many of the world's best companies. Another way that works well is to have the skills within the experience bullet points. For example: Consultant, ABC Company - Corporate Strategy: Developed and implemented XYZ strategy for $8bn+ revenue manufacturing client, reducing overhead costs by ~x%. - Key Skill 2: Bullet 2. Having the skill at the beginning of each bullet allows the resume to be skimmed very easily. It also makes it more compact. The reader can easily find what they are looking for! We've found that this sort of hybrid style works exceptionally well. If anyone else has tried this, I am keen to hear from you!

I like this style however I also add to the mix a Target style too. Instead of simply writing skills first, I suggest to highlight demonstrated expertise. Target these to the job ad. Then write your experience using the chronological style and then back to skills. In saying this, it always depends on the job ad and the candidate's experience/skillset. I tailor every resume I write to the specific needs rather than using a set template for everyone.

The hybrid resume format is an effective presentation for highlighting transferable skills for jobseekers looking to transition to new roles, occupation or sector. By adding a skill set subheading under each past role, the resume can be targeted to highlight the candidate’s area of expertise that are reflective of the job posting. By focusing on the transferable skills subheading and displaying relevant achievements and accomplishments, the candidate can zero on the important skills sets and provide the reader with a snapshot of their experience and top skills.

I thought this was a given 😂 At Grad Jobs, we like to treat every resume like a sort of marketing document for the hiring manager/recruiter (but in resume format). The reader has this dream candidate in mind. If we can figure out what that dream candidate looks like, we can mirror that in our resume! One way I love to do this is by having a summary section at the top of the resume where we tell that specific reader everything they need to know to give us an interview. This way, we quickly catch their attention. If they want to, they can read the whole resume. But the goal, for us, is to convince them to interview us based on the content within the summary. When done properly, this works wonders 🪄 Anyone else tried this?

Every resume should be edited so that the skills an individual has are matched to the job and employer needs. Sometimes this is as simple as reordering your bullets to place more emphasis (higher in list) on skills more relevant versus less relevant to the job in question. Another job will have different priorities, and therefore different skills emphasis. There is no single resume that can be used for all applications.

I wouldn’t consider a targeted resume a resume type. Every resume should be targeted in one way or another, whether chronological or functional. But rewriting your resume for every application is a waste of time and a good indication that you don’t have a strong personal brand. Slight edits and tweaks, sure. But anything more, you need to tighten your search.

Regardless of which resume style you choose, please always triple-check to ensure your formatting is consistent and your writing is clear, simple, and easy to read. When you do this, you demonstrate a strong attention to detail and that you care about the opportunity. It tells a story about how you will present yourself and communicate on the job. With tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly, there isn't any excuse not to do this these days. If you don't do this, give it a try! You'll be surprised by how it influences the number of interviews you secure. Just my 2 cents!

The most successful resume format? It’s the one that showcases your skills and experiences most effectively to your audience. Chronological resumes are great for a clear work history, while functional resumes highlight specific skills, ideal for career changers. The hybrid format, however, reigns supreme, blending a focus on skills with a solid work timeline. Whichever you choose, tailor it to the job. Your resume should be as unique as your professional journey.

The biggest thing to consider in deciding what format to use is what you want to be doing next. If it is what you have been doing over the recent decade, then you build a chronological resume. If you want to return to something you did in the past, do a hybrid where you showcase past relevant experience first, then list your career journey. Pivoting to a completely new career? Again go hybrid and focus on key transferable skills and outcomes, then show your career journey. Tell the story you want to tell to get someone to call you for an interview. That is all the resume is - just enough insight about you being a great candidate to get the job done that a hiring manager wants to bring in for an interview.