Resume Formats

This secion will cover on the two resume formats used. Reviewing the following paragraphs will help you determine which format works best for you.

Chronological Resume Format

If you were to walk into any recruiter’s office and rifle through the stack of resumes on his or her desk, most of them would be arranged in a chronological format. The chronological format is the traditional format and, for the most part, is the format of choice. It organizes your employment history by date, beginning with your most recent positions and working backwards. This format is a good choice if you have been in the job market for several years. For each position, you provide the following information:

Employer’s name and location
Dates of employment (from when to when)
Your position
Your responsibilities and accomplishments

In a chronological format, information about your work experience typically makes up about 70 percent of the resume. The section usually appears after the job objective or skills summary. However, if your educational background is the most important qualification for the position you are seeking, you may want to put the education section first in your resume and then list your work experience.

You also can use this format to profile your volunteer experience. Just list volunteer positions the same way you would list paid positions, including the name of the organization, the years of involvement, your position and your responsibilities and accomplishments.

In general, the chronological format identifies where you have been and what you have done to qualify you for the job. It works best when:

You have a stable history of paid employment or volunteer work.
You have worked in the same general field for several years and are pursuing employment in that area.
You have advanced steadily throughout your career and can show an increase in level and responsibility.
You have had few career changes and have spent a year or more in each of your jobs.

Employers tend to favor the chronological format of resume because it is the one they’re familiar with.

But what if you have gotten off to a bad start and haven’t worked sex months at any one job? Or you have stayed home a few years to raise children and now are ready to reenter the work force? Or you have recently graduated from school and have little or no job experience? Then you need to consider a functional resume format.

Functional Resume Format

If you don't have a stable work history, or if you have changed careers midstream, the functional resume may present your experience and accomplishments in the best light. With the functional resume, your qualification, experience and accomplishments are grouped together according to areas of skill, rather than tied to specific positions and dates. How you group your qualifications depends on your career direction, but possible headings for the groupings might be:

Communication Skills
Leadership Skills
Customer Service Experience
Organizational Skills
Technical Skills
Instructional Skills
Sales Experience

In the functional resume, emphasis is placed on what you have achieved and not where and when you achieved it. The idea is to highlight your skills in particular areas.

Its important to note that employers are not as familiar with the functional resume and tend to suspect that the prospective employee is trying to hide something. However, you should seriously consider the functional format of resume if:

Your work history doesn’t exactly match your new career goals.
You don’t have a great deal of experience related to the position.
You have noticeable gaps in your work history.

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