Which Resume Style is for You?
Before you sit down to decide what you’re going to actually say in your resume, you
have to decide which type of resume you should be writing. Type doesn’t mean the
design or basic look of the resume- the color paper you chose, the typeface, and so on. It
refers instead to the way you organize, sequence, and control the emphasis of the
information that you include in the resume.
Fortunately, you won’t have to rack your brain to make the appropriate choice. You have
only three general options, each with its own rationale. And the third one is a
combination of the first two. The three types of resumes are as follows:
9 Chronological
9 Functional
9 Combination
Now take a closer look at each type.
The Chronological Resume: By the Numbers
The chronological resume shown on the following page lists your work experience in-
guess what? - a chronological sequence-except that it’s in reverse. This is, by far, the
most commonly used type of resume today and the one that is the most familiar to
employers.
Advantages
The principal advantage of a chronological resume is that is gives employers what they’re
looking for: an easy-to-follow snapshot of your work experience. Employers prefer this
type of resume over others because it gives prominence to what many people consider the
most important criteria for hiring: what you are doing and accomplishing right now- at
this particular stage in your career, as opposed to what you did ten years ago or when you
were a sophomore in high school. The chronological resume is especially recommended
if you fall into either of the following categories:
9 The position you are going after is in a field in which you have a solid and
consistent record of progress.
9 The strongest aspect of your work experience is reflected in your most recent job,
especially if it is a job that you still hold or have only recently left.
Describing your work history in reverse chronological fashion showcases your
qualifications and strengths to good advantage.
Disadvantages
The principal disadvantage of a chronological resume is that it can lock you into a
sequence that may not work to your benefit in certain situations.
Say the specific aspect of your work history that has the most bearing on the job you are
now applying for relates to a position that you held four or five years ago. And say that
you have had two or three jobs since then. In a chronological resume, you have no choice
but to position the description of the job that you want to highlight somewhere in the
middle of the resume rather than near the top.
Caution
Chronological resumes can also be troublesome in the following situations:
9 You are looking to change careers, and your most recent position has no
relationship to the job for which you are now applying.
9 You have worked exclusively in one industry and are applying for a job in a
different industry.
9 You are seeking an entry-level position and have almost no work experience.
9 You have been a chronic job-hopper over the past several years and have less than
one year in most of the jobs you would be listing in the resume.
9 Your employment history has large gaps- significant chunks of time in which you
were out of work, voluntarily or otherwise.
The Functional Resume: Use with Care
The functional resume is organized around your skills, experiences, and accomplishments
and not on the specific jobs you have held at various points in your career. It omits
entirely or mentions only in broad terms the jobs you’ve held and when you held them.
Overall, a functional resume warrants consideration if you fall into any of the following
categories:
9 You are an entry-level job seeker with no significant work-related experience to
speak of.
9 You are reentering the workforce after a lengthy absence, and little of your work
history has bearing on the kind of job you are trying to find.
9 You are applying for a job in which your qualifications, presented in strict
chronological form, would not portray you as an especially strong candidate.
9 You’ve held several jobs, but those jobs do not demonstrate growth in
responsibility or importance.
Tip
If you are going to use a functional resume, spend extra time on your cover letter to
explain why you haven’t gone into detail about your work experience.
Advantages
The chief advantage of a functional resume is that it enables you to give prominence to
those aspects of your background likely to be of special interest to a would-be employer.
Functional resume also serve to shift the focus away from aspects of your background
(long period of being out of work, for example) that might hurt your chances to getting
by the initial screening process. As the resume on the following page shows, the
functional resume calls immediate attention to your accomplishments.
Disadvantages
The major disadvantage of functional resumes- and it is a big disadvantage- is that many
employers view them with suspicion. Yes, your strengths and your accomplishments are
important in the context as well: They want to know what specific job you held that
enabled you to demonstrate the skills you describe in a functional resume. They want to
know how recent that experience was. They would like to see, if possible, some
continuity.
Caution
The less information you offer about the actual dates you held certain jobs, the more
suspicions you arouse. Justifiably or not, many employers assume that if you’re using a
functional resume, you probably have something to hide.
The Combination Resume: A Good Mix
The combination resume- sometimes referred to as the chrono-functional resume- is
rapidly becoming the resume of choice among many career counselors. As you can see
from the resumes on the following two pages, this type of resume combines features of
both chronological and functional resumes. It showcases your skills and accomplishments
but also provides the reader with a clear- if thumbnail- glimpse of your work history.
The combination resume is worth considering if you fall into any of the following
categories.
9 You are looking to change careers and want to highlight your general skills rather
than specific skills that relate to your past jobs.
9 You have had no luck at all in getting past the screening process with a
chronological resume.
9 You are applying for a job that interests you and that you think you can handle,
but the connection between your work history and that particular job could be
stronger.
Advantages
The principal advantage of a combination resume is that, like the functional resume, it
enables you to establish early on what you have accomplished in your career and what
skills and attributes you can offer a potential employer. But because you also include in
this type of resume a description of your work history, you diffuse the suspicions that
often arise when this information is omitted.
Disadvantages
The only disadvantage of the combination resume is that some employers- those who
prefer chronological resumes- may assume that you are attempting to conceal certain
aspects of your background. All in all, however, this is not a disadvantage that you have
to concern yourself with now that combination resumes are becoming increasingly
common.
Adapted from “Job Hunting for Dummies”.