The three main types of resumes are chronological, functional and combination.
- Chronological resumes list your past occupations in reverse chronological order, with your most recent job first. Chronological resumes emphasize your employment history and experience. While chronological resumes give recruiters the information they want most (what you did and where and when you did it), they might lead you to omit information about your accomplishments.
- Functional resumes focus on individual skills, accomplishments and educational achievements; the list of jobs is delegated to the very end and might not have any detail. While functional resumes emphasize your talents and accomplishments, they are sometimes viewed with skepticism by recruiters who suspect that the functional resume is being used to hide a lot of job hopping or gaps in employment.
- Combination resumes mix chronological and functional resumes; they start out with a brief statement of skills and experiences followed by a chronological and detailed employment history. They avoid the possible problems with strict chronological and strict functional resumes.
All three types of resumes have their place. The resume type that employers look for varies from job to job and industry to industry. Your own circumstances might also dictate which resume is best for you.
At Robin’s Resumes® we have experience in all three types of resumes and know how to select and use the right one to benefit your job search.