A good resume is the gate-way to a good job. Using resume formats is one of the tools of writing a good resume.
There are two types of resume formats; the chronological and the functional formats.
Depending on your experience the two formats will help you have an outstanding resume.
The chronological format
This type of format gives a full description of the job history.
It arranges the employment period in a reverse order chronologically starting with the recent one giving a historical narrative of the job that is the period of employment and your responsibilities, the employers name and location.
The format is appropriate for the directly qualified candidates:
- Who are seeking to advance in their career
- People with linear progression of their career
- People who are gaining experience in their career but have limited job history
It is not advisable for the candidates that seek to change their career or starting one because they have a huge time difference in between their careers and the format targets an in-depth experience in the job targeted.
The format takes this kind of structure:
- Address
- Qualification
- Employment (this usually makes the body of the resume)
- Education history
Among the two resume formats this is the most preferred by the employers because it is more straight-forward .
The functional format
This format is used to summarize and give the key skills, knowledge and the accomplishment related to the job targeted using experience as an example of prediction of one’s ability to contribute to the job .
It comes highly recommended for the people:
- Who are starting their career journey
- Who seek to advance in their career but do not have a good job history
- Who are returning to the workforce after a long stay without working.
Though it is the most used format by the candidates starting their career or people who are simply advancing in their career, most employers find it to be less informative because it does not include the job history.
The format may get the following structure:
- Name and address
- Opening statement
- Skills and abilities (this makes the body)
- Experience
- Education background is the last to state
Whatever your experience is, using the resume formats will make your resume stand out if used correctly.
