Who would have thought that there were so many formats of writing a resume? Normally, we would just create a resume using a template without bothering to find out about it's format, as long as it's creative and pleasant to read. Alright, this article will explain the difference between the 3 main resume formats which are: the Reverse Chronological Resume, the Functional Resume and the Combination Resume. Let's learn the differences between these formats.
1. Reverse Chronological Resume
This is the most common and standard type of resume that most applicants use. It's a very simple format where it includes the person's experience and work history. It's known as the reverse chronological resume because the prior work experiences are set in a reverse chronological order; the most recent work details appear on top. It's preferred by employers due to its bottom-to-top approach.
2. Functional Resume
This type of resume uses a 'Qualifications summary format', which is also referred to as a career summary, career achievements or skills summary. This style highlights the achievements and strongest skills of the applicant. A summary section is applied to highlight the plus points of his/her work-related history.
This approach is more marketable as the prior section is inserted into the top of the resume. It's also normally used by applicants who have little or no work-related experience such as recent graduates and candidates who has a long unemployment gap.
3. Combination Resume
This is widely adapted by applicants nowadays. This format is a mix of a chronological and a functional resume as it includes the best of both formats. Because it highlights the applicants' strongest skills and includes the categorised work history under each skill, this makes it still the best format to use.
