Chronological, Functional or Combination?

In reality most resumes (apx 80%) are in fact a combination of both Chronological and Functional resume styles. 

Combination

Combination resumes combine both chronological and functional formats.

Typically the ‘Chronological style’ is used for the two major sections of your resume: 1. Professional / Work experience  2. Education.

Whilst the 'combination' resume style is for the most part identical to a chronological format, the inclusion of a section called “Summary of qualifications” (a section highly recommended by most recruitment agents) changes the style to 'combination'.

A “Summary of qualifications” is a summary section at the start of your resume that highlights your most important credentials and demonstrates to recruiters (in a snapshot) your suitability to the position, acting as a teaser - enticing them to read your resume more thoroughly.

Due to its popularity with both recruitment agents and those seeking jobs, our resumes are formatted accordingly. 

 Example of a Combination resume style:

  

1. Contact Details (located in grey bar in example)
2. Objective
3. Summary of qualifications: sumarise your key skills, experiences and education that makes you the perfect match for the job
4. Professional / Work Experience: use a new heading for each job (most recent job first).  For each job highlight your skills, experience and achievements
5. Education and Training:   list qualifications in order of relevance or date order, whichever presents you in the strongest light for the job you are applying for
6. Computer Skills
7. Languages (if applicable)
8. Member Associations (if applicable)
9. Referees (optional) 

*NOTE: All of our headings are easily editable, so should you need to, you can change the heading names to suit your circumstances.

 

Click here to see our other resume templates created in 'combination' style >>

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Chronological

Chronological resumes list your professional (work) experience and education in date order, starting with the most recent job experience first.

An example of a Chronological resume style

1. Contact Details
2. Objective
3. Professional Experience / Work History: use a new heading for each job (most recent job first).  For each job highlight your skills, experience and achievements 
   
4. Education & Training:  list most recent qualifications first
5. Computer Skills
6. Languages (if applicable)
7. Member Associations (if applicable)
8. Referees (optional)

A chronological format is suitable if you have relevant and consistent employment with no major time gaps between jobs. It also demonstrates how you have advanced through your career.

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Functional

Functional resumes present your core skills as category headings (instead of jobs as category headings).

The choice of headings are usually deliberate so as to match the skills required for the advertised position.  Within each category heading (ie. ‘Customer service’ / ‘Team Leadership etc’) you would describe the relevant experience you have relating to that category (ie. Customer Service: * 4 years experience preparing quotations & tracking customer orders  * Consistently achieved highest merit in Customer Service Survey sent to 3000 customers etc).

A Functional resume is particularly useful if you want to change careers and the skills required for the job advertised are skills you do have, however they are not attributable to a single or recent job, rather they were gained across multiple jobs.

An example of a Functional resume style

1. Contact Details
2. Objective
3. Relevant Skills: create skill based headings and list your experiences under these headings
   
4. Employment History: this section simply lists the companies you worked for, the dates and the positions held (no work experience or details are given, as your skills and experiences are included under the skills headings in the previous section)
5. Education & Training: Include relevant qualifications
6. Computer Skills
7. Languages (if applicable)
8. Member Associations (if applicable)
9. Referees (optional)

What to include in a Resume

The following is a guideline to assist you in writing your resume. In summary, resumes should at least include the following sections: contact information, objective, professional / work experience, education, computer skills and language skills.

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Contact Information (required)

Include your full name, permanent and local addresses, phone (include area code), email address, and web page (if applicable).

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Objective (encouraged)

Write a brief statement summarizing the career field you are interested in and the nature of the position you are seeking. 

Examples of Resume Objective - GRAPHIC DESIGNER  

To obtain a position in the advertising industry as a Senior Graphic Designer

Seeking a position as a Senior Graphic Designer with management responsibilities in the advertising industry

Examples of Resume Objectives – ENGINEER

Seeking an engineering position with emphasis on new product development within the IT industry

To obtain an Engineering position as Innovation Manager within the Machinery Manufacturing Industry

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Professional Experience / Work Experience (required)  

Refer to Chronological, Functional or Combination to determine which style of resume is best suited to your needs.

All resumes should include:

Examples of achievements (where possible, quantify achievements as $ or %) ie. grew international sales by 123%, responsible for sales budget of $300,000, designed and executed marketing budget of $15,000 resulting in ROI of $1,100,000

Include examples of experiences (where possible match these to the experiences sought by the employer) ie. job description reads “applicant must have experience in Tradeshows”  a possible bullet point could be:  Tradeshows: extensive experience in tradeshow co-ordination including; stand design & setup, promotional marketing, customer lead generation and follow-ups.

Include skills relevant to the job: examples include; communication, leadership, project planning, financial planning etc.  For each give an example to prove your competency in this skill.

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Education (required)

Summarize your educational achievements (colleges attended, locations, graduation dates, certificates, academic majors, minors, and course concentrations).

Start with most recent degree awarded and work backward in time.

Unless you are a recent graduate (ie with 3 years or less work experience) you do not need to list high school

Unless it is relevant in some way, or if school is particularly well regarded.

GPA is optional. Include it if you feel it will enhance your resume.

If a recent graduate, you may wish to include relevant coursework or training workshops attended (ie ‘laboratory techniques’ / ‘quantitative research methods’) if this improves your credibility.

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Computer Skills (required for office jobs, otherwise optional)

List the programs you are familiar with ie. Outlook, Internet Explorer, Excel, Word, Publisher, Adobe Photoshop, Accounting Software (name the specific software).

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Language Skills (optional)

If you speak more than one language then you should consider including language skills. Make certain you accurately represent your skill level for both written and verbal (ie. Spanish: Written 6/10, Verbal  8/10).

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Member Associations (optional)

If you belong to organizations that are relative to the industry or job you are applying for you may choose to include these in your resume. The general rule is, include this section if you feel it will strengthen your application.

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References (optional)

This is entirely optional. If you choose to include references, make sure they are aware that they may be contacted by a recruitment agent and inform them as to the type of job you are applying for. It is good practice to send a copy of your resume to your reference to remind them of the activities you performed and responsibilities you had whilst working for them. This is strongly advised in the time since employment with your reference is 1 year or more in the past.