Everyone has different needs when writing a resume due to their education, skills, and work experience. That means not everyone will have the exact same resume format. You need to find a format that will work to make you look the best to your potential employers. If you have no clue what format to pick, don’t worry. That is what this post is for. To help you pick the resume format that will be the best for you.
- For (almost) anyone: For the most part, anyone can use a chronological resume format. This is the traditional format that will list your most recent employment first and go in reverse chronological order to your very first job (if you have the space to go back that far). This is fairly simple and most anyone can make it work.
- For someone with no work experience or a large gap in their work history: A functional resume format is a good idea for people like this. It focuses on your skills rather than your work experience. If you go this route make sure to put detail into your description of your skills.
- For someone with some but not a lot of work experience: A combination format would be best in this case. You would list some of your skills (like in a functional resume) first then follow with your work history (like a chronological resume). This will show employers you have the skills they want while also providing them the work history they are used to and, probably, prefer.
- For someone applying to only one job: In this instance you would want to have a targeted resume. A targeted resume is tailored to fit with the company and job position you are applying for. Your objective will be specific to the company. The work experience you choose to put down will be similar to the job you are applying for.
Hopefully, you will be able to find that one of these formats works for you and makes you look the best on paper so you can get an interview and maybe even get the job.