Comprehensive Guide To Resume Formats (With Examples)

“Submit your resume.” Three seemingly innocuous words that you’re sure to run into when you’re applying for a job.

It sounds so simple and isn’t at all a representation of the amount of time and intense thought that goes into making your resume, especially since you don’t just get to make one basic one and be done with it.

As you get more work experience or decide to switch fields, you’re going to need your resume to communicate differently than it did when you were looking for your first job. A new format can help with this.

Whether you’re making your first resume or need to revisit it before you apply for a new position, keep reading to learn about the three most widely accepted resume formats that you can use throughout your career.

Most Common Resume Formats

Each of these resume formats has its strengths and weaknesses, and you’re likely going to need to use more than one of them at some point in your career.

The three most common resume formats are chronological, functional, and combination.

Chronological Resume

The chronological resume’s name is a little misleading, as it requires you to arrange your work history in reverse chronological order. This is probably the most common resume format, and it’s great to use when you have some work experience in your field that relates to the position you’re applying for.

For instance, if you were pursuing a career in marketing and you earned your degree in marketing, interned at an advertising firm, got a job in the marketing department at a company, and are now applying for another marketing-based role, a chronological resume is likely going to be your best choice.

This is also the best choice if you aren’t sure which resume format to choose.

There are a few different ways to arrange the content on your chronological resume, and you’ll choose what works best for you based on your skills, experience, and even the particular role you’re applying for. Usually, though, your summary will come first, followed by your work experience or professional history, relevant skills, and educational history.

Here’s an example of how this arrangement looks:

Functional Resume

A functional resume is a great option for a job seeker who may not have a lot of experience in the particular field that they’re trying to enter. This includes recent graduates as well as more seasoned members of the workforce who are trying to change career paths or who have had some significant gaps in employment.

While a chronological resume organizes your work experience by the positions you’ve held, a functional resume arranges it based on the skills you acquired from your different positions. These include both technical and soft skills.

For example, if the description of the job you’re applying for wants someone who has strong communication and organizational skills, you’d make those your headers and then turn the ways you’ve demonstrated those skills into your bullet points. You can and should still add your work history, but that isn’t the main focus and is usually at the bottom of the page.

The beauty of this resume format is that it doesn’t matter if you demonstrate your communication skills as a camp counselor, a student body president, or a restaurant server, it just matters that you have them.

Here’s an example of what this type of resume may look like:

Combination Resume

Aptly named, the combination resume is a combination of both the chronological and functional resume formats.

This type of resume focuses more on your skills than a chronological one does since it puts them at the top, but it also features more of your work experience and the responsibilities you held than a functional one does.

Because of this, this resume format is a great choice if you have a lot of work experience that doesn’t align perfectly with the position you’re applying for. Focusing more on your skills than your position titles allows you to show how your experiences can and will transfer to this new job.

Here’s an example of a combination resume:

Tips for Formatting Your Resume

1. Remember that less is more when it comes to design. There are a million eye-catching resume templates out there, and while there’s nothing wrong with adding some polish to yours, it’s best to keep it simple.

   Don’t choose one that overpowers your message with graphics or gets too creative with formatting. Not only will that make it more difficult for recruiters to scan through and understand, but your entire resume may get stopped by an automated Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

   Your goal for your resume design should be to make it neat, professional, and easy to read.

2. Keep your margins ½ inch or larger. Start with a one-inch margin, and then shrink it down as you need to. Don’t make it any smaller than ½ inch, though, because that not only looks unprofessional, but it may also risk your text getting cut off when it transfers through computer programs or is converted to a PDF by the recipient.

3. Select the right font. You should only use one font for your resume, two at the most. Typically, a sans-serif font (one without the little tales on the letters) such as Avenir, Calibri, or Helvetica is a good choice, but you can also use a serif font such as Georgia or Cambria.

   Once you choose your typeface, set the size to 10-12 points. If you go outside of that range, it gets more difficult to read and looks like you’re either trying to cram in too much content or are compensating for not having enough.

   If you don’t have enough content, use a 12-point font, increase your margins slightly, and find ways to add some more white space in between each section. If your resume still looks sparse, you might just need to add some more information. Think through class projects, volunteer work, or job responsibilities that would add value to your resume.

   If you have too much content, on the other hand, shrink your font down to 10 points and look for ways to make your writing more concise. Cut out unnecessary words such as “that,” “a,” “an,” and “and.” Your resume bullet points can be bare-bones and missing articles and still get your point across.

4. Set your section headers apart. This includes your name and your contact information that you put at the top of your resume.

   You can do this by making your headers and contact information bold, underlining them, making them a slightly larger font size (12-14 points is acceptable for headers), using a different typeface, or a combination of these.

   If you do decide to use a different typeface for your headers, make sure you use the same one across all of them. Also, if you used a sans-serif font in your resume body, choose a serif font for your headers, and vice versa.

5. Make readability the priority. Once you’ve formatted your resume, go back over it and make sure it’s easy to follow. Ask a friend to do the same if you can.

   If there’s anything that trips you up, change it, even if that means you have to change your design. Ease of use should trump aesthetics when it comes to your resume.

Author

Abby McCain

Abby is a writer who is passionate about the power of story. Whether it’s communicating complicated topics in a clear way or helping readers connect with another person or place from the comfort of their couch. Abby attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she earned a degree in writing with concentrations in journalism and business.

Expert

Don Pippin, MHRM, CPRW, CDCS

Don Pippin is an executive and HR leader for Fortune 50 and 500 companies and startups. In 2008, Don launched area|Talent with a focus on helping clients identify their brand. As a Certified Professional Resume Writer, Certified Digital Career Strategist, and Certified Personal Branding Strategist, Don guides clients through career transitions.