How you format your resume matters.

When reviewing your resume, the first thing hiring managers notice is how your resume looks, not what it contains.

And if the first thing they see is a messy, cluttered, crowded resume, chances are you won’t make a great first impression.

So, this begs the question: what are the best resume formats, and which one should YOU use?

Resume Formatting Guidelines

If you’re formatting your resume from scratch, you’ll first want to pay attention to the layout.

That involves setting the margins, picking the font size, and determining your resume’s length.

To create a professional-looking resume, follow these general formatting guidelines:

• Don’t make your resume longer than one page. Unless you have 5+ years of relevant work experience, there’s no reason for your resume to be two or three pages long.
• Pick an 11 or 12-pt font size for normal text and 14-16pt for section titles and headers.
• Pick an attention-grabbing (but professional) font. We recommend Ubuntu, Roboto, or Overpass.
• Use standard and legible resume sections. For example, your work experience should be called just that “Work Experience” and not “work history” or something else.
• Leverage bullet points to list information such as work achievements and responsibilities, academic details, etc. They help make the resume much more reader-friendly.
• Be consistent with resume formatting (e.g. use the same date format everywhere, instead of using 11.2018 in one place and November 2018 in another).
• Have good line spacing. You don’t want the information on your resume to look all cramped up.
• Always save your resume as a PDF file. It’s the safest choice, as it guarantees your resume layout will stay intact no matter what device opens it. Only save your resume as MS Word if the job you’re applying for specifically requires you to and never, ever, submit a JPEG or PNG of your resume.

Resume Formats

The first thing you want to know is that there are four main resume formats out there, namely:

• The reverse-chronological resume format. This is the most common and practical resume format in 2024.
• The functional resume format is also known as the skills-based resume format.
• The combination resume format, or hybrid resume format, is a combination of the other two formats.
• The infographic resume format, An infographic resume example uses visual elements to highlight a candidate’s creative qualifications.

At this point, you’re probably asking yourself how these 4 formats are different from each other.

Well, the main difference is that they focus on different parts of an applicant’s experience by listing sections in different orders.

So, in a nutshell:

• The reverse-chronological resume format focuses on your work experience, listing them from most to least recent.
• The functional resume format focuses on your skills that are relevant to the job.
• The combination resume format focuses on your experience and skills by aiming to prove that you possess the skills you list through your work achievements.
• The infographic resume format focuses on your creativity and presents it visually.

Chronological Resume

A chronological resume emphasizes your career progression by listing your experience in reverse-chronological order, starting with your most recent job listed at the top and each previous position in descending order. This is the most widely used resume format.

The main thing about this resume format is that it’s useful for practically every job-seeker.

The reverse-chronological format has a very simple structure, it’s easy to skim, and overall, it’s the most popular format around the globe.

For this reason alone, we typically recommend using this format to most people - even if using one of the other formats also makes sense.

It usually looks like this:

Here’s what you’d include in a reverse-chronological resume:

What to Include

1. Contact Information - Your name, phone number, location, and email address. In some cases, you can include useful links such as a LinkedIn or GitHub profile.
2. Resume Summary or Objective - A brief 2-4 sentence summary of your work experience, or your objective for applying for a given position.
3. Professional Title - Your title. This should mirror the exact position you’re applying for.
4. Work Experience - Your work experience in reverse-chronological order. When possible, talk about achievements over responsibilities.
5. Skills Section - Skills relevant to the position you’re applying for.
6. Education - Your educational history. Pro tip - if you have a B.A., feel free to skip your high school education.
7. Optional Sections - Sections like volunteering, projects, portfolio, hobbies, etc. While they’re not a game-changer, they can help fill up some space on your resume.

As we already mentioned, this resume format primarily focuses on the one part that’s relevant to most hiring managers - your work history.

As such, the key to making the most out of this resume format is nailing the work experience section. To do that, here’s how you should structure it:

• Start with your most recent job and go backward from there.
• Tailor the section to the job description. This means that you shouldn’t list every job you ever worked - only the ones that are relevant for this one.
• For each job that you list, include your job title, the name of the company, the location, and the time period you worked there.
• Below, add four to five bullet points for recent jobs and two to three bullet points for earlier jobs.
• Focus on your achievements instead of your responsibilities. Hiring managers already know the basic responsibilities of the jobs they’re hiring for. So, rather than your responsibilities, they want to learn about your achievements.
• Whenever possible, quantify your achievements. Facts and numbers are more convincing than words.
• Use action verbs and power words. (E.g. “created” instead of “was responsible for creating”).

Example

As we already mentioned, the best thing about the reverse-chronological format is that it’s a great choice whether you’re an entry-level worker or a seasoned professional.

Any relevant experience you’ve got, the chronological experience will highlight effectively.

For example, here’s a digital marketer’s resume work experience section created using the reverse-chronological format:

Digital Marketing Manager
Wonderfull Agency Inc.
06/2017 - Present

• Created a new format for reporting and presenting the sales, customer engagement and Google Ads reports that decreased the number of meetings by 24% in the last three quarters.
• Updated and monitored the Bid Strategy in Google Ads and Bing Ads which resulted in a CTR increase of 3.2% in the first month.
• Redesigned the webpage UX, decreasing customer turnover by 25% within a period of two months.
• Conducted keyword research for updating the product pages on the online shop, increasing the organic keywords in the Top 100 by 5.600 and in the Top 10 by 315 for high-volume searches.

Digital Marketing Specialist
Company X
02/2015 - 05/2017

• Collaborated with a copywriter and designer to update landing pages based on search intent, increasing conversion rates by 20% on average for select clients.
• Worked directly with company clients, handling their Google Ads accounts.
• Managed a total of $40,000 in ad spend per month.
• Achieved an average of 200% ROAS overall ad accounts.

Pros & Cons

Still not sure if the reverse-chronological resume format is the right choice for you? See our pros and cons below!

Functional Resume

Changing careers or have big gaps in your employment history? The functional resume format may be for you.

If you have a lot of career gaps or don’t have much work experience, you’ll benefit from using a resume format that focuses on your skills — and that’s exactly what the functional resume does.

As we already mentioned, the functional resume format is also known as the skills-based resume format.

As the name suggests, the functional resume format focuses on your skills and your key strengths.

In a nutshell, this resume format takes the spotlight away from your work experience by highlighting what you’re good at instead.

As such, this resume format is perfect for recent graduates or career changers who have little-to-no experience in a particular field.

Here’s an example of what it looks like:

What to Include

1. Contact Information
2. Resume Summary or Objective
3. Professional Title
4. Skills Summary
5. Additional Skills
6. Work Experience
7. Education

As you can see, the main difference from the reverse-chronological format is that the focus of the functional resume is the skills summary and the resume objective that’s placed right at the top of the resume.

Here is exactly how you should write them to impress the hiring manager:

• Use your resume objective to state your career intent and explain what makes you the ideal candidate for the job.
• Start off your resume objective by mentioning a skill, education, or certification relevant to the job, mention the responsibilities you could handle, and include your motivation for working that particular job.
• In the skills summary, include four or five skills that are most relevant to the position.
• Instead of just listing your skills, be descriptive. In bullet points or in plain paragraphs, give examples of how you applied these skills in practice and try to make them as quantifiable as possible.

Example

Let’s assume that you’re an entry-level journalist.

Since you graduated, you’ve worked as a part-time intern at a magazine and published a dozen articles online and in print. You also run a blog that has a modest but loyal readership.

Now, you want to apply for an actual journalism position at a recently founded newspaper. So, you’re using the functional resume format.

Here’s why it’s the right choice:

• It highlights your skills. In this case, you don’t have the experience to apply for the job, but you may have all the right skills.
• It allows you to prove your skills. There’s ample space to show exactly how you can put your skills to use for the upcoming job.

Now let’s see what your resume objective and skills summary (or areas of strength) would look like in this case:

Resume Objective

Driven and hardworking journalism graduate looking to get hired as a reporter in The Daily Prophet. I interned at Who Magazine for six months, where I gained hands-on experience in research, fact-checking, and interviewing. Passionate blogger at Fake Blog Website, which is currently followed by over two thousand readers.

Skills Summary

Research & Fact checking

• Able to systematically look for information, resources, data, etc. through a variety of sources, such as books, online directories, or social media.
• Careful to always ensure that every claim and data that gets published is accurate and legitimate.

Interviewing

• Full knowledge of journalism ethics and standards that are required to conduct successful and dignified interviews.
• Skilled at connecting with interviewees on a deeper level to ensure comprehensive and detailed interviews.

Writing

• Excel at several types of journalistic writing, including news, feature writing, columns, and reviews.
• Have published over 15 articles in different newspapers and magazines since graduating.

Considering that the functional resume focuses solely on a candidate’s skills, the only groups of candidates who should consider using it are:

• Freelancers with impressive portfolios
• Professionals in creative industries
• Career changers
• Recent graduates, and entry-level professionals
• Military veterans passing into civilian roles

Pros & Cons

So, to sum it all up:

When to use

You should use a functional resume in the following situations:

1. You want to explain long periods of unemployment.
2. You’re switching to a new career and don’t have much relevant experience.
3. You want to highlight specific professional skills rather than your experience.

By focusing on your skills, the functional resume emphasises the value you offer employers and draws attention away from your work history.

Combination Resume

The combination resume format, also known as the “hybrid,” is a mixture of the functional and the reverse-chronological format.

The combination resume format is especially well-suited for highly-trained job seekers who want to place equal emphasis on their skills and work history.

This resume format gives equal attention to an applicant’s skills section and work experience. As such, you end up including both the Skill Summary and the Work Experience sections:

1. Contact Information
2. Skill Summary
3. Additional Skills
4. Work Experience
5. Education

The focal point here is the skills summary. Placed right after the contact information section, this is where you list the skills that are required for the job and then prove that you have them through your professional experience and achievements.

Here is exactly how you should write it:

• List the skills that are required for the position you’re applying for and that you actually possess.
• Add up to 4 professional achievements underneath each skill to prove that you possess it.
• Make your achievements as descriptive and quantifiable as possible.

Example

Say you’re a senior program manager with over a decade of experience in your field.

You can plan, execute, evaluate programs and projects across diverse industries, and inspire your team to do great work.

Recently, someone told you about an opening for a program director in an international company. To apply, you’re putting together a hybrid resume format.

Here’s what makes it the best choice:

• Saves space. For highly competitive positions, you want your resume to be able to cut through the noise. The hybrid format allows you to do that by bringing into focus your most relevant achievements right from the start.
• Combines the best parts of the other two resume formats, which is perfect for senior professionals or executives that have plenty to show for both experience and skills.

For example, some of the skills required for the program director gig mentioned above may include interpersonal skills, budget management, and project management.

Here’s what the skills summary in your hybrid resume would look like in practice:

Interpersonal Skills

• Initiated formal and informal coaching and mentorship to 50+ team members regarding project charter development, resource planning, best practices of project management, and appropriate delivery of project outcomes.
• Coordinated all project inputs with several functional/technical directors, managers, and project core teams, to formulate appropriate project tools and methodologies.

Budget Management

• Oversaw the implementation of the enterprise’s multi-year, multi-million dollar research system software that benefited employees company-wide.
• Analysis of financial and statistical data reduced operational costs by 12%.
• Strategically supervised the project execution teams to ensure the timely and cost-effective completion of projects, saving the company $250K in project costs.

Project Management

• Provided strategic direction, leadership, and project governance for a multimillion-dollar application project portfolio, which successfully supported a population of 60K+ end-users across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
• Streamlined project management methodologies and communication in the IT division, which increased efficiency by 90%.
• Accurately report on project status throughout its life cycle to 20+ project teams, stakeholders, and sponsors, encompassing budget estimation, scheduling, and resource planning.

Pros & Cons

When to use

You should use a combination resume in the following situations:

1. You’re making a career change and want to emphasize your transferable skills
2. You have a specific, well-developed set of technical skills you want to highlight
3. You’re a senior-level candidate with a diverse range of experience and skills

Infographic Resume

Want to make an infographic resume that helps you land your dream job? Use our examples, templates and expert tips below to get started in the right direction.

The job market is competitive, so it’s important to make your job application stand out any way you can. Using an infographic resume is one way to show off certain skills and set yourself apart from other applicants.

However, using an infographics resume isn’t for every job seeker. Before you try making an infographic resume, it’s important to consider whether it’s the right option for you and the job you want.

An infographic resume is a resume that uses graphics to visually represent information, often in the form of bar charts, graphs, timelines, or statistics.

This style of visual resume is often used to convey a candidate’s skill in graphic design or another artistic field.

An infographic resume is useful for grabbing attention and highlighting your skills in a creative way. However, in some cases using an infographic resume could come across as unprofessional and negatively impact your chances of landing a job.

That’s why it’s important to know when exactly it’s appropriate to use an infographic resume (and when it’s not).

When to use

You should only use an infographic resume when you’re using it to showcase skills directly related to the job you’re applying for (such as graphic design) and you’re capable of making it look professional. Generally, infographic resumes are only used if you’re applying for work in the arts or marketing.

More specifically, here are some fields in which an infographic resume may strengthen your application:

• Graphic design
• Content creation
• Brand management
• Marketing
• Art

Outside of creative fields like these, however, using a graphic resume may wind up hurting your chances of landing a job by making you appear less professional or distracting from your work experience.

The Verdict: What Is the Best Resume Format?

Now that we’ve covered all 4 of the common resume formats, you’re probably wondering which one’s best resume format out there.

Here’s our verdict:

In 90%+ of the cases, we’d recommend going with a reverse-chronological resume format.

In 2024, it’s the most common and useful format:

• Applicant tracking systems can read it without any problems.
• All recruiters and hiring managers are familiar with this format.
• Whether you’re a recent graduate or a senior professional, it’s the easiest format to work with.

So, even if you’re a career changer, a highly-qualified professional, or a college student, it’s risky to choose one of the other two formats over the reverse-chronological one.

There’s a good chance that the applicant tracking system won’t be able to read your resume and automatically discard it - after all the time you put into creating the resume!

At the same time, recruiters might just not be familiar with these resume formats, or think that you’re just trying to hide the fact that you’re not experienced, and disqualify you based on that.

So, the rule of thumb - when in doubt, go for the reverse-chronological resume.

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Written by: Andrei Kurtuy
Source: https://novoresume.com/career-blog/resume-formats

Reference:

• How to Write a CV (Curriculum Vitae) in 2024 [31+ Examples]
• How to Write a Functional Resume [4 Free Templates Included]
• Combination Resume Guide [w/ Templates & Examples]
• Chronological Resume Template, Examples, and Format
• How to Write a Functional Resume (with Template and Examples)
• Combination Resume Template & Examples
• How to Make an Infographic Resume (with Examples and Templates)