The styles of a successful resume may vary depending on one’s desired position, industry and personal style. A targeted resume, for example, is created when a job candidate is seeking a very specific position. A combination resume tends to stress background and experience in relation to a set career path. A resume is supposed to provide an overview of one’s qualifications so potential employers can decide whether to grant an interview. Brevity tends to be favored in most styles as a result.
One’s resume format builds structure in the resume and makes it easy for an interviewer to read and follow the resume. Resume style is the design of one’s page that makes it pop out of the pile and encourages the employer to read it.
A simple resume is a summary typically limited to one or two pages of size A4 or Letter-size highlighting only those experiences and credentials that the author considers most relevant to the desired position. Resumes may be organized in different ways.
The following are some of the more common formats:
Reverse chronological resume- A chronological resume starts by listing your work history, with the most recent position listed first. Your jobs are listed in reverse chronological order with your current, or most recent job, first. Your education, skills, and other information are listed after your experience. Employers typically prefer this type of resume because it's easy to see what jobs you have held and when you have worked at them.
Functional resume- It lists experience and skills in a non chronological format. A typical functional resume includes a section highlighting qualifications and elaborating accomplishments, another section with places of employment, job title, and dates employed, and other sections with education and community service participation.
Hybrid resume- It highlights the applicant's skills by combining aspects of both the chronological resume and the functional resume.