Competition for employment has continuously driven the need for professionals who offer well-written resumes and cover letters. Regardless of the market, jobseekers are finding themselves vying for the same jobs as countless others.
The market continues to change how some jobseekers value resumes — and in turn, has created a need for quality resume writers.
Resume experts have exhausted the topic of writing resumes, making many resources available to you to learn about the subject beyond this chapter.
Since my goal was to teach you how to start, operate, and profit from a resume-writing business, and since writing resumes is an extensive topic, I’ll cover key points about resume types to get you started.
Resumes have a perceived value to your client and the receiving company, therefore providing clients with the best material should be your ultimate goal.
Resume writing isn’t rocket science; however, there are guidelines for ensuring you write great career marketing material while offering a uniqueness to set your clients apart.
3 Main Resume Types
The three main types of resumes are functional, combination, and chronological — although resume writers have put different titles on these types over the years. In the eyes of your clients, the type of resume you use won’t mean much, unless you offer an explanation to the differences.
The idea is to represent key points of your client’s marketability in the best layout possible. If your client appears to be a better candidate with a combination resume, then utilize that format over the other two.
It’s probably better to let the resume take on a “life of its own,” instead of pre-planning the format. If the resume draft shapes into a presentation that best depicts your client’s skill set, then you’ve done your job well.
Functional
Know right upfront that functional layouts are the least liked amongst hiring professionals.
Avoid the use of a functional resume layout as much as humanly possible. Surveys have continuously shown that a chronological presentation is oftentimes preferred, although the combination is widely accepted by HR managers.
A functional resume format can be used for new graduates, individuals with limited or no experience, and individuals returning back to the workforce after a lengthy hiatus.
Another example of when to use a functional resume format is for clients with serious red flags in his or her career, such as being incarcerated for 24 months. In this case, a functional or combination presentation will help overshadow any employment gap.
The functional resume focuses heavily on a person’s skill set with WORK DATES ELIMINATED — or briefly mentioned.
Chronological
A chronological layout is a simple, straightforward account of a person’s employment, making a great layout for individuals with relevant and unbroken (no/minimal gaps in employment) work history.
Work history dominates the body of a chronological resume layout.
A chronological isn’t the best option is if the individual’s work experience isn’t the most important element.
For example, career changers, individuals with recent employment gaps, or those with spotty employment, make a chronological resume less than optimal.
Combination
A combination resume is a hybrid between a functional and a chronological and works for nearly every career situation — except maybe, new graduates.
Probably 40-60% of a combination resume touches on the candidate’s skill set and achievements, while the remaining portion contains work experience with dates.
Work experience generally gets pushed to the mid- or back-end of the resume with one or two preceding categories. This is why a combination resume layout tends to work better for those who have some sort of career blemish.
Of course, simply going with a combination resume layout isn’t a perfect strategy, though does give you as the resume writer some ability to push that career blemish back a bit.
Which Layout Will Work Best?
Every client will offer a different educational background, work experience, and skill level than another, so the best presentation will be dictated on a case-by-case basis.
The trick is to determine the key assets your client brings to the table and fly with it. Spend more time on presenting the value your client offers, and don’t worry too much about whether the presentation falls into a functional, chronological, or combination layout. The type of layout takes a back seat to whether the final resume properly sells your client.
If you’d like to give the layout some consideration before beginning any project, ask yourself a number of questions. What is your client’s best asset? Is your client’s length of work experience or types of skills another asset? Would one resume layout make my client more marketable than another?
Whether you answer with a list of key or unique skills, education, career highlights, military or work experience towards the top section, ensure key relevancies surface to the top of the resume. Keep in mind that anytime a reader has to search for relevant skills, a jobseeker is immediately at a disadvantage. Hiring managers don’t have the time to marry a jobseeker to an open position; hence, the reason generic resumes are no longer advisable.
