Best Resume Formats: A Guide for 2023

Candidates that benefit from a chronological resume format

This format works best for workers with over a decade of steady employment, particularly in the same field.

• 10 or more years of formal work experience
• More than a year at each job
• No gaps or breaks between jobs
• Demonstrated career growth, like promotions or increased responsibilities

• Header — The heading contains the essentials to reach you: name, email and phone number, any professional social media, portfolio or professional website.
• Summary Statement — In one or two sentences, summarize your experience, skills and accomplishments. This short statement has to be powerful without taking too much space in your chronological resume format, so make every word count. Include years of experience, role and industry and highlight your key skills.
• Work history — Each position should include your job title, company name and location and dates of employment. Under each position, list your duties and responsibilities. Remember to also include achievements, such as promotions, successful projects and any managerial duties that demonstrate career advancement as this is the most important part of the chronological resume format.
• Skills — Add a balanced blend of six to eight soft and hard skills not mentioned in your work history. For example, include any languages, computer skills, communication or writing skills and other strengths relevant to the role.
• Education — Because the chronological resume highlights your professional experience, the education section will go at the end of this format. Provide the name and location of the school, your major and type of degree. It is optional to include your graduation year.
• Optional sections — If, after completing your skills and work history sections, you have other information to share, create an optional section for extra skills, licenses, certifications, awards, volunteer work and the likes. If applicable, like for licenses or certifications, remember to include the date it was granted or its expiration date and the institution that issued it. This will make your chronological resume stand out.

While the functional resume serves a purpose — highlighting skills when the work history is lacking or it is from a completely different field — this resume format is not common. It is also not ideal for applicant tracking software (ATS). You should also know that recruiters and hiring managers can be wary by the minimal work experience section. Prepare for this issue by always pairing your functional resume format with a stellar cover letter, which, as a longer and narrative document, can provide recruiters with the ins and outs of your particular situation.

• Career changers
• Professionals with long gaps in employment
• Freelancers
• Short-term contractors

• Header — This section will always be a part of every resume, including the functional resume format. It contains the essentials to reach you: name, email and phone number, any professional social media, portfolio or professional website. Remember to always maintain a professional tone by not using nicknames.
• Summary Statement or Career Objective — You can choose a summary statement, which pitches how your professional experience aligns with the open requirements, or an objective statement, which explains how your skills qualify you and benefit the open role.

• Summary of Qualifications — This is the heart of the functional resume format. Here you will highlight three skills without tying them to a job. You could’ve acquired these skills through short job experiences, volunteer work or internships. Choose skills that are transferable to the job you’re applying for.

  It would look something like this:

  • Proven track record of moving sales items off the shelves.
  • Recognized as an adaptable and reliable employee with a professional and amenable demeanor.
  • Experience in the databases and merchandising software Revel Systems.

• Relevant Skills — In this section, you will take three major skills and list them. Under each skill, you will include a bulleted list of how you’ve used those skills. Once you’re done, it’ll look similar to the work history section of a chronological resume.

  For example, let’s say you pick Spanish, Customer Service and Problem-solving as your skills. It would look something like this:

  Spanish

  • Interpreted interaction between customers and service team.
  • Translated sales of the week for use in social media promotion.
  • Handled phone calls with product providers in Central America.

  Customer Service

  • Maintained relationships with Spanish-speaking customers.
  • Greeted customers and assisted in product search.
  • Assisted customers with service issues.

  Problem-solving

  • Used analytical skills to respond to issues.
  • Worked hand in hand with management to create a new product placement strategy.
  • Mediated between customers and the service team.

• Work history — This resume format is based on skills, so the work history section will be minimal. Only list your job title, place of employment, location and the dates of employment. That is it. Do not add any additional information.

  It should follow this format:

  Job Title, Place of Employment Location, Year of Employment to End Date/Current

• Education — Follow the same format as the work history, but include degree level, name of institution, location and graduation date (if it’s under seven years).
• Optional Sections — If there is more information you’d like to include, like certifications, trainings and volunteer work, create a section for it in your functional resume. When applicable, like with licenses or certifications, remember to add the issued or expiration date as well as the institution that issued it.