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 essential information to reach you: Your Name, Email, Phone Number, and any professional social media, portfolio, or professional website.
• Summary Statement — Summarize your experience, skills, and accomplishments in one or two sentences. This statement has to be impactful and informative, so make every word count. Include years of experience, role, and industry, and highlight your key skills.
• Work experience — Each position should include your job title, company name, location, and dates of employment. Under each position, list your duties and responsibilities. Remember also to 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 experience. 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 the type of degree. It is optional to include your graduation year.
• Optional sections — After completing your skills and work experience sections, you have other information to share; create an optional section for extra skills, licenses, certifications, awards, volunteer work, and other related aspects. If applicable, for licenses or certifications, remember to include the date it was granted, 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 experience 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, phone number, and 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'll 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 similar to 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 experience section of a chronological resume.

  For example, let’s say you pick Spanish, Customer service, and Problem-solving as your skills. It would look similar to 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 experience — This resume format is based on skills, so the work experience section will be minimal. Only list your job title, place of employment, location, and 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 experience, including 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, training, 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 and the institution that issued it.