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Chronological, Functional or Perhaps Targeted
Resumes ? What is Going to Suit You?
Chronological, Functional, a mixture of the 2, Targeted
resumes, exactly where do you even begin?
Resume writing these days is certainly not as simple as it
used to be (and explains the reason why presently there
are so numerous resume writing services available).
There’s a lot of debate these days about which kind of
resume format to use when creating a resume. It pays off
to do your own research and choose the most effective
structure for your background and experience, in order to
enhance your likelihood in acquiring a career. Therefore
lets look at the different kinds:
Chronological resume:
This format is typically utilized more than other resume
templates. It lists in reverse chronological order, your work
background, commencing with the most recent job first. It
allows the reader to very easily see the advancement of
your career, commencing with the most appropriate
experience, i.e. your previous job. A recruiter will probably
generally come to a decision to reject or accept your
resume primarily based on your last job, and a

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chronological format allows them to locate this important
information and make a decision quickly. It also makes it
easy to spot any employment gaps or causes for concern,
such as short tenure at a company.
Functional Resumes:
Functional resumes are usually written a little differently to
chronological resumes. Typically they begin off with
Personal Information, a Career Objective or Personal
Summary, then list experience, skills and successes under
Competency based categories, such as leadership, or
customer service. Then there is typically an Employment
history with Company Name, job title and dates worked.
That’s it.
From a job applicants perspective it can be useful to utilize
this style of resume if you have done a good deal of
contract work, have changed career paths, or have a work
history that has a lot of gaps. A Functional Resume
emphasizes the experience and skills you have
accumulated, rather than where you got them.
The problem from the readers point of view, is that most of
the time they need to know where you got the experience.
There is a massive difference between gaining customer
service experience in a small business, compared with a

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large multinational organization, and a functional resume
doesn’t easily display this.
Its also more time consuming and more difficult for a
recruiter/hiring manager to get a good idea of which job
your skills and experience were gained at, and to get a
good feel for your career path. Ideally, your work history
will show natural progression, either through promotion, or
increased responsibilities and improved capabilities.
Without a doubt, a chronological resume displays this
much more effectively.
Think about your target audience? Usually a recruiter.
They have to read a lot of bad resumes. It?s often the
most tedious and boring part of their day. Applying with a
well-written, logically formatted resume makes their life
easier and improves your chances of success.
So which one should you use?
A good resume writer will be able to select the best style
depending on your background and experience. Its often
best to combine the two resume styles. You can do this by
listing a summary of your key skills and strengths on the
first page, followed by a detailed work history with
responsibilities and achievements gained at each position.
Make sure your experience is still on the first page of your
resume! Don’t underestimate how important this is. Using
this format gives the reader a good summary of your skills

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and allows them to research further by delving into your
work history.
My final piece of advice when resume writing. Regardless
of whether you choose a functional or chronological
resume style, ALWAYS target your resume to the specific
jobs you are applying for.