There are many resume styles that you can use and choosing the right style resume can give you a big advantage over other applicants. Before though you can chose what resume style is going to work best for you, you should educate yourself with each style to find out what situation they would work best in. There are many resume styles, but the following are the main four.
First is the most traditional resume style is Chronological resume. This style will show your work history starting with your most current position and in reverse chronological order. This resume style shows your career progression but it can work again you if you most current job is not related to your current goals. The best thing about this resume style is that it is widely accepted and it gives employers a clear patter of your development throughout your career. On the flipside though, it does not show your major accomplishments or show your other skills.
If you want a resume that shows off your accomplishments and skills than a functional resume style might be the better choice for you. The resume style will emphasize your qualifications and abilities. The employment strengths or skills are the important facts on a function resume style. This is a good resume style to use if you work history includes skills that are not related to your career objective or you want to highlight your skills that pertain to your objective.
A third type of resume style is a targeted resume. A targeted resume can be any resume style but it is tailored to a specific occupation or job. . The most important thing to keep in mind with a targeted resume style is that you included the title and the description of the position you are looking for. You list your skills, accomplishments and work experience that is directly related or targeted to the job you want. If you are going to use this style, you want to make sure you have the work experience to support your objective.
Lastly we have a resume style that is similar to a targeted resume and is known as a combination resume. This is a combination of a chronological and functional resume. This resume style will provide the employer with key information about your skills and accomplishments as well as some chronological work history, though not nearly as much as a chronological resume style would entail. The best situation to use a combination resume style is when you are looking to make a career change into a field you might have no experience in or you feel that your work history was not a progressive as you would have liked. The biggest pro to using this resume style is that you are using the best of both worlds. The only downside is that some employers may want that detailed work history that the chronological resume style has.
If you find yourself torn between the functional or the chronological resume style, you can do one of two things. Have two resumes. One is a function resume and the other is a chronological resume or you can use the combination resume style. It is not a bad idea to have a few resume styles on file. Using the right style that pertains to the job is the most effective way to get your resume looked at.