How to Choose your Resume and Resume Types

A resume is a summary of a candidate's career graph. There are different formats that candidates can adopt to draft their resume. Each format is characterized by certain features that help to convey more about the candidate. The key characteristics concern career goals, experiences, qualifications, and perception. Candidates can refer to some resume website to view a sample of each type. Here is a brief description of all resume types and its characteristics.

Reverse Chronological Resume
• The career details of the candidate are written in reverse chronological order. The latest qualifications and current experiences are listed at the top, followed by the older career details. The emphasis of the resume is on the experience section.
• Most employers wish to see candidate's immediate professional experience and hence prefer to read resumes in reverse chronological order. It is considered the most common, preferred and traditional resume type.
• Suitable for candidates who have extensive experience in same field with organizations of similar nature and wish to advance in the same field. This template is used for traditional jobs and industries. This format can be used to make multiple job applications to similar profiles.

Functional Resume
• The career details are presented in order of the importance and relevance. It lists the skills, abilities and accomplishments of the candidate rather than stressing on the experiences. All similar responsibilities are listed together. Names of organizations and the tenure are listed separately.
• This resume template is not very common. Certain recruiters perceive the candidate in negative light. It gives an impression to the recruiter that the candidate wishes to hide certain details of his career. Hence, candidates refrain from using it.
• Suitable for those candidates who have gaps in their career or posses work experience in varied fields. Also it is helpful for candidates who wish to change their career path or hope to come back in job market after a long break from work.

Combinational Resume
• This format combines reverse chronological and functional format. The career details are listed in reverse chronological order and it includes experiences, skills and achievements together. It depicts the name of the organization and the duration of the work.
• This format helps to relate the abilities of the candidate with the achievements. It conveys to the recruiter how the knowledge and skills of the candidate will prove useful to the organization.
• It is a popular format as it retains the advantages of both formats and restricts the negative aspects of the format. However this format tends to make the resume long, cluttered and repetitive.
• Suitable for all candidates with varied career graphs. It can be used by students and experienced candidates, with similar or vague experiences. It can help in career change and career advancement.

Target Resume
• The emphasis is on matching the contents with the job requirements. It highlights the same key aspects of the candidate's career that the recruiter wishes to see in his candidate. The information can be in reverse chronological order or otherwise.
• This format is highly result oriented as it presents the details, as per the recruiter wishes. With presence of buzzwords, it makes it easy for the recruiter to scan your resume. Hence, it is highly effective in convincing the recruiter about your abilities.
• Suitable for all those candidates who have a clear idea about the job they wish to do, its requirements and responsibilities. A target resumes has no place for ambiguity or confusion. It can be used only for one particular job opening.