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8.1 Building Your Résumé

Reverse Chronological Résumé

A sample reverse chronological résumé can be found at the following link: http://nebula.
wsimg.com/6ba61e446bea55e6ec75f5fce262fe16?AccessKeyId=096AA3380C0E315FE2E
4&disposition=0&alloworigin=1. The reverse chronological résumé is the most common
and is the traditional résumé format. It emphasizes your work history and education in order
by date, with the most recent dates first. The advantage of the reverse chronological résumé
is that it shows a steady increase in experience in your career field and emphasizes your com-
mitment to your career. The disadvantage is that, because it is in date order, it also empha-
sizes any gaps in your work history or can create the impression that you are job hopping and
not sure what career or job you want to commit to. For these reasons, the following situations
are recommended and not recommended for chronological résumés:

Recommended

• In highly traditional fields such as government, banking, or insurance
• When you have stayed in the same career field or a related field for much of your
career and are applying for a new job in that same industry
• When your job history shows continued growth and increasing responsibility
Not Recommended

• When you are looking for your first job or have a brief job history
• When you have been out of the job market for awhile
• When you have periods of unemployment of more than 2 years in your work history
• When you are changing careers
• When you have frequent changes in employers
• When you wish to de-emphasize age or have been doing the same job for a very long
time

Combination Functional and Reverse Chronological Résumé

Some people use a functional résumé for situations when a reverse chronological résumé
is not the best option. A functional résumé is organized to emphasize the skills you have
acquired or the functions you have performed in your previous employment. If your work
history is brief, interrupted, or has changed frequently, instead of listing your employment by
date, the functional résumé focuses on the various skills you have acquired over the years. You
may include some dates in your description of the skills you have developed, but note that the
emphasis is on the skills themselves. The disadvantage is that the functional résumé may raise
some questions in the interview about why you chose to organize your experiences in this
way. Employers may think, “What is this person hiding?” So instead of a functional résumé, we
recommend you use a combination functional and reverse chronological résumé format.
A sample combination résumé can be found at the following link: http://nebula.wsimg.com/
12d788e2c9134fc8f5d345dc70829652?AccessKeyId=096AA3380C0E315FE2E4&dispositio
n=0&alloworigin=1. The combination résumé focuses on your relevant skills and accomplish-
ments for a particular job, with each section organized into skill areas, followed by a summary
of your work history. With this type of résumé you can highlight your most valuable skills for
a job and also provide the chronological work history that employers prefer.

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