A chronological resume is one of three resume formats:

Chronological Resume: It presents work experience and education in chronological order Functional or Skills-Based Resume: This format places emphasis on your skills Combined or Hybrid Resume: This format is a mixture of a chronological resume and a skill-based resume.

Which format you use will depend on your career and the position you are applying for. Chronological resumes are great if you have a steady career or have worked in the same industry throughout your professional life, but not especially if you change jobs frequently or have job gaps.

Students and Recent Graduates: A Chronological Summary

For students or newcomers to the labor market, employers will be most interested in your education and extracurricular activities; A chronological resume is the most effective way to show the learning curve.

Start by listing your most recent course, curriculum or degree first and work your way back to your high school education. List course modules only if they are relevant to the job description.

For your secondary education, please only list grades in your high school diploma. If you have passed exams in several different subjects, you can only specify a grade range, such as AC.

Seasoned Pros: Chronological or Hybrid Resumes

If you have a lot of work experience, have worked in the same industry, or have held similar positions throughout your career, a chronological resume can help you. This is because a chronological resume can help recruiters and employers quickly understand how your recent positions make you a suitable candidate for the position. A timeline can also help draw attention to promotions and professional growth.

A combination or hybrid resume, which is a mixture of chronological and skill-based resumes, can also be useful if you are a seasoned professional as it focuses on your skills and professional accomplishments.

Career Change: Skill Based or Hybrid Resume

If you are changing careers, a chronological resume can indicate your lack of experience in certain industries or positions. In this case, a skills-based resume or combined resume may better suit your needs.

Because recruiters take seconds to scan resumes, they don’t necessarily connect the dots between the positions you hold and the skills you’ve developed or acquired from them. This is where a skill-based resume or a combined resume can help.

By focusing on your skills, you show recruiters and employers why you are the right candidate, even if you acquired skills through non-traditional methods such as freelancing, volunteering, or internship.

Unemployed or Gaps in Your Resume: A Functional Resume or Skills-Based Resume

If you are unemployed or have gaps in your resume, a chronological resume may not be the best choice as it draws attention to the last position you held. While you don’t have to list every job you’ve ever taken, a chronological resume can make any gaps appear more prominent.

For example, to prevent employers from noticing that you last worked six months ago, you can choose a skill-based resume that emphasizes your skills rather than work experience and education. By highlighting your skills and personality traits, you are distracted from hiring deadlines.

How to write a chronological resume

In a chronological resume, you list everything in order of date, which means that you start over with your most recent experience.

Personal data

This section may sound simple, but you should only include current information when it comes to your name, address, email, and phone number so that recruiters and employers can easily reach you.

As optional extras, you can also include the URL of your LinkedIn profile, portfolio, or your website, if you have one.

Personal statement or profile

This is a short introductory statement that gives employers an idea of ​​who you are and what you can do. This is where it is best to focus on your most recent and relevant experience so that it is immediately obvious why you are a great fit for the role.

experience

When writing this section, you will need to start with your most recent work experience and include the name of the company, the dates you worked, and your responsibilities and accomplishments in each position you have held.

However, if you have recently worked as a temporary employee at a fast food restaurant and it has nothing to do with the position you are applying for, you may not want to include that experience on your resume.

If you’ve had a lot of short-term work, you might be wondering if one of the other resume types is right for you.

Education

List your most recent academic qualifications and work in reverse order. If you have more than a few years of work experience, you do not need to direct your secondary education.

If you are a recent graduate or student, it is recommended that you place an Education section above the Work Experience section on your resume to make it clear that you are still studying or just recently graduated.

Skill summary

The “Skills” section of your resume allows recruiters to quickly determine if you should move on to the next stage of the hiring process.

List your skills and add examples to the list to demonstrate how you acquired or developed these skills.

Training / courses / professional connections

Courses or professional connections can improve your application if you don’t have a lot of hands-on experience in a particular industry or position.

Including this section on your resume demonstrates your willingness to develop new skills and stay on top of the latest developments in the industry.

Again, only mention recent and relevant courses. When incorporating online courses, stick to those course providers that are easily recognizable, such as Udemy, Coursera, etc.

Extracurricular activities

If you are a student or recent graduate, this section will be of interest to you. Extracurricular activities can show employers that you have taken the initiative to develop your skills outside of class.

Volunteer experience

Mentioning volunteer experience can be a great way to fill in the blanks on your resume, no matter what resume format you’re using. Volunteering between work breaks or even during work shows employers that you are motivated by more than money and that you are using your free time with purpose.

Hobbies and interests

You may not have room on your resume to mention your hobbies and interests, but if you do, it is worth mentioning anything that complements the rest of your resume and helps employers see you as a versatile person, such as a book club chair, blogging, playing sports, etc.

Basic resume

Turning a chronological resume into a combination-hybrid or skill-based resume is easy to do when you have a basic resume to work with.

Just list your work experience, training courses, and any other useful information (volunteer experiences and hobbies) and add them to your resume. Then you can customize it as you like.

Using an online resume builder like Jobseeker can help you customize your resume with ease. No matter how many sections you add or remove, you don’t have to worry about aligning markers or adjusting margins as the layout will always stay the same.