How To Layout A Resume

What Are The Most Popular Resume Formats

The three most common resume formats are chronological, functional and combination. When deciding which resume format you should use, consider your professional history and the role youre applying for. For example, if you have limited work experience, you might instead focus on academic work, volunteer positions or apprenticeships with a functional resume instead of a chronological resume, which prioritizes job history. In the next sections, well explore each resume format type in detail, including which is best based on common job search situations.

What Are The Different Types Of Resume Formats

When deciding on a way to lay out your resume, it is important to consider the different resume formats.

The format you choose can change the focus of your resume to suit your needs better.

This is especially important if you are lacking in certain areas, such as work experience or education.

The 3 main types of resume formats are as follows:

• âReverse-Chronological: This format focuses on your work experience. In this layout, your most recent and relevant job will appear first.â
• Functional: Functional resumes are good for applicants who lack work experience. This type of layout will place greater emphasis on education, skills, etc.â
• Hybrid/Combination: A hybrid format is good for applicants who may have some work experience. This combines elements of both the reverse-chronological and functional formats.

For more information on choosing the best format for your needs, check out our guide on How to Choose the Correct Resume Format in 2021.

Cv Templates For Every Career

As a candidate, you are a unique individual with the skills and experience to get the job done. So why shouldnt your resume be just as interesting as you are? When it comes to convincing an employer to hire you, your resume is the best way to tell your story and make a strong first impression. Thats why weve curated a collection of dozens of expertly-designed CV templates to fit a variety of fields and career levels. To make choosing a template even easier, weve divided our collection into five types: professional, modern, creative, simple and basic. These groupings offer a great starting point to explore the CV templates best suited for your field. Then, if nothing catches your eye, try another collection to find the right style and add your personal flair.

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Choose From 20+ Premium & Free Resume Layout Templates And Create Your Resume In 10 Mins

Make it simple, but significant. Don Draper

• How to choose a proper resume layout using the correct process

… All to help you out with a job-winning resume layout.

And what’s more? You can get access to all our resume layout templates on Hiration’s Online Resume Builder and use them to create your resume.

Take a look at our Best Resume Layout Examples 2022 Guide to choose the best resume layout 2022 for you.

Our Resume Layout Guide is going to cover the following topics:

Qualifications Summary Or Professional Profile

You can use either of these options since they bothemphasize your skills in slightly different ways. A qualifications summaryincludes your most impressive skills, while a professional summary gives a moreholistic view of your skill set, not just where you excelled.

Ludwig adds, a summary ofqualifications should match and address the needs outlined in the jobannouncement, the hiring companys mission, and the pain points of theirindustry.

Applicants with specialized skills or technicalcertifications sometimes include a list of skills or core competencies justbelow their resume introduction. Be careful not to list the same skills againyour professional history section, as that can make your resume unnecessarily longer.

Below is an example of a Senior Healthcare Executive from Jessica Holbrook, President of GreatResumesFast.com:

Heres an example of a professional profile with theskills listed under the subheading ValueOffered by Michelle Riklan of Riklan Resources.

Here’s a quick guide on how to best include your skills in a resume:

• Charley Mendoza

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Functional Resume Example And Template

Functional resumes focus on skills. They are organized by different types of skills or experiences, rather than by chronological work history. Functional resumes are good for people with gaps in employment history or whose work history is not directly related to the job.

With this type of resume, your skills are listed first. List the skill first, and then go into more detail about that skill. Follow your skills with your education and work history.

You can create a functional resume by below or by following the example.

US District Court, Cleveland, OHLaw Clerk Intern, 2019-Present

Serve as Law Clerk to the Chief Judge of the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Perform legal research draft bench orders, opinions, and memos, carefully verifying accuracy of all citations. Communicate with counsel to confirm deadlines and address case management issues.

• Utilize advanced verbal and written Spanish skills as court translator when warranted.

Hatchett, Garner, and Winn Attorneys, Cleveland, OHParalegal, 2013-2019

Skillfully managed caseload of ~70 ongoing cases for national law firm specializing in commercial litigation. Scheduled and facilitated client interviews, performed legal research, prepared documents and exhibits for trial, and ensured timely submission of all pleadings and court filings.

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Best Resume Layout Examples: Gallery

Have a look at these resume layout ideas:

This two-column resume layout combines modernity with classical elegance. The main resume section gives you a lot of space for the details of your experience and education. Notice how visible the job titles are. The sidebar is where you can put your contact details and accentuate key skills.

Expert Hint: Studies show that recruiters only spend about 7 seconds scanning a resume. In this time they look at specific areas and search for particular information. Use bold and italics to direct their attention to the most important bits.

Choose The Best Font For Your Resume

While there are an infinite amount of fonts out there, you will likely want to choose one that is either a serif font or a sans serif font. Serif fonts are more traditional and well-suited for a resume that is trying to communicate a more professional approach. Consider typefaces such as Cambria, Garamond, or Book Antiqua, all refreshing styles as opposed to the once-standard Times New Roman. Sans serif fonts are more modern and, because of the lack of tails, can offer more legibility. San serif fonts are recommended for any type of resume as they become more widely used. Recommended fonts in this family would include Helvetica, Avenir, Open Sans, Roboto, or Calibri. As you build your resume, think about choosing one font and playing with variations of it throughout. Use bold for your headers, standard for descriptions, or small caps for contact details. One font can offer many variations, and making the most of those styles can demonstrate a strong grasp on design elements to enhance your resume. And remember, always choose 12pt size font.

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When Should You Use A Combination Resume Format

Unfortunately, this format only works for a few people. Useit only if you meet at least one of the characteristics below:

• Executive or mid-careerprofessional with a long work history or concurrent jobs
• Applicants with a specializedskill set or a good track record of accomplishments for several skills

Here’s what several HR professionals have to say about when to use a combination resume:

This could also work if you want to return to a field you left because youwanted to explore new opportunities, but then you ultimately decided that youprefer the original industry you were in tobegin with AerielleLudwig, Certified Professional Resume Writer

Youvebeen in the same company for more than 15 years, such as people in the militarywith 30+ years of service. This format highlights your achievements over theyears at the functional part of the resume, before showing the chronologicalorder of your promotions at the bottom of your resume Dawn Boyer, Resume Writer and Career Consultant at D Boyer Consulting.

Youhave multiple temporary or short-term jobs but you dont want the recruiter tonotice your unstable work history without first seeing what you can offer Hallie Crawford,Certified Career Coach.

Resume Format : Combination Resumes

A combination resume is a blend of the chronological and functional resume types. This resume format allows you to emphasize both your work experience and relevant skills. Because your skills and employment history will consume most of your resume space, you may need to eliminate optional sections such as a summary statement, volunteer work or special interests.

Image description

A combination resume format usually includes the following information in this order:

• Contact information

• Summary of most relevant skills

• Work experience

• Education

The combination resume is a more flexible format, so you should list either your skills or your work experience first depending on which you consider more important for the role. For example, if you have many unique skills that are especially valuable to the industry in which youre applying to work, you might consider listing them above your work experience. It can also be helpful to look for clues in the job posting to understand what is most important for the employer in an ideal candidate.

Also Check: Add Resume On Indeed

How Long Should My Cv Be

Two pages is the standard length for most resumes. There are exceptions, of course – if you are searching for an internship just graduated school or are relatively new to the workforce, then you should try to keep your resume to one page, according to TopResume. On the other end of the spectrum are job seekers with decades of experience: executives or senior-level managers with a long list of accomplishments and experiences, or people in the sciences or in academia who want to include their licenses, patents, or publications can allow their resumes to grow to three or more pages if necessary, according to Alison Doyle at The Balance.

For most job seekers, however, with five to fifteen years of related experience, two pages should be enough to showcase your major skills and accomplishments. Indeed, there is some value in keeping your resume brief – Short and concise means that employers are more likely to read the parts you most care about says Alison Green of Ask a Manager. Keep it short to be sure that recruiters are seeing the best information as fast as possible.

Please note that the above information pertains mainly to North American resumes – to learn more about resume length in countries around the world, visit our international CV guide.

How Do I Add Different Sections To A Resume On Microsoft Word

The way to create different sections on your resume comes in two parts:

• Use an H2 header to create the section titles
• Use the Normal style to create the body of text below the H2 header

Here is a breakdown of how to use the H1, H2, H3, and Normal styles within your resume:

Select the Styles window from the Home tab.

From here, you will have options to create headers.

Your heading options are as follows:

• âHeading 1: Use this heading as your largest title. This is what you will use to write your name at the top of the page. Use a bolded font between 16 to 20 pt in size. Use 1.5 to 2.0 line spacing to help the title heading stand out.â
• Heading 2: Use this heading to create your section titles. Use a bolded font size between 14 to 16 pt. in size. Make sure these headings are smaller than your title heading. Use 1.5 to 2.0 line spacing to help these headings stand out from the rest of the text.â
• Heading 3: Use this heading to create your job titles. Your job titles should be only slightly bigger than the rest of the text. Use a bolded font between 12 to 14 pt. in size. Use between 1.15 to 1.5 line spacing.â
• Normal: Use the Normal style to create the body text underneath the heading. Use a regular font between 11 â 12 pt. in size. Use between 1.15 to 1.5 line spacing.

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Determine Your Section Organization

Once you have built the base format of your resume, itâs time to determine if your sections are in the optimal location.

For instance, if you are creating a Reverse-Chronological style resume you will want your Work Experience section to come first.

Comparatively, if you are creating a Functional style resume you may want your Skills or Education section to come first.

The order and organization of your sections will impact the impression your resume makes on hiring managers.

Tailor Your Education To Your Experience Level

The amount of page space you dedicate to your education will again be determined by your experience level.

If you are an experienced candidate, then a small section at the bottom of your page will be enough for your education.

However, if you are a then you will need to provide plenty of detail on your education, to compensate for your lack of work experience.

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Chronological Resume Example And Template

The most common resume format is chronological . It lists your work history in reverse chronological order, with your most recent work history listed at the top. You may also add a summary or objective, and you’ll want to include your education and credentials as well.

The advantage of this type of resume is that it highlights a linear progression in your career. In other words, if you’ve been focused on one type of career and you want to show how you’ve progressed on that path, a chronological resume is the way to go. It’s also standard for some types of jobs, like teaching or government positions.

To create your own chronological resume, you can below or review the example.

Juris Doctor , anticipated 2021Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland, OH

Associate of Applied Business in Paralegal-Legal Assisting, 2013Rhodes State College, Lima, OH

Certified E-Discovery Specialist , 2017

Technical Proficiencies: Microsoft Office Suite, LexisNexis Concordance, Symantec eDiscovery Platform, Westlaw, MyCase Legal Practice Management Software, Clio, and Photoshop.

How Should I Format My Resume In Microsoft Word

The format you choose will depend on your experience level!

There are 3 basic resume formats to choose between:

• âReverse-Chronological: Details your most recent job and works backwards from there. This format focuses heavily on work experience.â
• Functional: Focuses on skills and education rather than work experience. This is a good option for recent graduates or applicants with minimal work experience.â
• Hybrid/Combination: Combines elements of both the Reverse-Chronological and the Functional. This is a good option for applicants with gaps in their employment history.

Choosing the best format for your needs is key. For more help on this subject, check out our guide on How to Choose the Correct Resume Format in 2021!

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Should The Layout Be Different Depending On The Position Im Applying For

Anytime you submit a new job application, you should take the time to adjust your resume for that specific job.

This allows you to include keywords found in the job description.

It also shows the employer you have a keen skill for observation and attention to detail!

Optimizing your resume for specific jobs is important.

Read our guide on how to Tailor Your Resume to Any Job in 4 Easy Steps to learn how to better optimize your resume!

Main Advantages Of Combination Resume Format

• Captures the attention of therecruiter immediately with a list of your skills and achievements, and thensupports this introduction with a chronological breakdown of how you acquiredsaid experience.
• If youve been in the sameposition or company for a long time, recruiters dont need to go over everybullet point in your job history just to see your achievements because acombination format puts this information right at the top.
• Theflexible format allows you to restructure the layout or sequence of theresume so you can choose whichinformation the recruiter sees first.

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Include An Education Section

An education section will be especially valuable if you have limited work experience or if you are transferring to a new industry. You can include information such as:

• Relevant coursework

• Grade point average

• Participation in clubs or organizations

• Leadership positions held

• Awards, achievements or certifications

When writing your education section, you should include the name of the institution, dates of attendance and your degree or area of study. If you are applying to mid or higher-level positions, you might remove all but the name of your school and dates of attendance to make room for more relevant professional experience on your resume.

If you have certifications or licenses that are relevant to the job description, you can include them in this section as well. To save space, you can leave off any credentials that are not directly related to the requirements of this job.

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