The purpose of a résumé is twofold:

• A résumé provides an overview of your skills, experience, and education as they relate to your career objective, and
• A résumé is a marketing tool that conveys your “personal brand.”

All of us want our résumés to stand out from the stack. However, the best way to create an eye-catching résumé is not through gimmicks or flash, but rather through substance and customization.

Formats: Chronological, Functional, and Hybrid Résumés

Work histories come in a variety of forms; so do résumés. Although career experts enjoy debating which style is the best, ultimately you must consider which fits your current situation. Which style will allow you to best package your work history, and convey your unique qualifications?

The chronological résumé is a traditional format whose principal section is the “Employment Experience” section. In the chronological résumé’s “Employment Experience” section, jobs are listed in reverse chronological order, and achievements/skills are detailed underneath each position.

In contrast, a functional (skills) résumé, features a well-developed “Skills & Achievements” section, in which skills are organized into categories. The functional résumé still includes an “Employment Experience” section, but it is streamlined to include only the basic information about each position held.

A hybrid (or combination) résumé includes a well-developed “Skills & Achievements” section that highlights the candidate’s most important and relevant skills, but it also includes select bullets under each job in the “Employment Experience” section.

The following pages contain examples of chronological, functional (skills), and hybrid résumé formats.

Example of the Chronological Format

Highlights of the Chronological Style:

• Lists both work and education in reverse chronological order (starting with the most recent positions/schools and working backward)
• Lists job achievements and skills under each position
• Presents experience under headings by job title, company, location, and dates of employment
• Allows employers to easily determine work performed at each company

Example of the Functional Format

A functional format resume

Highlights of the Functional Format:

• Focuses on skills and experience, rather than on chronological work history
• Groups functions or skills under categories
• Describes responsibilities, accomplishments, and quantifiable achievements under categories in the skills section
• Typically opens with a brief summary/profile detailing strengths (one-three sentences)
• Demonstrates how you match the requirements of your potential job by including relevant achievements and accomplishments

Example of the Hybrid format–the best of both!

What makes this a hybrid resume? You see descriptive details in the Skills and Abilities section and a detailed work chronology.

Hybrid Resume

There are many reasons to choose one format over another. In brief, the chronological résumé serves candidates with a long/uninterrupted work history, in fields where the company worked for is of paramount importance. On the other hand, the functional résumé serves candidates who are transitioning between fields, candidates shifting from a military to a civilian career, or candidates who have gained skills in a variety of different settings (workplace, academic, volunteer). The hybrid resume offers the best of both worlds.

Learn in this video (4:42) how to confidently choose which résumé style will best compliment the intended goal. This video discusses the benefit of the hybrid résumé, while also discussing the pros and cons of functional and chronological résumés.

Résumé Conventions

If you do not want your résumé to receive negative attention, be sure to follow the content and style conventions of the résumé genre. (Standing out in a crowd can be a good thing, but not if you are standing out for the wrong reasons!)

Adhere to the following conventions:

• no complete sentences, unless in the professional profile section of a résumé (and even then, you risk wasting a lot of space. Fragments  that begin with action verbs are fine!)
• no use of “I”–we know the résumé is about YOU, so don’t waste words/lines by referring to yourself over and over…
• no high school entries if you’ve been in college for two or more years or have lots of work experience
• no large blocks of text (dense paragraphs)
• use consistent formatting and spacing
• include dates for specific jobs, educational degrees, and honors/awards/volunteer activities
• include details that clearly show what you did/learned/accomplished
• keep your résumé to a single page, unless you’ve more than 10 yrs of relevant experience
• include information in conventional categories, such as Highlights of Qualifications, Professional Profile, Education, Work Experience, Relevant Skills, Volunteer Experience, Awards & Recognitions, Certifications, etc.

Using BAQQR to Compose Bullet Statements

Description is of utmost importance on a résumé, and showing what makes you unique in your experiences can only be accomplished through clear details!

Use the BAQQR method to improve your bullet statements:

• B—Bullet
• A—Action Verb
• Q—Quantifier: financial #, percentage, etc. (25 employees; $100k budget; increased sales by 15%)
• Q—Qualifier:  the who, what, when, where, how (assisted the Vice President of Sales; created a training manual; inventory daily; met with clients locally abroad; designed with Photoshop)
• R—Result: what was gained/accomplished? (boosted sales; improved relationships; increase repeat customers; beautify existing grounds)

See the difference, here:

• Too general/generic: Maintained records.   
• Uses BAQQR: Organized AR/AP records weekly using QuickBooks, maintaining a 2-month reconciliation period for all accounts.

You can write your bullet points so that you come across as the typical, cardboard cut-out of an Accountant, Customer Service Rep, or Restaurant Server, or you can paint a clear picture of who you are, what you’ve done, how you’ve done it, and what you’ve accomplished.

Above, the second sentence used BAQQR, but not all bullet statements need to use all three of the last details (Quantifier, Qualifier and Result). Only use these elements when they add pertinent information to your statements. For example, the following bullet statement does not need a result.

•  Planned annual workshops and training events for K12 educators, handling all logistics from site bookings and marketing to material prep and follow-up surveys

Content about résumé styles on this page from Technical Writing by Allison Gross, Annemarie Hamlin, Billy Merck, Chris Rubio, Jodi Naas, Megan Savage, and Michele DeSilva is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Content about BAQQR and résumé conventions on this page is written by Baye Herald for Technical Communication Across the Professions and informed by strategies suggested by Johnson & Wales University’s Career Center. Content on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.