A resume is basically a summary of your past employment history, achievements, skills, educational attainments and competencies acquired through the years. Your resume is your sales letter to a prospective employer to tell them that you are the best candidate for the role. It is generally made up of one to two pages and often comes in two distinct resume formats: Chronological and Functional. So which one is best suited for you?

To decide which resume format is best for your current requirement, let us briefly discuss the structure and merits of the two.

Chronological Resume Format

Chronological is described as something that is arranged according to the order of time. A chronological resume format, therefore, is where your professional experiences and educational attainment are arranged in the order they were obtained. In a resume, this is usually done by starting out with the latest or most current experience followed by the one before that. This is why, it is also often called as a reverse chronological resume.

Most employers prefer this type of resume format as they can easily assess your qualifications by reviewing your recent and past employment history and educational background. Putting your most recent employment first can help them gauge your suitability to the role. It is a known fact that most employers would prefer someone who had recent experience with a role than someone who had experience with it five years ago.

When using a chronological resume format, you should list your most recently held position followed by two to four other positions arranged in reverse order. Also include the months and years you were employed. You don't necessarily have to provide the exact date. Be sure to be able to explain gaps in your employment if there are any as this will be most noticeable in this type of resume format. You can do this in your cover letter. A chronological resume format works best when you have acquired some professional experience and not fresh out from college.

Functional Resume Format

If you are fresh out of school and have no substantial professional experience to talk of, it is best to use a functional resume format. This type of resume format puts more focus on your qualifications and skills rather than your employment and professional history. So, rather than listing positions held in reverse order you will be listing out key competencies that are required and relevant to the role. An example could be "People Management" or "Customer Relations". Then proceed to enumerate tasks or duties you performed whether at school, part time jobs or at community projects that help to reinforce this skill. A functional resume format is also applicable for career changers as their professional experience might vary considerably from what is being offered. But more often than not, they will have acquired some skills from their previous career that are applicable to the new career path they have chosen.

Choosing which resume format to use is entirely up to you. But it is important to keep these key differences and advantages in mind in deciding which one you are going to choose. In many cases, you might be able to use both types and it is often termed as a combination resume format. If you do opt to combine the strengths of both resume formats, just make sure to limit the length of your resume and stick to information relevant to the role.