Formatting

Once you've identified your skills and accomplishments, your resume should be arranged to highlight your strong points. There are many ways to do this, but the most popular are the chronological and functional formats. The chronological format organises work experience by date, starting with your most recent position held and working your way back. This format focuses on dates, organisations, job titles and descriptions of corresponding duties. A chronological format is recommended if you have a solid work history; have held recent positions in line with your career objective; have held positions with progressively more work responsibility; or are applying to a more conservative company.

The functional format organises work experience by job title/function; i.e. software engineer, human resources assistant, management. Each area is then fortified with descriptive phrases that incorporate active verbs. This format works best if you've held impressive job titles; can't list your work history chronologically without gaps in employment; or have held jobs that aren't directly related to your desired career, but required you to use skills that apply toward your career objective.