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What Are the Three Resume Formats?
Though there are multiple formats, hiring managers recognize three types of resume formats: the chronological resume, the functional resume and the hybrid resume. These professional resume formats feature unique benefits based on your experience and skill level. Let’s quickly compare the three.
How to pick the right format for you:
The difference between a good and great resume format relates to your experience level. Making the right choice for your job search can help you:
- Score high points on an applicant tracking system (ATS).
- Pass digital hurdles to land with a human decision-maker.
- Downplay or contextualize potential red flags like lengthy work gaps.
PRO TIP:
The phrase “resume formats” differs from “resume formatting.” Resume formats refer to the strategic outline you use to describe your qualifications. Resume formatting refers to design choices related to fonts, margins and paragraph structure, not your professional information. We’ll cover resume formats first, followed by proper resume formatting tips!
How to Format a Resume
Before we dive into how to pick the proper resume format for your experience level, let’s cover these resume formatting essentials to ensure hiring managers don’t discard your resume after their initial six-second skim.
Fonts
A simple font makes it easy for hiring managers to quickly read and understand your resume.
- Use a standard font like Arial, Aptos, Cambria or Times New Roman.
- Avoid handwritten fonts like
or 
.
- These fonts require more mental energy to decipher.
- Set your font size between 10-12 points and stay consistent. The only information that should be a bigger size is your section headings.
- Use a 14-18 point font size for your section headings and use the same consistent size throughout your document.
Margins
Margins create a visual frame around your qualifications and add whitespace around your dense resume sections. This balance between text prevents eye strain and helps hiring managers easily move from one line to another.
- Use standard 1-inch margins on all sides.
- Go as small as half-inch margins if you need more space for a one-page resume.
Resume sections
Organize your qualifications into standard resume format sections so hiring managers can quickly trace your work history, training or technical knowledge. The different resume formats feature unique resume sections but will include the following standard sections:
- Contact information
- Summary statement
- Skills
- Work history
- Education
Section headers
Format your resume with clear section headings. These visual markers help hiring managers quickly search your resume for relevant information. Make your section headings clear by:
- Using a larger font size or special treatment like bold text.
- Using design borders to create visual breaks throughout the resume.
- Adding an extra line break before new sections to create whitespace between sections.
- Using a single color to mark each section.
Using a free resume template with predesigned section headings.
Bullet points
Short bullet points or numbered lists make it easy for hiring managers to read and understand your accomplishments quickly. Huge blocks of text can strain eyes or cause loss of interest.
Line spacing
Line breaks between your sentences also help create whitespace and natural borders between each line.
- Use single or 1.15 line spacing within each resume section to pack the most information in your one-page resume.
- Use 1.5 or double line spacing between resume sections to create a break between your qualifications.
File format
Different operating systems can reformat or resize your resume, making it hard to read. To minimize this risk, save your finished resume as a PDF file.
Create a standardized document in our award-winning Resume Builder.
How to Choose with Resume Format Examples
To decide which of the different resume formats works best for you, consider your unique career situation and level.
Let’s walk through the types of resume formats to learn how to pick and write each one.
Chronological resume
The chronological resume format is the most well-known. Also know as a “job resume format,” this timeline-organized resume dedicates the most page space to your work experience and is ideal for job seekers with over 10 years of relevant experience.
A chronological resume includes these resume sections in this order:
- Name and contact information.
- A summary statement.
- Professional work history.
- List of skills.
- Education.
Pros
Pros- A straightforward layout that’s easy to skim and read.
- Quickly provides recruiters with a clear outline of your best accomplishments related to each job.
- Organizes your work history with a reverse-chronological timeline, showing off promotions and steady employment.
Cons
Cons- The focus on work history makes work gaps and short job employment glaring.
- Highlights lack of relevant or transferable experience.
Functional resume
The functional resume format is skills-focused rather than career-based. This highly customizable resume is the best format to showcase your transferable skills and work-related training. Use this format if you have zero to three years of formal job experience.
As the most customizable resume format, a functional resume can include these sections:
- Name and contact information.
- Resume objective.
- Summary of qualifications.
- Professional skills.
- Work history.
- Education.
Additional optional sections:
- General skills.
- Digital skills.
- Additional skills.
- Languages.
Pros
- It works best for recent high school and college graduates, career changers, people returning to the workforce and people with informal experience.
- Highlights relevant skills gained from an unrelated position or volunteer efforts.
- The customizable nature of this format results in unique skills sections highlighting skills related to specific job openings.
- Best for hands-on gigs.
Cons
- The customizable nature of this format means inconsistent section headers and layouts. This resume won’t score well with the ATS used by Glassdoor, Indeed or LinkedIn, to name a few.
- Some employers find it difficult to skim because this relies on skills-based accomplishments instead of previous jobs.
- The minimal information related to your previous dates of employment can be a potential red flag for roles that require relevant experience.
PRO TIP:
Since this customizable format goes against ATS best practices, use this format on job boards with detailed questionnaires about your work history, like Workday. These types of job boards use your resume and cover letter as supplemental information to add context to your answers. Use an ATS resume format like the hybrid and chronological resumes for most online applications.
Hybrid or combination resume
A hybrid resume format, also known as the combination resume, combines the best parts of the chronological and functional resume formats and is organized to highlight both your skills and work history.
This format showcases your job-relevant skills and employment history with a clear timeline. We recommend this resume format for job seekers with three to nine years of experience, career changers or those applying for a promotion.
The hybrid resume with always include these resume sections in this order:
- Name and contact information.
- Summary statement or resume objective.
- Skills.
- Work history.
- Education.
Pros
- Shows off your career progress and potential with your developing skills, training and employment history.
- Highlights promotions and professional development.
- Easy to read and find information under clearly labeled headings.
Cons
- The focus on your work history highlights work gaps or constant job changes.
- The equal focus on skills and work history can make this longer than a page.
PRO TIP:
The hybrid resume format is also a great fit for military personnel transitioning to a civilian job. With this format, they can show how to apply their skills to the job they seek.
Why Use A Resume Format Template?
Writing a resume can be pretty overwhelming. However, you can build a professional and powerful resume in no time with a preformatted resume template.
There are tons of benefits to using a template to create your resume. Let’s highlight the top six reasons why JobHero’s preformatted templates will work for you.
Impressive layouts
Dozens of professional templates to impress recruiters before they meet you.
Simple resume format and readable template design to market your career accomplishments.
Templates with consistent spacing and screen-friendly fonts for digital and printed resumes.
Automatic formatting
Templates include customizable sections you can move around without breaking the formatting.
Predesigned borders, font sizes and margins to finish your resume faster.
User-friendly
JobHero’s resume templates are easy to use. Simply answer the questions based on your experience and industry and follow the prompts to complete each part of your resume.
Premium and free templates
Choose from various premium or free downloadable designs. Our templates let you build an effective, comprehensive and compelling resume to convey the message of who you are. Our resume templates are designed for every industry and job.
Auto-generated text suggestions
Our templates suggest keywords, prewritten job descriptions and job-specific sentences to explain your skills, experience and accomplishments.
ATS-friendly
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are automated software employers use to scan resumes for relevant keywords.
Our templates use ATS-compliant formats and resume sections to boost your scores.
Our builder suggests specific keywords to meet industry standards.
What Customers Have to Say About Our Builder
Resume Formats FAQ
Which format do most employers prefer for resumes?
When in doubt, use the chronological resume format. This resume format follows the most familiar outline to deliver your previous job history, accomplishments and related education.
Recruiters also prefer this format because its neat timeline makes it easy to follow your career progression. The reverse-chronological resume format is:
- Easy to read.
- ATS-friendly because it is easy to scan.
- Highlights your professional achievements.
How far back should a resume go?
Unless you’re applying for a leadership position, your resume should never exceed your most recent decade of experience. Focus on the last 10 years of experience unless you need to add a relevant job or training program.
What is the best resume format for any job in 2023?
For most candidates, the best resume format in 2023 is reverse-chronological. This type of resume format lists your resume information, work experience and education starting with the most recent job and working backward.
Recruiters also prefer this format because its neat timeline makes it easy to follow your career progression. The reverse-chronological resume format is:
- Easy to read.
- ATS-friendly because it is easy to scan.
- Highlights your professional achievements.
- Fuses the best parts of the chronological and functional resume formats to make your qualifications stand out in a neat timeline.
Can I change my resume format in JobHero’s builder?
Yes. JobHero’s Resume Builder lets you change and personalize your templates.
Our extensive library of customizable resume templates is designed for every industry and job.
- Step 1: Find a template and click it to edit.
- Step 2: Personalize the template with your career experience, font choice and colors.
- Step 3: Drag and drop sections to tell your professional story.
Are JobHero’s resume formats ATS-friendly?
The answer is yes! JobHero’s resume templates are designed for applicant tracking systems (ATS).
These beautiful resume templates have the proper layout, easy-to-read fonts and standard formatting. They are industry approved and make your resume ATS-friendly.
What are the best resume formats for students?
The best resume format for high school or college students is the functional resume format.
his format prominently focuses on skills and education.
A functional resume puts your academic achievements as your most marketable highlights. You can highlight volunteer work, expected graduation date, awards, recognitions and internships. This format also helps you downplay your lack of relevant work experience.