1. What is a Resume? A one or two-page itemized description used to present the educational background, work experience, skills, and accomplishments of a person. It helps apply for a job or position in an organization. Resumes help secure interviews with recruiters. Understanding what is a resume is vital to creating an effective one.
2. What is the meaning of a Resume? Resume comes from the French word ‘résumé’. It means a summary. And that’s exactly what it is supposed to be – a summary of the qualification, skills, and achievement – in academics and at work – of a candidate who the resume belongs to.

What are the different Formats of Resume? Which format should one choose?
1. Chronological or Reverse-Chronological Resume – The quintessential format most recruiters are acquainted with; helps focus attention on the most recent experience and/or biggest achievement.
2. Functional Resume – Ideal for career changers or if you have employment gaps as it puts the spotlight on skills rather than history.
3. Combination Resume – Beginning with a summary and proceeding to relevant work experience, this one serves as a combination of the other two styles – a flexible format indeed.
1. Chronological Or Reverse-Chronological Resume 92% of recruiters tend to favor previous job experience the most important hiring factor. They scan for job titles – thus the reverse-chronological format outs the latest positions right at the top.
The most common of formats, this format provides details on previous companies you worked at and for what duration.
Best For:

• Applicants with solid past work experience, showing career growth – linear & well-structured.
• Suitable for Applicant Tracking System

Pros:

• Preferred by recruiters and hiring managers alike
• Concise snapshot of work history made avail of
• Helps glance over career progression

Cons:

• Employment gaps become glaringly noticeable
• Unsuitable for first-time job seekers, candidates without standard career progression, or people switching career

How to Stand out: Feature achievements that relate directly to the post in question, using effective action verbs to describe accomplishments
98% of Fortune 500 companies use the Applicant Tracking System to ease the recruitment process. Its task is the initial scanning and seeding of the mountain of resumes the companies attract before it ever reaches a recruiting manager. Chronological resumes being the easiest for an ATS to scan, it’s a given you have a better chance at scoring an interview if you gave your resume this additional edge by opting for the Chronological format.
2. Functional Resume If your work history is plagued with too many gaps, is chaotic, and shows your tendency to hop around experimenting – it is bound to raise some red flags for the recruiter, namely commitment issues and lack of passion. Functional Resumes are skills-based resumes that help leverage your skills and divert the recruiter’s focus from your work history.
Functional Resumes downplay work history and instead bring marketable skill sets to the table. As skills take center stage – it is a great approach for freshers, those with employment gaps, or those who are seeking to shift careers. It sells hard the dual set of hard and soft skills a candidate possesses.
Best For:

• Candidates with limited work experience, or gaps in work history; career changers pivoting to new industries
• Helps the creative kind with messy work history
• Helpful for overqualified candidates or Military Transitioner Resumes.

Pros:

• Highlights transferable skills across industries/ sectors
• Focus on key career moments – helpful for first-time workers or those who are jumping field

Cons:

• Can inadvertently make you look inexperienced as work history is not focussed upon
• Recruiters can think candidates are trying to hide employment gaps
• Difficult for ATS to scan

How to Stand Out: A wise decision would be to organize skills into categories and include job-specific qualifications using words from the job description.
Functional Resumes, although versatile, aren’t really a favorite among recruiters as it tends to hide what they look for – relevant qualifications, job titles held, highest responsibility shouldered, and the progression of your skills. What sets it apart is its rich introduction and more in-depth skills section which one must use in their favor to link skills with relevant experience. Else they stand to lose credential.
3. Combination Resume If you want to have your cake and eat it too, then a Combination Resume is your best bet wherein skills summary lists validate your work experience through past achievements and professional merit mentioned in bullet points.
This format combines elements of both Chronological and Functional formats – skills and detailed work history. This best-of-both-world approach works wonders for seasoned professionals and career changers alike.
Best For:

• Seasoned professionals who possess extensive work experience
• Candidates with diverse employment history- frequent shifts, making a jump now,etc.
• Candidates with dynamic, transferable skills – who can adapt and learn on the job
• Employment gappers with relevant work experience – to express how potential gaps don’t matter

Pros:

• Spotlight is on skills and work experience
• Emphasis is on career highlights
• Skills are put in context to work environment and achievements

Cons:

• Unsuitable for freshers or candidates without any tangible work experience
• Tends to accentuate work history gaps or tendency to switch jobs
• Format is effective only if skills complement the achievements at work

How To Stand Out: Point out how you’ve utilized key skills to achieve success across different career fields. A quick glance at the main features & the structure of the 3 types of Resumes (or) Formats of Resume: