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What's The Biggest Difference Between A Chronological Resume and Hybrid Resume?

Updated: Sep 30, 2021

There are four types of resumes job seekers can opt for today – the chronological resume, the functional resume, the hybrid resume and the targeted resume. All four are valid, and all four have their place in the job seeking effort – but depending on where you are, and where you want to be in the future, you need to choose the right one resume layout.

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In this article, we’ll focus on two most popular types of resume formats. Obviously, every resume is different and highlights different aspects of your professional life, but here we’ll take a closer look at the biggest difference between a chronological resume and a hybrid resume.

What is a Chronological Resume?

The chronological resume has long been considered the best option. The chronological resume is the most common resume layout to use, one which every recruiter loved to see, one which was easiest to create and fairly simple to keep updated. As the name suggests, the chronological resume focuses on the job seeker’s employment history, and sorts it in a reverse chronological way.

After listing the job seeker’s contact information, the resume then includes a “Career Summary” which is 4-7 sentences in length and describes a career seekers history. It then proceeds listing a job seekers employment history, from the most recent one, all the way back to education. It has long been considered the best option as it gives the recruiter a solid image of the candidate.

What is a Hybrid Resume?

A hybrid resume, also known as a ‘Functional Resume”, uses the best of the chronological resume layout, and combines it with the best from the functional one.

Phoenix AZ local resume professionals

A functional resume focuses on skills, instead of employment history. It does not list previous jobs – it only shows the candidate’s achievements, and which skills he or she used to produce the positive results. This resume is most commonly used by people whose previous job experiences are either too far apart, rare, or irrelevant. Functional resumes are thus usually used by people with employment gaps, frequent job switchers or complete career changers.

Now that we know how chronological, functional and hybrid resumes look like, time to identify the greatest difference between a the first and the last one.

The Biggest Difference:

The biggest difference between the chronological resume and the hybrid (also known as the chrono-functional, or combination resume) is that the emphasis is not on previous job experiences, but it still uses the information.

It basically combines the best of both worlds. As for some, the reverse-chronological way of listing previous job experiences is essential, while for others, it is the acquired skills that should be in focus – it lists both, so that it ticks all the right boxes with a broader scope of hiring managers. Here are some great examples of popular, professional, and powerful resumes written by certified professional resume writers in Phoenix AZ.

More often than not, both chronological and functional resumes are designed to fit on two pages. With a combination resume, that’s not the case. Usually, hybrid resumes can be one or two pages long, with the second page being reserved for the reverse chronological jobs list.

Choosing a Hybrid Resume or a Chronological Resume?

When you start a new job search, it is essential to first decide how to pick the best resume layout, with regards to what you did before and which industry you’re trying to enter. A hybrid resume has gained some serious traction in the last couple of years, mostly because it offers the most thorough representation of the job seeker, without being too long or too informative.

It is not chronological, as the previous jobs list is not in the spotlight, and it’s not functional as it does offer employment history. It is also not targeted, as those are very specific and crafted when applying only to a single position.

Creating a useful resume has become an art itself, which is why many people decide to hire a professional resume writing company in Glendale Arizona to do it for them. Crafting such a document means dancing on a thin line between too many and too little information, between being completely irrelevant and too self-centered. A hybrid-typed resume can sometimes be the best solution, as it offers key information to different types of recruiters. It is bound to pass the ATS and help employers get a clear vision of the candidate well before the interview.

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