There are three standard resume formats, and choosing the right one depends on your work history rather than personal preference. The chronological format lists your work experience in reverse order, most recent first, and is the format most recruiters and applicant tracking systems expect. It works best when you have a steady, relevant work history in the field you’re applying to.
The functional format organizes the resume around skills and competencies rather than a job-by-job timeline, with employment history condensed into a brief list near the bottom. It’s sometimes recommended for career changers or people with significant employment gaps, but many recruiters view it skeptically since it can look like it’s hiding something — use it selectively and only when a chronological format would genuinely undersell your candidacy.
The combination (or hybrid) format blends the two: a skills or qualifications summary up top, followed by a chronological work history. This tends to be the safer choice for career changers, since it highlights relevant skills first while still giving recruiters the timeline they expect.
For most job seekers with a reasonably consistent history in their field, chronological remains the default recommendation — it’s the format both human recruiters and parsing software are built around.