The chronological resume lists the candidate’s job experience in first to last order, this is also called chronological order. A chronological resume is used when there is quite a lot of work experience or qualifications. Arranging those experiences or qualifications in chronological order makes the resume more presentable and orderly. Candidates can also follow a Reverse Chronological order where the qualifications are listed from last to first.
Job recruiters prefer chronologically ordered resumes over other forms of resumes. Chronological resumes are easy to understand and give clear information about the candidates. It is a good choice to opt for this method as it highlights the skillset of the job-seeker. This format usually masks the gap between the work experience as the recruiter will mainly concentrate on the previous experience.
A free online resume builder can help students and job seekers to create a professional resume. An online resume maker tool can also allow for interview presentations and resume building. A resume is an essential document that should be produced for the recruiter during the time of the interview. So it is necessary for a resume to be error-free and precise.
Contents Of A Chronological Resume
- Personal Information
This section should contain the name and current permanent address of the candidate. Contact details like mobile number, e-mail address, LinkedIn URL, etc should be mentioned. It comprises all the necessary details that are required by the recruiters. This will enable them to get in contact with the candidate during the process of hiring.
- Objective
In a few words, write a brief paragraph mentioning the goals and aspirations. The resume objective provides a snapshot of the professional experience, skills, and achievements, and explains why the candidate should get the job role.
- Educational Qualifications
This section should involve the name of the school, college, or university, their address, and marks scored in the final examination or consolidated score. This could be written in either chronological order or reverse chronological order.
- Work Experience
It is advised to mention this section in chronological order so that it will be easy for the recruiters to understand what the candidate’s most recent experience was. It should contain the job role, duration of working in that company, what roles and activities were performed, and skillset used to perform those tasks.
- Achievements
Certifications and badges can be mentioned in this section. This can also involve courses that have been completed apart from the university courses. Stating the problems identified and the solutions provided for a particular sector can be mentioned.
Projects:
Make sure to add the final semester project and part-time projects which will be of great interest to the hiring company.
- Skills
This portion of the resume tends to change for different job roles. It must contain the right skills that are required for the mentioned job role. Both hard skills and soft skills can be jotted down. Skill sets that are precise and unique tend to make the recruiters more interested in the candidate.
- Activities / Extracurricular Activities
Competitions participated by the candidate. Championships won by the candidate or active participation in any organization can be jotted down. Write about the experience gained by volunteering and mention prizes won in sports events and activities.
- Reference
This section is not mandatory. However, reference can be useful and becomes an addition after adding to the resume. When choosing resume references, think about people who can speak to the best qualities, skills, and qualifications of the candidate. The right people to include as references are Current or former managers or supervisors.
Drafting a resume can be carried out using online resume maker tools as well. There are numerous websites and mobile applications that provide the service of creating a resume for a user. This could either be paid applications or open-source websites. These websites and applications can be customized according to the needs and requirements of the user. Making use of these tools is easy to create a resume in an accurate and professional manner.
The resume should be created in a professional manner and it is vital for the candidates to know under which category each feature be added. The final draft of the resume should be proofread several times in order to find out any typos, misspellings, grammatical errors, incorrect dates, etc.
Advantages Of Chronological Resume
- It is easy to understand the timeline of events while viewing the chronological resume.
- The recruiters find this order very convenient to read.
- It is acceptable and applicable to all job seekers.
- A chronological resume gives a professional finish to the document.
- It promotes an efficient way to present a resume.
- It is more suitable for freshers and students.
Disadvantages Of Chronological Resume
- Professionals with diverse skill sets cannot easily sort their features in chronological order.
- They are quite challenging to organize.
- Application Tracking System (ATS) finds it hard to track these resumes.
- As the Application Tracking System cannot track these documents, the recruiters might not be notified of this resume in the first place.
To Summarize
Make sure to incorporate all the necessary details into the resume and keep the resume updated. Use different formats for different job roles and alter the skill set section of the resume in accordance with the job description. It is necessary to look into other sample resumes before drafting the final resume for the interview. Make the resume stand out by using innovative ideas and clear fonts. Make sure the contents of the resume are error-free and accurate and do not contain any incorrect information.
