One of the most popular formats of resumes used today, using the combination style resume could be advantageous to your job search, if you are a particular type of job-hunter.
What is a Combination Resume?
Page One: showcase your skills, accomplishments and qualifications
Page Two: continue the solid format of a chronological and functional resume
Page one is tailored so that you are highlighting your specific attributes and allowing the reader to sync your qualifications directly against the requirements for job you’re applying for.
Page two is still your reverse chronological listing of your work experience, but is abbreviated now since all the “meat” is on page one, serving as your key selling tool.
For more suggestions on how to format a modern resume, click here.
Who should use a Combination Resume?
- Recent Grads
- Someone who has worked at the same company for a while
- Someone seeking a promotion or vertical career move
- Anyone seeking a career change
- Older job applicants
New Grads: Describing positives such as “superior soft skills” and the “recent acquisition of the latest most sought-after certification”, this format highlights this information first, before it reveals a job history which may be shorter than those of your fellow job seekers vying for the same position.
Someone who has worked at the same company for a while: Spotlight all the skills you have accumulated over the years without the initial branding of a long date span upfront, which might be a turn-off to a hiring manager.
Career changers: Despite the various reasons, positive or negative, as to why you’re making this transition, fully highlight your skills and past accomplishments (as best you can) in a way that morphs smoothly and makes this new direction an enhancement to your overall career story.
Older Job Applicants: This is especially useful for an older job applicant whose bulleted resume may have consumed 4 pages even with lots of editing. It’s not as important to know where and when in each instance if you successfully achieved similar results for different companies.
Summary
This is a great tool to measure growth when you are able to take your past accomplishments at various jobs out of their chronological bulleted boxes, match them up, group and weed out any duplicate or outdated information that may not really be relevant in your current job search.
Here is a sample format for the Combination Resume Template:
About Profiles
Profiles is a unique staffing firm specializing in Marketing employment, Creative, and Web & IT jobs. Since 1998, we have served the needs of our Clients and Talent by matching the best candidates with the best companies in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Author Name – Betsy Sayre
Title – Account Manager
Location – Richmond, VA
Twitter – @ProfilesBetsy
Byline – Betsy has been assisting Profiles with their recruiting efforts since August of 2011. A veteran contractor and huge fan of this raging employment option, she’s been in Richmond since the late 80’s, working in creative process management roles for various agencies and corporations. Downtime is spent in her studio painting gourds, playing with power tools and experimenting with paper mache.
