Choosing between a chronological and a skill-based layout is necessary when designing the layout of your resume. Both have merits, although a chronologically organized resume will clearly be superior for most. This post defines each resume style, and then lists reasons why the chronological resume is preferable.
1) The Difference Between Chronological and Skill-Based Resumes
Chronological Resumes:
A chronological resume will list contents within the academic and professional experiences sections in the order they occurred. Most resumes are reverse chronological, i.e. the most recent position (or degree) is on the top of the section. Like this:
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Company A, Barcelona Spain
Senior Strategic Consultant 4/2011 - present
Company B, New York, USA
Marketing Project Manager 4/2009 - 9/2010
Business Consultant 4/2006 - 3/2009
Company C, New York, USA
Business Consultant 4/2004 - 3/2006
Marketing Manager 4/2002 - 3/2004
Administration Manager 4/2001 - 3/2002
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
University XYZ, Masters 3/2001
University XYZ, Bachelors 3/1999
All jobs are listed, right back until the university career was completed. One concern with a chronological resume is that gaps in experience become readily noticeable, like the one above from 10/2010 to 3/2011. This is not necessarily a problem as long as the additional section of the resume explains what they were doing during that time.
ADDITIONAL
Gained intermediate-level certification in Spanish language from ABC school in Barcelona (10/2010 to 1/2011)
Any additional question marks (why learn Spanish?) would be covered by the nature of the responsibilities or accomplishments in the Senior Marketing Consultant position that started in 4/2011, or if not then in a statement included as part of the job/school application. In this rough simulation above, the gap makes sense, as it appears this person chose to study Spanish prior to starting their current position, where it would presumably be useful.
Skill-Based Resumes:
A skill-based resume groups working experience by the nature of the work, rather than in a chronological way. Here is the same example as above, but reorganized into a skill-based format (with the academic and additional sections deleted for the purpose of the example).
Strategic Consulting Experience:
Company A, Barcelona Spain
Senior Strategic Consultant 4/2011 - present
Company B, New York, USA
Business Consultant 4/2006 - 3/2009
Company C, New York, USA
Business Consultant 4/2004 - 3/2006
Marketing Experience:
Company B, New York, USA
Marketing Project Manager 4/2009 - 9/2010
Company C, New York, USA
Marketing Manager 4/2002 - 3/2004
Other Experience:
Company C, New York, USA
Administration Manager 4/2001 - 3/2002
In this case, the line items are unchanged, but their order is changed. The idea here is to highlight a certain strain of working experience that is particularly useful for the position being applied for. In this case, one might assume the person is aiming for a role related to Strategic Consulting. The gap in experience is de-emphasized, as are any switches between functions, because the jobs are not listed in a chronological order. In a skill-based resume, the person may or may not choose to list the dates next to each position. Instead, the focus is on the experience gained within each area.
2) Why is a Chronological Resume Preferable?
A) It's clear and complete.
Reader often scan the dates to see if gaps exist. I think it's a natural reaction to a resume, I have certainly done this for the hundreds (thousands?) of resumes I have scanned in my career. The first test of a resume is that it is complete, and documents your background and progress. It does not need to include everything - but at the least you should aim to account for all of your time. There is no problem with having a gap between jobs, or between experiences - as long as it is explained somewhere in the resume. Note as well that if Job A finished on May 11, 2006, and Job B began on June 27, 2006, I would not consider this a gap at all:
Job B 6/2006 - x/200x
Job A x/200x - 5/2006
There is no gap here that the resume needs to address.
A skill-based resume is often chosen when there is a break in the working experience, or a period of time that is difficult to explain or wholly irrelevant to the position you are applying for. The problem here is that the reader of the resume is most likely aware of this strategy. So, in essence, it backfires, as the skill-based resume may cause the reader to attempt to find a problem, solely because of the choice of the format in which it was written. If a recruiter, employer, or school admissions officer is only going to give your resume 1-3 minutes anyways, it would be advisable that this time is spent admiring accomplishments, not hunting for disasters. This is the case whether your resume ultimately has chronological gaps or not.
B) It better shows career progress.
The younger you are, the more important this is. In any case, most people's career arcs upward in responsibility and accomplishment, and you should use a chronological resume to highlight your own arc as best as possible. By breaking up your experience in other ways, the overall impact of the growth of your responsibility is harder to see. If your resume is chronological, but you worry that the progression of your career is hard to see, than you may not be emphasizing the right responsibilities or accomplishments in your career descriptions and bullet points.
C) The skills can be summarized effectively elsewhere.
Rarely is a resume meant to speak for itself. Rather it is an introduction, and comes along with an essay (school application) or cover letter (job application). The essay or cover letter is a better place to note that you have "over 8 years of experience in strategic consulting". Such headlines are rarely effective on a resume. So, instead of making a skill-based resume, consider a chronological one and be sure to include a cover letter or description in the essay as to what choices you have made, what skills you have gained, and how they are important to the job you are applying for, or the program you want to enter and future goals you aim to achieve.
Have you thought about the contents of your resume today?
John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com
