Combination resumes are perfect for those job seekers who have quite a bit of career history or candidates who want to jump into a new field. Like a functional resume, this style focuses on abilities. When applying for the position that requires certain technical skills or expertise, a combination resume is the most effective option to present them. It helps you emphasize relevant qualifications over work experience.
Include more transferable skills to make your career change easy. Although a combination resume focuses more on your abilities, it still has a lot of space to provide important details about your work history. If you have an impressive list of job duties and major accomplishments in previous positions, this type is your top choice.
What is a Resume With a Combination?
It’s one of the most popular resume formats. A combination or hybrid resume usually consists of two basic pages or parts, including:
- A functional format that highlights accomplishments and skills,
- Your work history in its reverse chronological order.
You can use both parts interchangeable. Everything depends on the type you’re making. A resume with a combination uses the benefits of functional and chronological formats because it focuses on both your skills and work experience to attract a recruiter’s attention.
Advantages of This Resume Type
This resume format appeals to recruiters for senior positions with highly-specialized skills because it confirms that a job seeker has the necessary employment history. It’s not suitable for entry-level applicants. Who else should choose it? A combination resume is perfect for candidates with a lot of work experience and a set of related accomplishments and skills. It’s suitable if you want a career change.
This resume should cover both your abilities and reputable employers you’ve worked with to emphasize your excellent work history and showcase all transferable skills. If a candidate has held the same position or has worked for the same company for a long time, this format is useful in providing achievements and qualifications for other job posts.
What are Combination Resume Disadvantages?
There are certain disadvantages that a combination resume has. Read on to find out more:
- It can be longer than other resume styles and can exceed a perfect length of 1-2 pages based on your employment history;
- Employment gaps and career changes are visible in the work history section;
- Repetition of values can be predominant in this template.
How to Structure a Combination Format Resume?
Feel free to benefit from its flexibility. Move different sections around to make your resume more appealing to hiring managers or try to integrate work experiences into their chronological list to keep its focus. A combination format resume should start with a summary of qualifications, include special sections that cover skills and education, and end with your employment history list.
Cite the most relevant positions. Don’t forget about adding responsibilities from these roles. Experiment with different layouts on a good online resume builder to pick the one that can help you emphasize the strongest qualities.
The main point is to include these parts in your combination resume:
- Personal information,
- Your qualifications summary or professional profile,
- Additional skills,
- Work experience and history,
- Education.
Personal Information
Any application requires basic data. That’s why you need to include your contact details, name, professional email, phone number, home address, and profiles on specific networks.
Professional Profile
Start your resume with a qualifications summary or a professional profile to showcase the necessary skill set and learn their differences. A qualifications summary emphasizes corresponding achievements. A professional profile addresses the skills gained in previous projects. Although both options have the same goal, many job seekers prefer a qualifications summary to highlight both accomplishments and abilities.
Additional Skills
Put the skills section above your employment history when creating a combination resume because it holds equivalent weight. Group similar qualifications and quantify them.
Work History
Many job seekers make a common mistake by marketing their basic responsibilities of each previous position, but you should communicate them and make your points accomplishment-oriented. If you’re a computer programmer, avoid stating that you used to program software because it’s necessary to mention your projects and their quality.
This combination resume section provides only relevant points. Quantify your case to prove your talents to potential employers or recruiters, focus on accomplishments, and avoid mentioning irrelevant job duties.
Education
Include your educational certificates, degree, prominent academic success, and other relevant details in a combination resume, but make this section brief. This format doesn’t especially highlight education.
Key Takeaways
A combination resume is a perfect option for experienced professionals to make hiring managers pay attention to their prominent skills. This layout is great for job seekers with some career history if they want to use their current abilities and knowledge in a new industry. How to make it work? Follow these simple guidelines:
- Quantify your abilities and link them to the examples of awards, certifications, and other achievements;
- Tailor your qualifications and summary to a specific job description without showing off your skillset;
- Use bullet points under every job title to depict your objectives and responsibilities in each profile;
- Briefly showcase achievements and explain duties while listing your career history;
- Provide a potential employer with a helpful guide to the type of worker you are for assessing how you’ll perform in a new position.
Do You Need Help?
If you have any questions about creating a combination resume after reading the above-mentioned tips, contact a team of professional writers. They’ll provide you with excellent resume templates. Take advantage of their vast expertise and knowledge to increase your chance to impress hiring managers and secure future job interviews.