A combination format enables the power to promote an employee as a confident expert. Being well-written, it may push an applicant up to a top tier of the luckiest ones who get an interview. The article enlightens combination resume definition, provides building tips, shows the effectiveness with all strengths and shortcomings.
Combination Format
If you hesitate about the format to choose for your resume, note, that each kind is advantageous at a definite stage in your professional life. Recognizing the stage you are at and the goals you put helps to choose any from the following formats:
- Chronological
- Functional;
- Combination;
- Target;
- Mini resume.
A chronological resume brings a steady career history in HR’s focus, disclosing work history, describing relevant duties. Functional format implicates the importance of the skills, prevailing over the background. It easily drops out unexplored facts of employment gaps. Target or mini format is not very common. It will need a specific background and definite vacancies to get chosen.
The combination resume is a popular format for presenting your profile. It is handy when any type mentioned above is not working for some reason. Let us look closer in what case it grips the recruiters’ attention.
Combination Resume Definition
A combination resume is a synopsis of your professional stages, the hybrid version of both popular formats. It quilts the most significant elements of chronological resume with its work history. The part of it looks like a functional document inheriting its skill evaluation.
This type of resume renders two pages. The first page, built in a functional format, highlights accomplishments by special skill clusters. The second page represents a compressed reverse-chronological listing of workplaces you held.
When a Combination Resume Can Help
To get all benefits of the suitable format, check if you fall into any of the categories, listed below:
- Students, recent graduates, entry-level workers with sketchy work experience;
- Applicants who boast with steady job history and strong credentials;
- Job seekers who have gaps in employment or job-hoppers;
- Applicants intended to change careers with relevant and transferable skills;
- Workforce re-enterers, returning after an absence;
- Older workers with decades of experience.
Combination Resume Structure and Tips
The structure of the hybrid document is flexible. It looks like a backbone, where you change the clusters in a way it works best for your need. Many samples or templates from resume builders organize the sections order as follows:
- Full Name/Contact Details;
- Education;
- Honors/Certificates;
- Skills/Accomplishments/Soft Skills;
- Professional achievements/awards;
- Reverse chronological order of the positions you held.
Qualifications Section
Put more attention to the qualifications cluster. The win-win strategic tip is to strike with a compelling summary. It should entice the recruiters to read the document until the end.
Try to use similar keywords with those from the vacancy ad. Put your expertise and job activities in order of relevance. The beneficial elements for the summary section are the following:
- Headline or tagline;
- Career goal;
- Skills, expertise, accomplishments;
- Abilities, achievements, job duties.
Job History Section
The majority of potential employers prefer a chronological format. To keep it in your resume you should proceed with a reverse-chronological experience section. Qualifications summary leaves not enough space for work history, therefore you should be concise about writing job duties to emphasize accomplishments.When mentioning your professional achievements, do not forget that this is the perfect moment for your awards to put on a resume. Never add any information about jobs unrelated to the vacancy.
Other Sections
Being a student or recent graduate, place the education section above that with experience. Fill in other sections with the specific information about a unique experience, you got in:
- Training;
- Affiliations;
- Soft skills;
- Volunteer work;
- Languages.
Combination Format Pros and Cons
Choosing this format is not always the right route for candidates. It gives a general notion of your abilities, amplifying accomplishments, applicable to the pursued position. An account of jobs showcases career progression, providing a sense of security for a hiring manager.But in some cases, you should beware of using this format.
Pros
- As a marketing tool, the combination resume format is ideal for applicants with significant job experience and strong abilities.
- Recruiters never neglect this format, looking for senior executive positions with special skills, which can get identified at hand and confirm the required experience.
- It will be the best format for radical changes in a career if you can boast with vast experience in reputed companies.
- It is good to emphasize your expertise when you have a long run in the same position.
Cons
- The length of a combination resume may become an important issue.
- Nobody likes the repetition of details, which combination format abounds.
- The work history section makes noticeable any illogical career progression, work change, or gap.
A combination resume is the best when you have either skills or experience. With knowledge of the combination resume definition and basic principles of writing, you can create an effective image of the specialist and land your most wanted job.
