A combined resume is a combination between a chronological and a functional resume. For example, you can let the first page describe your skills and objectives based on a functional resume and on the other you tell the reader your experiences in a reverse chronological order. This structure is becoming more and more common as it is adapted to both a recruiter who prefers a more classic chronological resume but also one who prefers the characteristics of a functional resume. Experiment with different headings and paragraphs taken from the functional and chronological resume to get the best possible combination. Try to get yourself into the recruiter’s role and think of what information is most relevant and what would catch your attention. Below you can see a suggestion on how to structure your combined resume.
Heading
At the top, you should have a heading that tells you that the document is a resume and your name. For example, it can say ‘Resume First Name Last Name’ or Curriculum Vitae – First Name Last Name’.
Contact details
Make sure to have your contact details clearly at the top of your resume. You want to facilitate as much as possible for the recruiter if they find you interesting. It is advisable to place the most important contact details in the document header so that they are also included and available on all pages. The information that may be good to include are:
• Name
• Phone number
• E-mail address
• Home address
If you are active on LinkedIn you can link your profile as well.
Picture
The issue of having a picture or not is debated. Having a picture of yourself often makes it easier for the recruiter to remember you. Many recruiters also like to get a face on the candidate they are reading about.
If you choose to include an image, it is important that you choose one that is appropriate and in the same tonality as the service you are looking for. If you are looking for an office job, a stricter upholstery and an image with neutral background is most suitable. However, do not be afraid to smile and look nice. A professional image does not mean you have to look serious. See the photo as a chance to show more of your personality.
Something to avoid is a photo with several people in, a bikini picture from a holiday, a selfie or a picture from a night out with your friends. If you do not have a more serious image, it will not take long to put on a shirt or bouse and have someone take your picture against a single-color wall.
Aim
Here you can tell about your goals and aspirations both in life and regarding your career, but also what you would like to achieve within the job you have applied for and at the company.
Professional strengths
Then start with a brief description of yourself and your personal professional profile. Here you can present your personality and your main skills in a few sentences to give the recruiter a quick insight into you and your skills.
Subject area
Here you list the various areas that you have experience in and that are relevant to the service you want to apply for. It can be for example administration, construction, sales, accounting or leadership. If you choose ‘leadership’ as a heading, then you list all the experiences you have where leadership was included in some form. It could be an employment as a project manager, chairman of a tenant-owner association, a coach for a football team or a course you took in leadership. Here, the time period or the chronological order plays a minor role without the focus being on emphasizing that you have broad knowledge in a specific area.
Employments
On the other side of your resume, you can now start listing your experience based on a reverse chronological order. Here you tell about your previous work experience with information about title, company, city, time period and possibly a brief description of the service and your work tasks.
Education
Then you tell the reader about the education you have. Depending on how far you have come in your career you may choose to state your high school education or not. If you have a university education, you can exclude high school of you do not think it would add anything of value to your application. Tell the reader what the education was called, what school, place and time period it covered. Also give a description of the education and give examples of some relevant courses you took.
Language and computer skills
Here you state what languages you speak and rate your knowledge on, for example on a scale of 1-5 or moderate knowledge to fluent. Also tell what computer programs you have worked in and feel that you are mastered and rate them on a scale as well.
References
If it is not specifically requested in the job advertisement, you should not write the name and contact details of your references in your resume, but it usually comes in a later step in the recruitment process. Instead, write something like ‘references are gladly provided on request’.
However, it is good to think now who could be a good reference to use. Can it be a former colleague, manager, customer, teacher or course mate? You should of course choose people who you know will have positive things to say about you. It can also be good to have several different references: one that certifies how knowledgeable you are in a particular subject area and one that can tell more about how you are as a person and colleague for example. It is important to ask the people you intend to use as references and tell them what kind of service you are looking for.
To think of:
• Be careful with spelling and grammar – always ask someone else to proofread before submitting.
• Be extra careful that your contact information is correct – you do not want to miss a chance to interview because you forgot a number in your phone number.
• Customize your resume to any job you are looking for – it will dramatically increase your chances of getting an interview.
• Save your resume in PDF file format – it guarantees that the document looks the same on the recipient’s computer.
• Complete your resume with a personal letter in a uniform design.