chronological resume order

Chronological Resume - Writing Guide With 5 Free Templates

The chronological resume - also known as the “reverse chronological resume” - is the most popular resume format out there.

Particularly advisable for those with rich work history, the chronological resume prioritizes and lists your work experience and achievements from most to least recent.

This article is here to teach you all there is to know about creating a chronological resume.

• What is a Chronological Resume? 

Chronological Resume Structure 

• When to Use a Chronological Resume Format? 
• 4 Free Chronological Resume Templates
• How to Create a Chronological Resume - Step by Step
• 9+ Chronological Resume Examples for All Industries

What is a Chronological Resume?

A chronological resume lists your work experiences and achievements starting from the current or most recent one, and following up with previous jobs below.

For this exact reason, the chronological resume is the perfect choice for job-seekers who have plenty of experience and achievements to list on their resume .  

What’s most important, studies point to the chronological resume being a favorite among recruiters, too.

Why? Well, because you are applying for a job, so work experience in your resume will be the first thing a recruiter looks out for.

But worry not, you can structure your resume in a chronological format even as a recent graduate too. Or, you can opt for other popular formats fitter to your profile.

But first, let’s go through the basics. 

The chronological resume follows a straightforward structure. The only thing to keep in mind is that your current or most recent experience - be it professional or educational - comes first.

The second most recent will follow, and so on.

Here are the main and most popular sections for the chronological resume structure:

• Contact information
• Professional title and resume summary/objective
• Work experience and achievements
• Education section
• Your top soft/hard skills
• Include optional sections (languages, certificates, volunteer experience, etc)

If you’re a recent college graduate and want to build your resume in the chronological structure format, you still can.

All you have to do is rearrange the order of your resume sections so that the education resume section comes first.

Here, too, make sure that your education entries are listed from the most to least recent, and you’re good to go!

If reading this is already looking too complicated and time-consuming, try out the Novorésumé online resume builder . Novorésumé provides 8+ free resume templates that follow the chronological resume structure. 

When to Use a Chronological Resume Format

The three main types of resume formats are the chronological, functional/skills-based one, and a combination resume format of the two. What you choose to use will depend on the type of job you are applying for and your experience level.

In the majority of cases, the obvious choice is the chronological resume. It is common, it highlights just the right sections, and job recruiters prefer it over the other formats.

Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean you should just cross the other options off your list, especially if your work experience doesn’t amount to much.

Consider these other two formats, taking into account their advantages and disadvantages as well: 

Functional Resume

• Perfect for students or recent graduates, as it highlights your skills. 
• Offers creative space for a varied portfolio 
• Difficult to pass through the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) that most companies use to scan through countless resumes they receive daily. 
• It conceals your experiences, however minor they might be. 

Combination Resume

• A great choice for job-seekers with a diverse skill-set, because it highlights both skills and experiences. 
• It can mask gaps in your employment history since you can also list your skills, so it’s the second-best option for those who lack work experience. 
• It is a really good fit only for highly specialized professionals who have a very diverse skill-set. Say, for example, that you’re applying for a role that requires expertise in 3-4 different fields, and you want to show all that in your resume - then, the combination resume really is the one for you.
• It is hard to organize. As a professional with a diverse skill-set, it might be a challenge to decide which part of your expertise to prioritize in the combination resume format.

4 Chronological Resume Templates 

Below, you will find 5 chronological resume templates out of many free resume templates. Dig right in to find the best match for you. 

#1. Creative Chronological Resume Template 

#2: Modern Chronological Resume Template 

#3: Professional Chronological Resume Template

#4: Functional Chronological Resume Template

How to Create a Chronological Resume

Now that we mentioned the traditional structure, let’s go through each section one by one to create the perfect chronological resume. 

#1: Start With a Contact Information Section 

Depending on the template you have chosen for your chronological resume, there is a possibility that your name will be directly followed by your professional title right at the top.

How do you fill up your professional title in chronological resume format? Easy. If you’re not looking to change career paths your professional title should be your current title. However, if you’re changing career paths, then choosing the combination resume mentioned above might be a better option for you.

Regarding the rest of the contact information section on your chronological resume, it should be current and lacking any typos. The mandatory elements of the information section include: 

• First and last name
• Phone number
• Email address
• LinkedIn URL (optional)

#2: Add a Resume Summary or Resume Objective

  Second in the chronological resume comes your ‘profile’ as a candidate, which is expressed through a resume summary or a resume objective .

Wondering what the difference is?

Well, the summary is a short (2-3 sentences) overview of your career so far and it is used in 90% of resumes - especially by those with two or more years of work experience. A summary is a perfect fit for the chronological resume.

On the contrary, a resume objective represents your aspirational career goal and highlights your skills, making it perfect for entry-level professionals with little work experience, or job-seekers looking to completely switch career paths. 

#3: Fill in Your Work Experience 

This is, without a doubt, the section that weighs the most when it comes to the chronological resume, so it’s vital that you get it right.

Your work experience section is there to show the recruiter what you can bring to the table through your past accomplishments and responsibilities and what the company would be gaining were they to hire you.   

Feeling pressured? Don’t. There are many practices to help your work experience section stand out in the eyes of the recruiter.

If you are looking for more tips and tricks to help you take your resume to the next level, head over to our beginner’s guide on how to write a resume . 

Here are the key points you should keep in mind when it comes to the work section:

• This is the most important so we’ll be repeating it as many times as it takes: your current or latest job position should be placed on top. Then come the previous ones, all the way to your earliest job position. 
• For each entry, list your job title and position, the company and its location, as well as the dates when you were employed. 
• List your achievements and responsibilities, with a higher focus on quantifiable achievements, whenever you can. 
• Use bullet points instead of just text to express what you have achieved and what you were responsible for in every job entry. 
• Tailor the resume to the position you are applying for. For example, if you’ve had too many jobs in the past and some of them don’t relate to the field you are now applying for, then they are just taking space. Feel free to omit them.

Here’s a close-up of a work experience section in the chronological resume:   

#4: Add an Education Section

Generally, the education section comes right after work experience. 

If, however, you have just graduated college and want to create a chronological resume to start applying for jobs, the education section can replace the experience section that you’d be lacking. 

Either way, the education section should be brief but jam-packed with information that can communicate your values and skills to the recruiter.

Here’s what the education section consists of: 

• Program Name: E.g. “MA in Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies” 
• University Name: E.g. “University of Greenwich”
• Period Attended: E.g. “08/1214 - 05/2018”
• (Optional) GPA: E.g. “3.9 GPA”
• (Optional) Honors: E.g. “ Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, Summa Cum Laude”
• (Optional) Academic Achievements: E.g. Papers you might have published, or awards received.  
• (Optional) Minor: E.g. “Minor in Political Science”  

#5: Spice Up Your Chronological Resume With Your Skills

Needless to say, the reverse-chronological order doesn’t really apply in the skills section. 

What you can do, however, is begin by listing your hard skills and then your soft skills. 

Unsure of what this means? 

• Hard skills are measurable abilities. These can range from programming in Python language to knowing how to use Photoshop and InDesign.
• Soft skills are personal skills. They vary from attitude to flexibility, motivation and teamwork. 

Listing your skills has its own peculiarities, so don’t pay this section less attention than the ones above it, especially if you’re a recent college student. Pay attention to skills specifically required at the job ad and if you have them, make sure to include them. 

Here’s an example of how your skills section can look like:  

#6: Include Any of These Optional Sections

Last but not least, come these optional sections.  

Having them in your resume can earn you extra points and even separate you from the competitors, but only if they don’t make your resume longer than it should be (1-2 pages maximum) and if they are relevant to the job position.

Some of those sections include (but are not limited to):

• Languages : If you speak two or more languages, don’t fail to put that in your resume. To list them, simply categorize your proficiency level into native, fluent, proficient, intermediate, or basic . 
• Hobbies & Interests : They can help humanize you and show a part of your personality that work and education can’t. If
• Volunteering Experience : Studies show that volunteering experience actually raises your chances of getting hired . 
• Certification & Awards : If you have awards that make you stand out in your field or certifications from experts that are relevant to the position you are applying for, don’t hesitate to show them off!

Not sure how adding volunteering experience works? Check our article on how to list volunteer experience on your resume .  

10 Chronological Resume Examples for All Industries

Now let us walk you through a few practical examples of what the chronological resume looks like depending on the industry. 

#1. Business Chronological Resume

In the world of business, accomplishments matter. This is why in this business chronological resume , the work experience section is jam-packed with measurable information on what the employee achieved in his previous professional experiences. 

#2. Computer Science Chronological Resume

Computer science jobs are heavily based on hard skills - in addition to your previous work experiences, that is. So, make sure to include your hard skills on your computer science resume to impress recruiters. 

#3. Architect Chronological Resume 

As you can see from the example above, the sections that follow your work experience and education can be placed according to your profile. If, for example, you’ve worked on some side projects that you feel do your resume more justice than your skills, feel free to prioritize those projects.

In this article, you can find what’s expected from an architect’s resume in more detail.

#4. Nurse Chronological Resume  

Action verbs can really make an active professional like that of a nurse shine. So when you list your achievements under your experience, use strong verbs that can paint a picture of who you are and what you can do.

#5. Pharmacist Chronological Resume 

With plenty of attributes up their sleeve, the chronological format is the perfect choice for a pharmacist’s resume . 

#6. Project Manager Chronological Resume 

Project manager resumes have good chances to show industry expertise - given they hold the manager title - and highlight successful projects. Feel free to do both in your chronological resume, as shown above. 

#7. Web Developer Chronological Resume

As you can see in the example, the candidate has chosen to place his courses and training above his education. When you have followed courses or have been trained in the exact field of work where you’re applying, it makes sense to rank the field-specific courses and training higher than your university education. 

This article has more information on how to perfect your Web Developer Resume .

#8. Teacher Chronological Resume 

This is another “special” example of a chronological resume. Right after the experience section, the candidate has listed their volunteering experience. Not normally the case, it makes sense here because the volunteering experience has been as a tutor - which is pretty much the same thing as a teacher in the teacher resume . 

In cases when your volunteering experience is directly connected to the job you are applying for, feel free to list it under professional experience as well. 

#9. Bar Manager Chronological Resume 

For more info on how to update your own bar manager chronological resume for 2024, this is the article for you. 

#10. Human Resources Chronological Resume

The example says it all: the chronological resume does wonders showing the peak of your work experience first, and then going back to your professional history and skills. This article on the HR chronological resume has more tips on how to perfect it.

Discover More Resume Templates

• Combination Resume Templates
• Creative Resume Templates
• Functional Resume Templates
• Minimalistic Resume Templates
• High School Resume Templates
• One Page Resume Templates
• 2 Page Resume Templates
• Google Docs Resume Templates
• Word Resume Templates

Key Takeaways 

And that’s a wrap! 

Let’s do a quick recap of the main points covered in this article: 

• The chronological resume - or reverse chronological - is a top choice among candidates with years of professional experience and a favorite among recruiters.
• The chronological resume focuses on your work experience, starting your current or most recent one, and following up with the rest - from most to least recent.
• Recent college graduates that want to use this format can - simply replace the work section with the education section, following the same reverse-chronological order.
• Save time and energy building the reverse chronological resume from scratch by using online resume builders , such as the one Novorésumé offers.   

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Chronological Resume: The Best Format? (And How to Write It)

By Biron Clark

Published: December 4, 2023

Biron Clark

Writer & Career Coach

If you’re wondering whether you should use a chronological resume format (also referred to as reverse-chronological resume format) or trying to get help with how to write it, then this article is for you.

And if you’ve been told to use a functional resume because you’re changing careers or have a work gap , then this article will help you, too! (And my advice on this topic might surprise you).

Here’s what you’re going to learn:

• What is a chronological resume? And what is a functional resume?
• Why it’s NOT beneficial to use a functional resume in most cases, and why the chronological resume format will get you the most interviews
• How to write your chronological resume

Definition: What is a Chronological Resume?

Chronological resumes are resumes written in a format that lists your work experience based on the dates it occurred. Working downward from the beginning of your Work Experience section, you should start listing your most recent positions first. So the top of the section will contain your current or most recent job. Below that on your resume will be your next most recent job.

This is how to write a chronological resume, which is also commonly called the reverse chronological resume. (They’re the same, just different terms. Always start with your most recent job at the top of your Work Experience. Here are some examples ).

What is Reverse Chronological Order?

As mentioned above, reverse chronological order means that your previous jobs are listed in order of date, beginning with your most recent position at the top. Your final entry in the list should be your oldest or least recent position. This is why the term reverse chronological resume is sometimes used.

Note that you’re NOT obligated to list every job on your resume! You can choose where to begin telling your career story, or whether to omit a certain job for strategic reasons (for example, if it was only a three-month position, and isn’t related to your current career path).

So I’m not suggesting that you must start with the first job you ever held. However, once you’ve chosen a starting point for your resume work history, you should list those positions in reverse chronological order as described above.

Chronological Resume Example:

If you’re still not 100% clear on what chronological order on a resume looks like, here is an example work history section from a chronological resume:

Work Experience

IBM (2019-Present) Senior Product Manager

Brief paragraph describing the role. Don’t write too much here, because you should mostly show your accomplishments and work via bullet points .

• Launched a Groundbreaking Product: Led the launch of XYZ product, resulting in a 25% increase in market share within the first quarter.
• Implemented Strategic Partnerships: Fostered key partnerships that boosted revenue by 30% and expanded the product’s reach to new markets.
• Streamlined Processes: Initiated a process overhaul, reducing project delivery time by 20%, improving efficiency, and ensuring timely product launches.

Microsoft (2016-2019) Product Manager

Brief paragraph describing the role. Two or three sentences is ideal, and you should try to put numbers and metrics whenever possible.

• Product Revamp: Spearheaded a product revamp that led to a 40% increase in user engagement and a 15% growth in customer satisfaction.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Fostered collaboration between development and marketing teams, resulting in a 25% reduction in time-to-market for new features.
• Revenue Growth: Implemented pricing optimization strategies that contributed to a 20% growth in product revenue over the course of two years.

Notice that the most recent or current job is listed at the top of the work history, and then you move downward for each previous job. The resume date format can vary slightly, depending on what you think is best for your work experience, just make sure that you keep it consistent.

So now you know what chronological resumes should look like, including a real example/template you can use to figure out your own! Next, I’ll explain why recruiters and hiring managers prefer this format, and why it will get you more interviews.

Should Your Resume Be Chronological?

After recruiting for 5 years, I can say without a doubt: Yes, your resume should be in chronological format.

The first reason that you should use a chronological resume date format is: this is what hiring managers and recruiters are accustomed to seeing and prefer.

Why do Recruiters Prefer Chronological Resumes?

Functional resumes are confusing and difficult to gather info from.

When I worked as a recruiter , I had multiple hiring managers send a functional resume back to me, and tell me to have the candidate rewrite it in chronological format. They simply don’t want to read a functional resume because they cannot gather enough info from it.

(If you don’t know, a functional resume lists your skills and past work without any dates. It groups them by skill type or functional area and not by chronological order. So that’s the definition of a functional resume).

This deprives hiring managers and recruiters of important info and context. They’re not as able to understand your career story or see how recently, or for how long, you used certain skills. Therefore, they are less likely to feel confident in inviting you to interview.

(Hiring managers want to interview people who are likely to be able to step into the job and succeed. They want the necessary info to make that decision before occupying their time with an interview).

So, with each online job getting hundreds of applicants, there’s no reason for a hiring manager to struggle to understand the one or two functional resumes they receive. They’ll just move on to a resume that’s written in the format they prefer – which is chronological, with an easy-to-follow resume date format.

The Best Resume Format for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) have been the superheroes of the hiring game in recent years. It’s like a super-smart software wizard designed to make recruiters’ lives easier. 

What does it do, you ask? Well, it’s the maestro that scans, parses, and ranks resumes based on keywords, qualifications, and experience. Many companies use these systems for initial resume screenings, so if your resume does not align with the system you might be filtered out of the hiring process even if you are the best candidate for the job.

So should you be using chronological resumes to optimize for applicant tracking systems? Yes, definitely!

Chronological resumes present a clear and organized account of your career path. This straightforward format works well with ATS algorithms, ensuring a smooth and easily comprehensible read for the system to grasp your professional history clearly.

When is a Chronological Resume Not Advantageous?

Many experts will tell you that a chronological resume, or a reverse chronological resume, is not advantageous when you’ve had gaps in your work history, when you’ve had a non-traditional or unusual career path, or when you’re attempting to change careers.

However, even in these cases, most hiring managers will prefer reverse-chronological resumes if they are well-written and the resume date format is easy to follow.

You can explain work gaps right in your employment history section.

You can tailor your work experience to show the pieces of work you’ve done that are most relevant for the job you’ve applied for now… even during a career change.

For more help with this, we have a full article on how to write a resume for a career change. If you click that link, I explain more about why a functional resume isn’t ideal, and one of the career coaches who I featured in the article confirms it. To quote her:

As a former corporate recruiter, I am not a fan of functional resumes. Recruiters are taught to scan resumes chronologically. When you take the experience out of context or “order,” it often gives the recruiter the impression you are trying to hide or fudge the experience.

The bottom line is: Trying to hide the dates and order of work will only frustrate and confuse hiring managers and cost you job interviews.

So my answer to, “Should resumes be chronological?” is a resounding “Yes.”

Now that we’ve covered what differentiates a chronological and functional resume, and which you should be using if you want to get more interviews, let’s talk about how to start writing it!

How Do You Write a Chronological Resume?

To start writing your resume, make sure you understand the format and have reviewed the reverse chronological resume example from earlier in this article.

Then, here are the steps to write your chronological resume:

1. Enter company names, dates of employment, and job titles .

You can list dates in terms of years, or months and years. Whatever you decide, keep it consistent.

You can also list the city/state of each job if you choose. This is also optional and is a personal decision when setting up your chronological resumes.

2. If you held multiple roles within a company, show each job title separately on your resume .

This is important so that employers can see that you advanced/progressed in the company. Recruiters typically love this!

Here’s another example of a chronological resume, where you can see two distinct job titles listed under one single employer. This person was promoted from Sales Rep to Branch Manager.

3. Write bullet points describing each role you’ve held .

Each role should have multiple bullet points describing what you accomplished and did for the employer. (Not just saying, “responsible for ___”.)

It’s much better to start with a verb like, “led six team members…,” or “grew our department revenue by…”)

This article has resume bullet examples to help you.

4. Write a brief paragraph to describe each role (above the bullet points) .

This is optional. As you can see in the resume example above, it’s possible to go directly from job titles to bullets, without any paragraph content.

However, if you’d like, you can write a brief paragraph about what you did in the role overall. This can provide more context to the reader.

However, this paragraph should be concise, and you should never put it instead of bullets. I recommend 2-3 sentences at most. The bullets are more important and will be read more closely.

5. Add metrics and data when possible .

You’ll get more interviews by being specific and talking about results on your resume, rather than responsibilities. So try to pack your bullets with metrics… like dollar amounts, percent increases, number of people you led or trained, etc.

You don’t need to be in sales to have metrics! (I hear this common objection a lot).

For example, if you’re an editor for a company’s news blog, you could write:

“Edited and published 30 articles per month for the company blog, which was read by 40,000 people each month and generated an average of 10 qualified leads for the business .”

The more specific you can be on your resume, the better. So if you see an opportunity to add facts, data, and metrics in any of the paragraphs OR bullets you’ve written, do it.

Here’s another example of how to write about results rather than responsibilities:

Which sounds more impressive…

“Responsible for leading the customer service team and handling all inbound requests for the company”

“Led the 22-person customer service team which handled 250+ inbound requests per day via phone and email”

That second option is going to grab attention and get you more interviews from top employers.

6. Add other necessary resume sections .

After you’ve written your professional experience in chronological order, you then need to fill your chronological resume out with the other key sections, including:

• Your header/contact info.
• A resume summary paragraph.
• Your skills section.
• Your education section.

If you need more help understanding what order to put these in, and how everything fits together in the “big picture” of your resume, this article has more info on the important sections of a resume.

7. Consider adding optional sections .

You can also include one or more of the optional resume sections on your chronological resume:

• Volunteer work/community involvement.
• Honors & awards.
• Testimonials from past coworkers/managers.
• A secondary skills section (sometimes it makes sense to separate your skills into two sections. See the image below for an example).

If you read everything above, you now know why the chronological resume (also called reverse chronological resume) is the format that employers prefer.

It shows the important information that they want to see in your work history, including information that functional resume formats don’t include – like how recently you did each type of work, and for how long.

Without this information, many employers will not be interested in interviewing you.

They just can’t possibly know enough to determine whether you’re a good potential fit for their job. So at best, they’ll ask you to send a chronological resume instead, and at worst, they’ll invite other candidates to interview and you’ll never hear from them.

So that’s a scenario that we want to avoid, and you can do that by writing your professional experience in reverse chronological order.

By combining this with sections detailing your skills, your education, and other key qualifications, you will get more callbacks when you apply for jobs so you can find a new job faster.

If you want to see more resume examples and advice, this article has 3 more work experience examples that follow the advice above.

About the Author

Read more articles by Biron Clark

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Chronological Resume Templates

Classic chronological templates are popular for a reason - they do their job. Use one of the tried-and-tested resume formats below to secure your interview.

Double Column

Chronological resume template. Education position is reversed to focus more on the experience.

Single Column

Reverse chronological resume template. Classic one-column style for chronological resumes.

Chronological timeline template. Additional line between job titles makes up for a clean and presentable resume.

Professional resume template. A sleek and straightforward design that conveys a sense of professionalism and competence.

Modern resume template. A stylish two-column design with a pop of color to stand out from the crowd.

Creative resume template. Showcase your unique personality with a custom design that speaks to your creativity.

In This Guide:

What is a chronological resume template, who should use a chronological resume, tips for building the best chronological resume template, chronological resume templates pros and cons.

Chronological resume template is the most commonly used format in resumes, and recruiters prefer them to others. A reverse chronological order resume template lists your jobs, starting with the current or most recent one at the top. It provides comprehension opportunities for hiring managers to see your experience.

Have it in mind that chronological and reverse chronological resume templates are essentially the same thing. Because they list your experience chronologically, but in a reverse way, starting with your most recent job. You can use Enhancv builder to build your chronological resume in the best way possible.

People who can get all the advantages that chronological resume templates offer are jobseekers at any professional level with a consistent work history without gaps between roles.

However, reverse chronological order can work for just about anyone looking for a job. This resume formatting is simple and professional, and you can effortlessly apply it to any resume design.

Resumes in chronological order are very convenient for students because this formatting is the easiest way to organize their limited experience.

Choosing this format is easily understood by recruiters because chronological resume templates are the most popular layout hiring managers see.

A chronological resume is arranged in a way to emphasize your professional experience - your education and certifications, skills, other relevant activities, or volunteer experiences. A summary statement is optional in chronological resume formatting. Excluding the cases in which you are higher-level management or changing your current professional field.

If you think a chronological resume template is not a good fit for your case, you can try a functional or combination resume template. A functional resume is focused on your skills and abilities and lists your roles and education at the bottom.

A combination resume blends a functional resume and a chronological resume and emphasizes both your skills and experience in equal measure.

Let’s create your perfect chronological resume by following the best practices.

The reverse-chronological format resume template can be applied to any design – modern or traditional. It only depends on your professional field and the type of company you are applying to. Modern design is appropriate when you are in more creative and innovative industries and want to make your resume pop up from the rest of the applicants. Use the traditional design without icons, graphics, and flashy colors for applying for positions in more traditional companies.

The best font to use for resumes is a classic, easy-to-read font, like Times New Roman or Calibri. You can use modern fonts, which are also appropriate, like Helvetica, Verdana, Ariel, or Lato. Keep in mind that ATS systems don't mind the font as long as it's readible serif or sans-serif. The regular font size for resumes is 12 points. Larger fonts are acceptable for headings, your name, or titles of sections. If you're having trouble fitting your content on one page, you might try making your font 10.5 points, but don't go lower.

Your resume should be easy for the hiring manager to digest all your best work. Using the right font in combination with colors can help that. Use white as the background, black for the text, and the remaining color as an accent. It is advisable to use for the third color some shades of blue, green, or dark red. Avoid too flashy colors.

Select the best layout

Your resume should always begin with your full, searchable name. Your name should be the biggest thing on the page. Recruiters are spending a few seconds on your resume, they should know whose it is. Show your location, there is no need to put your full home address, but recruiters expect to see your city and state. Add your contact information like your phone number and professional and easy-to-read e-mail address.

As we mentioned before, for the Chronological resume template, you can skip the summary statement section . It can be a plus to add one or two sentences about who you are as a professional and what is your experience.

Your work experience section on the Chronological resume template is the most important one. You should include responsibilities and accomplishments for each job you’ve held. If you want your resume to stand out more, you can organize your experience in two separate sections. The first one, under the header “Relevant work experience” to a specific job you are applying for, and the second section is Work Experience.

Right after your work experience section, you should list your education in reverse chronological order first on the list you should add your academic degrees, following your training and certifications . Do not list your high school diploma once you have attended college unless relevant to your professional field.

You can list your achievements on a chronological resume template in your work experience section. If you can additionally emphasize your achievements, you can lay them out in a separate section. People who don’t have much work experience can use achievements in education, volunteering, or project sections. When you list achievements, make sure they include the time frame, scale, and results.

You can design your Chronological resume template in two columns to fit all information on one page. Recurred prefer one-page resumes because they are easy to scan for the key points they are looking for in a candidate.

• The chronological format is the most commonly used, and most recruiters prefer them. This resume format draws attention to your work experience and career advancements.
• A chronological resume template is the easiest format to read for ATSs because emphasizes your work experience by putting it on top of the page.
• This resume layout works for anyone looking for any kind of job, and it is student-friendly.
• Chronological format is not recommended for people with gaps in their work history.
• This format is not a good choice if you are applying for a position in a field in which you don’t have previews experience.
• If you are just starting your career, chronological resume formatting will emphasize your lack of experience.

Frequently asked questions about chronological resume templates

Is the chronological resume best, what is the difference between a chronological and functional resume, why do most employers prefer chronological resumes to functional resumes, how far back should a resume go.

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How to write a chronological resume?

[ Click here to directly go to the complete chronological resume sample ]

That means recording them in the order of their occurrence.

Reverse chronology, on the other hand, narrates a story with the recent plot first and flows in the reverse order of occurrence.

A reverse chronological resume format holds a lot of significance as it is often adjudged to be the standard norm for all industries.

So what is a chronological resume format? When is a chronological resume not advantageous and when should you use it? How to write a chronological resume?

Well, this guide is going to answer all these questions and more about the famed reverse chronological resume format.

In case you want the summary, here it is:

• List the most recent job frist and then date back to the previous ones.
• Write dates (in mm/yy - mm/yy) format thoughout your resume.
• Helps in highlighting the professional experience section.
• Do not use this format if you have career gaps as it will highlight that.
• This format is ATS compliant which helps you get through the ATS scanner.

By the end of this guide you will learn:

• What are the different resume formats?
• Why should we use a reverse chronological resume? )
• How to write a reverse chronological resume?
• How to mention training & certifications in a chronological resume?

To start with, and to explain to you the importance of dates generally, read the section below.

According to Silvia Rosenthal & Janet Hale in their book 'A Guide to Documenting Learning', bloggers are often advised to put recent dates to otherwise old articles.

This is done to give the readers the feeling that the post is recently written which generates enough interest in the reader's mind.

You can find this universally across multiple domains and industries. Newspapers and media platforms thrive on giving you the most recent updates and the same is followed in the blogging industry. Google posts recently-updated websites and articles first.

The same logic applies to a resume.

Recruiters are more interested in seeing your latest achievements & credentials first, instead of mapping your professional journey from the start.

They are specifically looking for what you are doing right now; the question of what you did 5 years ago comes later.

In our Guide on Reverse Chronological resumes, we'll majorly talk about the following:

Reverse Chronological Resume Sample

• Formulating and reviewing pitches for new clients & supervising a digital marketing project for Sanley Dark & Deck
• Servicing high profile accounts like VHRE, and Stanford University for brand-building via digital films
• Chaired a team of 3 to create a referral network by developing affiliate partnerships in the startup ecosystem
• Amplified lead generation by liaising with ~5 prospective clients/day via multiple channels (online and offline)
• Formulated and executed social media strategy for Honest Communications, Assume Tourism and Pinochle Buildtech
• Curated social media posts using tools like Photoshop , Microsoft Photo Manager, Hemingway , Feedly, Google Alerts, etc.
• Drove lead generation and PPC campaigns using promotion tools on Twitter, Facebook, Google Adwords and Analytics
• Generated 5-7 (FB) and 9-10 (Google Ads) leads/day by effectively managing website & directing campaigns for Pinochle

Formats of a Resume

[ Back to Table of Content ]

There are globally 3 formats used for a resume:-

Reverse Chronological Resume Format

This format specifically highlights your professional work experience by putting this section in the middle.

This is the most used format for all working professionals.

You will see that the work experience section shows a chronological order example of placing present job first and the previous job after that and so on.

Chronological resume puts maximum emphasis on highlighting the points in the work experience, Achievements and Certifications sections in a reverse chronology.

Dates are mentioned with confidence knowing that it would showcase solid career path without many gaps in the same.

To see more reverse chronological resume templates, skip to the end of the article.

Functional Resume Format

Name here itself tells us that this resume is more based on functions, i.e. skills and abilities of a candidate.

Functional format is all about highlighting your particular skills that match the skill set required by the recruiter.

What we mean to say is that there might be a candidate with a very clear-cut career graph and solid career graph as compared to you.

But if your skill set and abilities are more relevant than this candidate then you can compete with this candidate on an equal footing.

In fact, you might just increase your chance of selection.

Think like this.

You have not been working from last 6 months but you have a good retail sales ability and particular skills which are relevant to a particular retail job vacancy.

And the other candidate though is working in retail sales presently and that also in a better brand but has not worked for this aspect of the profile.

Then who would be the better choice for the recruiter looking to hire for this profile?

Of course, the recruiter wants someone who can perform once he joins. And a showcase of those skills by you would guarantee the same.

So, when is a functional resume advantageous?

The answer is when you have many career gaps and not a concrete continuous work history.

Functional resume format still shows the work experience section but does not mention the dates.

So the absence of dates makes it safe for the candidate to avoid highlighting the gaps.

A drawback of a functional resume format is that since it is not widely used, it definitely puts the recruiter off looking at an unusual flow of information.

In many cases, the recruiter might even feel that there is something wrong with the career path of the candidate.

For this reason, we move to a next and more safer choice.

Combination Resume Format

As the name suggests, this format is an amalgamation of chronological resume format and functional resume format.

This should be used when you want to highlight specific skill set and would also like to show work experiences stating dates of the same.

For more details, please visit our Guide on Resume Format

Reverse Chronological Resume - Why Should You Use It?

The reverse chronological resume is ats compliant.

ATS is an automatic tracking system which is a machine recruiter specifically assigned to shortlist resumes before they actually reach human hands.

Now the fact is, it is not only the factual content which gets tracked on ATS.

It is also the format and dates and many other things.

ATS is specifically designed to shortlist a chronological resume.

So get ready to receive many interviews calls with this template.

The Reverse Chronological Resume is Easy to Draft

A chronological resume template is easy to draft as you are just talking about the tasks performed in each job with dates mentioned.

Also, since there are plenty of examples of a chronological resume template available on the net, it would never be difficult for you to really authenticate the final resume.

The Reverse Chronological Resume is Universally Accepted

The best bet about a chronological resume template is that it is a globally accepted format.

You would never have to keep changing the format while applying for different countries.

Once you have made your chronological resume, you are done till you grab a great job.

The Reverse Chronological Resume is Recruiter Friendly

Needless to say, a chronological resume template is favourite for recruiters for the ease of information flow.

Such smooth flow of information proves easy to process during resume shortlisting and during the interview.

Provide an Additional Advantage

A chronological resume template shows a clear trajectory of your professional journey which showcases you as a genuine and sincere candidate with no gaps.

This gives you an added advantage over the candidate who has many gaps in the work history.

Reverse Chronological Resume - Who should use it?

Chronological resume as we saw has many advantages but that does not mean that it is suitable for all.

Particularly the candidates who do not have a fixed career path and have taken many breaks in their career journey should avoid using it.

Chronological resume format is good for the candidates who have a concrete and continuous career path.

Chronological resume format is not good for candidates who are unemployed as of now.

It is because the first thing which comes to the recruiter's mind is that the candidate is sitting at home and is out of touch with work.

Then again, you might just get lucky if the recruiter is in hurry of hiring and an unemployed candidate could join on immediate basis. But this happens rarely.

How To Write A Chronological Resume

Personal information in a reverse chronological resume.

This section holds the top position in the resume.

Needless to say, it should not consume too much space in the resume if the resume is content heavy.

Refer to the image below:

Job Title and Professional Summary in a Reverse Chronological Resume

Rather than stating your career objective in a paragraph, it is more professional and universally acceptable to state your targeted designation and present designation as the Job Title.

At the same time, just below Job title, you must give a synopsis of the entire resume to make it easier for the recruiter to understand your work in just a few lines.

Refer to the reverse chronological resume example showcasing an example of Operations Manager targeting the position of Operations Head:-

Key Skills in a Reverse Chronological Resume

Key Skills summarize the skills gained by a professional in small phrases presented in bullets.

This makes it very easy for the recruiter to scan them through.

The best thing about key skills section is that it is the best tool to clear ATS for necessary keywords.

Refer to the reverse chronological resume example:-

Professional Work Experience in a Reverse Chronological Resume

This section plays the most important role as chronology is first defined in this section.

Here, you have to put your current or recent work experience first, followed by previous work experiences placing the last experience in the end.

As a general rule, keep all the information as one-liner to save space and give ample white spacing.

To make it easy for the recruiter to understand your work, bucketing and bolding of the work experience would come handy.

Education in a Reverse Chronological Resume Template

This section comes immediately after the Professional Experience.

Education in a reverse chronological resume places the most recent degree/course first and followed by previous courses.

Training & Certifications in a Reverse Chronological Resume Template

Certifications form an important part of your career journey as they increase your skills, knowledge and bargaining power.

Literally speaking, a resume looks incomplete without a list of certifications due to the high increase in competition for each job.

An operations manager resume is incomplete without a six-sigma certification, a digital marketing expert's resume is incomplete without a social media marketing certificate, and so on.

How to add certifications in a resume, please visit our Guide on Certifications in a Resume

Honestly, recruiters don't care what certification you pursued 10 years ago.

We tend to forget what we learnt a few years ago.

Heck, we tend to misplace the certificates too.

Also, too old certifications tend to become invalid with changing times.

Don't eliminate them from the resume but simple placement in the reverse chronological order will take you to your dream interview!

Incorrect placement of Certifications

Correct placement of Certifications

Awards & Recognitions in a Reverse Chronological Resume Template

As seen in the image above, recent awards and accomplishments are stated first followed by the later ones.

For more sample chronological resume templates, visit our resume builder .

Reverse Chronological Resume Samples - By Profile

Reverse Chronological order example for Public Relations Associate

Reverse Chronological order example for HR Manager

Reverse Chronological order example for Operations Manager

Reverse Chronological order example for Accounting Manager

Reverse Chronological order example for Finance Associate

Reverse Chronological order example for Accounting Associate

Reverse Chronological order example for Marketing Head

Reverse Chronological order example for HR Associate

Reverse Chronological order example for Operations Head

Key Takeaways

Look at more reverse chronological resume samples on our resume builder .

Go to Hiration resume builder and create a professional resume for yourself. Additionally, reach out to us at [email protected] and you can get 24/7 professional assistance with all your job & career-related queries.

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