Combination Resume: Definition, Types & Tips For Writing

Knowing about a combination resume can save you time while developing one. However, it offers plenty of benefits that make it great for anyone who wants to highlight their work experience and skills.

Don’t feel bad if you don’t know about them: plenty of people don’t know about them, so as you learn the definition, types, and tips, you’ll create one.

Find out how you should tackle your resume, make it appealing, and reach more employers to gain additional job opportunities.

What is a Combination Resume?

As you review types of resumes, you’ll come across combination resumes and want to know what they offer. Combination resumes take parts from a chronological resume and a skills resume to put them together.

That means the summary lists the jobs and experiences without needing to go in chronological order or present dates.

What is a Combination Resume Used For?

You should understand its purpose if you want to use a combination resume. See if you fall into these categories to determine if you should put effort toward it.

• Entry-Level Job Seekers: If you haven’t had many jobs and want to get involved in the industry, a combination resume can help you highlight your experience while filling out the page.
• Someone Re-Entering the Job Market After a Break: You’ll sometimes have gaps in your resume, so a combination resume focuses on your experience and skills instead.
• Changes in Career: You may want to change your career, so you want to review your previous experience while explaining how it applies to the new position.
• Older Job Seekers: As people get older, they must present information concisely because of their extensive experience, making combination resumes ideal.

What Are the Typical Organizational Elements of a Combination Resume?

Now that you know the basics of a resume, you’ll want to think about the best organizational elements to help you with your resume.

Since you have the functional format and the reverse chronological order, you should compare them to see what you want to use.

Functional Format

You have the functional format, which involves listing your skills and experience from most to least relevant.

You don’t usually include dates with this format, but you can mention how many years you spent in each job.

The functional format brings the most attention to the experiences that apply to the job.

Reverse Chronological Order

With reverse chronological order, you share your most recent job experience and go backward.

Doing so shows your most recent experiences, so the format can work great if you want to keep it organized and have a consistent flow with your resume.

What Are the Features of a Combination Resume?

As you make a combination resume, you’ll want to include the most important features to share information and get your point across.

1. Summary

You can place a summary at the top of the page, which lets you fill in the information and share the details you want the employer to focus on.

Since the summary places that information at the top, the employer will come across it first and get a sense of what you offer.

2. Skills and Accomplishments

You should also share your skills and accomplishments to exemplify your capabilities and highlight what you can do.

When they see specific skills you accomplished, they understand the work you can do and how you can help them.

3. Professional History

Once you list your skills, you should go through your professional history. Doing so lets you show proof of your previous work and jobs, allowing them to see why they should hire you.

They can also verify the information by contacting your previous employers.

4. Education

Many jobs require you to reach a certain education level, so including your education can help you get those jobs.

Even if they don’t need it, having such an education proves you work hard and remain diligent with your studies and work, showing your character as an employee.

5. Awards and Certifications

Some employers want to see your awards since it demonstrates your willingness to do your best.

Certifications also matter since they may want you to perform specific tasks requiring certificates, such as law, building maintenance, and many others.

Combination Resume Comparisons

You’ll also want to compare resume types and get a feel for what makes them different.

A chronological resume goes in order with your work experience, showing your various experiences and consistent work.

A combination resume focuses on the type of work and skills you obtained, meaning you’ll order them from most to least relevant.

What is the Advantage of Combination Resumes?

A combination resume has some advantages, so go through them and understand how the format helps.

• Highlights Accomplishments: Since you can point toward your best skills and job experience, you can highlight your most significant accomplishments. You can think about various moments in your life, determine what you want to share, and put them on the resume to stand out.
• Still Provides a Chronological Format: You can place your resume in chronological order while highlighting your skills. Doing so means you have versatility with your combination resumes, ensuring you’ll cover your needs while presenting yourself properly.
• Takes the Emphasis Off Irrelevant Job Experiences: If you’ve had multiple jobs, you can turn your attention to jobs that matter. An employer may not care about your first job at a fast food place, but they want to know what you did most recently, which a combination resume allows you to do.
• Minimizes the Appearance of Gaps and Other Drawbacks: Since you don’t have to rely on dates, you can take attention away from gaps in your resume. You can also turn away from recent drawbacks, allowing you to draw attention to the best aspects of your resume.

What is a Disadvantage of a Combination Resume?

While combination resumes offer excellent benefits, you must review the drawbacks to properly utilize the resume while minimizing the problems.

• Can Be Confusing: If you don’t identify an ideal structure, your resume can quickly become confusing. Employers may find it challenging to go through, so they may scrap it.
• Isn’t Standard: Some employers may expect a standard resume, so a combination will throw them off. They may not realize why it works, so you’ll lose your chance to get a callback.
• Harder to Create: They take longer to create than other options. Since you don’t just review your skills or list your experiences, you may find it challenging to create while making it look nice.
• Can Be Longer: They sometimes become longer than expected, so some employers don’t want to go through long resumes. See what the employer expects from your resume and stay within those parameters. If you don’t know, stick with one or two pages.

What Are the Dos and Don’ts of a Combination Resume?

Creating a combination resume requires you to review resume tips and utilize them.

As you create your resume, ensure you apply the following dos and don’ts to help you craft it correctly and make it appealing to potential employers.

Dos

You should start with the dos and understand how to utilize them to improve your combination  resume.

Add Skills Into Professional History Section, Too

You can add notes about your skills while going through your professional history. Doing so demonstrates how you can connect your skills to your experiences, which also displays your critical thinking skills.

Prioritize Required Skills from Job Listing

Look through the job listing and see what required skills they mention. Personalize and customize your resume to prioritize those skills while noting them early.

Focus on Transferrable Skills if Changing Careers

Many people can use skills in different circumstances, so bring up skills that apply anywhere. If you know how to code, you can use that in various jobs, so mention it.

Don’ts

You must also review the don’ts since they’ll show you what harms your resume and causes more problems.

Be Repetitive

If you use the exact words repeatedly, employers will quickly get tired of your resume and ditch it. Use different words and make it enjoyable while you write it.

Make Skills Section Too Long

Employers don’t want to read through long sections, so they may ignore entire portions of your resume. You should break up the sections and make them easy to read, so employers will go through all of them.

Mention Obvious Skills

Employers want to know what makes you different, so don’t talk about how you work hard. Think about phrases people don’t use often and choose those words to make you unique.

How to Create a Combination Resume

If you plan to create a combination resume, you’ll want to choose the correct layout to match your needs. Doing so requires you to consider the right builders and templates to create an ideal resume.

Combination Resume Builder

If you want to keep the process simple, you could use a combination resume builder.

Such a program has you input the information while it puts everything together to make it organized, concise, and flow.

Combination Resume Templates

Templates allow you to fill in the information, building off what it presents you.

You can then make adjustments, edits, and changes based on what you think works better with your resume instead of sticking to a specific format.

Wrapping Up

As you understand combination resumes, why they matter, how to organize them, and why they help, you’ll make an effective one for your needs.

Ensure you go through those tips to constantly improve your resume and make it more appealing to your potential employers.

You should ask questions in the comments if you want additional information on these resumes. You can then go through the do’s and don’ts of the resume, follow them, and see how you can create an ideal resume to cover your needs.