The Chronological Resume

This is the traditional style of writing a resume. The basic headings are: Experience, Education, Skills, Awards, and Summary. These can be modified to demonstrate your appropriateness for a specific area.

General Tips

You need to include an Objective Statement that specifically states the job you are seeking. Sometimes you can omit the objective if you have a very focused Summary.
List your experience beginning at the most current.
If you are currently in school, you can list the degree you are studying towards as your most recent education, and put “degree expected 2008” or the equivalent.

Improving your Headings

Use the heading title Experience rather than Employment because it looks more professional.
If one of your sections looks too long, or if you have certain things that you would like to omit, feel free to write “Selected X” or “Relevant X” as the subject heading. “Relevant Experience” or “Selected Awards” are perfectly reasonable headings.
Put your Experience section ahead of your Education section. There are a few exceptions to this rule: if you are a recent graduate, if you are a lawyer (each field has idiosyncrasies: ask someone in your field), if you are applying to academia (in which case you will need a Curriculum Vitae rather than a resume).
Your education section can be “Education and Training” if you have had recent training courses important to your field. You could also include a “Related Training” rubric if you have numerous courses and certifications that relate to your field.
If you did not finish your degree, list your subject area and school; do not put the degree title, however.
Sometimes you can combine your headings such as “Selected Awards and Accomplishments” or “Relevant Awards and Skills.” Organize your resume to highlight your qualifications for each specific job.
Be sure to write down volunteer work or community involvement. Be creative: although you might not think that your year on band council has anything to do with your application for camp counsellor, you can emphasize your experience leading a group.

You can choose to include an Interests section: but check out our resume myths before going too far!

For help creating your resume, see our Chronological Resume Template.