Chronological CV – when will it work and how to write it?

Imagine you meet a classmate who you haven’t seen in several years. What are you going to ask him first: what is he doing now or what he did 10 years ago? The latter information will certainly also be interesting for you, but not in the first place. It is the same with a recruiter who is definitely more interested in what you have been professionally doing recently, and not what you did during your internship right after graduation. That is why the chronology in the CV will meet his expectations much better.

What will you learn in the article?

• Advantages of a chronological CV
• Order in a CV – what to remember?
• When will a chronological CV work? An example of a situation where it is worth betting on a different hand

In chronological CV , contrary to the name, the actual chronology is used – that is, the newest information is given first, then the older. This is the most popular type of resume and dominates virtually all industries.

Advantages of chronological-CV

Employers and recruiters like the inverted CV chronology because thanks to this layout of the content they quickly reach the information that interests them the most – that is, the latest. In addition, a document written in this way is transparent and it is easy to find a specific point in it, which you want to refer to – even on a random basis, already during the interview. The ability to properly present information in your CV is the first advantage of your account in the recruitment process.

From the recruiters’ point of view, the advantage of a chronological CV is also the fact that they may notice breaks in employment, very short episodes in individual companies or long studies. This aspect is obviously not very appealing to you if you have any of these incidents in your CV. Remember, however, that the most important thing is to be able to explain honestly during the conversation why such situations occurred.

The order in the CV – what to remember?

In a chronological CV it is best to use the following scheme:

• professional summary,
• experience,
• education,
• skills,
• interests.

Reverse chronology will come in handy for the two points above: experience and education.

The order of experience in a CV is an important aspect of good information ordering. How to do it? First, enter the position that you currently hold or held recently, and then successively list the earlier ones with the dates of starting and finishing work. Remember to present the general scope of duties you performed in a given company.

It is equally important to describe your education chronologically in your CV. After all, the person who hires you to work is certainly more interested in what studies you graduated from than in the high school you attended. In the case of education, this sequence will be useful anytime, anywhere.

When will the chronological resume be checked? An example of a situation where it is worth betting on a different hand

Chronological CV is the most popular type of resume and will work in almost any situation and for most people. There are only a few exceptions when it is worth choosing a different style of application document, such as a functional CV. It is a good choice if you want to showcase your skills and professional success, not necessarily your work experience in specific companies. This layout of the content will work, for example, when you don’t want to show that:

• you have little experience in the industry you are applying to
• you have a lot of short time gaps in your career,
• you changed job positions very often (approx. 1-6 months in one company).