How Many Types Of CV Are There And When To Use Them?

Cv

Do you have to write your resume and you don't know what approach to give it? We tell you the main types of CV that you can create and for which situations some are more suitable than others.

When it comes to making your resume, you may have a thousand doubts. Most of them will be related to what to include, what to ignore and how to approach the document so that it is both concise, but complete; that interests the recruiter and that is differentiating.

There are many strategies to write a good CV, and recently we told you the keys to making a perfect CV, which also included 10 tips to embroider it. In today's article, we are going to address the different types of CV that exist, when some are more suitable than others, and we will give you some extra advice.

 

Think that in the curriculum you are going to capture in an orderly way everything that will be used to carry out the position for which you are applying. That is, it may not be necessary or advisable in a certain context to do a complete review from the beginning of time that reflects all your knowledge, but it is more advisable to do a previous filter.

 

In other contexts, on the contrary, it may be beneficial for you to be as exhaustive as possible and follow a more traditional structure when preparing your CV. Even an original, groundbreaking and daring CV may open the doors of an unexpected opportunity.

 

Main Curriculum Vitae types

We can say that the main types of CV are chronological and its variations; the functional; the combined CV; and non-traditional resumes. 

The Chronological Curriculum Vitae

It is the most widespread type of CV. As its name suggests, the chronological CV is structured showing all the work experience in reverse chronological order, that is, showing the most recent experience first, and then we would place the rest of them.

It is a simple document in its concept and that allows us to directly show our work history. This is important and gives points to those who have a solid track record, that is, they not only have to experience but do not have gaps in their CV (periods of inactive time, for example, for whatever reason).

For people starting their professional careers, it may be better to opt for other types of CV.

On the other hand, we must understand that, if we always want to focus on the same professional line, that is, progress in our career, this CV can add points to us. On the other hand, if we want to change or evolve along other paths, it will be preferable to opt for another type of CV that better highlights our main skills.

 

The functional CV

It is the type of resume that is going to focus on our skills and strengths. In this CV the information is distributed by subject and is focused so that the recruiter can have at a glance an exact impression of our training and the experience we treasure in a certain field.

 

Therefore, it does not follow a chronological progression. Thus, it will allow us to highlight our strengths, achievements that are interesting or that add value to the job for which we choose, and ignore those that will not contribute anything to the interview.

That it is a functional CV does not imply that we cannot optionally include a shortlist of our recent work history towards the end of the document.

 

In contrast to the previous type of CV, the chronological one, the functional CV is indicated for people who want to change the course of their professional career, for recent graduates, and for people who have inactivity gaps in their history.

The idea of ​​this resume is to include a personal profile highlighting achievements, skills, and qualities, followed by a succession of sections, each related to a different skill or ability.

 

The combined resume

Here we would have a hybrid between a chronological resume and a functional resume. We can structure it by starting at the very beginning with a list of our main skills and qualifications.

Then we detail the chronological experience history. It must be taken into account that detail does not imply exhaustively and that this section should not be the protagonist of the document, but a mere adequate reference to the position for which we are applying.

This type of curriculum vitae allows us to highlight our most relevant skills for the job we apply for, and also include the history of our jobs arranged chronologically. It is a point in favor of this format because almost all employers are interested in seeing what we do in the past, being almost the least if it is a very long or short history.

 

Without a doubt, this type of CV concentrates the best of the two previous types.

 

Non-traditional CVs

Depending on the sector, the specific job position, and, above all, if we opt for a creative position, it may be a good idea to innovate in the CV taking a less orthodox or traditional path.

For example, a video CV can be differentiating, but it can also be to organize our experience as an infographic, use social media to prepare it or, why not, organize a list of songs on Spotify.