Combination Resume Guide: Template and Tips

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on

Learn “What is the combination resume?” including when to use this format and some sections you may want to include.

[Featured Image] A job applicant sits at their home desk with a pen in hand and works on their combination resume.

Key takeaways

A combination resume, also called a hybrid resume, blends elements of the traditional chronological resume and the skills-based functional resume. 

  • You may choose to use a combination resume to emphasize skills, apply to an entry-level position, or transition to a new field.

  • Combination resumes follow a flexible format that includes a header, skills, work experience, and other sections that relate to your qualifications.

  • You can include an expanded skills section that highlights your workplace and technical skills.

Learn more about combination resumes, including when to use them and what to include. If you're ready to gain job-ready skills, consider enrolling in the University of Maryland’s Interviewing and Resume Writing in English Specialization. You’ll have the opportunity to build your resume-writing, interviewing, and communication skills in as little as three months. Upon completion, you’ll have gained in-depth knowledge to use in your job search and career. 

What is a combination resume?

A combination resume takes some elements of a chronological resume and some elements of a functional resume to create a custom format. Recall that with your chronological resume, you build your resume around your work history, while with your functional resume, your skills are the star.

Often, this means detailing your work experience and the specific skills you’ve developed throughout your career. However, you can choose several ways to present this information. This flexible format entirely depends on the story you’re trying to tell.

Read more: Infographic Resume Guide: When to Use One and Tips for Yours

What is a combination resume used for? 

A combination resume can be a good option if you want a resume that emphasizes your skills and is formatted for applicant tracking system (ATS) scanning. 

You may want to emphasize your skills on your resume if the position you want doesn’t perfectly align with the job titles you’ve held. For example, you may consider creating a combination resume if you are:

Of course, you can (and should!) incorporate your skills and achievements into your work experience section, but a dedicated skills section can help demonstrate that you have successfully used the high-level skills employers are looking for in ways that exceeded your previous job responsibilities.

As for the second criterion, unless you submit your resume directly to a recruiter, you typically want to use an ATS-friendly format. Generally, when applying for jobs through a company’s website, it’s safe to assume that an ATS will “read” your resume before a human recruiter will.

Most ATS platforms are programmed to read chronological resumes, scanning documents for key information about work history, job titles, and keywords associated with the open role. Functional resumes tend to lack the work history details that many ATS platforms look for, so the ATS may interpret candidates who submit functional resumes as lacking the work history required for a role.

With your combination resume, however, you’ll typically format your work history in a way that aligns with ATS best practices while still offering additional context about your enhanced skill set for the human recruiter who will read your resume after it passes the ATS scan. Learn more resume tips to get noticed during the application process.

Combination resume template

Use this free combination resume template to start formatting your resume today. Simply log in to your Google account and hit the “Make a copy” button to start.

How to create a combination resume 

The combination resume is a flexible format, but it should contain at least the following sections:

Additional optional sections may include:

Before you decide which sections to include and how to order them, think about the story you’re trying to tell and the critical information you need to share to tell it. From there, you can piece together the format that makes the most sense for your story.

Let’s take a closer look at the two most prominent sections: skills and work experience.

Skills section

A resume skills section can look several different ways. Some people choose to simply list their most job-relevant skills, while others expand on their skills with bullet points detailing specific projects, outcomes, and impacts—not unlike the skills section common in functional resumes.

If you opt for an expanded skills section, be sure to avoid repeating the information that appears in your work experience section. You have limited space on your resume, so you want to ensure every line adds value.

Instead, highlight how you’ve demonstrated your skills beyond the scope of your work tasks. For example, perhaps you’ve demonstrated essential skills through volunteer work, side hustles, or work projects that you completed outside of your immediate responsibilities.

Work experience section

For each role in an ATS-friendly work experience section, include your:

  • Company name

  • Job title

  • Dates of employment

  • Core responsibilities and successes

List your experience in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position. Here, you want to represent a timeline of your career path, showing how you’ve progressed from your earliest roles to where you are now with your unique series of job changes and promotions. 

If you had two related positions at the same company (such as a promotion), you might be wondering, “Can you combine two jobs on a resume?” Generally, you can leave your experiences separate and highlight relevant details of each, or you can stack them in the same entry to show upward progression, depending on what you’d like to highlight.

Remember to emphasize your impact as you summarize your responsibilities with action words and specific details. For example, “Analyzed web traffic data to develop search engine optimization (SEO) best practices guide, resulting in a 50 percent increase in total web visitors” is more compelling than “Analyzed web traffic data,” even though both bullet points address the same responsibility.

A quick formula for writing resume bullets that show impact is: Did [task] in order to achieve [outcome], which resulted in [impact].

If you don’t have an extensive work history, you may want to consider expanding other sections, such as your education or credentials. Learn more about how to make a resume for your first job.

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