In analyzing John Freeman’s format, you will note that he had 10 years of experience in retail, followed by 10 years in real estate. To help with his transition back to retail, his résumé lists this older experience first under the heading “Retail Sales and Management” and the more recent experience second under the heading “Additional Sales Experience.” Compare the Before  and After (see Résumé below) examples.

Here’s how to create a reordered chronological format. Look back over your work history, bracket common jobs, and assign an industry or professional label (such as retail, real estate, or sales) to each of those clusters. Now arrange those categorical labels with the most relevant experience first, regardless of the dates.

Points

• A great tool for individuals with solid work histories who want to pursue opportunities that relate to older, more dated experience.
• Positions your buried treasure at the focal center of the page.

Pitfalls

• Think carefully before using this format. There must be some semblance of order and logic to it, or you’ll confuse the reader.
• If your employment history doesn’t nicely fit into two or three groupings with a solid number of years of experience for each, you will probably be better off with a functional format.