🧠 What Is a Combination Resume?

A combination resume leads with your most relevant skills and achievements, followed by a concise work history.

It gives recruiters and ATS the context of your expertise first—then backs it up with your career timeline.

ScanMy.CV recommends this format when you have strong skills and relevant experience, or when transitioning roles but want to validate your track record.

🛠 How to Write a Combination Resume

• 👤 Contact & Professional Summary

  Include full name, phone, email, LinkedIn, and location. Summary (2–3 lines) highlights your professional identity and top strengths.

• ⚙️ Key Skills & Achievements

  Group 3–5 core skill areas (e.g. “Client Management,” “Data Analytics”) with 3–5 bullet points each showing measurable results.

• 🏢 Work Experience

  Reverse-chronological roles with title, company, dates, and 2–4 concise bullets to provide context—not repeat achievements.

• 🎓 Education & Certifications

  List degrees, institutions, and year. Include relevant certifications and technical credentials.

✅ Advantages of a Combination Resume

• 📌 Highlights Relevant Skills First

  Showcases what you can do before work history—great for role match or function change.

• 💼 Maintains Career Context

  Backs up claims with a traditional timeline that ATS and recruiters expect.

• 🛡 Covers Career Gaps Gracefully

  Skill sections foreground strength, reducing concerns over brief employment breaks.

⚠️ Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

• ❌ Overloading on Skills

  Don’t overwhelm readers—limit to 3–5 skill clusters with strong, quantifiable examples.

• ❌ Too Much Repetition

  No need to restate bullet details from skills in experience section—use it for context only.

• ❌ Weak Summary

  Your summary should bridge your skills and experience, not just repeat them.

• ❌ Formatting Inconsistencies

  Fonts, bullet styles, spacing, and headings must remain consistent throughout the document.

📋 Formatting Best Practices

• 🔠 Clean, ATS‑Friendly Layout

  Use a one-column layout with Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman in 10–12pt.

• 📌 Use Standard Section Headings

  Headings like “Key Skills,” “Experience,” and “Education” help ATS detect structure.

• 📁 Preferred File Formats

  Save as .docx or plain PDF to ensure proper parsing.

🎯 When to Use ScanMy.CV for Combination Resumes

ScanMy.CV helps you tailor your combination resume by:

• 🧭 Matching Skills to Job Descriptions

  Detects gaps or misaligned skill clusters and recommends adjustments.

• 📊 Refining Achievement Bullets

  Suggests stronger verbs and measurable outcomes for your skill section.

• 🔍 Ensuring ATS Compatibility

  Checks layout and file format, and shows a polished preview before you apply.