Resume format selector
Five questions about where the job is, your career stage, the kind of move, the sector's formality and whether you have a portfolio produce one recommended format, the reasons for it, what to avoid, regional conventions and a length guide. Each recommendation links to a matching editable template. The rules encode common conventions; you can override every one of them.
Everything you type is processed in your browser. A draft is kept in this browser's local storage so you can come back to it, and a visible Clear control deletes it. Nothing is uploaded, stored or logged by Luceria; analytics record only that the tool was used, never its contents.
Use the tool
Answer all five questions to see a recommendation and why it fits. You can change any answer and the recommendation updates.
How it works
- A career change points to a skills-led (combination) format so transferable evidence leads; returning after a break points to a chronological format with the break stated as a dated line.
- First jobs and graduates lead with education and projects; senior roles lead with a leadership summary and compress older roles.
- Gaps and several short roles stay in a chronological format with specific handling rather than a different structure.
- Regional notes cover UK and US conventions on length, photographs and personal details; other countries are flagged for local checking.
What it does not do
A format is a container; the evidence inside it does the work. The selector does not read your resume and cannot tell you what a particular employer prefers, so follow an employer's stated instructions over any recommendation here.
Your data
Everything you type is processed in your browser. A draft is kept in this browser's local storage so you can come back to it, and a visible Clear control deletes it. Nothing is uploaded, stored or logged by Luceria; analytics record only that the tool was used, never its contents.
Worked example
Illustrative example with invented details, not a real person’s result.
A fictional mid-career move into a new field: inputs
- UK job; mid career; a change of field from hospitality management into office operations.
- A modern office sector; no portfolio to link to.
What the tool shows
- Recommended: skills-led (combination) resume for a career change, with a short chronological history underneath.
- Avoid: a pure skills list with no dates or employers.
- Regional notes: two pages is the norm; no photograph; town and county are enough; UK spelling.
- A link to the editable career-change template.
How to use it well
- Answer for the specific job, not your situation in general; the same person may need two formats for two applications.
- Read the avoid list before the template; it prevents the most common mistake for that format.
- Download the template and move your existing content into it rather than rewriting from scratch.
- Run the result through the free resume check to confirm the structure parses cleanly.
Common questions
Is a functional resume a bad idea?
A purely functional resume with no dates or employers is widely distrusted. The skills-led format recommended for career changes keeps a dated history underneath the transferable evidence.
One page or two?
US convention favours one page below about ten years' experience; UK convention favours up to two. Completeness matters more than hitting a page count.
Should I include a photograph?
Not for UK or US employers unless asked. Conventions differ elsewhere; check a local source.
Keep going
- Resume format guide
- Career change resume structure
- A resume with no work experience
- How long should a resume be?
- Free tool: Free CV and resume structure check
- Free tool: What a parser reads: extracted text preview
- Free tool: Job requirement to evidence worksheet
- Free tool: Resume bullet workbench
Published 6 November 2026 · Drafted with AI assistance and checked against Luceria’s editorial standards. Spotted a problem? Tell us.