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 A functional resume is one of the three main types of resume formats used today. The other types are chronological and combination style. Most people are confused when it comes to figuring out which type of resume they should build. But we believe the answer to that question is pretty simple.
Choosing the Right Resume
To answer the question you need to think about why you are putting a resume together in the first place. Most likely you are trying to highlight your career experience so that you can get an interview for a job. So your resume is like a personal career advertisement.
Like any advertisement, you want the consumer to buy the product - you. In today's job market there is a lot of competition, so you want to use a resume format that will best showcase your skills and accomplishments. So how do we know if a functional resume is the one that does the trick?
Let's first take a look at the components of a functional resume and then we can talk through some of the advantages and disadvantages of this type of resume. After that we can run through a couple of examples of the functional resume format.
The Functional Resume Format
The functional resume places a good deal of emphasis on what you know and what you've accomplished rather than where you've worked. This allows the reader to see all of the skills, accomplishments and qualifications of the job applicant presented in a logical fashion.
As we examine each of the sections of a functional resume below, the one thing you'll notice is that there is no listing of prior work history. That particular feature is very well suited to some job applicants. We will address that "feature" in the advantages / disadvantages section of this article.
Name / Contact Information
Like most resumes, functional resumes start off with a banner that includes your name and contact information such as street address, telephone number and email address.
Education
The next section you'll find in a functional resume is a table of your educational background. Many jobs today list a "required" or "desired" educational background. If it's that important to someone screening a resume, it might as well be right up front in the resume.
Honors / Certifications / Licenses Held
The third section in a functional resume contains a bulleted list of the certifications, educational honors or professional licenses you might hold. For example, a certified public accountant would include that certification in this section of the resume.
Careers Skills / Knowledge
The fourth section you'll find in the functional resume is a bulleted listing or table of the skills and knowledge you've accumulated. Since this section is so visible on this type of resume, you'll want to take a great deal of time making sure it projects the right image of your experience.
For example, if you're looking for a sales position, you'll want to emphasize skills such as sales training, P&L responsibilities, client development or product management.
Career Achievements
The next and final section appearing in a functional resume is bulleted listings of what you believe are your most significant career accomplishments.
An example of a career achievement might look like:
Developed custom accounting application for use in start up business, reducing the number of accounting data reporting errors by 90%.
It might seem rather strange to some of you that a functional resume does not include a listing of where you've worked and the job titles you've held. As we will discuss in this next section, this can actually be a very big advantage to some job applicants.
Advantages of a Functional Resume
- If your career path is not immediately apparent, then a functional resume can help conceal that perceived "problem." You don't want the recruiter to get the impression that you don't really know what you want to do - because you probably do. You avoid this problem with the functional format.
- If you're new to the workplace - such as a graduating college student - a functional resume helps you to highlight what you know, not where you've worked.
- When you've had employment gaps in your career, a functional resume can help to cover up those gaps. Unlike a chronological resume, you don't need to show where you've been in the past.
- If you've changed jobs every two years, you might not want your next employer to pick up on that habit. You may have been rewarded with higher compensation, but no one wants to invest money getting you up to speed only to have you leave their company. A functional resume can help you hide what might look like job hopping.
- Finally, if you are "overqualified" or are looking upwards from your past jobs, then a functional resume can help to emphasize your skills and avoid bringing attention to job titles.
Disadvantages of a Functional Resume
- The big disadvantage of a functional resume is that the hiring manager might be looking for the very information that the functional resume allows you to avoid putting on your resume. Unfortunately, this can make the hiring manager suspicious or nervous when the job seeker uses this format. You need to make sure the advantages outweigh the disadvantages before using a functional resume.
Functional Resume Sample
If you've been looking for samples of the functional resume format then we can help you. Now that we've explained exactly what this type of resume is all about you can download a free sample here - Functional Resume Sample. You can use this sample as the starting point, or template, when writing your own resume.
Chronological and Combination Resumes
If you're not sure the functional resume is the correct format to use in you situation. Don't forget there are two other resume formats that you can choose from. In fact, we suggest that you read our information on both the chronological resume and combination resume formats before starting to write your own resume.
You might also want to take a look at many of the other resume writing resources we've got on this website including additional free resume examples for you to download as well as resume writing tips.
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