Many professional resume writers believe that functional resume is best for the people who keep changing their career or had done frequent job hopping in the past. This type of resume format focuses on the resume skills rather than emphasizing on the employment details. It is quite different from the traditional chronological resume. It is always beneficial to choose this resume format when you have lengthy employment gaps in your resume. This format emphasizes on the transferable skills of the candidates those are seeking a career change.
Functional Resume Guide
Following are some important sections in the functional resume –
Contact details will include contact information of the applicant. List this information accurately as this will be the address where the employer will be contacting you for further interaction. It will include full name, address, contact number and e-mail ID of the applicant.
Career objective is generally the first section in the resume. It can be replaced with the career summary. Career summary will provide brief glance at the past career of the candidate describing his/her expertise, capabilities, skills and accomplishments. If you are using objective statement, it will talk of the applicant’s career goals and explain to the employer how he/she can benefit the company while achieving these goals.
After the summary of qualifications you can list your capabilities in the bullet points. These can be the general job related skills.
The experience section in functional resumes is not presented in chronological format. Candidate can list 2-3 job roles from the work history. You can use the bullet points to list the key achievements or responsibilities handled in each position.
The employment history in functional resume is far more different from what is provided in the traditional resumes. Candidate can simply list the job title, company name and address of the company in this section. You may or may not include the dates in this resumes. However, it is not recommended for candidates with lengthy employment gaps.
Education section in the functional resume is similar to that in the traditional chronological resumes. Mention the name of the college or University from where you completed your degree. Describe the year when you graduated out from the college.
If you hold any additional certifications and licensure that you think can add to your degrees or help you in your prospective job, list it in the certifications and licensure section. If there are more than three certifications, use bullet points to list them.
It is a challenging task to write the resume when there are lengthy employment gaps in your professional background. Using a functional resume, you can effectively hide these employment gaps and highlight your job specific skills. Functional resumes are also best for the people with changing careers as this resume emphasizes on the transferable skills rather than work history.
Below is the sample of the functional resume to help you know how to write this type of resume.
Functional Resume Sample
Contact Details
Name –
Address – [Street No./Name, City, State]
Contact No. –
E-mail ID –
Career Objective
[Explain to the employer about your career goal and talk of why you are interested in the position. Explain to the employer how you can benefit the company if you are selected]
Profile
[In this section, you can talk about the career history in short. List the major achievements related to the job and provide short description about these accomplishments. You can also talk about your degrees and qualifications]
Skills Summary
[Use the bulleted points and list all your job relevant skills]
Professional Experience
Company Name –
Responsibilities Handled
Education
Computer Skills
[List all your computer skills in this part]
Personal Details
References
[Presented on request]
Functional resume is more of descriptive type. But make sure to keep it short and simple. It will surely stand out if the details are displayed in an expert format and are creatively written.
Charles Martin is a genius who writes interesting and thought provoking resume advice. To get a word of knowledge on building your right career path check out functional resume writing guide and samples.