Functional Resume Sample - Writing Guide
The functional resume is a layout, which is organized in a way that emphasizes specific skills, education and talent sets over working experience. Those best utilizing a functional resume are individuals with significant gaps in employment between various positions, a mixed employment background, or a very short work history. In some cases a career change can be a good reason as well. The combination of any two of the above circumstances will usually be cause enough to consider using a functional resume format.
To qualify as a significant gap in employment, we refer to a period of time as relative to age. Students and individuals early in their career frequently have gaps in employment due to academic related reasons for semesters of study, athletics and perhaps other activities. These gaps are entirely acceptable and don’t in themselves warrant the use of a functional resume. As we become older, however, gaps in employment of more than we’ll say seven to twelve months will raise question. In some cases employers may question a gap of three months or more. Regardless of which resume writing format is chosen, you should always be prepared to explain a gap in employment very briefly, in two sentences or less. Don’t get into telling a whole story about it during your interview. For mothers and stay-at-home caretakers no further explanation need be necessary.
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The mixed employment background with employment gaps usually calls for the use of a functional resume format. While nearly everyone possesses some degree of diversity in their background, the objective in producing a resume is always to be focused on elements of your background from the net of your experience, which compliment your ability to perform in the position you’re currently seeking. If the differences in positions held are very significant, such as working as a bank clerk and then taking a position as a cook in a restaurant that’s your signal that a functional resume might be right for you.
If you have only a short work history, or even an uneventful work history this may be a reason to consider the functional resume format. Short stints at part-time or temporary jobs and/or mixed in with other random positions unrelated to the position you’re seeking might benefit from using the functional resume. If you’re able to piece together the useful aspects of your experience from the combination of jobs or other activities better than your experience can speak for itself, the functional resume is a good idea. By doing this you will be able to highlight the material that matters most to an employer.
When changing careers you may or may not have the exact experience type, but you may have a great track record of employment that speaks for itself. For a career change, you may not possess much of the desired experience but a skilled and valuable employee from any background is still attractive. In this case, you should emphasize your learning abilities and capability to adapt quickly to new things. It will also be helpful to exhibit personal qualities needed by everyone such as communication skills, attention to detail or precision, organizational skills. Write something of personal significance such as your motivational level, ambition, persistence, and/or pride in your work.
A well-executed functional resume can help qualify you in the eyes of an employer just as effectively as a comparable chronological resume. This example illustrates a very nice layout that includes a summary of qualifications with a bulleted section to bring attention to the person’s strongest points. Next, a list of desirable characteristics for the position sought is contained in the employment summary. Following are the brief employment history entries and the education, training and other pertinent details.
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