Functional Resume Format

A functional resume illustrates work experiences and abilities by skills areas in order to highlight strengths rather than specific positions or dates of employment.

Use a functional resume when:

• Your work record does not justify a chronological resume
• Much of your work has been volunteer, free-lance, consulting, or temporary
• You have a variety of different, relatively disconnected work experiences
• Your career growth has been stagnant or you've had an extended absence from the workplace
• You are in the process of a career change
• You need to emphasize skills not used in recent work experience

Do not use a functional resume when:

• You can demonstrate career growth
• Listing specific employers is important, as in highly traditional fields
• Recent employers are highly prestigious

Content in a functional resume:

• Contact Information: Name, address, phone, email
• Career Objective: Must be clear and concise, or use a Functional Summary to summarize experience and skills in a few sentences
• Functional Headings:
  • Four or five separate paragraphs
  • List in order of importance relative to objective
  • Stress your most significant abilities, skills, and accomplishments
  • Use past-tense, action-oriented verbs
  • Employment History:
    • Brief synopsis of actual work experiences including employers, titles, and dates
    • If no or spotty work experience, leave this section out, but be ready to discuss it in the interview
    • If date of last attendance is three years or less, move this section to after the Contact Information
    • If more than three years, or unrelated field, include education after work experience
    • Indicate degree received, date, institution
    • Grade point average can be included if it is above a 3.0