Why Functional Resumes Don't Work

Despite the thousands of resume templates floating about the Internet

, all of them can be boiled down to 2 formats: CHRONOLOGICAL, which lists a candidate's work history from most recent job on backwards, and FUNCTIONAL, which summarizes a candidate's successes up top and follows it up with an abbreviated work history. Unless you're a recent college graduate lacking a significant work history, avoid the Functional format at all costs! Here's why:

1) A FUNCTIONAL RESUME IS A CONFUSING ONE

The average recruiter or hiring manager spends LESS THAN A MINUTE scanning a candidate's resume. Therefore, which do you think he'd prefer: a resume that jams together every single accomplishment in a candidate's career within a single cluttered section, or a resume that visually separates each position and highlights JOB-SPECIFIC successes?

It is all but impossible to summarize your greatest achievements within a single section. Don't try. Instead, start every position with 3-4 lines describing unique responsibilities, followed by a "Key Accomplishments" or similar section listing specific successes. This approach presents a clear view of your work history, one of the chief benefits of the Chronological format.

2) THE FUNCTIONAL FORMAT DOES NOT HIDE WORK GAPS

In my experience as a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), this is BY FAR the biggest reason job seekers opt for the Functional format. Unfortunately, leading off with a jumble of career achievements and hoping a hiring agent doesn't spot the 8-month gap in your work history rarely, if ever works. Recruiters and hiring managers are trained to spot these gaps. Trying to gloss over them forces a reader to assume the worst: that you did nothing during this period.

The Chronological format allows you to honestly address gaps in your work history through what's known as a "Career Note". For example:

Career Note (March-November 2009): Obtained Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification and maintained in-depth knowledge of current technologies.

3) A CHRONOLOGICAL RESUME ALLOWS FOR GREATER FLEXIBILITY

In today's market, job seekers often target 2-3 disparate types of positions. Gearing separate versions of your resume becomes much easier with the diverse sections at play within a Chronological resume, from an opening paragraph calling out key skills, to individual job descriptions and successes.

Why Functional Resumes Don't Work

By: Anish Majumdar, CPRW

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