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Written by: Tracy P. Miller
Editor, Publisher
TearTaylor's Career Corner
There are three types of resumes: chronological, functional and the hybrid. The chronological resume lists a jobseeker's professional experiences, usually starting first with the most recent employer worked for through the last. A functional resume describes the candidate's most important job functions, which are also usually the jobseeker's chief strengths and the hybrid resume is a combination of these two styles.
Jobseekers Using "Functionals"
In my experiences at reviewing countless resumes over the years, I've uncovered that jobseekers using functional resumes did so because they were trying to draw attention away from gaps in their work history or to help divert attention away from excessive job hopping tendencies. While many of these jobseekers would probably like to think that they were outsmarting the hiring experts when resorting to this unconventional resume format, unfortunately, they aren't. Most experienced staffing teams readily admit that functional resumes usually come across their desks from the following types of jobseekers:
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Excessive job-hoppers
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Chronically unemployed
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Someone that's been institutionalized or hospitalized for a lengthy period
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Individuals with criminal backgrounds
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Former drug users, individuals just coming out of rehab or drug treatment programs
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Career changers
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Recent college graduates or first-time jobseekers
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Individuals returning to the workforce after a long absence (e.g. housewives, mothers, retired workers)
Drawbacks of Functional Resumes
While many jobseekers have had great success using functional resumes and claim they wouldn't have gotten hiring personnel to seriously look at their credentials without switching to the functional setup, I still, however, encourage jobseekers not to use this style unless they fall into one of the groups I've outlined above.
Being on the other side of the hiring fence for many years, I've had to review thousands of resumes and it was always easier for me to evaluate the credentials of applicants owning chronological resumes. Because professional experiences are always laid out in a clear timely order on chronological resumes with key employer data laid out right above related work experiences, I was able to follow the candidate's career track much more smoothly.
EXAMPLE of Chronological Layout
Functional resumes on the other hand list an applicant's duties/job experiences by functions (e.g. leadership, organizational, interpersonal, analytical skills, etc.), and often times, I wanted to see what an applicant did while working for each employer instead of just seeing his or her duties broadly laid out in a functional format. I wanted to determine if the skills showcased on their resumes were acquired recently (with the last employer) or if their talents were used consistently while working for most of their employers. Unfortunately, it was difficult determining this when scanning functional resumes.
EXAMPLE of Functional Layout
Resume Screeners' Duties
Most H.R. folks that have to review resumes in their job roles are usually bogged down with numerous other tasks, and if their jobs are anything like mine was when I previously worked for a large advertising agency, then they could easily find themselves coordinating interview schedules, interviewing applicants, managing budgets, placing new hires in their first assignments, coordinating training seminars and doing a gamut of other things. Because I had so many things to do in the span of just five days, I dreaded coming across functional resumes in my duties, and this was not because these resumes were excessively long, or because they didn't display superior skills or because the resumes were usually filled with typos, but simply because it was harder to determine what the owners of these resumes actually did when working for each employer. Since I felt like a little decoding was always involved with many of these resumes, I usually placed these documents aside to look at later (when I had more time), and regrettably, sometimes I never got back around to looking at them.
Creating Chronological Resumes
If you'd like your resume to fair better with the HR manager than these resumes did under my watch, then you may want to consider using a traditional chronological resume to describe your past and current job experiences. If you need to sit down and create your first resume of this kind or simply need to update your skills at creating chronological resumes, then make sure to review the tutorials Resume Builder 101 and The 10 Don'ts To Creating Resumes.
Functional Resume (Benefits & Example)
Now, if despite everything I've just said, you're still set on laying out your job experiences using a functional resume, then you should consider taking a look at the functional resume example that I've provided here to help give you some ideas on how to construct your resume. The attached resume does a very good job of showcasing the applicant's chief skills.
Also, as much as I would prefer not to include the following piece of information, especially since my article mainly describes the disadvantages to using functional resumes as opposed to the benefits, the document's owner wanted me to include in this writing that he has been successful in landing numerous job interviews with this very document and has also recently acquired a job. So, despite my small distaste for functional resumes, it does appear as though there are jobseekers that are benefiting from the use of functional resumes, especially those that change jobs often or are newcomers to the workforce. So again, if you belong to this group, a functional resume might definitely be your ticket to employment.
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This article is © 2003-2005 by Tracy
Miller and may not be reposted without written permission from the author
and may not be reprinted for profit.