A functional resume organizes the job applicant's background by skill sets rather than chronology. A functional resume tells an employer why he should hire you instead of confusing him with a disjointed biography.
Potential Shortcomings of a Chronological Resume
A chronological resume can highlight potentially undesirable characteristics. A plodding recounting of moving up the ladder in the same company may depict a worker as one-dimensional and suggest age, especially if the account is full of calendar dates. Don't make your resume shout out "I am old!," as many companies are reluctant to hire older workers. Employers may suspect that workers who have had frequent job changes may be difficult to work with or have been found to be undesirable by their multiple employers.
Gaps in Job History
Gaps in a job history could be interpreted as prison time, rehab or time off for the parenting track. You want to focus your resume on accomplishments and skills, not a problematic past or family baggage. Functional resumes make it difficult for an employer to subtly discriminate based on inferences drawn from employment dates.
Categorize Your Skills
Categorize your skills and contributions, then use these categories as headings in the resume. For example, as an office manager, you should have interpersonal, organizational and budgetary skills. You may have some useful associated skills, such as experience in ergonomic safety, which could be listed further down the skill list.
Back Up Accomplishments With Impact
A skill is useless unless you have translated it into something of value. Important contributions should be detailed with specific examples and backed up with financial impact. State that "I saved my employer $42,000 dollars a year by changing our photocopier contract," rather than "I saved money on our office supplies in 1972." "My employer experienced a 50 percent decrease in the number carpal tunnel claims against workman's compensation after I installed a new set of ergonomic wrist rests office-wide'" is more impressive than " I can perform evaluations of office ergonomics."
Skills as a Theme
Functional resumes focus on underlying talents in what may otherwise appear to be a disjointed job history. Suppose you spent 4 years in the army followed by 2 years in the Peace Corps. While these careers seem at the opposite ends of the spectrum, you may be able to say '"The skills I learned in dropping supplies to remote locations in the military, I later used in relief efforts in Africa."
One Potential Advantage of Chronological Resume
A chronological resume may be preferable if you are applying for what appears to be the next logical step in linear career path, particularly within your current company. If you have worked your way up from the mail room, added education and have had successive positions in corporate communications, the director of corporate communications may be the next logical step in the career. A chronological resume can make the desired position seem as a logical inevitability, adding weight to bid.
Functional Resume Advantage
A good resume merely gets you in the door for the interview. A functional resume sells your potential based on your history of past contributions organized by the skills you called upon to make those contributions.
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