Functional resumes make up one of the three main types of resumes. Today’s resumes typically include functional, chronological or combination resumes. Functional resumes group your job experience.
You should create a functional resume if:
- You have a broad range of experiences, instead of clear progression in a particular career
- Your experience is not obviously related to the job you want
- Emphasizing talents and accomplishments outweighs listing employers, job titles and length of service
- Most of your experience is unpaid, including volunteer work and leadership activities
- You want to change careers
- Some or many of your jobs were at the same level and repeating the description of each job would emphasize a lack of progression in your career. (Perhaps you stayed at a certain work level for personal reasons, such as illness, education, or family needs.)
- You have gaps in your resume – from a disability, education, homemaking, childrearing, or illness
- Listing your experience by date would make you look overqualified, underqualified, too young or too old (even though employers are not allowed to discriminate against your age)
- You are not seeking work in a very conservative field, such as finance, banking or law. Recruiters and employers in these fields tend to expect “regular” chronological resumes.
Sections
Write your functional resume so that your skills, experiences and talents fall into the following categories:
- Personal details (your name, address, phone number, email address)
- Objective (the position you seek)
- Profile (a summary of your talents and experiences)
- Key accomplishments (cluster your accomplishments under three functional categories)
- Experience (list your positions, employers and dates)
- Education (your education and training)
- Awards and recognition (note any awards or special recognition you’ve received)
Sample Funtional Resume
John Doe
#1-1239 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 4R8
604-555-5555
john_doe@bcjobs.ca
Objective
To contribute to an entrepreneurial mid-sized software company as a market research analyst
Profile
Market research analyst with experience in market research, writing and analysis for business and non-profit organizations.
Key Accomplishments
Market research
- Sized market for student bus passes in Vancouver
- Developed target market profiles for a local consumer goods store
- Conducted 75 telephone interviews to develop a database of likely contributors for a fundraiser
Writing
- Wrote market research reports, ranging from an analysis of the student transit market in Vancouver to demand for sporting goods at a local retailer
- Published eight articles in student newspaper
- Edited more than 25 contributions for a four-page employee newsletter each month
Analysis
- Analyzed market data using Microsoft Excel, summarizing findings through charts and written reports
- Reviewed Microsoft Access database of customers, identifying the top 15 percent most profitable customers, so that a local consumer goods store could target campaigns
- Examined Maximizer database profiles of 75 people interviewed by telephone and recommended further follow up, helping organization reach $10,000 fundraising goal.
Experience
- Alumni Fundraising Committee Coordinator. BCIT Student Society. Vancouver. May to August 2014.
- Assistant Manager and Newsletter Editor. Reruns Sporting Goods Exchange. Burnaby. September 2012 to April 2014.
- Member at Large. Vancouver High School Student Transit Group. Vancouver. September 2010 to June 2012.
Education
- Diploma of Technology. Marketing Management. BCIT. 2010.
- Grade 12 Dogwood Diploma. Churchill Secondary School. Vancouver. 2008.
Awards and Recognition
- Received top mark in Marketing 1102 course.
- Named Employee of the Month three times at Reruns Sporting Goods Exchange.
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