Popular bookstores and Internet sites offer publications, examples and tutorials on how to craft the perfect functional resume. This type of resume is also known as a skills-based resume. There is a tremendous amount of information in support of the functional resume. An old rule of thumb is to use this type of document to downplay frequent job changes, as if the reader will be so dazzled by the style that they will ignore the dates of employment! I willingly admit that the functional resume looks good, de-emphasizes employment dates, and provides a nice overview of an individual’s areas of expertise. But if you are actively conducting a job search, please DO NOT waste your time and energy preparing a functional resume! Why should you avoid this type of resume? Because hiring managers, internal company recruiters and external recruiters HATE the functional resume. Yes, I know HATE is a strong word, so let me clarify…they truly HATE the functional resume. Hiring managers and recruiters are extremely busy people and they are dedicating a portion of their work day to the review of resumes, lots and lots of resumes. They want to be able to visually scan a document and quickly get an overview of a candidate’s strengths, areas of expertise, career titles, achievements, and length of tenure with each employer listed. They compare this information to the profile of the preferred candidate for the position they are looking to fill.
Imagine you are engrossed in a really good book and truly enjoying what you are reading. Then suddenly you reach a page that is printed upside down and every third word appears backwards. Would you find this odd and somewhat annoying? You would have to stop, turn the book upside down, start reading and then stop each time you need to decipher a word printed backwards on the page. Well this is what it is like for the hiring manager and recruiter when they encounter a functional resume in a batch of incoming documents. One after another they read through the chronological resumes and then they stop at the functional document. Why do they stop? Because they have a quick decision to make; do they invest the time to connect the dots in this document, or just set it aside (or ditch it all together) and move on?
The functional resume often requires a greater investment of time and energy from the reader. The chronology is often somewhat concealed (intentionally) and it can be unclear just when and where the candidate applied his skills to produce his accomplishments. The reader must try to extract the essential details, piece the data together and then compare this to the critical elements in the job posting. And most hiring managers and recruiters do not have the time or patience to devote this kind of attention to a first scan of a resume. They may decide to skip this functional document all together and move on with their review of the incoming resumes.
So as a career coach my advice is simple…give the hiring managers and recruiters what they want. Give them a clear chronology that focuses on skills and achievements and be sure it includes a brief statement to explain any gaps in the timeline. For those individuals who are in love with the functional masterpiece they have crafted, I will offer a compromise. Produce a hybrid resume to provide a summary of skills and career highlights, but be sure to include a strong chronology of academic and employment history in support of major achievements. There are no guarantees for the job seeker. But if candidates give the reader what they are looking for, and it is packaged in a document that is content rich and visually appealing…odds are it will be reviewed.
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