Most resumes are in reverse chronological order, starting with your last job and going back to your education. By creating a functional resume that highlights your skills, you automatically stand out from the crowd and grab the attention of recruiters.

Why Using a Functional Resume Can Be a Red Flag for Recruiters

Many recruiters have negative views of functional resumes for the following reasons:

They think you’re hiding something

While there are many reasons for using a functional resume, it is not one of the most common formats. Recruiters may think you’re hiding something if you haven’t provided all the necessary information about your job and employer.

Difficult to connect the dots

Time-constrained recruiters usually don’t have a lot of time to read your resume. They want to know where you worked and where you acquired your skills. With a functional resume, they’ll have to dig a little more to get a holistic view of your career history.

The ATS may not be able to read them.

Many companies use ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) to scan and sort resumes. Since they are sometimes programmed to look for keywords in job titles, your functional resume may be overlooked because a particular keyword was in the wrong place.

When to create a functional resume?

However, it can be helpful to use a functional resume when you don’t have a simple career history and want to highlight your transferable skills. In some situations, you may need to take your mind off your hiring dates and draw attention to your skills:

You want to highlight your skills for a desired job

Let’s say you’re blogging in your spare time and want to apply for a content specialist position, but you don’t have relevant experience in your current job. A functional resume can be a great way to highlight skills and experience gained outside of work.

Since most resumes are written in a standard reverse chronological format, you will stand out from the crowd. You will not only showcase your work experience, but also your life skills that can be transferred, which will increase your value as a candidate.

You want to change careers

If you’ve only worked in one job, industry, or company for most of your career, you may be at a disadvantage if you want to change careers. A functional resume can help here.

If you do not have the exact experience required for the desired job, you need to highlight your transferable skills and related experience. They may have come from projects or activities outside of work.

You jumped from work to work

If you’ve changed jobs frequently or have had a lot of work in a short period of time, recruiters may think you lack resilience. A chronological resume will draw attention to job changes and make your career chaotic.

Having multiple jobs can be an advantage for your next employer if you present your skills correctly. Unlike other candidates, you will be able to use a wide range of skills and experience to demonstrate your suitability as a candidate.

You have little or no work experience

As a graduate or high school graduate, you may not have a lot of work experience to go for. This will immediately become apparent in a chronological resume that begins with your most recent experience.

A functional resume takes the focus away from your job and gives you the opportunity to mention projects you’ve completed at university or schools that are relevant to your job application. You can also indicate achievements and awards.

You took a break from your career

There can be any number of reasons why you have gaps in your resume. You may have had to take a break to take care of family members (children or parents), travel the world, or have work experience through no fault of yours.

In a chronological resume, career breaks are immediately apparent as everything is ordered by date. This can make the recruiter question your candidate reputation.

With a functional resume, you have the opportunity to demonstrate that you are the right candidate despite the gaps in your resume. For example, you can list “Project Management” as a skill and include instances where you’ve managed projects, whether at work or in your personal life.

How to write a functional resume?

When writing a functional resume, you need to make sure that you continue to include important information such as your contact details (name, address, phone number, email address, and Linkedin URL). Depending on your country of residence, you may need to add additional information, such as a South African ID number.

In addition, it is recommended to include the following information:

Personal statement or personal profile

This is a 4-6 line positional statement that summarizes your career history and outlines your career goals.

List the relevant skills as separate headings in the Skills Summary section.

This is the most important part of your resume. To get started, read the job description carefully and identify 3–6 relevant skills required by the employer.

On your resume, highlight each skill in bold and provide specific examples in bullet points. The key is to group experiences together to get a common theme. This allows recruiters and employers to quickly determine if you have the right skills for the job, even if your job history isn’t directly related.

For example, if you are applying for a leadership position but have little traditional experience, your skills section might look like this:

LeadershipShift leader at McDonald’s, leads the rotation of 10 employees. Chair of the discussion group of the university.

Coaching and mentoring Provide training (workflows, safety practices) for new McDonald’s employees. Supporting new students through the university mentoring program.

Communication Effectively handled customer complaints at McDonald’s and also resolved conflicts between staff. I presented my dissertation to a group of 4 people using Powerpoint.

experience

Even if you don’t go into details, you will still need to list your work experience in this section. Keep it short, including only your job title, company name and year of employment, to indicate the approximate time span you worked there.

You might not want to include every position you’ve ever held, as it breaks the essence of a functional resume and draws attention to obvious gaps. To supplement the Skills Brief section of your resume, mention only those jobs that prove your skills.

Education

If you have a long career, there is no need to go back to school. Instead, focus on your university education (if applicable) or any continuing education courses you have taken.

Volunteering / hobbies and interests

Consider adding separate sections for Volunteering and Interests and Hobbies to help paint a comprehensive picture of yourself, if you haven’t already mentioned them in the Skills Brief section of your resume.

To improve your chances of being interviewed, include activities that match your job description.

Final note

Don’t let your imperfect work get in the way of getting your perfect job. With a functional resume, you can focus recruiters’ attention on what you can do, rather than where and when you worked.

The main thing to remember is to link your skills and experience to the targeted job description. When you can do this, you will have as many benefits, if not more, than a candidate with a linear job history.