Are Functional Résumés Ever Effective?
Q. I had my résumé reviewed by an online company that advertises low cost résumés. It seemed like they didn’t even read my résumé and the review came back with spelling errors. Then they suggested that I should consider a functional résumé. I would be interested in learning what a premier résumé writing company like yours thinks I should do. As a C-level executive, I cannot afford to make a mistake. - JK, Seattle, WA
A. Functional résumés break your skills up into various segments depending upon the role you performed. If you have Project Management skills those might be listed in one section while your experience in Business Development would be highlighted in a separate section.
Your actual chronological history would be below this with no specific explanation - just job title, company name, and dates of employment. In general, functional résumés do not represent what you have done in the context of the environment in which it was performed.
Because the reader doesn’t know where the work was completed, or it is difficult to figure out, I have found them to be largely ineffective. Hiring managers and recruiters become too confused and cannot get a good grasp on what you did at each job; they look for candidates with more concise and well defined experience.
I recommend a hybrid résumé for you based on the fact that you have worked in a variety of different roles and industries. It will be much more effective than a functional résumé.
A hybrid version of your résumé will allow you to provide key accomplishments early on in the document that exhibit your value, but will also place those achievements within the proper context.
You will be able to include a fair amount of detail and description surrounding each job you have held. This will give the reader a solid overview of your core skills while gaining enough understanding of the specifics of your background to pique interest. A résumé is a marketing tool and must position you in a way that engages and entices the reader to take action.