"Functional or Chronological?

Which résumé format is best for you?"

By Natasha Watson

There are several résumé formats used to write a résumé, but how do you know which one is best for you. The most common résumé formats are functional, chronological, and combination résumés. A functional résumé is designed to display your skills. A chronological résumé focuses on your experience and work history. A combination résumé combines the skills of a functional résumé with the chronological work history into one.

Using a Functional Résumé

A functional résumé format is created in terms of skills rather than experience. This one is ideal for career changers, spotty work history, and entry-level. When you have little experience, little education, or few accomplishments, then the functional résumé is the best format for you.

Your skills are your abilities and your expertise. Skills are mastered by repetitious practice. For example, driving a vehicle is a skill. The more you drive, the more you repeat the action and ultimately become more experienced at doing it. The same applies to job skills.

To prepare your functional résumé, follow your name and contact information with an objective or summary statement. This objective must be concise and straightforward, but not self-oriented. Be sure that you focus your objective on the needs of the employer and not your own needs. Instead of saying ‘… seeking a position with advancement opportunities’ you would say ‘… continue using skills in client relations, project coordination, and community development with a progressive non-profit organization.’

Give your skills section a heading like Professional Skills, Career Achievements, or Professional Highlights. List all of your customer service skills under one section, all of your sales skills under one section, and so on. Brainstorm all of the skills that you have used in previous positions that are transferable. If you have computer skills, programming skills, supervisory skills, then all of these skills should be in your list, unless of course they are irrelevant. Make sure that your skills match the skills required for the position you seek and if they do not match exactly, explain how your skill is similar yet beneficial to the employer’s needs.

If there are any educational achievements or professional developments you want to mention, then place this section before your work history. When listing your work history, put the name of the company, city and state, and employment dates. The employment section should be rather light because you are placing all the emphasis on the top where your skills and qualifications are listed. 

Be creative when writing your resume in a functional style. This format is a great way to emphasize your strengths and de-emphasize your weaknesses.

The Chronological Résumé

The chronological layout is best for experienced workers with progressively increased responsibility and/ or management. If you are not changing your field or industry, only your job title, then the chronological résumé is the best way for you to do it.

When organizing this type of resume start with a blank sheet of paper and list all of your previous employer names. Leave space in between each employer to write your job descriptions. Your job description should lead with a powerful action verb like ‘Directed,’ ‘Led,’ or ‘Managed.’ It must be written interestingly enough to make the reader want to continue reading. In my experience of writing resumes, I have found that separating the job duties from your accomplishments makes for easier reading. For example, you might start by giving a general 2-3 sentences of your overall responsibility in your position or role. Then follow directly beneath that paragraph with bullets of your most significant accomplishments. Your accomplishments are the results like ‘improved’, ‘reduced’, ‘succeeded’ etc. Depending on your years of experience, your accomplishments may be plentiful, but keep this list to a maximum of four bullets. However, if your list of employers is small then the bulleted list can be broadened to discuss specific projects you’ve completed.  

Both the functional and chronological format can be used for your resume depending on what job you are seeking. Most people have a different resume for each job they are applying to because of the approach they must take. Such as, you might want to highlight ‘managerial experience’ for a Supervisor position or emphasis your ‘educational background’ for a Teaching position. Remember that your resume is saying whatever you tell it to say so be thorough and complete when preparing it.