One of the most crucial parts of writing an effective resume is choosing the right format. We usually distinguish between chronological, functional, and hybrid formats, with each having distinct pros and cons. To that end, we will be discussing different resume formats and which ones work for which job seekers. Today, we’ll look at the functional resume format.

What is it?

The functional resume format is the opposite of the chronological format which we discussed previously. Whereas the chronological format was all about where you worked and when, the functional format minimizes your chronological work history. Instead, the functional format focuses on your skills, key competencies, accomplishments, and highlights of experience – basically, what makes you special and uniquely qualified.

In another post, we discussed how the functional resume can benefit job seekers with nontraditional career paths. Today, we’ll look at the other type of job seeker for whom the functional template is a good choice.

The Advantages

The functional resume format works well for people who have a long history working in a single career at multiple locations. For people with this sort of “single-track” career, the functional template can prevent redundancy. For example, if you’ve worked as a nurse at five different locations over the past twenty years, doing pretty much the exact same job at each location, you may not want to write out the exact same duties and skills five times on your resume. Instead, you can use a functional template to describe all of your job skills and experience without being repetitive.

This can be especially advantageous for older job seekers whose best work accomplishments may have been many years ago. The functional template allows you to put your best achievements at the top of your resume, regardless of when they occurred.

The Disadvantages

The primary disadvantage of the functional resume is that it can be hard to write. Since you have an extensive work history in the same field, you will not be able to put everything you’ve ever done on a resume. You will have to focus on the most valuable and relevant information. This means that you will need to search your memory and determine your best skills and accomplishments, even stretching back over decades. The process of writing a functional resume is time-consuming and complex. However, in most cases, the extra work is worth it, because a functional resume will prevent you from having a lengthy resume which repeats the same phrases over and over.

Components of a Resume

Contact Information: Your name, physical address (optional), phone number with area code, email address, and LinkedIn URL (optional).

Personalized Sections:  This is the largest section of the functional resume, and the least rigidly structured. This is where you get to be creative. No two functional resumes look exactly alike – you need to find the best way to present your skills and qualifications. You may start with a summary of qualifications, a short paragraph of keywords describing your best skills, and then move to a “highlights of experience” section, where you detail some of your relevant experience. Or, you may start with a large, bullet-point-filled skills section, then have a key accomplishments section where you brag about the best stuff you’ve done. Or, you may divide it up into several sections of key competencies. Look at our example for inspiration. This resume is for a seasoned employee who’s trying to condense an extensive career into a succinct document, while drawing attention away from how old some of his best experience is. He begins with a detailed list of his most relevant skills as an office manager and bookkeeper, then highlights a few of his greatest accomplishments from throughout his career. If you’re still not sure how to format your functional resume, check for examples online and in resume books.

Work History: This section will be brief and near the bottom of the resume. Each entry in this section will consist of your job title, company name, city and state, and dates worked. Nothing else is needed, because all the details are included in your personalized sections.

Education: This would be the place to include academic degrees (Bachelor of Science, Associate’s Degree, etc.), vocational certifications (teaching license, LPN, etc.), and industry credentials (CPR, TWIC, OSHA, ServSafe, etc.). Remember to include the name and type of diploma earned, the name of the school, and the city and state.

References: Your references should not be part of your resume. References should be on a separate document, one which you only provide when it is asked for. You may include a line on your resume that says, “References available upon request.”

In addition to these tips, you can come by the Career Center in person anytime during business hours for one-on-one help with your resume.

Written by Lynnette Lee.

Note: This article was originally published in 2017 and has been re-posted with updates to reach a new audience.

One of the most crucial parts of writing an effective resume is choosing the right format. We usually distinguish between chronological, functional, and hybrid formats, with each having distinct pros and cons. To that end, we will be discussing different resume formats and which ones work for which job seekers. Today, we’ll look at the functional resume format.

What is it?

The functional resume is the opposite of the chronological resume, which we previously discussed here. Whereas the chronological format was all about where you worked and when, the functional format minimizes your chronological work history. Instead, the functional format focuses on your skills, key competencies, accomplishments, and highlights of experience — basically, what makes you special and uniquely qualified. There are two categories of job seekers who can benefit from using a functional template. Today, we’ll look at the first category: people who have had a nontraditional career path. The second will be discussed in a follow-up post.

the advantages

The functional resume format is the best choice for people whose chronological work history is problematic in some way. The format works well for people with unstable work histories or a lack of recent relevant experience.  If you have a history of job-hopping or short-term jobs, or if you have a large gap in your work history, this format can help cover up that fact. Likewise, if you’re applying for a job in a new field in which you’ve never worked — or if you’re returning to a field that you’ve been out of for many years — a functional resume lets you discuss your relevant transferable skills, without much emphasis on when and where you learned them.

the disadvantages

The primary disadvantage of the functional resume is that it’s hard to write. Since a functional resume is all about your unique skills and qualifications, it requires a great deal of forethought and soul-searching. You must think carefully about three things:

1. What qualities does the company want for this position?
2. What do I have in terms of skills and experience?
3. How can I make what I have match up with what they want?

The process of writing a functional resume is time-consuming and complex. Additionally, since it’s a very personalized format, you may need to do major tweaks to it before applying for each new job, to ensure that your skills match up well with the job description. However, in most cases, the extra work is worth it, because employers will see you favorably, whereas a chronological format might not paint you in the best light.

The secondary disadvantage of the functional resume is that hiring managers know that this format is often used to hide weaknesses. For that reason, some recruiters are wary of taking a closer look at someone with a functional resume. However, the functional template is nevertheless the best choice for some job seekers. It is a better option than a resume that flaunts weaknesses.

Components of a functional Resume

Contact Information: Your name, physical address (optional), phone number with area code, email address, and LinkedIn URL (optional).

Personalized Sections:  This is the largest section of the functional resume, and the least rigidly structured. This is where you get to be creative. No two functional resumes look exactly alike — you need to find the best way to present your skills and qualifications. You may start with a summary of qualifications, a short paragraph of keywords describing your best skills, and then move to a “highlights of experience” section, where you detail some of your relevant experience. Or, you may start with a large, bullet-point-filled skills section, then have a key accomplishments section where you brag about the best stuff you’ve done. Or, you may divide it up into several sections of key competencies.

Look at our example for inspiration. This is a resume for a schoolteacher who is positioning herself for a career in a new field — office management. Although she’s never worked in an office before, her work as a teacher has given her the skills to supervise, train, motivate, and coordinate. So, she focuses on the transferable skills that she has, breaking them into areas of key competencies and discussing some of her achievements in each field. If you’re still not sure how to format your functional resume, review examples online and in resume books.

Work History: This section will be brief and near the bottom of the resume — after all, this is the section of the resume you don’t want to draw attention to. Each entry in this section will consist of merely your job title, company name, city and state, and dates worked.

Education: This would be the place to include academic degrees (Bachelor of Science, Associate’s Degree, etc.), vocational certifications (teaching license, LPN, etc.), and industry credentials (CPR, TWIC, OSHA, ServSafe, etc.). Remember to include the name and type of diploma earned, the name of the school, and the city and state.

References: Your references should not be a part of your resume. References should be on a separate document, one which you only provide when it is asked for. You may include a line on your resume that says, “References available upon request.”

In addition to these tips, you can visit the Career Center in person anytime during business hours for one-on-one help with your resume.

Written by Lynnette Lee.

Note: This article was originally published in 2017 and has been re-posted with updates to reach a new audience.

One of the most crucial parts of writing an effective resume is choosing the right format. We usually distinguish between chronological, functional, and hybrid formats, with each having distinct pros and cons. To that end, we will be discussing different resume formats and which ones work for which job seekers. Today, we’ll look at the chronological resume format.

What is it?

A chronological resume focuses entirely on your reverse chronological work history: where you worked, when you worked there, and what you did there. Check out a sample chronological resume here.

Take note that nowadays, most resumes designed for white-collar professional work include large sections of chronological work history, but are not considered chronological resumes. These more complex templates are called hybrid or combination resumes, which will be discussed in a later article. Here, we will examine the strictly chronological resume.

the advantages

The chronological resume is a very straightforward and easy format to follow. Because of its simplicity, the format draws a hiring manager’s eye quickly to the applicant’s work history. It works well for people who have a stable work history with several years of relevant experience. This format is often used by job seekers who work in blue-collar industries, including truck drivers, laborers, skilled tradesmen, and plant operators. This template is also sometimes favored by job seekers in fields such as care taking, dish washing, and housekeeping, whose job duties are relatively uniform and require little explanation.

the disadvantages

There are several types of job seekers for whom this format is not a good choice. The chronological resume focuses entirely on work history — so if you have an unstable work history, this format will bring attention to that. Likewise, if you don’t have much experience in the field you’re applying for, this format will emphasize that fact. Additionally, this format offers no place to highlight your specialized skills, so it is a poor choice if you are in an industry which requires specialized training or abilities — such as information technology, nursing, or engineering. Finally, this format may be seen as too simplistic for job seekers in professional office, administrative, or management positions.

Components of a chronological resume

Contact Information: Your name, physical address (optional), phone number with area code, and email address.

Work History: This will include the name of each company, city and state of the company’s location, your job title there, the dates of your employment, and a job description. The job description should give the recruiter a good idea of what you did on that job. Make sure to include specifics about awards or promotions you received, experience training or supervising other employees, special software or equipment you used (such as a forklift or POS software), presentations or workshops you led, and any other special achievements you had on the job. I recommend listing each job duty or accomplishment as a separate bullet point, starting each bullet point with a strong action verb. Start with the most recent job and work your way back.

Education: This would be the place to include academic degrees (GED, associate’s degree, etc.), vocational certifications (certified welder, CNA, CDL, etc.), and industry credentials (TWIC, OSHA, NCCER, ServSafe, etc.). Remember to include the name and type of diploma or degree earned, the name of the school, and the city and state.

References: Your references should not be part of your resume. References should be a separate document, one which you only provide when it is asked for. You may include a line on your resume that says, “References available upon request.”

In addition to these tips, remember that you can come by the Career Center in person during business hours for one-on-one help with your resume.

Written by Lynnette Lee.

Note: This article was originally published in 2017 and has been re-posted with updates to reach a new audience.

When you need to update your resume and search online for resume templates, you will come across plenty of colorful templates with snazzy graphics. They look much more interesting than those black-and-white Word documents, and they are easy to fill out. So what can go wrong? Actually, a good bit. It turns out that each resume format has its time and place.

Infographic resumes

These are examples of infographic style resume templates:

(MS Word template)

(Canva.com template)

They use graphic design elements throughout the document and sometimes, as in the canva.com template, they even substitute whole resume sections with design elements. They are attractive to look at and draw a reader in quickly. But there are some definite drawbacks to this resume format. Let’s look at the pros and cons:

Pros of an infographic resume:

• It’s eye catching
• It packs a lot of information onto one page
• It showcases creativity

Cons of an Infographic Resume:

• A number of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) cannot read infographic resumes! This is by far the biggest and most important drawback of this format. There are dozens of different kinds of applicant tracking software out there. Some can read information contained in graphic elements and many cannot. Since you, as the applicant, usually don’t know which kind of software you are applying with, it is better to be safe than sorry and not use an infographic resume when applying online!
• These kinds of templates can be hard to manipulate. If your specific situation doesn’t quite fit the template and you want to change out or substitute certain sections, that might prove to be hard to do.

Text based resumes

These are examples of text based resumes. Both are entirely fictional persons and the templates can be found on our website.

Text based resumes are usually created in MS Word or Google Docs. They are more traditional, although it is perfectly ok to use colors to spice it up a bit. They look more boring at first, but they also have definite advantages:

Pros of a Text-Based Resume:

• It is ATS-friendly. All applicant tracking software can read Word resumes (however, do beware of headers/footers, textboxes and complicated tables; those can sometimes not be read).
• It is easier to adapt to individual situations. It is very easy in a Word document to switch the “Education” and “Professional Experience” sections around for example, or to add and subtract whole sections.

Cons of a Text-Based Resume:

• Can look boring
• Can be text heavy

Conclusion

Use an infographic style resume if:

• You are in a creative career/field
• For networking events where you can pass on hardcopies to other people
• You use it as an email attachment

Use a text-based resume if:

• You are uploading it to an online application
• You are in a more traditional field/company

If you’d like any help with writing your resume, your job search or career development, the Career Center is here to help. Contact us at 225-231-3733 or at www.careercenterbr.com or check out our YouTube channel at careercenterbr.com/youtube.

Written by Anne Nowak

Several decades ago, it was common for people to work at one company for twenty or thirty years. In today’s gig economy, such long-term stability is rare. Yet most employers still see an unstable work history as a major red flag. It indicates to them that the applicant may be unfocused, uncommitted, or a problem employee of some sort.

If you have an unstable work history, how do you handle it on your resume, so that it doesn’t look like a red flag? The answer depends on your specific circumstances. Here are some ideas:

Problem: One large gap. There is a period of several years when you were not working.
Solution: Fill it in with something. Were you going back to school during that time? Doing volunteer work? Operating a small business or working freelance? Serving as a caretaker for your children or parents? All of these are activities that you can (and should!) put on a resume to explain away the gap. You want to show them that you were using your time productively, even if it was in a way that’s not directly relevant to your career field.
Example:
Tutor, Self-employed, Baton Rouge, LA                                                           August 2013 – May 2015
Tutored several middle- and high-school students in English grammar and literature.

Caretaker, Johnson Family, Lafayette, LA                                                              July 2008 – July 2013
Managed insurance relations and payments.
Coordinated medical care, including medications, therapy, and doctor appointments.

Problem: Several small gaps. There are a few gaps of six months or less in your work history.
Solution: Use only years of employment, not months. This strategy will cover any gaps which are less than a year in duration.
Example:
Sales Associate, Home Depot, Baton Rouge, LA                              December  2014 – February 2015
Rang up purchases and processed payments.
Assisted customers on sales floor.

Flooring Manager, Ace Hardware, Baton Rouge, LA                           November 2012 – January  2013
Supervised 3 sales associates.
Provided customers with expert knowledge of flooring products.

Problem: Multiple jobs at once. You have frequently held two or three jobs at a time, which means that there are a lot of jobs in your work history.
Solution: Delete some of the jobs. For each time period you need to cover, choose one job from your list – ideally, the most impressive job with the most relevant skills. Remove the others, and add the phrase “Additional work history available upon request” to the bottom of your work history.
Example:
Crew Leader, Burger King, Baton Rouge, LA                                     October 2015 – present
Supervise staff of 5; open store daily.

Cashier, Dollar Tree, Baton Rouge, LA                                                September 2014 – July 2016
Assisted customers and ran cash register.

Prep Cook, Chili’s, Baton Rouge, LA                                                   April 2012 – October 2015
Cooked meals to order in a fast-paced kitchen.

Additional work history available on request.

Problem: Staffing agency jobs. You’ve had several short-term jobs, with gaps between them, which you found though a staffing agency.
Solution: List the staffing agency as your employer. You can list more detailed information about the types of work you did and the companies you worked for in the bullet points of your job description. But by grouping it all together under the staffing agency, it looks much more stable.
Example:
Office Temp, Lofton Staffing, Baton Rouge, LA                                 June 2008 – March 2012
Worked a variety of short-term clerical jobs.
Locations included Neighbors Credit Union, Brown Dentistry, AllState Insurance, and GMP.
Performed data entry, filing, scanning, faxing, copying, and database management.

Problem: Short-term jobs. There are jobs in your work history which lasted less than a year.
Solution: Delete some of the jobs, and use only years of employment, not months. Ask yourself whether it’s helping you to include these short-term jobs. If you can delete them without removing crucial experience, and without leaving large/numerous gaps, then do so. If not, see if you can group them together (see next Solution).
Example:
LPN, Our Lady of the Lake, Baton Rouge, LA                                      October 2016 – present
Manage ward of 12 cardiac care patients.

Home Health Nurse, Senior Care Inc., Baton Rouge, LA                    January 2016 – April 2016
Provided sole medical care for elderly invalid.

LPN, Baton Rouge General, Baton Rouge, LA                                     August 2013 – July 2015
Performed triage and assisted doctors in busy ER.

Problem: Short-Term Contracts/Projects. This is especially common in such fields as construction, where you move from job to job whenever projects are completed. If you only have one or two positions like this on your resume, simply add “Contract” or “Seasonal” to your job title. But if you have several such positions, you’ll need a new approach.
Solution: Group similar jobs together under one title. Give this entry a title which covers the general type of work you did, then get into the specifics in the job description below that.
Example:
Carpenter/Painter, Baton Rouge, LA                                                              2013 – present
Performed industrial carpentry painting work for several local construction projects.
Worked with Turner Industries, CB&I, Brock Construction, and Broh Brothers.

Problem: None of the previous solutions worked. If you tried the tricks above, but are still not able to put together a resume that will impress hiring managers and hide your unstable work history, you may need to completely re-think the structure of your resume.
Solution: Use a functional resume. This strategy emphasizes your skills and qualifications while downplaying your chronological work history. The largest downside of the functional resume is that it can be very difficult to write. The good news is, the Career Center can help!
Example: We have two templates for functional resumes, as well as a previous blogpost about how to use a functional resume to cover an unstable work history.

If you would like some help with your resume, please visit the Career Center of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library at any time during our opening hours for free expert assistance.

Written by Lynnette Lee