Functional resume format: Examples, tips, & free templates

Should I use a functional resume format? That depends...

You are ready to take the next step in your career, but it has been a while since you updated your resume. Time to dust it off (cough!) and make it current. But, what format should you use to properly tell your story about what you want to be and who you want to be?

A functional resume focuses on your skills and talents. It shows the reader how you can contribute to their organizational objectives from day one. It also helps to mask any issues with your employment history which a chronological resume may expose, such as limited experience or job gaps.

This guide will help you to confirm that a functional resume is the best choice for you, by teaching you the following:

• Introduce the functional resume as an option
• Show you how to format your resume
• What information to include in a functional resume
• How to organize each section
• Outline some optional section you can also include

The functional resume: An introduction

The functional resume format is applicable for individuals with a great deal of education and training and/or a strong set of job-related skills. This includes new graduates or experienced workers transferring to a new industry where their skills and education will apply. It is also good for people who have worked for a limited number of organizations and whose skills are more important than the employers they have worked for.

A functional resume highlights your skills and talents and how they relate to the job you’re applying for.  Often, the skills you have are the same ones described in the job posting. This type of resume is best for people working in technical or skill base professions, or who are transitioning into a new career.

A functional resume looks like this.

Format of a functional resume

The format of a functional resume is very specific. It is structured to enable recruiters to quickly determine your qualifications for the job and to encourage them to read the complete resume to learn more about you. An easy way to format your resume is to select a template which you can find online and simply insert your information into the appropriate sections, following the prompts provided by the template. However, you still need to know what the structure of a functional resume looks like.

The basic structure for a functional resume is:

• Name and contact information (email, phone and possibly the location, but never an address)
• Title – This should match the job title you are applying for
• Summary of applicable skills and any experience relevant to those listed in the job posting.
• Hard Skills – The emphasis is here. These are the skills directly related to the job
• Additional Skills – Soft skills which complement the job
• Education – Formal, vocational and subsequent training in specific skills (note – this may precede the Skills section if you are a recent graduate or have received recent training which would qualify you for the position)
• Experience – Brief listing of employers, dates, and title
• Industry related certifications
• Industry organizations
• Volunteer experience

Content of your functional resume

The basic content or information you include in your resume is similar for any resume format you choose to use. However, how it is organized and how much detail you provide for each section differs depending on the type of resume you are writing. Here are the content and organization recommendations for the functional resume format.

Contact information

The resume starts with your contact information. This will allow the employer to reach out to you to invite you to an interview, which is the purpose of a resume. Your contact information should include:

• Name
• Phone number
• e-mail address
• LinkedIn profile URL

Each of these items could be at the top of each page of the resume so the employer will know whose information they are reading. Your name should be slightly larger than your contact information. Your email address and LinkedIn URL can contain links which the employer can click on. Anything you can do to make it easier for the employer will help you land the interview.

Professional summary

The next item in your functional resume is a brief summary of your professional background. This enables the employer to begin to know something about you and encourages them to want to read the rest of your resume. It should be the same as your ‘elevator pitch’ or your answer to the infamous ‘Tell me about yourself’ interview question. It should summarize your skills, experience, and ability to contribute to the employer’s business objectives in 2-3 sentences.

Skills

This next section will include both ‘hard skills’, which are directly related to the job you are applying to, and ‘soft skills’, which are character traits. This latter category will demonstrate your ability to work well in the employer’s environment. They include things like communication, teamwork, attention to detail, and others.

When you use the functional resume format, the skills section is the most important and you will spend more time on this section than you would in other types of resumes. The individual skills will be grouped in similar categories and described in much more detail. It may also contain examples of accomplishments related to the skills.  

Employment history

Similar to the skills section, the employment history or professional experience section of the resume will differ depending on the format of the resume you are using. For all formats, the basic information you include will be:

• Job title
• Company name
• Location
• Dates employed

The information is listed in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position and working backward. You should only list jobs going back for about 10 years. Anything prior to this either is no longer relevant to contemporary positions or the experience has already been described in more recent employment listings.

In the functional resume, this is all the information you provide. The focus in this format is your skills, which you have already described in detail.

Education

This section details both your formal and informal training related to the job you are applying to. The formal education is listed in reverse order, starting with the most recent or highest degree attained. The information you include is:

• Degree, with major and any minors if applicable
• School or institution
• Activities including offices held, organizations, key projects or publications

If you have had informal education related to the jobs you’ve held or are applying to, include it in your resume. The descriptions should include:

• Name of the class or certificate attained
• Instructional institution or issuing agency
• Dates

These items should only be included if they enhance your qualifications for the job. If any education, training or certifications are listed as ‘Required’ in the job posting you are applying to, you may want to move this section to just below Skills and ahead of Experience.

Optional sections for a functional resume

You may opt to include some additional information, but only if it contributes to telling the story of why you are qualified for the position you are applying to. Keep in mind that employers will only hire you if you can do one of the following:

• Make them money
• Save them money
• Save them time
• Fix their problem

Anything you put in your resume should speak to one of these objectives. Otherwise, don’t include it. Having said this, optional items you can include in your resume, regardless of which format you use are:

• Certifications, awards, or recognitions
• Industry or trade organizations you are a member of, and which are relevant to the job
• Volunteer work
• Patents or publications
• Foreign languages you are fluent in

How you choose to format these is flexible but should be consistent with the other section of your resume. Using the same format as in the education section is the easiest guideline.

Functional resume: Final thoughts

Most people are good at what they do for a living but find it difficult to describe it in writing. Luckily, there are many online resources available to help you format and write a resume. The key is choosing the right format for your particular situation and then filling it with the right content, written in the right way.

Once you select the format, you can either write the resume yourself or find a template you can use. These are available on the internet and make it easy to create a professional looking resume. You simply fill in your information in the appropriate section and then save or print the resume.