Professional Resume Advice and Sample ... - Career Services

• A candidate who is returning to work after raising children.• Someone who has been incarcerated for white-collar crime.For job seekers in the above situations, the functional format can beprecisely the right format to use! It provides a structure that separatesskills from the situations in which they were acquired; what’s more, itmoves those skills, achievements, project highlights, and other relevantqualifications to the beginning of the resume. This format shifts the focusof the entire resume in hope that the job seeker’s skills and experiencesare strong enough to compensate for interruptions in their work history.If you look at the resume on the following page, you’ll see a primeexample of an effective functional resume. Examine the ProfessionalExperience section at the very end of the document and you’ll see thatCelia’s work history is a bit spotty. For a number of personal and familyreasons, she has not been able to hold jobs for more than a coupleof years at a time, and she’s had some gaps in her work history. Mostrecently she has been doing occasional consulting work but does nothave a lot of specific accomplishments to show for it.To smooth Celia’s challenging work history, all of her relevant experienceand impressive accomplishments have been moved to the forefront. Allof the information included in the resume is 100% honest. Celia has doneall of this and much more; the functional format simply plays to thesestrengths.Remember: Recruiters and hiring managers know that functionalresumes are written to change the reader’s perception of a particularcandidate. Don’t think for a minute that you’re fooling anyone! Write afunctional resume because you know it’s the best format for you, yourspecific work history, and your current situation.CHAPTER 3 : Formatting theProfessional’s Resume60