When it is time to begin writing a functional resume, you will notice (if you do significant research on functional resume) there are a dozen or more "definitions" of the functional resume.

What does the diversity of opinion show?

As you write a functional resume, you are composing a flexible document. Flexiblity, however, does not mean free-form. There are some components that are required simply by definition of the document.

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The Basics

You MUST have (excuse me for stating the obvious) a:

• Contact section
• Education section
• Work History section

The reasons for writing a functional resume that includes these sections pertains to the prime functions of a resume.

• It must reveal who you are and how to contact you - else, what's the purpose?
• It must show there is reason to believe you know something the prospective company needs - else why contact you?
• It must show you have done something - else why trust you with a job?

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Beyond the Basics

The real purpose for writing a functional resume is to take advantage of the flexibility inherent in the document's structure. Whereas a chronological resume works like a timeline in reverse, showing the most recent first, the functional resume allows you to list your greatest assets first while de-emphasizing your "flaws".

When structuring your functional resume write in terms of what you want to emphasize, what you want to minimize. There are several ways to draw emphasis to your strengths.

• Place your strongest assets in your Professional Summary section
• Devote more details to describing your strongest asset
• Sequence you strongest assets first
• Use headlines to draw attention to your strongest assets
• Use bold fonts to highlight the most important word(s)

As with any emphasis technique, do it carefully. Overuse of headlines or bold type diminishes the impact. Be selective about how you apply your emphasis. Make it easy for the reader to get the main points.

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Making Your Claims

In order to gain attention of the prospective employer, one of the first things you should do when writing a functional resume is make some claims about yourself. The best way to do this is in a professional summary statement.

When writing a functional resume, you will want to place your summary statement in the hot zone of your resume. To identify the hot zone, take a sheet of paper and fold it in half. Fold it in half again. Now, unfold it and measure 1 1/2" above and below the top fold. The three inch section you have just marked is the hottest section of your resume. This is the first place a reader's eyes will naturally fall. This is where, in writing a functional resume, you want to place your professional summary. This is the section of your resume where you will make your claims to be the best candidate for the job.

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Providing the Evidence

If you are writing a functional resume, the remainder of your resume is reserved for providing evidence of your claims. This is where the real flexibility comes from. This is where you not only identify the asset, but also identify the facts that establish the significance of that asset to a potential employer.

It is like making a claim, then anticipating the reader saying, "So what? Why is that important to me?" You must answer the "So what?" effectively if you want your statement to have impact.

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Organize To Your Best Advantage

One of your greatest tasks in writing a functional resume is to make it easy for the reader to connect your skills with his needs. This can be a very daunting task without a simple method. Try doing it this way:

• Make a list of your assets and how you have used them, demonstrating relevance to the company in short, terse verb phrases:
  • Expanded sales territory 87% in 36 months by hiring, training and placing new staff
  • Grew revenue by $17,000,000 in 21 months by introducing 6 new product lines
  • Reduced production costs $287,000 in 5 months by streamlining production line
  • Increased enrollment by 41% in 2 years by increasing contacts with potential students
  • Reduced office paper costs by 62% in 1 year by digitalizing multiple work processes
  • Knowledgeable in design concepts for increased space utilization
  • Knowledgeable in injection molding process and equipment operation
  • Expertise in all phases of HVAC design, installation and maintenance with Carrier Systems demonstrated by over 580 successful commercial installations
  • Mastery of cabinetry as evidenced by 27 years experience designing, building and installing cabinets in residential, retail, commercial and educational applications

If you need help using the latest terminology in your job skills, knowledge bases, abilities and accomplishments, you can visit the U.S. Department of Labor's O*Net site and research the current terms associated with various positions.

• Rank your knowledge bases, skills, abilities and accomplishments according to two factors:
  • The assets you are most skilled with and most want to use
  • The assets your potential employer needs
• Writing a functional resume assumes you will develop section headings and subheadings by functional titles that will best organize your assets for the reader to grasp quickly. Group your relevant skill sets, abilities, responsibilities, challenges and accomplishments for emphasis. If you have a cluster of similar assets, clustering them and putting a relevant heading draws attention more effectively than just stringing them out randomly as you write a functional resume.
• When writing a functional resume, let relevance to the assets you wish to feature most and relevance to the needs of the position determine the sort of headings the sequencing of them and their content. You will want to use terms the potential employer has in focus to gain his attention.

Place the overall most relevant section first, the next second and continue in like manner.

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Match Your Assets With Desirable Job Descriptions

Regardless of what your strengths are, when writing a functional resume, you will need to be aware of the needs of the employer. If you are an attorney with exceptional experience in criminal trials, but the company needs a workout-turn around specialist, your functional resume needs to de-emphasize your courtroom experience and focus on your corporate workout-turn around experience.

Similarly, you may be the world best C++ programmer. However, if the company is advertising for a systems analyst, you must write your functional resume to reflect you system analysis skills.

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Your Experience Section

Since many people writing a functional resume do not have a work history as their strongest asset, you will probably want to de-emphasize that section. How do you do this? In a number of ways. First, place it at the end of the document. Second, be very brief in your position listings, giving only the employer, job title, location and dates of employment listed by year, not including the month. For example:

• Granny's Diner, Backup Cook and Bottle Washer, Possum Holler, TN, 2005-Present
• Bubba's Buggy Barn, Bookkeeper, Opp, AL, 1999-2004
• J. B. Thump Transportation, Accounts Recievable, Shawnee, OK, 1996-1998
• County Water Works, Meter Reader, Coryell County, TX, 1994-1995
• Johnny's Hot Rod Shop, Janitor, Brick, NJ, 1988-1993.

In some cases, like the above work history, it would even be permissible to omit job titles completely. They add very little to one's attractiveness as a potential employee, and raise more questions than they answer. Think in terms of assets and liablities.

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