Most people create a curriculum vitae by listing professional accomplishments chronologically. However, in some cases, you should highlight skills and accomplishments in order of importance rather than order of occurrence. This order is written in the functional curriculum vitae.
Step
Method 1 of 1: Creating Your Own Functional Curriculum Vitae
Step 1. Consider whether a functional curriculum vitae will increase your chances of getting an interview call, and thus getting a job
Functional curriculum vitae highlight skills and abilities but ignore chronology. This change of focus may be useful in the following situations:
- You're switching careers or focuses and want to highlight skills and accomplishments that aren't important to your current job, such as past experience, volunteering experience, or skills developed outside of work.
- You have been stuck in your job or your career has recently hit a dead end.
- You can better tailor your resume to the job you're looking for regardless of chronological order.
Step 2. Brainstorm
Write down your skills and achievements. At this stage, don't worry about which one is relevant. You can sort and edit them later. Don't forget anything that might help, including:
- Volunteer experience.
- Experience working in a country, industry, or other work function.
- Education, academic background, and job training.
- Skills, especially computer and language skills.
- Group and community membership.
- Hobbies, crafts and independent skills.
Step 3. Make the settings
What are the best selling points and the most relevant on your resume? Are you good at computers? Do you have an impressive degree? Do you have years of experience doing something related to the desired job? Place your strongest assets at the top of the list. You may also divide your experience into several groups; for example general personal abilities and more concrete achievements.
Step 4. Organize your curriculum vitae by category, not chronological order
Instead of writing down one section for each job, create a section for each experience or skill you offer. Computer skills, education, and experience are clear divisions.
- When listing experiences, start each sentence with the active verb. This step gives strength to the writing and provides a consistent tone and structure to the list.
- If you can, focus on the problems you solved and the specific results you achieved. Did you manage to save someone money? Did you achieve something that went beyond your job description?
- The general rules for writing a curriculum vitae still apply, it's just that the results take different forms.
Step 5. Add a summary at the beginning
It's not like "Goals" when it comes to getting a full-time job. Instead, this section is the best summary of your offer that you can write down. Ideally, a busy recruiter or hiring manager will be able to tell if your resume is worth reading in 20-40 seconds.
Step 6. Add a brief chronology of your work history at the end
This section can contain a one-sentence description, including the name of the company, title, and the year you worked there.
Tips
- If there's a lot to list, make a master curriculum vitae and narrow it down to each job you're applying for.
- Prioritize your best. Decide what your strongest selling point is, whether it's education, computer skills, or specific experience.
- Have someone else read your resume carefully. The other pair of eyes can see you the way others see you and can help spot mistakes you missed.
- Read the job description in your chosen field, especially the one you are applying for, and match your curriculum vitae to the job.
- Be prepared to discuss your employment history in an interview even if (or especially because) you ignored it. Curriculum vitae is your first capital. Once you've caught someone's attention, you should be able to deal with the possibility of further attention from potential employers.
Warning
- Writing a functional curriculum vitae can make it appear as if you are hiding something, even if your reasons for writing it are completely honest. As long as you feel the benefits outweigh the risks, go ahead and give it a try. You can even submit different versions of your curriculum vitae for different purposes.
- While you should definitely highlight your best achievements and introduce yourself in a positive way, never falsify or exaggerate the claims in your resume or cover letter.
