Functional Resume

Focus/Purpose

Have you focused your résumé on the skills that are most relevant and valuable to your desired position?

• Research the skills and experiences that are preferred in your intended position.
• Highlight key terms and phrases in the job postings to which you are applying.
• Focus on your skills and experiences that match those desired by potential employers.
• Order your skills and experiences in descending order of importance.
• Use major key words as headings when you group your experiences, such as Teaching Experience or Java Skills.
• Refer to or use the terms in the posting in your résumé and accompanying cover letter.

Development/Elaboration

Have you provided your full name and contact information in a ‘letterhead’ or heading?

• Emphasize the heading in a slightly larger and/or bold font.
• Center this ‘letterhead’, or experiment with different alignments to set it off from the rest of the text.
• Include your full name.
• Provide your current address.
• Give a phone number for which you have a professional-sounding voicemail set up.
• Include an e-mail address that is simple and sophisticated. Avoid cute personal e-mail addresses.
• Provide a personal website, if available.
• Do NOT use contact information at your current employment for any of these fields.

Have you provided a Summary of Qualifications that highlights your experience and strengths?

• Sum up your strongest highlights in a few sentences or well-formed phrases.
• List the specific professional areas in which you have knowledge, if relevant to your desired position. Use a bulleted list format for easy readability.
• Mention your years of experience in the industry if it is a positive point of consideration (generally more than 3 years).
• Be honest.
  Do not just write to impress the potential employer and secure the position. They may be hiring and training you based on what you claim your knowledge and experience to be. Be fair to them and to yourself.
  
  

Do you provide descriptive categories of Skills and Experience that showcase your accomplishments and strengths?

• Start by brainstorming all of the experiences, skills, and knowledge that you have gained through paid and unpaid positions, academic study, volunteer work, and vocational training.
• Categorize this list according to the skills and knowledge that are preferred in your desired position.
• Use category headings that identify major skill sets or job functions.
• List specific experiences and accomplishments that demonstrate these skill sets and functions, using precise, active verbs.
  • Use bulleted lists to organize each category of experiences, or write a full paragraph for each one.
  • Start each entry with an active verb to highlight your responsibilities and make your lists consistent.
  • Order each list of experiences in descending order of importance, starting with the most important.
  • Be specific! Name particular programs and languages you are competent in, provide figures or sizes to help convey your level of responsibility, and the technical and ‘soft’ skills that will enable you to do the job well.
• Highlight specific, measurable accomplishments, such as revenue brought in, successful initiatives, or major problems that you helped to resolve.
• If you think an employer will be concerned with where you gained these experiences, include the place of employment in significant entries.

Do you provide a brief chronology of your Work History that summarizes your recent positions?

• List the jobs you have held in a separate section of your résumé, starting with the most recent. Include only your 5 or so most recently held positions.
• Provide about 1-2 lines of information for each entry.
• Include the name of the company, your job title(s), and the years employed for each entry.
• If you have held multiple positions at one company, list the company name once, then indicate the job title and years held within one entry.

Do you provide an accurate, concise Educational History?

If you received your most recent degree within the past five (5) years, you may include this section at the beginning of your résumé, before Skills and Experience. Otherwise, include it at the end.

• List all educational institutions you have attended and degrees earned, from the most recent back in time.
• Write the full name of each school/university and the city and state in which it is located.
• List any university or advanced degree courses you are currently taking first.
  • Identify when you plan to graduate from that level and with what degree.
  • If part time, indicate that in parenthesis (“Part time – evenings”) and reference it in your résumé cover letter.
  • List any undergraduate degrees or years of undergraduate education next.
  • Include your major and minor focus of study if relevant.
  • Include relevant activities, certifications, or experiences, if desired.
  • Include any “continuing education credits” that may be required by certain professions.
  • Above all, be honest.

Do you mention References at the end of your résumé?

• Indicate that you have references available at the end of your résumé.
• If listing your references, provide the full name of each reference and their preferred form of contact.
• If you prefer, simply note “References available upon request.”
• Verify that your references are willing to be contacted before distributing any of their personal or contact information.

Organization

Do you use headings, bullets, and fonts to organize your résumé?

• Divide your résumé into the sections listed above, using headings (suggested headings are in italics) to identify each section.
• Use a slightly larger or bold font to emphasize headings.
• Center or double-space headings to draw attention to them and to create white space.
• Use bullets to arrange your job descriptions into concise lists.
• Use bold and italic fonts to highlight important information, such as employer names or job titles.
• Be consistent and use moderation when using font styles to highlight information.
  • For instance, if you bold job titles, make sure that all job titles are bolded.

Language/Style

Is your résumé clear, clean, and easy to read?

• Select an easy-to-read, traditional font, such as Arial or Times New Roman in 12- point size, for the entirety of your résumé.
• Use a simple page layout that organizes the different areas of your résumé.
• Provide descriptive headings that identify each section of your résumé.
• Use font formatting, such as bold and italic text, to highlight important key terms or parts of your résumé, unless a scannable résumé is requested (see below).
• Avoid graphics and illustrations.
• If an employer specifies a ‘scannable’ résumé:
  • Do not use font sizes smaller than 10 point.
  • Do not use italics or underlining.
  • Keep formatting simple—use all-capitals to add emphasis.
  • Avoid graphics, colored fonts, and shading.

Is your résumé concise, direct, and active?

• Use active verbs to describe your skills, responsibilities, and achievements.
• Write in verb phrases rather than full sentences—delete the subject “I” from each sentence.
• Begin each phrase with a strong, precise verb that describes your responsibility.

Some examples of powerful, precise verbs are: