A functional resume highlights skills and achievements that were not necessarily gained through work experience but that make you an appealing and valuable potential asset to the company to which you are applying. The combination resume also includes some of these skills and achievements along with a chronological account of your work experience that would be of interest to your potential employer.
If you have just graduated or are entering the workforce for the first time, a functional resume will be best suited to your needs. If, on the other hand, you are looking to change professions and are moving into another field that is related to one in which you have some work experience, a combination resume will serve you best.
Before we begin to look at these two styles of resumes and how they differ, let’s talk about what they have in common. These are things that will make any resume stronger and more convincing and will make your application stand out from the rest.
At the top of the resume should be your name and contact information. At a minimum you should provide your full name and a phone number and/or email address. Whether you choose to include your physical address on your resume is up to you, but remember that it is going to be circulating among a lot of people, so keep that in mind when you choose whether to include extra personal information. A contact phone number is sufficient for most positions, and an email address makes it even easier for an employer to contact you, which, of course, is always beneficial. Whenever possible, make the employer’s job easier from the very start!
According to Katharine Hansen and Randall S. Hansen, one of the first things that you must know as a resume writer is that studies have found that the average employer spends between 2.5 and 20 seconds looking at a resume. This means that you need to have a resume that immediately captures their attention and shows them that you have qualifications they are looking for as well as something else that sets you apart from all the other applicants.
But how can you do that in a mere 20 seconds? Right under your name and contact information, list your education. Many resume templates put this section at the bottom of the resume, but often employers specify up front what educational qualifications the position demands. They will want to see that you meet those qualifications. Along with education Money-Zine.com recommends including any pertinent certifications, licenses, or honors that you have been awarded that are pertinent to the position for which you are applying.
When writing your education section of your resume, you will generally want to omit your high school education. Some employers require it and will ask that it be included, but generally it is not as important to the recruiter as your undergraduate education. An exception to this rule would be if you received a scholarship or award in high school that demonstrates aptitude in the field in which you are applying for a job.
Also, do not list your coursework on your resume. If upon receiving your resume the employer wishes to see further documentation of your educational history, you will be asked to provide it. Remember: this is your first contact, and you want it to be concise and eye-catching.
These first two sections should be included on both functional and combination resumes. Next, we will look at how to utilize your personal experience to create a powerful resume no matter what your work history.
First, let’s look at functional resumes. Creating a functional resume is an excellent way to leverage all of your life experiences and skills that you have acquired outside of a professional environment. In a functional resume the third section should list your career skills and knowledge. This information should be presented as a bulleted list. This will make it easy to read quickly and more effective in capturing the reader’s attention.
The first thing to do is think about the type of job you are applying for and what types of specific skills a person would need in order to excel at that job. For example, if you are considering a job as an administrative assistant, you might list such skills as your typing speed; any computer programs that you are familiar with, such as spreadsheet or calendar applications; and any experience you have with filing systems.
You can also include qualities such as your ability to learn new skills quickly or your positive attitude and work ethic. If you have participated in relevant internships, volunteer work, or extracurricular activities, say so. You can also include any pertinent experience that you gained through a class or your major if it seems like it would catch the recruiter’s attention, according to WetFeet.com. For example, if you were applying for an entry-level position working with children and you took an education course that addressed a similar age group, that would be an excellent bullet point on your list.
Some applicants are tempted to list sorority or fraternity affiliations, believing that it couldn’t hurt and that there is a possibility that their resume may cross the path of a fellow member. While this initially may not seem like a bad idea, it can actually hurt your chances of landing a job. Some employers will dismiss a fraternity or sorority member’s resume due to a long-standing rivalry with their own organization or simply due to their own biases against sororities and fraternities in general. This doesn’t mean that your experience with a Greek organization can’t serve you, but list your experience in a neutral way, such as “treasurer for social organization,” rather than mentioning sororities or fraternities specifically.
Another thing to avoid when composing your experience list is including personal hobbies. Some people feel that this will make them seem more approachable or human, but many employers simply don’t have the time at this stage of the interview process. (Remember that 20-second statistic?) Unless the hobby is extremely relevant to the position, it is probably best to leave it off of your resume.
Read over the application carefully, keeping an eye out for phrases that could give you some hints as to skills that the employer is looking for. Find a way to include these in your skill set list if they apply to you. Be careful, however, not to use precisely the phrasing that the employer used. This could appear disingenuous.
For the combination resume you will add one additional segment: work experience. This information should be provided in reverse chronological order, so the first job listed should be your most recent. You do not need to include all the jobs you have worked, especially if they are not all related to the field you are attempting to enter. Employers will not be interested in your unrelated experience. Focus instead on drawing their attention to what will make you irresistible to them.
For each previous position that you list, be sure to include the company name, your position title, and the dates that you worked there. Additionally, include a brief (one- to two-sentence) description of what you did, highlighting how you helped the company improve.
Some important things to consider with respect to your job descriptions are the inclusion of both action verbs and keywords and clear illustrations of how you were valuable to the company. Action verbs are verbs that will speak strongly to your prospective employer and will give your resume a professional appearance. There are several lists available online of powerful action verbs that you can include in your job descriptions that will catch the recruiter’s attention. For example, the following website provides lists of action verbs organized both alphabetically and by skill category: www.quintcareers.com/action_verbs.html.
In addition to action verbs, many employers will search for keywords in resumes, and they will only look at the ones that include these words. While a job seeker may be well qualified for a certain position, if his or her resume does not include the desired keywords, it may never be seen.
So how do you know what words to include? One way to increase your likelihood of being noticed is to read the job posting very carefully and look for some of these keywords in the advertisement itself. Are there any phrases, particularly phrases that describe the position or the requirements associated with it, that are repeated twice or more? If so, those are likely some of the keywords that will be used by the employer to identify potential candidates, and those are phrases you should be sure to include in your resume if possible. Don’t force them into your resume if they don’t fit, but if you can ease them in seamlessly, then by all means do so.
Another good way to get these words into your resume and increase your likelihood of catching the recruiter’s attention is to create an introductory statement at the top of your resume between your personal information and your education. This should not be very long, a few sentences at most, and should be very specific with regard to the position you are seeking. Repeating some of the phrases that were used in the job advertisement will catch their attention quickly and will show them that you really are the perfect candidate they’ve been looking for. This section can be titled “Profile,” “Personal Profile,” or “Summary of Qualifications.”
One mistake that many people make at the very end of their resume is including a long list of people who can be contacted as references. This is unnecessary at this stage of the application process, and it can make your resume look overeager or even desperate. If you wish, you may include the line “References available upon request” at the end of your resume and have that list prepared should an employer contact you and ask for it.
Also, don’t forget to contact the references that you list in order to ask their permission to provide their contact information and to alert them ahead of time that they may be contacted. This is highly important for personal references but is also a much-appreciated courtesy for professional references. Your advance notice will give them a chance to review your work ahead of time so that when they are contacted, they can give a solid and reliable recommendation on your behalf.
Finally, some key concepts to keep in mind while you are preparing your resume: honesty, brevity, and desirability. Be forthright about your experience; don’t over-inflate your resume to appear more experienced than you really are. It will only backfire on you during your application process or afterwards. Second, keep your resume short and sweet — you have 20 seconds to catch their attention, so make every word count, and remember to use action verbs and keywords. Finally, show them precisely why you are their perfect candidate. Target your resume directly to the field you want to enter and find ways to demonstrate how your past experience, professional or otherwise, has prepared you for the job.
Writing a resume for an entry-level position in a new field can be an enjoyable and highly profitable experience if you know where to begin. The advice and guidelines in this article should help you to start putting together a resume that is professional, is eye-catching, and sells your strengths to your new employer. Good luck!
