Resume Styles: Chronological versus Functional?

Best-selling author Richard H. Beatty joins in the resume discussion

Marysville, WA - November 5, 2002 - An important step in creating or updating your resume is deciding on whether it will be a reverse chronological or functional format, says Frank Heasley, PhD, president and CEO, MedZilla, a leading Internet recruitment and professional community that targets jobseekers and HR Professionals in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and science.

According to Dr. Heasley, the traditional reverse chronological resume lists your professional experience chronologically, with your most recent position listed first. In the Chronological format, the emphasis is on employment experience. Most employers are familiar with and prefer this format, he says. "But if you recently graduated, have held jobs with no relevance to the positions you're currently looking for, or you're re-entering the workforce after a long absence, then the chronological resume will emphasize your lack of experience. In these cases you may want to consider the functional resume format."

Dr. Heasley says that an example of a person who should consider the functional format is a nurse who wants to make the jump from practice-based nursing into pharmaceutical sales. "Depending on the nurse's experience, he or she might want to emphasize those key competencies important in a pharmaceutical sales job. While the nursing experience is in and of itself valuable, it's only part of what those recruiters are looking for," Dr. Heasley says.

The Functional resume emphasizes your skills and achievements instead of your work history. It focuses attention on your skills and any relevant experience, including your educational background. Your employment history is avoided, or very briefly summarized at the beginning of the resume.

Pros and cons of each

"The reverse chronological resume is the basic format which is heavily endorsed by employment professionals and this is supported by a survey by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), where a high percentage of employment professionals (employment managers, directors of employment, search firms, employment agencies) much prefer the reverse chronological resume," says Richard H. Beatty, one of the leading authors in the U.S. on careers and career transitions with two best-selling resume books, "175 high impact resumes," "Resume kit," estimates that he had read more than 150,000 resumes during his career. "I'm going to say it's better than 85% [in favor of chronological resumes], so it's by far the most preferred resume format. Employers are much more interested in knowing about your most current experience and your current skills rather than something that was done 20 years ago."

Nevertheless, Beatty agrees that the reverse chronological format is not for everyone. Beatty, owner of Brandywine Consulting Group, a company that provides outplacement consulting to companies like Procter and Gamble, Dupont and Scott Paper Company, says the functional resume can work if you have unexplained gaps in your employment. "Functional resumes focus on your functional skills. The first page of that resume will list major skill categories. On that first page, you should cite specific skills and examples: things that you've accomplished that demonstrate that you have skills in those areas," he says.

Job seekers should beware, says Beatty that functional resumes can draw suspicion from those hiring. "They know that it's the most commonly used resume format when people have something to conceal or hide. They start out with kind of a negative attitude almost immediately," Beatty says "On the other hand, if you have not worked for a long time or have significant gaps in employment, or have had a lot of employers in a short period of time, you're very much at a disadvantage using the reverse chronological resume because it would highlight that immediately. So, it's kind of a two-edged sword-the functional resume. If you're really borderline as to which resume to pick, err on the side of the reverse chronological resume."

According to Dr. Heasley, there's at least one more option. The combination resume is primarily a functional resume with a short chronological order employment history. Relevant skills and accomplishments are provided first, and then followed by your employment history. This format has been gaining in popularity, but the chronological resume still ranks as employers' favorite, he says.

About MedZilla.com
Established in mid 1994, MedZilla is the original web site to serve career and hiring needs for professionals and employers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, science and healthcare. MedZilla databases contain about 10,000 open positions and 10,000 resumes from candidates actively seeking new positions. These resources have been characterized as the largest, most comprehensive databases of their kind on the web in the industries served.