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I'm currently approaching the end of one of my current assignments (about a month to go) as is the manager I'm reporting into (a Senior HR manager).  She mentioned towards the end of last week that Functional CVs seem to be taking over from chronological and that that format would probably suit my situation better than a traditional chronological format.  I'm in a consultancy type role performing a mixed bag of assignments from straight Business Analysis type roles through software testing through communications through project/programme reporting through financial analysis for project QA etc.  There's no consistency of the type of work I'm doing or the titles of the roles I'm in, the onkly consistency is that the skills needed (attention to detail, written comms, verbal comms &c) tend to overlap. 

The key difference between a functional CV and a chronological CV is that in the functional rather than having a list of roles at employers with skills/activities and achievements against each one there is a skills section breaking skills down into skillsets and listing achievements against the skillset and then below that have a bare bones list of employers and roles.

Anyone have experience of these as a recruiter, recruitment consultant or job seeker? 

  • As a recruiter, are they helpful?  Do they head straight to the bin? 
  • As a job seeker using a functional CV, did it get you interviews?  Did you get any feedback? 
  • As a recruitment consultant is the functional format easier for searching out people suitable for jobs or less?

Thanks

 

Stephen

 

stringl's picture

 Hi Stephen,

to add in my tuppence-worth, as a hiring manager, I prefer a chronological CV. It irritates me if I can't easily read the CV and see what jobs the individual has played. Possibly that's because I've only ever seen badly-done functional CVs, though, so there could be ways around that. 

S.

 

wendii's picture
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As a recruiter, I hated them, and whether they are becoming more trendy or not, I wouldn't recommend them.

For a start, I think the person writing them is avoiding giving a chronology because they have something to hide (short roles or gaps in employment).

Second, accomplishments without context are impossible to judge, so I can't tell how good they are.

Third, it's unlikely that the functions the resume covers actually answer the questions that the recruiter has about your abilities.

Fourth... ok I'll stop now. You might have to work harder to make your CV effective using the chronological format, but the functional resume isn't the way to go.

Wendii

geovani2016's picture

Hi Wendii,

Is this advise about functional resume's still valid in 2019? My resume will reflect a career change to a different industry.Thanks