by Victor Coelho

Created on: March 10, 2008   Last Updated: February 09, 2010

You found a job you want to apply for. The advertisement states they want a resume. You have work history problems: you've had 10 jobs in the last 12 months; you had an accident with injuries that prevented you from working for several years; you are a homemaker and you just finished raising your children; you had aging parents you had to care for; you were incarcerated. The list of reasons for not having a steady work history is as numerous as the stars whirling overhead. Many of the reasons are good onessome, not so good.

Good reasons or not, what do you do? A traditional chronological resume won't work well for you in these cases. Employers are not usually impressed by spotty work histories or job hoppers who move on faster than a jack rabbit across an open field.

However, there are alternatives:

1. Create a "functional" (also known as "skills") resume.

2. Create a cover letter that, in essence, takes the place of a resume (since I am concentrating on the functional resume in this article, please go to my Labor Market Snippets article: "Should You Submit Your Resume When You Have Work Experience Bumps, Warts and Dings?" http://www.labormarketsnippets.com/a14.html which covers this alternative).

Let's look at the first one: the functional resume. The functional resume is different from a chronological resume in that work dates are not emphasized and are often left out all-together. In the chronological resume (the resume most often used) you list in reverse chronological order your work experience with the dates of each job in close proximity to the name of the company you worked for. In contrast, the functional resume emphasizes skills relevant to the job position you are applying.

The advantages of a functional/skills resume are:

1. As a sales tool. Functional resumes sell your skills, your education, and your life experiences. All of these experiences may be positively translated into the work skills needed by the employer.

2. They highlight abilities rather than time.

3. They help focus you on the fruits of your life experiences and direct you toward a meaningful career.

There are disadvantages:

1. They require more creativity to impress the employer, and thus, are harder to write well.

2. Employers are naturally more cautious when reading a functional resume.

What do you do before writing your functional resume? You begin by writing a list of positive activities you have experienced: Were you going to school or being trained a skill? Did you travel?

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