Opposite to the chronological CV, in the functional CV the information is distributed by topics. This way, it allows the employer to get a quick look at your studies and experience in a particular field. Also, by not being chronological, it helps you choose the positive points, emphasize your skills and achievements, and at the same time, ommit or make unwanted data less visible. Non-working periods, frequent job changes without any promotion…

For all this, the functional format is convenient when you want to work for a completely different field than those you’ve worked for, and when your previous experience is not relevant for the position, but your skills and the way you work. Choose this CV type if, for example, you haven’t been working for a while, if you’ve just finished your career and have almost no experience or if you’ve changed jobs frequently. It’s also recommended if you’ve been self-employed or a freelance worker.

Advantages of the functional CV:

• It’s centered in your skills and abilities, opposite to your working experiences.
• It allows much more flexibility and freedom in organizing the information of your skills and abilities, and also makes it easier to include related information like interests and goals.
• It’s specially useful for being used with new technologies.

Disadvantages of the functional CV:

• It doesn’t help the names of the enterprises you’ve worked for or time you’ve been working in each place stand out.
• Description of the job and tasks is limited.

Functional CV template