Chronological CV

A chronological CV is what most people picture when they envision a resume. It lists jobs held, starting with the most recent, and describes duties performed in each one. It is a good way to show job skills that you’ve acquired, as well as to show a progression in those skills. A good thing to add to a chronological CV is a Qualifications Summary, where before you describe your jobs, you stress five or six key abilities/characteristics that you want to “jump out” at functional CV, while maintaining the format of the chronological CV.

Functional CV

A functional CV is good way to stress your skills when you haven’t had a lot of paying jobs that show your strengths, because you can choose the headings that best capture your unique skill set and then stress the skills you’ve acquired from a variety of experiences. You should choose three or four skill categories, and then have at least three, but preferably four, examples of the work you did in those skill categories. After the skills section, you must still do a brief chronological listing of the jobs/experiences from which you gained the skills. And as with the chronological CV, you should consider adding a Qualification Summary, where before you describe your skills experience, you stress 5 or 6 key abilities /characteristics that you want to “jump out” at the reviewer.

A functional CV is also good if you have gaps in your employment because you can stress your skills and strengths, but in the chronological list at the bottom you only list the jobs/experiences from which you gained the strengths. Since these include volunteer experiences as well as paying jobs, gaps can be camouflaged.

Additionally, a functional CV is good if you want to change careers, because you can stress your skills and strengths that would not normally be associated with your particular job(s), and reviewers will not have a pre-conceived notion about your abilities based on your job title(s). And again, you can include volunteer experiences.