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Classic Cashier Mid Level Resume:Loyal Blue color
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Modern Data Entry Clerk Entry Level Resume:Empathic Emerald color
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Classic High School Student Students Resume:Creative Marigold color
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Creative Patterns Generic Template Entry Level Resume:Creative Marigold color
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What Is a Functional Resume?
A functional or skills-based resume is one of the three types of resume formats that determine the order and organization of the information you include on your resume.
A functional resume emphasizes your skills and qualifications instead of your employment history or career progression. Rather than listing experience first, this format groups your abilities into skill categories and supports them with examples of how you applied your skills.
This structure helps employers evaluate what you can do, even if your work history is limited, inconsistent, or unrelated to the role.
Who Should Use the Functional Resume Format?
Use the functional resume format if you:
- Are changing careers and lack direct experience in your target field
- Have significant gaps in your employment history
- Are writing a resume for your first job or have limited experience
- Want to emphasize training, certifications, or extracurricular activities
Consider another format if you:
- Have steady, relevant work experience
- Want to highlight promotions and career growth
- Work in a traditional field that expects a detailed job history
- Can clearly demonstrate qualifications through recent roles
How to Write a Functional Resume
A functional resume highlights your strongest skills first and supports them with examples before presenting a brief work history or a summary of qualifications.
Your functional resume should focus on abilities that match the job description and demonstrate how youâve applied them in real situations.
Step 1
Choose the Right Template
Using a premade resume template gives you an advantage because it ensures your functional resume is readable for both hiring managers and applicant tracking systems (ATS). Employers use ATS to scan resumes for relevant keywords and experience and filter out candidates who donât match what theyâre looking for. To pass ATS screening, your resume needs to be clear and organized so ATS can read it.
Browse the templates on this page or check out our complete resume templates library to find professional and ATS-friendly templates that are ready to submit in minutes.
Step 2
Open With a Header & Resume Profile
Your resume needs to display your contact information in the header. List your full name, email address, and city and state.
Beneath your header, include a resume profile. For candidates with limited experience, write a goals-focused resume objective that establishes your key skills in a few sentences.
Step 3
Write a Powerful Skills Section
List your most relevant skills in your resumeâs skills section.
This is the focus of a functional resume, so make sure to choose skills that match the roleâs keywords, give specific examples, andâif neededâinclude multiple sections for different categories of skills.
Step 4
Tell Your Career Story in Your Work Experience Section
List any work experience you have in reverse-chronological order. If you donât have work experience yet, use this section to list volunteer roles, your student status, or extracurricular activities, such as being an active member of an organization, club, or sports team.
If you lack any type of experience, the skills-based resume format lets you omit it entirely. If you do so, make sure your resume is optimized for ATS and demonstrates your ability to contribute to the role.
Evaluate your resumeâs ATS performance with our ATS Resume Checker and improve your documents in just minutes.
Step 5
Showcase Your Credentials in Your Education Section
Your education section should list your degrees and diplomas in reverse-chronological order. If you have a college degree, you can leave your high school diploma off your resume.
If youâre currently studying or recently graduated, you can expand on this section with bullet points for academic achievements and relevant coursework.
Step 6
Include Optional Sections
The functional resume is intended to make your qualifications shine without extensive concrete experience. Optional sections can help support your abilities when experience is lacking.
Include volunteer work, hobbies, extracurriculars, projects, or awards. Make sure any extra sections you add are relevant and add something valuable to your resume.
Frequently Asked Questions
Last Updated: June 01, 2026
You should use a functional resume when highlighting your capabilities is your priority, instead of describing a clear career timeline.
The functional resume works best for beginner candidates and can make the perfect first resume for a candidate with no experience to highlight. You can include optional sections, such as volunteer work, in place of formal employment.
You should avoid a functional resume if you have consistent, relevant experience that clearly qualifies you for the role.
Employers often prefer seeing career progression, and a chronological resume better demonstrates growth when your past positions already align with the job requirements.
This doesnât mean that experienced candidates have to use the chronological format. In fact, if youâre not sure, you can try the combination format for a hybrid approach.
Yes, employers like functional resumes when the candidateâs skills are clearly relevant, but some hiring managers prefer seeing detailed work history.
The chronological resume format is the most standard option, but employers prefer resumes that clearly and neatly lay out your qualifications. For beginner candidates, the functional resume often does this best.
A functional resume can be ATS-friendly if it includes clear skill keywords and a simple employment history section. Hiring software scans for recognizable experience and skills, so a functional resume should still list job titles and dates if possible.
A functional resume typically includes a brief employment history that extends back as far as you can without exceeding 10 years.
You can go as far back as 15 years on a functional resume, but most candidates who choose the functional format will have no more than a few years of experience to discuss. In this case, include all the experience you can.
A functional resume can reduce attention to employment gaps because its format emphasizes skills rather than timelines. That said, employers can still see dates in the work history section, so the goal is to shift focus toward qualifications rather than completely conceal gaps.
Employers are also likely to ask for references during the hiring process, so itâs better to be upfront about any employment gaps.
The best resume format for you depends on your needs. If youâre an early-career candidate who needs a resume that emphasizes skills over experience, then the skills-based resume is the best. Thereâs also:
- The chronological resume features a reverse-chronological timeline that demonstrates career growth and impact. Itâs best for experienced candidates.
- The combination resume is a hybrid format that displays both experience and skills. Itâs an adaptable option for mid-career candidates and career changers.
Hailey is a career advice writer dedicated to helping job seekers excel in their careers.
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