Updated October 5, 2026.
In short: a functional resume (also called a skills-based resume) organizes your experience under skill headings — "Customer Service", "Project Coordination", "Data Analysis" — instead of under each job, and keeps your work history to a short list of titles, employers and dates. It can help when you have gaps, short-term jobs, or no experience in the target field. The risk is that it hides the timeline employers want to see: CareerOneStop warns that without your employment history a resume may be rejected by applicant tracking systems, and says a combination resume — skills summary on top, full work history below — works well for most people (CareerOneStop, checked October 5, 2026).
What is a functional resume?
A functional resume is a resume format that leads with what you can do rather than where you did it. CareerOneStop describes it as grouping your skills and accomplishments into categories, such as technical expertise with a type of equipment, administrative experience, training background or supervision skills (CareerOneStop). The University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point's career center puts the defining feature the same way: your skills sit under headings that catch an employer's attention, and your work experience is minimized (UWSP) (both checked October 5, 2026).
When should you use a functional resume?
UWSP lists three situations where it helps: you haven't worked in your target field, you have gaps in your work history, or your experiences were all short-term. In practice:
| Use a functional resume if… | Use a chronological or combination resume if… |
|---|---|
| Your relevant skills come from volunteering, school or unpaid work | Your recent jobs are in the field you're applying to |
| You have several short jobs that tell no story on their own | You have a steady work history, even with one gap you can explain |
| You're re-entering after a long break and the skills still matter | You're applying through large online systems that read job history |
| A person, not a portal, will read the resume first (a referral, a job fair) | The posting asks for years of experience in a specific role |
If you're changing careers with a solid work history, a combination resume is usually the safer choice; see the best resume format for career changers.
What are the disadvantages of a functional resume?
- It hides the timeline. Readers can't see what you did when, which can look like you're concealing something.
- Applicant tracking systems need job history. CareerOneStop's guide warns that a resume without employment history may be rejected by the applicant tracking systems many employers use to screen applications.
- Skills without context are hard to believe. "Managed budgets" means more under a job title with dates than under a heading.
You can reduce all three by keeping a short, dated work-history section at the bottom and tying every skill bullet to a place: "Scheduled 12 volunteers for weekly food-bank shifts (City Food Bank)".
How do you write a functional resume?
1.Contact information at the top.
2.Summary of two or three lines naming the job you're targeting.
3.Skills sections: three or four headings taken from the job posting, each with three to five bullets that show the skill in use, with a result and where you did it.
4.Work history: job title, employer, city and dates, one line each, newest first. Keep it — this is what makes the format acceptable to most readers.
5.Education and any certifications.
Functional resume template
[YOUR NAME]
[City, State] · [Phone] · [Email] · [LinkedIn URL]
SUMMARY
[Target job] with [skills] gained through [volunteering / school / previous
roles]. [One line on what you'd bring.]
[SKILL HEADING 1 — from the posting]
- [What you did with the skill, where, and the result]
- [Second example]
[SKILL HEADING 2]
- [Example]
- [Example]
[SKILL HEADING 3]
- [Example]
WORK HISTORY
[Job Title], [Employer], [City, State] — [Month Year]–[Month Year]
[Job Title], [Employer], [City, State] — [Month Year]–[Month Year]
EDUCATION
[Degree or Diploma], [School], [City, State] — [Year]What is a combination resume?
A combination resume (also called a hybrid resume) opens with a skills or qualifications summary and then lists your full work history in reverse chronological order, with bullets under each job. CareerOneStop describes it as incorporating features of both the chronological and functional formats, and its resume guide calls a combination of the two the format that works well for most people. It gives you the functional resume's skills-first opening without losing the timeline employers and applicant tracking systems look for.
| Functional resume | Combination resume | Chronological resume | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leads with | Skill headings | Skills or qualifications summary | Most recent job |
| Work history | Short list, often without bullets | Full, with bullets | Full, with bullets |
| Best for | Gaps, short jobs, no field experience | Career changers; most applicants | A steady record in the same field |
For the most common format, see reverse chronological order; for the basics of what any resume contains, see what is a resume.
Frequently asked questions
What is a functional resume in simple words?
A resume organized by skills instead of by jobs: headings like "Customer Service" or "Bookkeeping" with examples under each, and a short list of past jobs at the end.
Do employers like functional resumes?
The format can raise questions because it hides when and where you used each skill. CareerOneStop notes that most employers prefer a chronological resume, so use a functional one only when it clearly presents you better.
Is a functional resume ATS-friendly?
Less so than other formats if it drops your job history. Keep a dated work-history section with titles and employers; CareerOneStop warns that without employment history a resume may be rejected by applicant tracking systems.
What is the difference between a functional and a combination resume?
A functional resume minimizes work history; a combination resume keeps a full work history with bullets and adds a skills summary on top.
Is a functional resume good for career changers?
Sometimes, if you have little paid experience in any field. If you have a solid work history, a combination resume usually serves a career change better, because it shows transferable skills and the record behind them.
To lay out any of these formats without fiddling with spacing, build my resume in the resume builder.