Functional vs. Chronological Curriculum Vitae: What To Use?

A Curriculum Vitae is a one or two-page document outlining an applicant’s career goals, professional accomplishments, and educational history. While job seekers can format their Curriculum vitae in various ways, there are two primary resume styles: sequential and practical.

What is a Chronological Curriculum Vitae?

As the name indicates, a chronological resume presents an applicant’s experience and education in chronological sequence, beginning with the most recent positions or accomplishments. The listing sequence begins with the applicant’s present job. This resume is also known as a reverse chronological resume. Employers will want to know what employment the job seeker now has to analyze better the applicant’s credentials for the career of their choice. Hence this sort of resume is preferable. The same is right of the applicant’s academics. A prospective employer would want to hear about the job seeker’s most recent academic accomplishment.

In addition, including the applicant’s experience and education in reverse chronological order demonstrates their overall career progression to their future employer. It also displays any gaps in the applicant’s career and helps identify the amount of time spent at each company (in case of gaps, the applicant must make sure to address them in the cover letter so as not to lead the employer to believe that the applicant is omitting information on purpose).

In a chronological resume, the applicant should include their present position and two to four past jobs. If the applicant’s work history is extensive or has had roles relevant to their current career goal in the past, they may emphasize these qualities in their professional profile or cover letter. The most frequent kind of resume is the chronological resume, appropriate for anybody with some professional experience.

What is a Functional Curriculum Vitae?

Functional resumes place a greater emphasis on an applicant’s skills rather than their work history. This resume format emphasizes their abilities rather than where or when they learned or used them. In other words, perhaps stating the applicant’s job titles, their curriculum vitae will include sections named after their competencies, such as oral and written communication, customer service, project management, and so on.

This resume format is ideal for college students looking for internships or their first job after graduation and people with no professional experience, those who have not worked in a while, or career changers. While prospective employers would appreciate a summary of the job seeker’s competencies, if the applicant has any professional experience, they should consider utilizing a chronological or combination resume instead of a functional curriculum vitae.

Even though not often mentioned, a combined curriculum vitae has become a popular style in recent years. It is a blend of chronological and functional resume styles, as the name indicates. This blended format enables professionals to showcase qualifications that are important for the position they want while still providing their work and educational experience in reverse chronological order. Please take note that while utilizing a combination resume, any applicant must not attempt to accomplish too much by getting carried away with the kind and volume of parts they include. Even in a combination structure, limiting the content to what is relevant to the job is preferable.

Each style follows the same set of guidelines. Do not write more than two pages. To secure the interview and finally the job, an applicant should personalize their Curriculum vitae in line with their professional goal and give their best.