The Functional CV Format Is Wrong
So you have a gap in your CV? Maybe it’s a bit more than a gap, more like a hole?
Perhaps you have convinced yourself that it is in fact a yawning black hole into which all your previous experience, your strengths and skills will simply be swallowed up and you along with it. How can you possibly apply for jobs when the gap is so obvious? Who is even going to consider you?
Then someone in a recruitment agency, or at the job centre, or a well meaning friend insists that the answer to your prayers is the functional CV. You can simply hide the gap and pretend it’s not there. List all your achievements without having to reveal those tricky time lines. The reader will be bowled over by your accomplishments and immediately ask you in for interview. Wrong!
Imagine you are a time pressed employer sifting through a stack of CV’s, reading the first few lines and making a quick decision between the “yes” pile and the “no” bin. You pick up a functional CV and can’t make head or tail of where this person is now, what they’re doing or when they did it. You haven’t got time to put the words in front of you into any sort of context so in the bin it goes.
There is a strong feeling amongst recruiters and hiring managers that by using a functional CV format you are hiding something. The suspicion is that something is the truth. What other reason would there be for not using a chronological CV? Are you ashamed of your work history? If you don’t feel confident in your career choices why should they?
Today’s workplace and working environment is changing. Very few of us will have a job for life and we will all be working far longer than our parents did. The current recession and difficulties in the job market means there will be many who are changing career paths and who will have gaps as a consequence. You will not be alone.
Make sure your CV is in chronological order. Don’t be ashamed of the gaps, explain them. You haven’t been sitting there doing nothing for six months have you? Show how resilient and determined you are and what a great asset you will be to any organisation.
