Functional or Chronological Resume, Which is Best?

I recently read an article that advocated having a functional resume rather than the  traditional chronological resume. The reasons given were particularly in relation to  those that are "in a career transition", have employment gaps or suffer from "little experience". The points were well made and the arguments presented were, from my point of view, quite sound. What really got my attention was the large numbers of comments that disagreed with the writers suggestion.

Typical of the comments were: "…recruiters dislike functional resumes and you need to get through the recruiter's screen first. I strongly recommend a chronological resume…" and "… I'd be really careful about this. Most hiring managers hate functional resumes, because they immediately make us wondering what the person is trying to hide; they look shady."

I decided to conduct a resume preference survey and my findings are below. I will admit the samples are small however no less than the number of commenters on the original blog post.

Now I'm not sure whether this adds to the difficulty of choosing which style is best however it is worth further discussion and perhaps yip need to send of both formats if you are unable to "suss out" which style is preferred by the recruiter you are approaching.

I would like some comments and the style I prefer is here: resume example.

MOTIVATION - EQUITY THEORY THREE

To prove to followers that “equity” exists leader/managers must openly share the reward decision-making process. If it is not an acceptable option, then at least an open sharing on how decisions where made must be offered. The process must also be seen as being consistent and in line with unbiased practices. The object of this approach is to prove:

Procedural Justice, i.e. a decision process that is perceived as fair and…

Distributive Justice, i.e. there is a fair allocation of available rewards.

Experience shows that employees will devise any manner of measurements to test the justice of relative staff situations. For example I once had a colleague who was displeased with a $4,600.00 salary increase because staff in more junior positions where given a $ 2,100.00 increase which represented 12% over their previous pay levels. The cause of the discomfort was that the colleague had only received an 8% increase hence the gap between the two positions had narrowed causing a perception of an inequitable margin between the two jobs or a perceived diminution in his relative importance, which he saw as unjust.

The validity of this theory really becomes obvious and proven when we are engaged in something as mundane as allocating new company car parks or redesigning office layouts. The tension, bickering and office politics that grows from this type of activity can be truly amazing.

INEQUITY CAN TURN ADULTS INTO CHILDREN OR EVEN WORSE, POWERFUL ADULTS CAN TURN INTO DEMANDING PARENTS.

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MOTIVATION… THE LAST EXPECTANCY LINK!

EXPECTANCY THEORY offers one more linkage insight into why many people are not motivated in their job. The last of the three links or relationships is:

The Reward = Attractiveness relationship (How attractive is the reward?)

In this last relationship the individual’s personal judgments and personal goals come strongly into play. If you offer a promotion to someone who is looking for more intellectually challenging technical problems/opportunities the reward offered will be ineffective. More money may not be attractive to someone who craves more personal time to be with his or her family.

The key message this theory offers for effective leader/managers is that it demonstrates the need for leaders to have a sound understanding of an INDIVIDUALS goals and aspirations and their perceived linkage between effort and performance, performance and rewards and finally rewards and individual goal satisfaction.

THE OLD ‘LETS HAVE AND EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH AND HAND OUT SOME RECOGNITION’ JUST DOES NOT WORK.

ps. How do you spell it... résumé, resumé or resume, free blank form with examples at orglearn. No matter how you spell it you need to keep yours updated and during these tough times its more important than ever.