A. Unlike the chronological resume, the functional resume ignores historical sequence and stresses skills and abilities regardless of where they were developed and demonstrated. This approach offers you a way to group/cluster your education, experience and activities into significant ability categories that support your job objectives. The functional format may be most useful to career changers and those with many diverse experiences. A drawback is that many employers are suspicious of or confused by this format. The reader of a functional resume is likely to assume that the candidate hasn't has recent work experience or has something to hide.

A combination chronological/functional resume blends the directness of a chronological format with the highlighting of skills found in the functional format. The combination resume is helpful in communicating skills for individuals whose experiences are limited, widely varied, or not clearly related to their job objective.