When to Use a Skills-Based CV and How to Create One
A skills-based or functional CV focuses on your skills, qualities and accomplishments rather than your work history. It is structured according to your individual skills to draw attention to your career achievements. So, when is a skills-based resume right for you? And how do you create one?
Most CVs follow a reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent job and going back to your education. This format works for the majority of people. However, if you don’t have much relevant work experience, a functional resume format allows you to highlight your transferable skills more prominently. By creating a skills-based CV that emphasises your skills, you can stand out from the crowd and attract the attention of recruiters.
What is a functional resume or skills-based CV?
A skills-based resume utilises a format that focuses heavily on your professional skills, rather than a timeline of your work history. In the functional CV format, your skills are grouped together under categories rather than under your past job titles. Each skill category contains hard skills as well as soft skills, with a few bullet points under each one to further describe your skills and provide examples.
Why use a skills-based or functional CV?
There are a few specific job searching situations where functional resume examples may be the most effective way of presenting your skills and qualifications, such as:
- You are aiming to change careers: if you’ve only worked in one job, industry or company for most of your career, you may be at a disadvantage if you want to change careers and do not have any work experience that’s relevant to your new industry. This is where a functional CV can help.
- You are a student or a recent graduate: as a graduate or a school leaver, you may not have extensive work experience to fall back on. A skills-based resume draws attention away from your work and gives you the opportunity to focus on skills, as well as your accomplishments at school or university.
- You have gaps in your professional history: there may be any number of reasons why you have gaps in your CV. In a chronological resume, career gaps are immediately noticeable as everything is ordered by date. A skills-based CV can demonstrate that you’re a suitable candidate despite these gaps.
- You have hopped from job-to-job: if you’ve changed jobs frequently, a chronological CV will draw attention to this and can make your career history seem erratic. However, having multiple jobs can be an asset to your next employer if you present your skills in the right way.
- You work in a creative industry: in creative industries, your portfolio showing your body of work, and your skills, are most important. A functional resume can help where your work history may only include one previous role, but you have gained varied skills and experience from a wide range of projects.
Ultimately, if you feel that your experience and skills don’t best represent your credentials in the typical reverse chronological format, consider showcasing your skills with a functional resume instead.
Why are skills-based CVs not always the best format?
In some cases, recruiters and employers may have reservations about functional resumes. Here are some of the reasons they might prefer a more traditional format: :
- Employers might think you’re hiding something: the functional CV isn’t the most common format, with most jobseekers opting for a reverse-chronological format. As such, recruiters may think you’re using this format to hide details about your previous jobs and employers.
- It can be hard to connect the dots: recruiters generally don’t have a lot of time to read your CV. Skills-based CVs can require a little more attention to understand your career history.
- ATS may not be able to read them: many companies use ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) to scan and sort CVs. As these are sometimes programmed to look for keywords in job titles, your skills-based CV may be overlooked because the specific keyword was in the wrong place.
How to write a skills-based CV
If you think a functional resume gives you the best chance of success in your job applications, follow these steps to make sure you include all the necessary details:
Start with a CV header
As with any type of resume, start your skills-based CV with your contact details (name, phone number, email address, location and LinkedIn URL, if you have one). Include a resume headline
A resume headline is a brief snippet that sums up your work experience, including your most recent job title and your achievements, certifications, and key skills. This headline grabs the attention of potential employers and encourages them to keep reading the rest of your carefully crafted resume.
Your resume headline can be placed in your header just under your name, or it can be incorporated into your resume summary or resume objective as the title of that section.
Write a CV summary or resume objective
Your CV summary or resume objective should come next. Use a CV summary if you have plenty of skills, experience, and accomplishments to highlight. Opt for a resume objective if you do not have substantial work experience, you are looking to change careers, or you are aiming to gloss over some gaps in your work history by showcasing your skills and other achievements.
List your relevant skills
This is the most important part of a functional CV. Start by reading the job description carefully and identify the relevant skills required by the employer.
Group your skills into different categories relevant to the job description, and add a few skills under each heading. Mention specific examples of how you’ve used each skill, and the impact it made, as bullet points. The key is to group experiences together so that there is a common theme. This allows recruiters and employers to quickly establish whether you have the right skills for the job even if your work history isn’t directly related.
For example, if you’re applying for a managerial position but have little traditional experience, your skills section may include these functional skills examples:
Leadership
- Shift leader at McDonald’s, managing rotas for 10 employees.
- Chair of university debating group.
Coaching and mentoring
- Provided training (work processes, safety guidelines) to new staff at McDonald’s.
- Supported new students through university mentoring programme.
Communication
- Effectively handled customer complaints at McDonald’s as well as managing conflicts among staff.
- Presented my thesis to a panel of 4 using Powerpoint.
Education
If you have a long career history, there’s no need to go as far back as your school education. Instead, focus on your university education (if applicable) or any further training courses you’ve completed. Include the name of the schools and/or universities you attended, the dates you studied there, your area of study, type of diploma or degree you earned, and any other relevant achievements.
Work experience
Even if you don’t go into detail, you will still need to list your work experience in your skills-based resume. Keep it short, including only your position, company name and year of employment to provide a rough time span of when you worked there.
You may not want to include every single position you’ve ever held as this would defeat the point of a functional CV and draw attention to glaring gaps. To complement the skills section of your CV, only mention the jobs that back up your skills.
Optional Resume Sections
Finally, if you still have room on your single-page resume, you can include some optional functional resume sections. These could include certifications or training, internships and language skills. Consider adding separate sections for volunteering and hobbies and interests to help paint a well-rounded picture of you, if they’re relevant to the job description and you haven’t already referred to them in the skills section of your CV.
Key Takeaways for a winning skills-based CV
Don’t let your imperfect work history hinder you from landing the perfect job. With a functional or skills-based CV, you can focus recruiters’ attention on what you can do rather than where and when you worked. Arranging your skills into categories or themes helps potential employers see exactly what you have to offer.
Also remember to tie your skills and experiences to the target job description. When you can do that, you’ll have just as much advantage, if not more, as a candidate with a linear work history.
Need help creating the perfect functional resume? Jobseeker offers a professional resume builder tool that allows you to enter your details and then easily switch between formats, fonts, and colour schemes to see what you like best. Then download your CV instantly so you can get started applying for jobs right away!
