An engineer approached me to do
a functional résumé. It soon became apparent why he had chosen this option.
Twenty-five years earlier, fresh out of college, he landed a primo, to-die-for
research position as a subcontractor with the federal government. He worked
alongside well-known, top-notch scientists on cutting-edge technology. Within
the span of five years, his income skyrocketed like the space project he worked
on.
Then a new administration came
into office; funding for his project became shelved. A month later, he was
jobless. His new employer could not match his former income. To exacerbate
matters, his highly specialized experience had become obsolete.
As a result, the engineer
settled for a lesser position, less pay and far less prestige. Within five
years, his employer parceled the work offshore. In a hasty decision, he grabbed
the first job that surfaced.
He vowed to keep looking, but
like so many whimsical promises, he never got about to it. Ten years slipped by,
and once again, he found himself on the job market. He took stopgap employment
in an effort to make ends meet.
The pinnacle of his engineering
career had slipped past him years earlier. Now, showing signs of age, mentally
depressed and utterly discouraged, he sought me out to create a functional résumé.
He yearned to return to those former days of glory.
The benefits of using a
functional format continue to be touted. The biggest benefit is that a
functional format opens the door to wild creativity. No longer restrained to
date chronology, you have the freedom to gloss over those sticky-tricky obstacles—perhaps
sidestep them entirely. Free at last—free
at last!
But wait! There is a catch, and
it is a biggie. Every jobseeker with something serious to camouflage uses a functional
format—long unemployment being one.
In the beginning, many employers were hoodwinked by engaging job adventure
stories. Over time, most employers wised up to this nonlinear hocus-pocus and
razzle-dazzle technique.
Lo, these many the years, I
have discovered that the best résumé to wear to an interview is reality.
If you show up wearing con artist attire—whether those clothes fit you or not—savvy
employers will perceive you as one.