The Pros and Cons of a Functional Project Manager Resume

The functional project manager resume focuses on skills and experiences and downplays the employment aspect of your career. This is good for project managers that may be new to the workforce, or have gaps in their employment history. Interestingly, gaps in employment are not nearly the black mark that they used to be when employment was high. Nearly everyone has been affected by recent downturns in the economy and understands that even good people are affected by companies going out of business or downsizing.

What are some of the pros and cons of a functional project manager resume?

The Pros

• It Focuses on What You Know – Rather than being tied to what you did at a certain place over a certain period of time, a functional resume allows you to combine your experience into one package. For example, you may have written use cases in one company, technical manuals in another, and functional specifications in yet another company. You can pull all of these activities together under the umbrella of Documentation Specialist to show the breadth and depth of what you have done.

• You tell the reader what you want them to know – A functional project manager resume gives you the ability to not have the reader “read between the lines”. For example, they may have their own view of what a Sr. Project Manager does; however, in your particular role you went WAY beyond that job title.  Rather than get pigeonholed by someone else’s interpretation of what they think your job entailed, you can explicitly include what you did in a functional project manager resume.

• Use unpaid or non-work experience to your advantage – Many people do a lot of volunteer work with various charities or their church. The reality is that many times this work is harder than a real job! You’ll sometimes hear people say “you couldn’t pay me to do this”, yet, they will volunteer in order to help out. A functional project manager resume will let you incorporate that type of experience into your resume. For example, you may have organized teams of people to complete a particular charity project that spanned over a couple of months. Should the experience you gained from that charity activity be included? Absolutely.

The Cons

• It’s Not the Norm – Most employers are familiar with a chronological resume that outlines a person’s work history in a neat and tidy way. They may not be as  familiar with a project manager resume format that focuses on skills and abilities rather than work history.

• A Clear Career Path May Not be Obvious – Another drawback to a functional resume is that your career path may not be visible to the reader. It may not be readily apparent that you started as a project coordinator, then moved into a Jr. Project Manager role, then Project Manager, then received your PMP Certification, then Sr. Project Manager role, etc. Be mindful that if you decide on this type of format, you need to indicate what path you are following.

Use the functional project manager resume if you are new to the workforce or if you recently made the switch to working as a project manager.