As you learned in this project, you can choose to create a chronological resume or a functional resume. In a functional resume, you organize your qualifications and experience in terms of categories, and then specify accomplishments under each category. For example, you could use Communications as a category under which you enter two bullets: Wrote and produced the bi-annual newsletter for a local community-housing group and managed the telephone contact tree for parents at the community playschool.

Functional resumes are particularly useful for people who have been out of the work force for several years or who are making a career change and want to highlight their achievements rather than provide an historical overview of their work experience.

The Internet is an excellent resource for finding out more information about how to put together a functional resume, and for viewing sample functional resumes. To complete this case study, you find examples of functional resumes on the Internet and then you create your own functional resume.

1. Open your Web browser, and then go to the search engine of your choice (for example, www.google.com or www.msn.com).

2. Use keywords such as functional resume samples to find sample functional resumes that you can refer to as you create your own functional resume. Try to find sample resumes for people with similar qualifications and experience to your own. For example, if you have a background in marketing, look for functional resumes marketing.

3. Open a new document in Word, and then save it as My Functional Resume.

4. Using the sample resumes you find online and the sample shown in Figure 13-13, create your own functional resume. You will need to determine the categories to use for the Achievements section. Note that you can also call the section Career Highlights, Skill and Abilities, or some other title. Check out a variety of sample functional resumes for ideas.

5. Format the resume attractively to fit on one page. Adjust line and paragraph spacing as needed, and set right tabs for the dates. Format the major headings in the resume with the Heading 1 style. Modify the Heading 1 style to use the paragraph spacing, font style, and effects you prefer. You can choose to include a border line below the heading if you wish.

6. Check the spelling and grammar, print a copy, then save and close the document.