The Best Examples of Functional Resume Examples for Career Change in 2025

Real examples of functional resume examples for career change

Let’s skip theory and go straight into how this actually looks. When people ask for examples of functional resume examples for career change, what they really want is: How do I rearrange my story so it makes sense for a new field?

A functional resume usually has these sections:

• Contact info
• Summary or headline
• Skills-based sections with proof (bullets, results)
• Brief work history (job title, company, dates)
• Education, certifications, extras

Instead of organizing your experience by job and date, you organize it by skill category, then plug in examples under each.

Below are several real-world style scenarios to show how this works.

Example of a functional resume: Teacher transitioning into HR

This is one of the best examples of how powerful a functional resume can be for a career change.

Target role: HR coordinator or HR generalist

Functional skills sections might include:

• Employee Training & Onboarding
• Conflict Resolution & Mediation
• Communication & Stakeholder Management

Under Employee Training & Onboarding, the bullets might look like this:

Designed and delivered onboarding sessions for 120+ new students and families each year, improving first-week satisfaction scores from 82% to 94%.

Created step-by-step training materials for substitute teachers, reducing classroom disruptions and support requests by 30%.

Notice what’s happening: the resume doesn’t scream “teacher.” It speaks the language of HR: onboarding, training, satisfaction, process improvement.

The work history section at the bottom can be simple:

Work History
High School English Teacher, Lincoln High School — 2017–2024
Tutor, Self-Employed — 2014–2017

The heavy lifting happened above, in the skills-based sections.

If you want more ideas on transferable skills, the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET tool is helpful for exploring how skills map across roles: https://www.onetonline.org/

Examples of functional resume examples for career change into tech

Career changers into tech often worry that they don’t have enough “real” experience. A functional resume can highlight project work, bootcamps, and self-study.

Scenario 1: Marketing professional → UX designer

Skills-based sections might be:

• User Research & Testing
• Wireframing & Prototyping
• Cross-Functional Collaboration

Under User Research & Testing:

Conducted 10+ user interviews and 3 usability tests for a portfolio app redesign, identifying navigation issues that led to a 25% increase in task completion rates.

Analyzed survey data from 200+ respondents to prioritize feature roadmap for a nonprofit website redesign.

The functional layout lets you pull in class projects, freelance work, and volunteer work without making it look like a random grab bag.

Scenario 2: Administrative assistant → entry-level software developer

Skills-based sections might be:

• Programming & Automation
• Problem Solving & Troubleshooting
• Process Improvement

Under Programming & Automation:

Built a Python script to automate weekly report generation, cutting manual work by 3 hours per week and reducing errors.

Completed 15+ coding exercises and 4 full-stack projects as part of a structured online curriculum.

These are examples of functional resume examples for career change that lean heavily on projects and outcomes instead of job titles.

For mapping tech skills and roles, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook is a good reference: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/

Functional resume examples for career change from retail to project management

Retail workers often underestimate how project-ready they already are. A functional resume just makes it visible.

Target role: Project coordinator or junior project manager

Skills-based sections might be:

• Project Coordination & Scheduling
• Team Leadership & Training
• Customer Experience & Stakeholder Communication

Under Project Coordination & Scheduling:

Coordinated weekly floor resets and seasonal product launches involving 8–10 team members, consistently meeting tight overnight deadlines.

Organized shift schedules for a 20-person team, balancing coverage needs with labor budgets and employee preferences.

Under Team Leadership & Training:

Trained 12+ new hires on POS systems, product knowledge, and customer service standards, reducing onboarding time by 25%.

This is one of the best examples of functional resume strategy: you’re showing you already run small projects, even if your title says “Shift Supervisor.”

Military-to-civilian: examples include logistics, operations, and leadership

For veterans, a functional resume can soften the jump from military job codes to civilian-friendly language.

Target role: Operations coordinator, logistics specialist, or facilities manager

Skills-based sections might be:

• Logistics & Supply Chain Management
• Operations & Process Improvement
• Team Leadership & Training

Under Logistics & Supply Chain Management:

Managed inventory and distribution for equipment supporting 300+ personnel, maintaining 98% accuracy and zero mission-critical shortages.

Coordinated transportation and delivery schedules with multiple vendors and units, meeting all time-sensitive deadlines.

Under Operations & Process Improvement:

Streamlined equipment check-out procedures, cutting wait times by 40% and improving accountability.

These are strong examples of functional resume examples for career change because they translate experience into business language. For more guidance on military-to-civilian transitions, Military OneSource offers tools and support: https://www.militaryonesource.mil/

Functional resume example of a pivot into remote work

Since 2020, there’s been a steady shift toward remote and hybrid roles, and that trend is still active into 2025. If you’re moving from an in-person role to a remote-friendly career, a functional resume can spotlight skills that matter online.

Scenario: Customer service rep → remote customer success specialist

Skills-based sections might be:

• Virtual Customer Support & Relationship Management
• Remote Communication & Collaboration
• Data Tracking & Documentation

Under Virtual Customer Support & Relationship Management:

Handled 40–60 phone and chat inquiries per day with a 95% customer satisfaction rating.

Maintained long-term relationships with small-business clients, resulting in a 15% increase in renewal rates.

Under Remote Communication & Collaboration:

Collaborated with distributed team members across 3 time zones using Slack, Zoom, and shared project boards.

This is a clean example of a functional resume tailored to the realities of 2024–2025 hiring: remote tools, async work, and measurable outcomes.

How to structure your own functional resume for a career change

Let’s walk through how you can build your own, using these examples of functional resume examples for career change as a template.

Start with a clear headline and summary

Instead of listing yourself as “Server” or “Teacher” at the top, use your target identity:

Project Coordinator | Skilled in Scheduling, Stakeholder Communication, and Process Improvement

Then a short 3–4 line summary:

Career changer with 5+ years of experience coordinating schedules, managing competing priorities, and leading small teams in fast-paced environments. Seeking a project coordinator role where strong communication, organization, and problem-solving skills can support on-time, on-budget delivery.

Build 3–4 skills-based sections

Look at job descriptions in your target field and group your experience into themes that repeat. Common themes in many examples include:

• Communication & Stakeholder Management
• Project or Operations Support
• Data & Reporting
• Customer Experience or Client Service
• Training & Coaching

Under each, add 2–4 bullets that show what you did and what changed because you did it.

Then add a short work history section

This is where many people overthink it. For a functional resume, you don’t need bullets here unless you want to.

Work History
Sales Associate, Target — 2021–2024
Barista, Local Café — 2019–2021

The details already live in your skills-based sections.

Finish with education, certifications, and relevant extras

This can include:

• Degrees
• Certificates or bootcamps
• Online courses (if they’re substantial and relevant)
• Volunteer work

For example:

Certifications & Training
Google Project Management Certificate, Coursera — 2024
Agile Fundamentals Workshop, Local Community College — 2023

When a functional resume works best (and when it doesn’t)

Functional resumes shine when:

• You’re making a clear career change (retail → HR, teacher → corporate training).
• You have a non-linear path (gaps, freelance, caregiving, multiple part-time roles).
• Your skills are strong, but your titles don’t match your target field.

They’re less effective when:

• You’re staying in the same field and already have a strong, relevant title progression.
• Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are very strict and the employer prefers traditional formats.

A smart 2025 move is a hybrid resume: keep a strong skills section at the top (like the functional examples), but still include a short, chronological section with a few bullets for your most recent roles.

The National Career Development Association offers useful guidance on resume formats and career changes: https://ncda.org/

FAQ: Functional resume examples for career change

What are some good examples of functional resume examples for career change?

Good examples include a teacher moving into HR or learning and development, a retail supervisor moving into project coordination, a military logistics specialist moving into operations, a customer service rep moving into customer success, or an admin assistant moving into software development. In each case, the resume groups bullets under skills like training, operations, project coordination, or programming instead of job titles.

Can you give an example of a skills section for a functional resume?

Here’s a simple example of a skills-based section for someone moving from hospitality to office administration:

Office & Administrative Support
Coordinated daily reservations and event schedules for a 150-seat restaurant, balancing customer needs with staffing levels.
Managed email and phone communication with vendors and clients, ensuring timely confirmations and clear documentation.
Created and maintained spreadsheets to track inventory and supply orders, preventing stockouts during peak seasons.

This kind of section shows hiring managers you already perform many admin tasks, even if your title was “Host” or “Server.”

Are functional resumes ATS-friendly in 2025?

They can be, as long as you:

• Use standard section headings like Skills, Work History, Education.
• Sprinkle in keywords from the job description in your skills bullets and summary.
• List your job titles, company names, and dates in a clear, readable format.

If you’re worried, you can lean toward a hybrid format that keeps the skills focus but adds more traditional bullets under your most recent roles.

How many skills sections should I include in a functional resume?

Most strong examples of functional resume examples for career change use three to four skills-based sections. More than that can feel scattered; fewer than that can feel too thin. Aim for sections that match what you see repeated in job postings for your target role.

Should I hide my work history in a functional resume?

No. You don’t need to hide anything. The goal is to reframe, not erase. Keep work history visible, just shorter and placed after your skills-based sections. Hiring managers want to see where you’ve been; they just don’t need every detail from every job.

If you use these examples of functional resume examples for career change as a starting point and tailor the skill sections to your target role, you’ll give hiring managers what they actually care about: clear evidence that you can do the job you’re applying for, even if your path to get there looks a little different.