Resume Work Experience Tips
Your resume work experience section can take on many forms and formats. Whether you are listing your experience in chronological order or by relevancy, these tips will help you!
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#1. Relevant and Recent
You should always start with your most recent job description under “Job Summary,” then move backward through time until you reach about 15 years ago. See Tips on How to Format a Resume for more info.
#2. Lacking Relevant Experience
Don’t worry if you don’t have much relevant experience. Focus instead on your relevant and transferrable skills along with any related side projects or academic achievements. Don’t neglect non-traditional work, either. If you’ve volunteered, worked part-time, were hired as a temporary or contract worker, freelanced, or blogged, be sure to include these if they are relevant. List these things as their own jobs within your career timeline.
Your cover letter can include your story as to why you are ideal for the job.
#3. Bullet Points (5-6)
We get it, you might have a lot of skills and achievements, but in order to keep your resume to one page (ideally) and easy to skim, you shouldn’t have more than five or six bullets in any section.
Need help editing it down? Our expert resume writers can help!
#4. Keep It Simple with Your Resume Work Experience
Don’t fill your resume with a bunch of industry jargon and technical words. Hiring and HR managers are not always versed in the specifics of the jobs they are hiring for. They are more interested in your achievements and if you are a good cultural fit for their team.
#5. Use Stats
“In my last year as the Marketing Director, I helped grow our company’s revenue by 20%.”
This is a great example of using stats to highlight what you have achieved.
Highlight your accomplishments by include as many facts and figures in your bullets. How much of an impact did your work have? In what way do you exceed expectations or goals?
#6. Show Don’t Tell
Go through each bullet point and see if you can take it a bit further. Include what the benefit was to your boss or your company. Also, don’t just list skills and use buzz words like “strong leader” or a “clear communicator.” Instead, demonstrate these attributes without actually saying them.
#7. Words Matter
If every bullet in your resume starts with “Responsible for,” readers will get bored very quickly. Check out this handy list of great phrases for a resume.
#8. Keywords Matter
Chances are your resume will be processed by an ATS. Scan the job description, see what words are used most often, and make sure you’ve included them in your bullet points.
Related: How to Beat an Applicant Tracking System (and land an interview)
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