Work Experience
Your work experience is the most important part of your resume. It's crucial to present your experience and achievements in a way that shows you are well-suited for the job. These tips will help you highlight your experience in a way that is sure to impress employers.
Identifying Key Requirements
When listing your work experience, start by identifying the key requirements from the job posting and highlighting them in your resume. This will show the hiring manager that you have the skills and experience necessary for the job. For each job, include the name of the company, your job title, the dates you worked there, and a brief description of your responsibilities and accomplishments that align with the requirements of the job posting.
Using Action Verbs
When describing your responsibilities and accomplishments, use action verbs to make your writing more engaging and impactful. Some examples of action verbs include "managed," "developed," "led," and "implemented."
Accomplishments, Not Responsibilities
Instead of simply listing your responsibilities at each job, focus on highlighting your accomplishments. For example, rather than saying "responsible for managing a team of 10 employees," say "led a team of 10 employees to achieve a 25% increase in productivity."
Be Specific and use Numbers
To make your accomplishments more concrete and impressive, use specific numbers and details whenever possible. For example, instead of saying "increased sales," say "increased sales by 20% in the first quarter of the year."
Short Bullet Points, Not Paragraphs
In general, it's best to use short bullet points rather than long paragraphs when listing your work experience. This makes it easier for hiring managers to quickly scan your resume and identify the most important information.
Examples
Here are some good examples of bullet points for the work experience section of a resume:
- Led a team of 5 customer service representatives to achieve a 15% increase in customer satisfaction ratings.
- Developed and implemented a new inventory management system, resulting in a 10% reduction in inventory shrinkage.
- Improved the accuracy of financial reporting by implementing a new accounting software, leading to a 25% reduction in errors.
- Trained and mentored 3 new employees, resulting in a 30% increase in productivity within the first month.
- Successfully managed a project to launch a new product line, resulting in a 20% increase in revenue within the first quarter.
These are bad examples. Ensure your resume doesn't read like this:
- Worked at XYZ company as a software engineer
- Developed and maintained software applications
- Responsible for debugging issues
- Worked on agile development teams
- Collaborated with other departments
These bad examples lack specific details and accomplishments, making them less impressive and less likely to grab the hiring manager's attention. They also use passive language and lack action verbs, which makes the writing less engaging and impactful.
You should also avoid using long paragraphs instead of bullet points. Most readers will be rushed and skip them.