How to Write Work Experience on a Resume

The work experience section is the most important part of your resume for the vast majority of job seekers. It is where you prove that you can deliver results, not just hold a title. Each position in your work history should follow a consistent format: job title on the first line (bold for emphasis), company name and location (city and state) on the same or next line, and employment dates aligned to the right. Below this header, include three to five bullet points for your most recent role, two to four for your next most recent, and one to three for earlier positions. The amount of detail should decrease as you go further back in time, with the most space dedicated to your current or most recent role. List positions in reverse-chronological order, starting with your current or most recent job. For each role, focus on accomplishments rather than responsibilities. Your job title already implies your basic duties, so the bullet points should highlight what you achieved beyond the minimum expectations. If you held multiple positions at the same company, list each one separately to show career progression. This demonstrates loyalty and growth, both of which are attractive to employers. For short-term positions, contract work, or freelance engagements, be transparent about the nature of the employment. You can label these as 'Contract,' 'Freelance,' or 'Consulting' to set appropriate expectations. If you have numerous short-term gigs, consider grouping them under a single heading like 'Freelance Marketing Consultant' with the date range covering the entire period and bullet points highlighting the most impressive projects.

The difference between a forgettable resume and one that wins interviews lies in how you write your bullet points. Duty-based bullet points describe what you were supposed to do; achievement-based bullet points describe what you actually accomplished. Compare these two approaches: Duty-based says 'Responsible for managing social media accounts.' Achievement-based says 'Grew company social media following from 5,000 to 85,000 in 12 months through strategic content calendar and influencer partnerships, generating 40% of total marketing qualified leads.' The achievement-based version tells a story of impact that makes the recruiter want to learn more. Use the CAR framework (Challenge-Action-Result) to structure each bullet point. First, identify the challenge or situation you faced. Then describe the specific action you took. Finally, state the measurable result. Not every bullet point needs all three elements explicitly, but the underlying structure should always move from action to outcome. Begin every bullet point with a strong action verb in past tense for previous roles and present tense for your current position. Avoid starting with 'Responsible for,' 'Duties included,' or 'Assisted with,' as these weak openings immediately signal a passive, duty-focused description rather than an active achievement narrative. Vary your action verbs throughout the resume to keep the reader engaged and demonstrate the breadth of your contributions. Strong options include: Spearheaded, Implemented, Orchestrated, Streamlined, Pioneered, Negotiated, Optimized, Delivered, Transformed, Accelerated.

Numbers are the most powerful tool in your resume writing arsenal. Quantified achievements are more credible, more memorable, and more impactful than vague claims of success. Whenever possible, include specific metrics that demonstrate the scale and impact of your work. The most common and effective types of metrics include: revenue generated or influenced (dollar amounts), cost savings (dollar amounts or percentages), performance improvements (percentages), team or project scope (number of people, departments, or locations), time savings (hours, days, or percentage reduction), and volume of work (number of projects, clients, or transactions). If you do not have access to exact figures, use reasonable estimates and frame them appropriately. You can use approximations ('approximately $500K'), ranges ('reduced costs by 20-30%'), or relative comparisons ('doubled the output of the previous quarter'). Even directional metrics ('improved') are better than no metrics at all, though specific numbers are always stronger. Here are examples of strong quantified bullet points across different fields: 'Increased annual revenue by $1.8M by redesigning the sales pipeline and implementing automated lead scoring' (Sales). 'Reduced patient wait times by 35% through workflow optimization and staff scheduling improvements across a 200-bed facility' (Healthcare). 'Managed a $3.5M project budget and delivered the platform migration 2 weeks ahead of schedule with zero production incidents' (IT/Project Management). 'Improved student test scores by 22% year-over-year by implementing differentiated instruction strategies and data-driven intervention programs' (Education). Think about every role you have held and ask yourself: What changed because I was there? What would have been different if someone else had done the job? The answers to these questions are your achievements.

The verb you choose to begin each bullet point sets the tone for the entire statement and signals the type of contribution you made. Using varied, powerful action verbs throughout your resume keeps the reader engaged and communicates a diverse skill set. Here are categorized action verbs organized by the type of impact they convey. For leadership and management: Directed, Oversaw, Supervised, Mentored, Delegated, Championed, Mobilized, Unified, Steered, Cultivated. These verbs demonstrate your ability to guide teams and drive organizational initiatives. For creation and innovation: Designed, Developed, Engineered, Founded, Launched, Pioneered, Conceptualized, Architected, Established, Introduced. Use these when you built something new or brought an idea to life. For improvement and optimization: Streamlined, Optimized, Revitalized, Enhanced, Modernized, Accelerated, Strengthened, Refined, Upgraded, Transformed. These convey that you made existing processes or systems better. For analysis and strategy: Analyzed, Evaluated, Assessed, Researched, Forecasted, Identified, Investigated, Mapped, Diagnosed, Benchmarked. These show your ability to think critically and make data-driven decisions. For communication and collaboration: Negotiated, Presented, Authored, Facilitated, Coordinated, Liaised, Advised, Translated (as in made complex concepts accessible), Advocated, Persuaded. These demonstrate interpersonal effectiveness. Avoid overusing any single verb and never use the same verb to start consecutive bullet points. Also steer clear of weak, passive constructions like 'Was responsible for,' 'Helped with,' or 'Participated in.' Every bullet point should convey decisive, impactful action.

Employment gaps are far more common and less stigmatized than they were a decade ago, but they still require thoughtful handling on your resume. The key is to be honest while framing the gap in the most positive light possible. If the gap was due to caregiving responsibilities, health issues, further education, or voluntary career exploration, you can briefly note this without extensive detail. For example, include a line item such as 'Career Sabbatical (2023-2024): Completed professional development in data analytics and earned Google Data Analytics Certificate.' If you did freelance work, volunteering, or consulting during the gap, include that as a position on your resume with relevant achievements listed as bullet points. Even unpaid work demonstrates continued professional engagement and skill development. For parents returning to the workforce, organizations like Path Forward offer returnship programs that can be listed as professional experience. For non-traditional experience like gig work, volunteering, open-source contributions, or personal projects, include these on your resume when they demonstrate skills relevant to your target role. A personal project that involved building a full-stack web application is absolutely relevant on a software developer's resume, even if it was unpaid. Volunteer leadership experience managing a nonprofit's fundraising campaign demonstrates the same project management and communication skills as a paid corporate role. Label these entries clearly ('Volunteer,' 'Personal Project,' 'Open-Source Contributor') so the reader understands the context. The goal is to present a complete picture of your professional capabilities without unexplained timeline gaps that might raise questions in a recruiter's mind.

Sending the same generic resume to every job opening is one of the most common and costly mistakes job seekers make. Each application should feature a work experience section that is tailored to the specific role's requirements and priorities. This does not mean fabricating experience; it means strategically selecting, ordering, and emphasizing the bullet points that are most relevant to each particular opportunity. Start by analyzing the job description and identifying the top three to five qualifications or responsibilities the employer emphasizes. Then review your work experience and select the bullet points that most directly address these priorities. For your most recent role, you might have a library of eight to ten strong bullet points; for each application, choose the four to five that best match the job requirements and arrange them in order of relevance, not chronological order within the role. Mirror the language of the job description in your bullet points. If the posting emphasizes 'cross-functional stakeholder management,' use that exact phrase rather than 'working with different teams.' This alignment signals to both ATS and human readers that you are a strong match. Adjust the emphasis of your experience to align with the level of the role. If you are applying for a management position, lead with bullet points about leadership, team building, and strategic decision-making. If you are applying for an individual contributor role, emphasize your hands-on technical work and direct output. This reframing can be done without changing the facts of what you accomplished, simply by choosing which achievements to highlight and how to describe them.