What Are Bullet Points On A Resume
Lets start with the basics – what exactly are bullet points on a resume?
The main function of bullet points is to highlight your qualifications and achievements, and create an easy-to-read list.
Keep in mind that hiring managers go through tons of resumes on a daily basis.
Using bullet points helps them find what they need quickly and efficiently.
And it helps you, as the hiring manager would find your qualities with ease.
But dont misunderstand – dont use bullet points just for the sake of it.
They need to have a point.
Make sure that the information you provide with each bullet point answers a question that the hiring manager might have about why you are the right person for the job.
In order to improve your chances, you should use mainly action verbs.
They really make you stand out in front of all other candidates.
What Is A Work Experience Section
Employment history is a detailed summary of your past work experience. Its a detailed report of all jobs youve held in the past.
Depending on your background, you can include full-time positions, part-time jobs, temporary roles, internships or even volunteer work.
You should list key information such as names of companies, locations, job titles and positions held, dates of employment and responsibilities.
But more importantly, it should highlight your main achievements and provide specific examples.
It has many names. Some people call it employment history. Others refer to it it as work experience or work history.
How Many Jobs Should You List On Your Resume
When it comes to how many jobs you should list on your resume, there isnt an exact number. The general rule is to stick to jobs that you held within the past 10 years. This ensures that youre using your most relevant experiences. Ultimately, the answer comes down to relevancy. You should also take into consideration your own personal background when deciding how many jobs youll list. For example, if you had a previous position that successfully conveys your ability to do the job youre applying for, there may be a valid reason to include it. In other words, if you have relevant experience that applies to the role, even if its past the 10-year mark, you can still list it on your resume.
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Q& a: How Many Jobs Should I Put On My Resume
Searching for a new position involves making many choices, including which work experience to include on your resume. Including experience relevant to the positions you apply for can help employers understand the skills you offer and why you would be a good fit for the job.
In this article, we explore how many jobs to put on your resume while considering relevant experience, quantifiable information and job description keywords.
In Addition To Jobs Include Your Educational History And Any Certifications
Writing a complete job history is a good place to start, but it’s not the only thing you should include on your resume. List your schools, degrees and any leadership positions you held while in college. You may also want to list any professional certifications you have earned and include the date to assure hiring mangers that your credentials are current.
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Resume Writing How Many Jobs Should You List In Your Resume
In todays world, the majority of hiring managers have too many applications to sift through. In most cases, a typical hiring manager is faced with multiple stacks of applications, and he or she has only a small amount of time to get through them.
The point here is that job seekers must make sure theyre presenting themselves in the best way possible. In terms of previous jobs, most job seekers want to go back as far as possible because they want to impress hiring managers. However, many job seekers arent sure if they should disclose their full employment history. For this question, there is no answer that is right or wrong.
It depends on what the job seeker prefers to reveal about their employment history. Many hiring managers would love to see 10 years of employment history. There arent many benefits to going back any further than 10 years because technology and business practices have changed so dramatically over the last decade.
However, people whove been working for a single company for the last two or three decades should not cut their employment history off at 10 years its the people who have had six or more jobs over the last 15 years who should cut off the employment history at 10 years. Job seekers should always include relevant experience, and even if this experience is from 20 years ago, it should still be included.
Early Years and Employers
How Many Jobs to List
Listing High-quality Work History
They Really Dont Care
How Far Back Should You Go On A Resume
CareerBuilder | January 28, 2021
Should you include those early years on your resume? Here’s how to determine what to keep – and what to ditch.
Today’s hiring managers have stacks of applications to get through quickly, so job seekers need to make each moment count when presenting themselves to prospective employers. While every candidate wants to give a thorough picture of accomplishments and skills, is it necessary to list every single job ones ever held on a resume?
Determining how many years of work history to include on your resume can be a tricky task and is highly dependent on the unique situation of every job seeker. While the standard rule of thumb is to include roughly your last 10 years of work experience, this may not always make sense. Its critical that you consider how relevant and important older pieces of work experience are to the jobs that you are currently looking for. If some of your earlier jobs are able to effectively communicate the strengths and abilities that you want to emphasize to your future employer, then by all means include them on your resume. On the flip side, if some more recent positions that you’ve held are completely irrelevant to the jobs you are now seeking, it may be best to leave them off your resume.
Here are some scenarios to consider and tips for what to include.
An example of how to do this:
Customer Service Operator, 1998 2003 Company 1, Company 2, Company 3, Company 4
Company ABC
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Don’t Feel Obliged To List Short
If your last role didn’t quite work out as well as you’d hoped, you definitely don’t have to list it on your resume, especially if you were only with the company for a few months or so. Otherwise, it’s highly unlikely any human resources department will have the time or resources to find out about all of your former jobs. In fact, most will only go as far as calling your referencesand possibly phoning the HR department of some of your former employers to verify that you actually worked everywhere you claimed to have, which leads directly to the next point.
If you feel you can turn that career side trip into a learning experience that will impress the hiring manager, go for it! Understanding who you are, what works for you and admitting mistakes and what you learned from them make you a better employee.
Q: When do I have to list all my jobs?
A: If you happen to be applying for a job that requires a security clearance, all your jobs will come out in your background check.
It Lets Hiring Managers Know How Up
When you narrow down the number of jobs you plan to list, youre also letting hiring managers know when the last time was that you used your particular skills. This helps them determine whether or not your skills and expertise are up-to-par with the latest advancements and technologies in your industry.
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What About Jobs Where I Got Fired
This is another question where the answer is it depends. If it became clear early on that the job wasnt for you or that you had a personality clash with the boss, theres no need to include it. This is especially true if the experience does not apply to the work you seek now.
If you were fired from a long-term position, definitely put the job on your resume. Do not say you were fired, but be prepared to answer the question, Why did you leave this job? There are a couple of ways to handle this question. The big no-no is lying. You may choose to gloss over the reason by saying that you were looking for new opportunities, but remember that your former employer may reveal that you were terminated during a reference check. Thus, your best bet is honest.
How honest do you have to be when explaining your termination? Our answer is briefly honest. No need to go into detail. Alison Green offers these short explanations in The Cut:
Actually, I was let go. Thats on me I took a job that required pretty advanced design skills, which frankly I dont have. I thought Id be able to get up to speed quickly, but I underestimated how much Id need to learn. They made the right call, and I was relieved to get back to editing.
Just for Inspiration
*Source: Business Insider
Copying And Pasting Job Descriptions
“Do not copy and paste the job description that you were hired under into your resume. Recruiters do not want to read what they already wrote. They want to read how you accomplished those tasks and responsibilities in your current and past jobs. Recruiters are looking for skill sets, experience related to those skills in achieving a goal for current/past employers, what you personally did to help those goals get reached, if you managed or supervised others who performed your career-related tasks , if you trained anyone in your job , if you brought in revenue or reduced overhead costs, and if you handled or managed a budget .” Dawn D. Boyer, CEO of D. Boyer Consulting
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Selecting A Tiny Font
“For most fonts, size 10 is the absolute smallest, and even then, it might be too small, depending on the font you are using. If your reader needs to take out his/her reading glasses to read your resume, you have already aggravated them, and your resume is heading for the trash can.” Michelle Riklan, founder and managing director at Riklan Resources
Experience From Over 15 Years Ago
A hiring manager wonât really care what you did more than 10 to 15 years ago. At some point, it just becomes unnecessary and itâs better left off your resume. Usually, you can incorporate the skills you gained in more recent work experience.
Unfortunately, age discrimination does happen and could have a negative impact on your job search. If your resume goes back past 20 or 30 years, you risk being seen as over qualified, under-skilled, or too expensive for the job you’re applying for.
Your resume is only looked at for a few seconds so you want to ensure your resume is clear and concise. Irrelevant information will usually result in your resume being rejected.
We wrote a good post here with more information on how many years of work experience to include on a resume.
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Approach : Stack The Job Titles
This strategy is good if you would like to emphasize your highest-level position and show promotions within the organization. Include the overall date range for your employer next to the company name and location, followed by a list of positions in reverse chronological order . For example:
COMPANY NAME – City, State, 2/01 to present
- Store Manager, 8/03 to present
- Assistant Manager, 5/02 to 8/03
- Clerk, 2/01 to 5/02
To emphasize your promotional advancement, lead your position description with something like: Promoted to store manager to… and then describe the challenges and responsibilities that you assumed with your promotion. Be sure to include a bulleted list of achievements, which can reflect your contributions from any of your positions.
On your Monster resume, you can keep one employment listing by including your highest position in the Formal Title field, and then explaining that you held other positions in the Work Description section.
If you held numerous positions with one employer, the above list of job titles will start to take up valuable space on your resume. Summarize your early job titles using one line of text. For example:
COMPANY NAME – City, State, 2/01 to present
- Store Manager, 8/03 to present
- Assistant Manager, 5/02 to 8/03
- Early Positions: Student Intern, Clerk and Retail Sales Rep, 2/01 to 5/02
‘whitened’ Resumes Produce More Job Call
Employer callbacks for resumes that were whitened fared much better in the application pile than those that included ethnic information, even though the qualifications listed were identical. Twenty-five percent of black candidates received callbacks from their whitened resumes, while only 10 percent got calls when they left ethnic details intact. Among Asians, 21 percent got calls if they used whitened resumes, whereas only 11.5 percent heard back if they sent resumes with racial references.
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How To Address A Maternity Leave On Your Resume
Rather than chronologically listing your previous work experience, you can use the combination resume format. It allows you to attract the employers attention with your skills before addressing the elephant in the room.
Once youve done that, briefly mention that your career gap was due to the maternity leave. You can do it like this:
Maternity leave
That’s it. You don’t have to go into great detail.
Make sure to put emphasis on the work you did before you took some time off. Write about it as if it were yesterday and you still remember the details about the projects you worked on.
Recall your accomplishments and the projects you are proud of from that period of your life. Time doesnt devalue those experiences and skills you learned working on them.
Also, make sure to mention any relevant community service or voluntary work that you engaged in during your time away. Any freelancing projects or short-term gigs work as great resume enhancers.
Stick To The Most Relevant Information
Why 10 to 15 years, you ask? Well, thats the timeframe recruiters and employers perceive as most relevant. Recruiters arent interested in your accomplishments as an entry-level employee if youve been in the field for 20 years. And even if youre early in your career, they dont necessarily need to know about a paper route on a resume slated for a tech position.
Your resume should be a high-level summary of your relevant professional accomplishments, not a dissertation of all your jobs and responsibilities since middle school. Recruiters and hiring managers want to quickly see why youre the right person for this job, and your experience in the past decade or so is most likely the reason. So think twice before you let non-essential information take up real estate on your resume. Instead use that space to shine a light on applicable achievements, experiences, and positions that more closely align with the jobs youre targeting.
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Always Include Experience That Is Relevant To The Job You Are Applying For
When creating your job list, remember to prioritize experiences and skills that are relevant to the specific job opening. For example, you may have volunteered for an organization or held an internship that gave you more relevant experience than your first job. In that case, always choose to highlight the more relevant information.
How To Write A Work Experience Section If Youre An Artist
Artists are, well, different. Because of that, it probably comes as a no surprise that their work experience is different too.
In short, as an artist you should say goodbye to wordy descriptions and focus almost entirely on your portfolio. But you already know that, dont you?
There are several options available and its only up to you which one will suit you the best. Polish up your social media profiles, create your own website, make sure to upload your portfolio to Behance or Dribble.
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Minorities Who ‘whiten’ Job Resumes Get More Interviews
Katherine DeCelles
Minority job applicants are whitening their resumes by deleting references to their race with the hope of boosting their shot at jobs, and research shows the strategy is paying off.
In fact, companies are more than twice as likely to call minority applicants for interviews if they submit whitened resumes than candidates who reveal their raceand this discriminatory practice is just as strong for businesses that claim to value diversity as those that dont.
These research findings should provide a startling wakeup call for business executives: A bias against minorities runs rampant through the resume screening process at companies throughout the United States, says Katherine A. DeCelles, the James M. Collins Visiting Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.
Discrimination still exists in the workplace, DeCelles says. Organizations now have an opportunity to recognize this issue as a pinch point, so they can do something about it.
DeCelles co-authored a September 2016 article about the two-year study in Administrative Science Quarterly called Whitened Resumes: Race and Self-Presentation in the Labor Market with Sonia K. Kang, assistant professor of organizational behavior and human resource management at the University of Toronto Mississauga András Tilcsik, assistant professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto and Sora Jun, a doctoral candidate at Stanford University.