Make Sure To List Specific Accomplishments In Your Work History
With the examples above, its important to list accomplishments on your resume work history, not just duties/responsibilities.
Theres a big difference between saying, I was responsible for handling 50 customer requests per day, and saying, I successfully responded to 50 customer requests per day, while keeping a 98% customer satisfaction rating.
In the second one, youre phrasing it as an accomplishment instead of simply talking about what you were responsible for or supposed to do. And youre adding a great data point 98% customer satisfaction.
Try to do this whenever possible when listing accomplishments on your resume. Keep that in mind when you copy the examples above.
If you want more help with this, detailed examples and instructions are;here.
Provide Your Job Title
List your exact job title. You can choose to include this below your company’s name and location or on the same line so that it receives as much attention as the company that you worked for. Alternately, if you feel that your job title is more impressive than the company, you can feature your title first with the company directly beneath.
If You’re Concerned About Job
Some fields are prone to short periods of employment, and job-hopping might not be a concern. For many other occupations, there is less of a stigma regarding job-hopping than in the past.
The best way to handle job-hopping on your resume depends on your specific job titles and companies. You may be able to lump two or more similar positions under one heading . You can list your combined work experience’s highlights. Independent contractors and temporary workers should consider grouping their experience under one time period with project highlights.
You don’t need to include every job you’ve ever held. Short-term positions that don’t do anything for you can certainly be omitted. Keep in mind: A resume is a marketing piece, but you will need to provide a complete work history if you are asked to fill out a job application, which is a signed legal document.
Employers might be leery of hiring candidates with a history of job-hopping due to recruiting and training expenses. Use your cover letter to explain your work history and put a positive spin on your circumstances. Also, indicate your interest in a long-term position.
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Providing Irrelevant Personal Information
The personal details you are expected to include on your CV will vary in different countries. It is important to consider what information you are sharing with employers. In the UK, avoid a CV with a photograph, date of birth, nationality and marital status. Similarly, if you have social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook for personal use, you do not need to share these. This is another opportunity to make a positive impression.
Think about the position you are applying for and how your interests and achievements relate to it. An interest in the exhibitions would be useful to mention if you want to work in the arts sector; community engagement activities would be suitable if you want to work in the charity sector; involvement in sport activities would be advantageous if you want a career in the sports sector. You can highlight other activities that demonstrate transferable skills and your values.
Dont Create An Employment Gap
Some candidates are reluctant to leave off less pertinent positions because it would create gaps in employment, and yet, they don’t want to include less impressive jobs.;In this situation, one option is to leave these jobs off and use the comments or additional information section to provide an explanation.;
This approach will make the most sense if you have an easily understandable rationale for taking time away from your career or downshifting to a less relevant, or impressive position. Perhaps you were taking courses, raising a child, or caring for a family member. Keep in mind that your cover letter;might also be a place where you can account for any disruptions in your work history.
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Previous Work Experience Examples For A Resume
If youre looking for previous work experience examples for a resume or job application, and the exact steps to write your own experience section, youre in the right place.
Im going to walk you through:
- Why employers care about your work history and what they want to see most
- How to write your resume employment history including every piece of info to include and what format to put it in
- 3 previous work experience examples from real resumes written by;professional resume writers
- The;biggest mistakes to avoid when writing professional experience on a resume
- Much more
Education And Academic Achievements
After your key skills, create a resume section for your education. List any degrees you have obtained or any degrees you are currently pursuing. If you stopped going to school before obtaining a degree, you can list the credits or hours you have completed.
For each degree, list the school, the location, your degree, your field of study and the dates you attended. You should also include academic honors and awards, such as graduating Cum Laude.
Example of how to list education in a resume #1:Coral Springs University, Coral Springs, Florida; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;Bachelor of Science in Biology; Minor in PsychologyGraduated Magna Cum Laude
Example of how to list education in a resume #2:Coral Springs University, Coral Springs, Florida; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;In ProgressAssociate of Arts
Example of how to list education in a resume #3:Coral Springs University, Coral Springs, Florida; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;Bachelor of Arts in Art History; 200 Credit Hours Obtained
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Previous Work Experience Examples
Now that you know the basics of how to write the work history section of your resume, lets look at some good employment history samples from real resumes.
I invited a couple of experts to share their resume work history examples for this section.
Ill share two resume work experience examples from them, and then Ill include a very simple/plain example that Ive used in the past with a lot of success.
How Far Back Should A Resume Go For Work History
What if you are not just out of college and have a decade, or two or three, of work experience?
Keep the resume as concise as possible, but make sure you do not leave off important work experience related to the position, just because you near the one-page mark.
Here is some advice to keep in mind:
1. Use chronological order.;Resumes are written in chronological order, so focus on work history done in the past 10 years. Employers want to know what you have been up to lately, not so much what you did in the 90s.2. Give brief descriptions for relevant work experience.;Include all relevant work experience, but keep the descriptions brief for positions over 10 years old.3. Only include the most relevant work experience if older than 10 years.;All work experience that is older than 10 years and is not relevant to the job position, keep off the resume. But do include it on an online resume like LinkedIn.4. Its okay to go over a page, but not over two pages.;Dont be afraid of going over one page, but do keep it to two pages or less.
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How Many Years Of Experience To List On Your Resume
Do you have to include every job you’ve ever had on your resume? Not necessarily. When you have extensive experience,;you don’t need to list your entire;work history.
Your resume is a synopsis of your qualifications and experience that shows what you have accomplished that is relevant to the job. You don’t need to include everything you’ve ever done on your resume, especially if you’ve been in the workforce for many years or have shifted careers.
In fact, you may want to have several versions of your resume. One with all your experience so you can keep track of it, a targeted resume that you can customize for each job you apply to, and a shorter version for career networking and job fairs.
The Ideal Length Is One To Two Pages
A resume that is more than two pages long is rarely necessary. Consider converting full paragraphs to bulleted lists, cutting job descriptions from your less relevant work entries or streamlining your skills list. Remember, your priority is clarity, so try to communicate all the necessary information as concisely as possible.
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You Dont Need To List Every Job Youve Ever Held
Your resume is a summary of your work experience, not an exhaustive brief. If you have enough relevant experience, its okay to leave off some less relevant jobs if you dont feel that they strengthen your candidacy. The same goes for older positions. A good rule of thumb is to cover your past 10-15 years of work experience. Much more than that, and you risk trying to cram too much in and diluting your most recent accomplishments, especially if theyre also the most impressive. As always, there are exceptions if youve been at your current job for that entire time, youll obviously want to go back further, and the same could be true if theres something particularly noteworthy before that cutoff that youd like to include.
On the other hand, if you spent a few months doing something completely unrelated to your field, or you held a position for a very short time, its also totally fine to omit it. Short-term jobs are unlikely to add anything to your resume, and having more than one or two of them risks flagging you as a job hopper. If your resume looks better with those jobs taken out, it isnt dishonest not to include them.
Who Should Tell Your Story
The decision to hire a professional writer or write the resume yourself depends on your own personal comfort level in telling your story. Some highly educated individuals, though, brilliant producers in their chosen field, possess only a cursory knowledge of how to use the written word to their advantage. Others may have a natural ability to communicate using this medium. Each individual should be honest with themselves about the proficiency they possess and make a decision based on this alone.
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Advice For Age Proofing Your Resume
Limiting what you include on your resume, from a chronological perspective, can help job seekers avoid the stigma of being considered “too old” by a prospective employer.
Also, showing that you’re up to speed with the latest technology and skills needed for your profession will help maximize your chances of getting selected for an interview. The following resume writing tips for older job seekers will help market your candidacy and showcase your skills to employers without highlighting your age.
Use Older Experience Only If Its Relevant
Job ads list most skills hiring managers are seeking in candidates. Refer to the job posting to see which particular skills are called for. If you notice a skill listed on the ad that you havent used since the 1990s, you can and should still fit that skill onto your resume.
For example, if the job ad calls for experience writing in the COBOL programming language, its fine to include a role from two decades ago:
PROGRAMMER, SFJ Software Inc., 19992003
As you can see from this example, such mentions can include just one bullet point that showcases the skill from the job ad. Theres no need to list other responsibilities linked to the old position unless they also directly relate to the job posting.
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List Your Most Important Accomplishments And Responsibilities
Your accomplishments and responsibilities are the most important part of your resume employment history. If you have just two or three jobs to list, you can break out your responsibilities into sections such as team leadership, account management and sales. You might also feature a list of responsibilities followed by a separate section for accomplishments and awards. If you have a long job history, brevity is critical. In this case, you should list only the most important information.
When you are listing your responsibilities, ensure that you are writing them in the past tense. The only exception to this rule is for your most recent job if you are still currently working there. In this case, you would instead put your responsibilities in the present tense.
What If You Cant Use Your Boss As A Reference
If the company is on a directive not to provide a reference to you outright, consider seeking out a manager or someone you worked closely with who has since left the company. This person, now no longer with your former employer, wont feel the same pressure to not give you a reference.
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Use The Job Listing As A Guide
It’s always advisable to tailor your resume to fit the job you’re applying for, especially when listing your skills and experience. When writing your job history, take a close look at the job listing and see if it mentions an experience requirement.
If the employer is looking for applicants with six to eight years of relevant experience, for example, your ideal job history list would cover somewhere between eight and ten years. If you only have six years of work experience, you can also include volunteer opportunities or internships to demonstrate other expertise you’ve gained in the field.
If the job listing requires fewer years of experience than you possess, you have the freedom to eliminate one or more jobs from your list. Consider cutting the entry-level job from early in your career or dropping your recent volunteer position from the list. If you use the specific job listing as your inspiration, it should be easy for you to decide which jobs will make the best impression on your reader.
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It Combats Age Discrimination
We may not like to admit it, but the fact remains: Age discrimination is a reality in today’s job market. By eliminating your earlier work history or minimizing the details, you shift recruiters’ attention away from your age and toward what really matters, which is the value you have to offer a prospective employer through your skills and experience.
Which Jobs To Include On A Job Application
There are strategic reasons to include or exclude certain past jobs. As a general guideline, you should craft your work history to best support the specific position you are applying to.;
If you have an extensive and diverse work history, it will be more difficult to represent your experience in an easily digestible form. At the same time, you’ll have more options as to which positions you choose to include. Candidates with limited experience will not have as much leeway since they’ll need to present at least some evidence of past employment.;
The exact number of jobs to include on your applications will depend on your personal situation, but here are some suggestions to help you decide how to best represent your unique work history on a job application.
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Academic Project Relevant To A Job
Including an academic project in a resume is straightforward. Include where the project took place, what class it was a part of, the title of the project, the date it was completed and a short summary of its purpose.
Example of how to list an academic project in a resume:Coral Springs University, Coral Springs, Florida; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;Intro to Hospitality Course McDonalds Restaurant Analysis Group ProjectWorked within a team of 4 to analyze data on the revenue, size, and customer base of a popular fast-food chain in Florida. Created and presented findings during a course presentation. Was personally responsible for collecting data on McDonalds revenue and creating a PowerPoint presentation.
How Many Years Of Experience Should You Include
How should you decide what to include? If you are uncertain how many years of experience to include on your resume, let the job posting be your guide. If a job requires 20 years of experience, for example, you’ll want to include more than 10 – 15 years of work history.
Include positions from earlier in your career that are relevant to the role you are applying for.;
It’s acceptable to include 10 – 15 years of experience on your resume.;In many industries, sharing experience that dates back more than 15 years just isn’t very helpful for hiring managers. It doesn’t support your candidacy to share an experience with tools and technology that are no longer in use.;
Plus, when you have many years of experience, listing it all can flag you;as an older job seeker;to employers.;
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