How To Put Current Job On Resume

Make Your Font Size 10 To 12 Points

Another factor in making your words clear and readable is setting an appropriate font size. Generally, you should stay between 10 and 12 points. If you have a shorter resume and are trying to fill space, select a 12-point font. Anything larger might appear unprofessional. If you have a lot of information on your resume, start with a 10-point font and increase it if you have space.

If your resume is still more than one page with a 10-point font, avoid reducing your font further. Instead, see if there is an opportunity to make your ideas more concise. You can do this by removing any irrelevant or extraneous information, combining ideas or making your ideas briefer with shorter sentences and fewer filler words.

For example, heres a sentence in a resume that can be shortened:

Performed inventory audits every month and discovered issues with over-ordering executed an organization solution across all teams which resulted in a 10% increase in revenue over the next two quarters.

Make your ideas concise and remove filler words to include only the core value of your statement:

Performed regular inventory audits, identifying and solving over-ordering issues to achieve 10% revenue increase.

Here are a few other ways you can use to make a shorter resume:

Related:Q& A: How Long Should a Resume Be?

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

Get The Best Of Both Camps:

Since many of your previous jobs have required different skills, it is a good idea to group the most relevant skills in a subsection titled Relevant Experience on your resume. You can put this subsection at the top of your resume and use it to highlight skills and achievements that are most applicable to the position you are applying for.

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Dont Be Careless With Your Resume

Be selective about whom you give your resume to, and explain to those recipients that your job search is confidential. Dont post your resume on public job boards, either, as thats a pretty blatant way to get found out. “Spamming your resume at any time is bad business, West says, but especially when youre currently employed. It does not work, and if you are currently employed, you are easily ferreted out when you respond to online inquiries. Even providing your resume to be privately circulated is a risk. There are no secrets,” says West, so be incredibly selective.

Specify The Dates Of Employment

Provide the dates of employment for each company you worked for. You can include the month and year or simply the year, depending on your work history. Exact dates are not necessary. This is typically right-justified beside your job title or company name, though it can also be placed under your job title. If you are still currently working for your most recent job, rather than an end date, you would simply put the word “present.“

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How Many Previous Employers Should Be Listed On A Resume

How Many Jobs Should You List on a Resume? You should list as many jobs on your resume as you can assuming they are all relevant and youre not going beyond the 10-15 year limit. The number of jobs typically varies between 7 and 3. As long as each job or position is relevant, you shouldnt worry about the exact number.

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Benefits Of Including Current Job

Employers usually ask about your most recent work experience and want to know why you’re leaving your current job. If you omit your current position, the person reading your resume might think you’ve been unemployed, which could raise a red flag, especially if omitting the job creates a gap of several months or more on your resume.

In addition, if she discovers you left off a position, she might think you’re trying to hide something. Including your current job depicts you as employable and professional, even if you’ve only held that position a few months or it’s not related to the position you’re applying for.

Reasons for Not Including

A job-seeker might worry a prospective employer will contact his current boss, who may fire him if he knows the employee wants to leave. If the employee’s only had the job a few weeks, he may worry he’ll look like a job-hopper, explains Monster.com‘s career expert, Vicki Salemi. Or, if his current position has nothing in common with the jobs he’s applying for, he may fear employers won’t see him as qualified.

He may also want to omit a current job if it’s at a much lower level than the kinds of jobs he’s seeking. For example, a job-seeker applying for a managerial job may fear employers won’t take him seriously if she learns he’s been working at a fast food restaurant.

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Using Both Tenses In One Section Of Your Resume

It is possible and sometimes necessary to use both past and present tense on your resume, even within the same section.

This happens when youre writing about both your ongoing tasks in your current job and any achievements youve completed in that same job.

For example, if you were writing a resume as an elementary school teacher, your work history section for your current position might look like this:

Third Grade Teacher August 2018 Present

• Teach a class of 25 third grade students.

• Meet with students parents and guardians every two months, both in group settings and in individual meetings.

• Implemented a new writing curriculum, which resulted in a 5% increase in scores on the English portion of standardized tests.

• Received teacher of the year award in 2019.

• Provide feedback on lesson plans for the other three third grade teachers.

• Started weekly meeting with other third grade instructors to identify and implement best practices, resulting in a 4% increase in student retention rates between third and fourth grade.

Another work history section on that same resume that lists the responsibilities you had in a previous job might read more like this, however:

Fourth Grade Teacher August 2015 May 2018

• Taught three classes of 30 students apiece.

• Joined school event planning committee and assisted with planning and chaperoning four events each year.

• Chose and implemented a new math curriculum.

Listing Job Titles On Resumes

A job title is a simple description that refers to the responsibilities of a job and the level of the position. An accurate job title is important because it describes what you do and shows how youre progressing up the career ladder in your field. Read on to learn how to list your current and previous job titles on your resume and how to use job titles in your search.

Using the correct job title on your resume and during job interviews is essential. You cant just make up any term you want for your job description because it may not be accurate or mean anything to an interviewer. In addition, job titles can be useful tools you can use to search for jobs in your industry.

Listing job titles might not seem like a critical part of your resume, but this snapshot of the pros and cons of using correct titles can help explain why they matter.

• Accurate titles give your interviewer a frame of reference for your work.

• Actual titles show career progression and any upward mobility.

• Titles indicate to interviewers your level of experience, such as supervisor-level or management-level work.

• Made-up titles don’t offer any useful information to your interviewer

• Changing a title raises a red flag because it won’t match your job history, LinkedIn profile or a background check.

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Reference Sheet Template And Example

You can use our template to make sure you have everything you need for all of your references.

Heres one example of what your reference sheet might look like:

References for Monica Medina

Keeping references off your resume is not only the standard now, its also more thoughtful toward the people youve asked to speak on your behalf. By only submitting their names and contact information when asked directly , youll know when a prospective new employer is actually going to contact themand you can give them a heads up, pass on any important information about the job or company youre applying for, and thank them for their help.

Regina Borsellino is a NYC-based editor at The Muse covering job search and career advice, particularly resume best practices, interviewing, remote work, and personal and professional development. Before joining The Muse, Regina was an editor for InvestorPlace, where she also wrote about topics such as investing and biotech companies. She holds a BA in English language and literature from the University of Maryland and an MFA in creative writing from American University. Find her on and .

Select A Professional Readable Font

When deciding what font to use for your resume, keep in mind that it should be clear and easy to read. Making sure employers dont have to work to understand words on your resume is the most important factor when choosing a font. It is also helpful if your resume is sent through an applicant tracking system. Many employers use an ATS, which doesnt always read and interpret intricate fonts well. You should also avoid light or thin fonts which can sometimes be difficult for people to read on a screen or paper.

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There are two main categories of fonts serif and sans serif. Serif fonts have tails while sans serif fonts do not. Sans serif fonts are generally good fonts for resumes because they have clean lines that are easy to read. There are fonts like Georgia, however, that are still widely accepted among employers as simple and professional.

Here are several examples of the best resume fonts:

• Avenir

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Be Honest Without Being Too Detailed

When answering this question, you dont need to go into all the details. If you find your current job unsatisfying, there is always a way to share that without disparaging your current employer . Keep your answer focused and short, and move the conversation back towards why you are excited about the opportunities ahead of you.

Its important to keep in mind that the company youre interviewing with may contact your previous employer, so what youve told them should be in line with what theyll learn in those conversations. If youre unemployed, be honest about that situation as well. If they get in contact with your previous employer to confirm start dates, salary range or get a reference, this could hurt your chances of getting the offer if youve provided different information.

Read More: How to Explain Employment Gaps in an Interview

How To Write Your Resume Employment History

The employment history is an integral part of any resume. This section details your previous jobs and explains what you achieved in each position. A compelling work history will clearly demonstrate why you’re a good fit for the job that you’re applying for, so it’s important to understand how to write it effectively. In this article, we explain how to write a strong resume employment history and give you examples to reference when writing your own.

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I Dont Like The Company

There are positives and negatives in every company, including the one youre interviewing for. Take a moment to think about why you dont like the company you work for, and use this to craft a more positive, clear response.

For example:

At my current organization, Ive expanded my professional skillset and built great relationships. Recently, it became clear to me that I need motivation from a strong mission while continuing to grow professionally. The mission of your company to serve underrepresented communities is something Im excited to work on.

Ive been working on my communication and collaboration skills when it comes to facilitating large, complex projects. The opportunities to grow that expertise are limited in my current role, so I was excited to learn about this opportunity, where collaboration and transparency are mentioned as important components of the job.

What To Put On A Resume If You Have No Work Experience

Now, if you just graduated and have absolutely no work experience, heres what I recommend

However, if you have absolutely no work experience, heres what to put on your resume

Were going to follow the sections outlined above, but move #5 up to #3 so it will be right below your Summary section.

So it will look like this

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Use Past Tense For Past Jobs

If you are referring to previous employers that you’re no longer with, use the past tense. List every accomplishment and responsibility in the past tense. The same is true for volunteer positions or extracurricular activities that you have had in the past but are no longer a part of.

To keep things simple, some people prefer to list all the elements of their resume in the past tense. If you don’t have an idea where you should switch to the present tense or you are worried about the consistency of your resume, listing all resume elements in the past tense is a good strategy that reduces some of the stress of putting together your resume.

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Use Bullet Points Where Appropriate

Using bullet points in your experience, skills or education sections allows employers to easily read the most relevant information from your background. Bullet points should be used to list your achievements. Avoid using only one or two bullet points in a single section if you have less than three pieces of information, simply list them without bullets in sentence form or use other punctuation to separate different ideas.

For example, when describing a role youve held in the experience section of your resume, you would use bullets to communicate how you were successful in that role:

• Consistently operated overhead cranes, hoists, power tools and other project equipment safely
• Anticipated needs of 11 on-site workers and delivered parts to 23 field technicians

• Completed weekly service reports, time cards and other related project equipment paperwork

In the education section, you might not have three or more ideas to share, so it might look something like this without bullet points:

CORAL SPRINGS UNIVERSITY, May 2020Juris Doctor

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Good Reasons For Leaving A Job

There are many reasons you can and should explain why youre looking for a new opportunity. As professionals grow in the workplace, there is a natural flow from one job to the next as people seek out new learning opportunities, career development, new environments and other factors. Lets look at a few examples of good reasons youre looking for a new job:

Begin Each Bullet Point With Action Verbs

Begin your bullet points with descriptive resume action verbs that clearly show hiring managers how you handled work at previous companies. Using action verbs ensures the hiring manager sees you as an effective employee who can get work done.

Here are some examples of action verbs being used to effectively describe a job seekers work experience:

• Organized a work safety initiative that saved the company money on workers comp
• Developed new communications protocols that improved connectivity between the company and clients
• Optimized product delivery logistics that accelerated order fulfilment for customers

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How To List Education In Progress On A Resume

There are two things you need to learn if you want to know how to list education in progress on your resume. The first is how to provide that information in a way that clearly conveys your education status to an employer. The second is where to place that information in the body of your resume. With respect to the how, there are a few different ways to convey these details. There are only a couple of basic rules to follow when you list these education details: