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.
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
Does Order Of Jobs Matter On Your Resume
ZipJob Team
5 min read
Job seekers often struggle with the work history section of their resumes. Many are wed to the traditional chronological order format and hesitate to deviate from that approach even when itâs not the most effective way to document their experience.
Others would like to use a different format but are not sure whether thatâs even an option.
The good news is that the chronological resume format is but one of three resume formats you can use.
Yes, you read that right; you donât necessarily have to list your previous jobs in chronological order!
Also Check: Typing A Resume
Put Your Resume To The Test
One of the biggest mistakes you can make with your resume is not getting it reviewed when you’re done writing it. Having a resume is no use to you unless its working in your favor by properly highlighting your skills and the value you’d bring to a company. Need some help? Get a free resume evaluation today from the experts at;Monster’s Resume Writing Service. You’ll get detailed feedback in two business days, including a review of;your resume’s appearance and content, and a prediction of a recruiter’s first impression. Avoid any further mistakes, and instead have a strong, productive job search.
Colors And Design Of Your Work History On A Resume
The first rule to follow when you write your employment history is to keep it simple in terms of style and formatting.
If youre not a professional designer, your resume format should not have fancy graphics and colors.;
Thats true of;every section of your resume.;
Pick one accent color at most , one or two fonts total, and one or two heading sizes.
Youll notice all three resume employment history samples above keep colors to a minimum and focus on the content itself. Thats what you should do as well.
You want the employers focus to be on your past work experience, not on the styling and colors of your resume, so dont distract them too much.
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Write About What You Did Not Just Your Years Of Experience
The years you worked for a particular company are alreadylisted at the top of each job entry, so theres no need to reiterate it in abullet point. Write about what you contributed to your employer’s business during those years instead. That’s what employers want to know. For Example:;
Four years of experience selling variouscomputer chips and hardware parts, with proven ability to increase sales in myterritory
Writing about your ability to improve the sales in the townyou work is useless, because every sales person is expected to do that. Youshould instead write about other specifics of your job, such as the productsyou sold, or the quote you exceeded. For example:
Spearheaded a guerrilla;marketing strategy that increased SaaS subscription sales by $357,000in one year
The example above shows the candidates creativity,initiative, sales specialty, and a verifiable achievement.
Why Is Work Experience On A Resume Important
Many employers regard the description of work experience as the most important part of a resume. To get a quick idea of your employment history, your prospective employer will most likely read the work experience section first. As such, this section could be key in moving you forward in the hiring process.
The work experience section in your resume shows the hiring manager whether you have the necessary experience and skills to succeed in the role you are applying for. This section also includes information about your achievements, which can distinguish you from other applicants and make you more likely to get an interview.
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How To List Volunteer Work On Your Resume
Volunteer work should be listed on your resume using the same format as your work experience section. In other words, you should include the organization you volunteered for, its location, the time frame, followed by a bulleted list explaining what you accomplished while volunteering there.
Heres an example of volunteer experience on a resume:
Volunteer, Cranford Food Distribution Center, Cranford, NJ;May 2020 Present
- Trained 5 new volunteers, helping them develop a strong commitment to community service.
- Helped prepare food and dish out meals to over 200 people per day.
- Planned and organized two successful fundraising events, which raised the food bank over $2,500 in total.
However, if your volunteer experience isnt highly relevant to the job you want, list it on your resume using a shorter format.
For example, heres how you can include volunteer experience on your resume without taking up too much space:
Big Buddys Reading Help, Volunteer
- Tutored grade school children in Los Angeles in reading comprehension.
What Is A Resume
A resume is the most common document required from job applicants. Typically, a resume is a brief summary of all skills, abilities, qualification, work history and educational background of a candidate. There are three resume types: chronological , functional and combination. Include a job history summary where you will explain why you are the best fit for a position and what are your main career goals. You can mention additional information on resume like training, licenses, language proficiency, but all the data provided should be relevant to a desired position. Writing a perfect resume is daunting, but check out the instruction that will facilitate this process.
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Consider An Alternative Format
If your work experience is limited to internships and volunteer work, this may be another good opportunity to utilize the functional or hybrid resume formats.
This will allow you to showcase the unpaid experience you have, while also sharing the focus with other sections such as skills and academic accomplishments.
How Your Linkedin Work Experience Section Differs From Your Resume
First on the agenda: how your LinkedIn is different from your resume. Should you copy the work experience section from your resume and paste it into your LinkedIn profile?
As we cover in-depth on this post, because they serve different purposes. Your resume is tailored to a specific job, while your LinkedIn expands upon your resume for a general job search. Both documents should have the same job titles, date ranges, and basic information regarding each job. You need to present the information in different ways, though.
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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.
Company Name Description And Location
If the position checks out, theyll want to know more details.;
If the company isnt famous, you can also describe in 1-2 sentences. And you should always mention the location of the firm, too.
Try to keep the total section under 3-5 jobs and only remove other job experiences if youre running out of space and absolutely cant remove any other part of your resume.
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Be Consistent With The Wording
Writing consistency plays a vital role in a resume’s readability.
The easiest way to ensure your wording is consistent is by applying the same tense throughout your job descriptions, combining the present and past tense.
For your current or ongoing position, use the present tense. It’s best to go with the present continuous tense , e.g. managing, overseeing, and handling.
Use the past tense for all previous jobs, e.g. accelerated, spearheaded, and transformed.
Case Studies And Projects For Backend Engineers
Backend engineers are more specified than DevOps engineers. Nevertheless, they have to focus more on the backend side of things. This also means scaling databases, creating caches, and implementing queues. So I would suggest focusing on system design as DevOps engineers are doing but with a special focus on databases. Saving and reading data is an essential part of this job. It must be made sure that data can be saved by the customer, external or internal, reliably. This depends on the data. Analytical data might be not as important as a financial transaction, but thats what the backend engineer understands and builds a system for. Of course, they will be able to scale the system design but also focus on the actual implementation. Which framework to use for which use case and which abstraction to take in the whole view of the company is an important choice. The same as what kind of database to choose. Do you have consistent and transactional data? Use SQL. Do you have a lot of unstructured and inconsistent data? Use NoSQL. Know the tradeoffs and the implementation detail. Showcasing your knowledge can be easy. Just choose an endpoint of the company you are talking with and implement it with your favorite or fitting framework and database. Make sure queues and memory caches are used in the right places and write about it. As in the DevOps role, write a blog article about it or a simple Google document that gets attached to your resume.
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Including Work Experience On A Resume
Work experience is a major component of any successful resume.
However, it can be difficult to decipher what exactly you should be including in your work history.
Each job applicant will have a differing amount of working experience under their belt.
The key is to not shove too much information into this section.
Instead, you will need to take the time to sit down and decide which information best highlights your strengths and gives you an advantage for a particular job opportunity.
It is important to keep in mind that you should be altering your resume to match the job description of each individual job you are applying to.
In this article, we will help you craft the perfect work experience section.
Some key questions we will be answering include:
- What should you be including in your work history?
- What should you be excluding from your work history?
- How should your work experience section be formatted?
Keep reading to learn more about how you can begin optimizing your work history section.
Kicks Final Piece Of Resume Advice
- Dont be afraid to use bold whenever you want to highlight important bits of information within the section.
- Include key achievements subsection. Pick the biggest achievement from each job and highlight it in a subsection. You can also write it in bold. This will catch the attention of the hiring manager in an instant.
- Keep it simple and easy to read. Dont overdo it. Pick 1-2 colors maximum, 1-2 fonts, 1-2 heading sizes.
- Remember its not only about you. Its also about your future employer. Look at the job description again and determine what are his needs. Address these in your work experience section.
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Examples Of Work Experience On A Resume
Here are a few examples of work experience on a resume to see the differences between a first draft and the final draft. How do you describe your experience in the most succinct way possible?
Example #1: Work Experience in CV for a Teacher.Lets say youre applying to be a middle school science teacher at a popular independent school. The new job description emphasizes the importance of involvement outside the classroom. They specified that theyre looking for teachers looking to grow through professional development throughout their time there.
First Draft:
- Developed and carried out a student-driven curriculum in three sections of Earth Science
- Annually advised 20 students to track growth and address individual challenges and strengths
- Invited to attend NAIS annual conference to develop modern social-emotional learning classroom tactics
Example #2: Work Experience in CV for Content Marketing Manager.Content Marketing Managers encompass a very wide range of responsibilities. The recruiter will have a general sense of your job experience no need to start from scratch but results-based, specific bullet points will thrive here.
First Draft:
- I manage a team of freelance copywriters at a major NYC marketing agency and ensure they got their work in on time
- I talked to clients and figured out what would be best for their brand
- Before everything was published, I proofreadit all
Final Draft:
First Draft:
First Draft:
Final Draft:
First Draft:
Case Study: Daniels Two Page Customer Support Resume
Daniel had been involved in remote work for over two years.
Two years of experience doesnt sound like a lot. But the impact hes had during that time was huge, which left him with a lot to say.
The nature of his work requires more detail on who he is and his ability to fit company culture despite the distance. It was also necessary to explain the reasons why hes gravitated towards remote working too.
His less than 10 years of experience would typically lead us to a one-page resume. However, in this case, two pages were needed.
The hiring manager wants to see the value you can provide for the company. Even if you dont have as much experience as Gal does and youre someone like Daniel, you want to talk about the results you were responsible for.
When the employer sees what youre capable of, its more likely theyll hire you for the job posting since they understand how valuable you are.
If youre like Daniel and you want a proven two-page resume template to secure your new career, click the button below to get started for free!
It only requires minimal effort. Its that simple!
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How To Write Powerful Resume Bullet Points
Since they entail essential information about your experience, bullet points are the heart of a resume.
When reading through job applications, employers focus their attention on the bulleted lists of responsibilities and accomplishments, which provide most of the content and context for your resume.
This content will distinguish an average resume from a competitive one, determining the outcome of a job application.
As such, writing strong bullet points is key to a resume’s success.
Writing strong bullet points is key to a resume’s success.
The first step to writing more effective bullet points is recognizing that resume job descriptions can and should be more than just a list of the tasks and responsibilities you managed in a particular role.
Instead, they should be accomplishment-focused statements.
Here are a few effective strategies to make your bullet points — and your resume stand out:
Let’s dig deeper into each of these suggestions.
How Do I Add Experience To My Resume: What To Include
In most cases, choosing which jobs to include on your resume should depend on your work history and the type of job youre applying for. In general, work in a backward chronological order starting with your most recent position at the top of the page and include the last 10-15 years of employment history. The backward chronological order works best for most job seekers.
If you have a scattered work history, dont stress. Job hopping is both more common and more widely accepted today, especially among the younger workforce. Including short part-time stints and side projects is good if those professional experiences directly relate to the job or feature skills that overlap with the position. Be prepared to answer questions about your career choices while considering work experience in cv, have a confident answer about your career path, and be forthcoming about the level of commitment youre looking for. Once youve chosen the positions, lets dive into the specific bullet points about work experience in a cv. Each one should include:
How do I write a student CV? A student CVfor a first job should contain full details on your education and ideally also contain details on any student jobs or volunteer work that you have done while you were studying. It doesn’t matter how menial this work was, the most important thing is that you understand the responsibility of doing a paid day’s work.
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Great So Which Format Do I Use Again
If you can, go with the chronological as its everyones favorite. If you are shifting careers and possibly have transferable skills, go combined. If you have a short career or big holes in your experience, go functional.;Which format do you use and are you getting interviews?
- Post authorBy Jörgen Sundberg
The more resumes you look at, the more confused you can get especially since there are so many different formats to choose from. Most people dont realize that the format is one of the most important choices when writing a winning resume. Get this wrong and you could effectively be hiding your own career highlights from the reader.
The bad news is that you only get about 10 seconds attention from the person screening your resume so you best make a good first impression. The good news is that I have narrowed it down to only three formats worth considering. Here they are, complete with reasons why you should choose them and in what order the content should be in your resume.