Crafting a Compelling ‘Work Experience’ Section on Your Resume
This work experience section is arguably the most important part of your resume. This is the section where recruiters spend the most time reading and analyzing the content to determine if you have the right skills and experience to succeed in the role. They evaluate your past roles to gut-check your capabilities, assess how your experience aligns with the job description, and get a sense of the impact you’ve had in previous roles. For this reason, it’s really important that you understand how to write this section. The words you use and examples you choose could be the difference between landing an interview or having your resume passed over. In this article, we share expert tips for the ‘work experience’ section section of your resume that captures future employers’ attention and positions you in a positive light.
Index on Relevance Over Quantity
One common mistake we see often at ReysUp is the tendency some job seekers have to include every single job they’ve ever held – from small internships or part-time gigs unrelated to their desired industry or role. While we can certainly understand how it’d be tempting to showcase your hustle and dedication by listing every job you’ve ever held, it’s far more effective to focus only on what’s relevant and present it in a meaningful and impactful way. This is because most employers are only spending a few minutes reviewing your resume, and looking for very specific content. Don’t clutter the resume and dilute the impact of the pertinent parts.
For example:
- Account Executive: Include roles where you’ve showcased sales ability, client management, and revenue generation. Include examples of times you’ve exceeded targets or closed big deals.
- Partnerships Manager: Include roles where you’ve showcased customer relationship management, built new strategic partnerships, and negotiated partnership agreements. Generally speaking, include any examples of times you’ve contributed to company growth via partnerships.
- Marketing Manager: Include roles where you’ve showcased an ability to run campaigns, design brand strategy, and engage in digital marketing efforts. Include examples of times you led successful campaigns or increased brand visibility in a market.
- Project Manager: Include roles where you’ve managed projects end to end, delivered many work products on time or within budget, and worked with cross-functional teams. Include examples of times you managed resources or organized a team around a common goal.
By tailoring your work experience to the job you’re applying for, you make it easier for the recruiter to label you as a strong candidate.
Order Experience in Reverse Chronological Format
Most resume experts will agree that you should always list your experience in reverse chronological order – starting with your most recent job and working backward. This way, recruiters can easily see your most recent and (likely) most relevant role first.
For each of the positions you list, make sure to:
- Include a job title, company name, location where you did the job, and dates of employment. This way, the recruiter has a clear timeline of your career progression and it makes it easy for them to follow along your professional history.
- Use the same format for each job you list, including how you present the dates, titles, and locations of employment.
- Double check your dates and job titles for accuracy. Any inconsistencies could raise red flags down the road.
Be Concise and Make Every Word Count
As most people know, recruiters usually only spend a few minutes – or even seconds – reviewing resumes. For this reason, it’s really important that your resume is crisp, to the point, but also powerful and purposeful. A successful resume communicates your values quickly and effectively, which means that every bullet point should serve a specific purpose, align to a specific skill on the job description requirement list, and nothing should be ‘extraneous’.
As a general rule, the further back you go in your work history, the fewer bullet points you should have. For your most recent roles, we recommend including anywhere between 4-6 bullets. For jobs from five or more years ago, 2-3 bullets are usually enough. This approach keeps your resume focused and emphasizes your most relevant experience.
Write Each Bullet Using the STAR Method
To make sure each word (and bullet point) counts, consider using the STAR method – Situation, Task, Action, and Result. This format ensures that you clearly articulate your experience in a way that recruiters can easily digest it. It forces you to explain the situation at hand, the tactical actions you took, and most importantly the impact those actions had on the business.
- Situation: The context or challenge you faced (e.g., “Inherited an under-performing marketing campaign with declining engagement”).
- Task: What you were responsible for (e.g., “Tasked with revitalizing the campaign to increase customer engagement”).
- Action: What you did to address the situation (e.g., “Implemented a new social media strategy and launched targeted ads via Facebook and LinkedIn”).
- Result: The outcome of your actions (e.g., “Achieved a 30% increase in user engagement within the first 3 months”).
Include Specific Skills from the Job Description
One of the best ways to game the system’ if you will is to ensure your resume includes skills and phrases that are included on the job description for the role. Oftentimes, recruiters will parse through resumes (sometimes using applicant tracking systems (ATSs)) to search for specific words. By echoing the exact language used in the job posting, you increase your chances of passing these initial filters and making it to the resume review – or even interview – stage.
Showcase Promotions within Role
When you can, it’s always a good idea to showcase any promotions you have had while at a particular company. Getting promoted is a strong sign of your growth potential, ability to learn, and ability to take on increased responsibility. It also shows loyalty and dedication to an organization, which are things that recruiters look for as well.
For example:
- Account Executive: Junior Account Executive –> Senior Account Executive –> Team Lead. Detail the achievements that led to your promotion, such as consistently exceeding sales targets or managing larger accounts.
- Partnerships Manager: Strategic Partner Associate –> Strategic Partner Manager –> Senior Strategic Partner Manager –> Team Lead. Highlight the contributions that led to your promotion, such as negotiating key deals or growing key accounts.
- Marketing Manager: Marketing Coordinator –> Marketing Analyst –> Marketing Manager. Focus on how you took on more strategic responsibilities, improved market penetration, and deployed large scale campaigns.
- Project Manager: Assistant Project Manager –> Project Manager. Emphasize your increased project scope or cross-functional initiatives you oversaw and directed.
By doing this, you not only show that you have the skills required for the role, but that you are a good investment for any future employer because you will grow over time.
Address Gaps in Your Work Experience
It’s important to note that employment gaps are common and not necessarily a deal breaker if they are handled correctly. When talking about your gaps on your resume, it’s just important to index on honesty and transparency. Most recruiters will be sympathetic and understanding.
Scenarios and explanations:
- Medical leave: Taking time off for health reasons is completely acceptable. You can simply state that you took medical leave of absence and are now fully ready to return to work. Share what you’re comfortable with, and focus on your readiness to re-enter the workforce. Also, the US Department Of Labor does a good job articulating what you legally are required to disclose per the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) here.
- Going back to school: If you took time off to further your education, explain how the additional qualifications make you a stronger candidate for the role at hand.
- Gap year for community service: If you took time off for volunteer work, emphasize how the experience developed your skills, such as leadership or project management.
- Laid off: If you were laid off, it’s always best to be honest about the situation. In today’s industry, being laid off is very common, and most recruiters will not necessarily hold this against you if it truly had nothing to do with your performance. That said, if the gap is longer than 6 months, consider seeking temporary or freelance work to demonstrate your continued commitment to your career.
Show Relevant Experience If You Don’t Have Direct
Don’t freak out if you are applying for a job that you’ve never actually done before. In fact, this is pretty common. The key here is to identify the transferable skills from your past roles and tailor your experience to match the requirements of your new position. The key here is to make the recruiter feel like even though you have never done this exact job, you are well qualified to learn it and take it on given your other related experiences.
Final Expert Tips for the ‘Work Experience’ Section
Below are some final tips that we will leave you with:
- Check your facts and proofread: Simply put, typos and errors can make a poor impression. Just make sure your resume is polished. Have a friend or family member review it for extra assurance.
- Create a separate resume for each application: Make sure to take the time and customize your resume for each job application, focusing on the experience most relevant to that specific role. We know this is a pain, but it’s just not a good idea to copy/paste the same resume for each role.
- Always be honest: Never exaggerate your experience or accomplishments. Recruiters can spot inconsistencies, and dishonesty can backfire.
The work experience section is your opportunity to showcase your professional journey and make a compelling case for why you’re the best candidate for the job. Remember to focus on roles that are relevant to the job you’re applying to, stay concise, include the right skills, and focus on results. Good luck!
For more tailored help on your resume, make sure to check out our free downloadable resume templates here.
