Want to know how to add experience in resume? Well you have landed on the right article
It is said that the first impression is the last impression. This maxim holds true for a jobseeker. Your resume speaks volumes about your professional trajectory. If you can quote your resume experience and skills correctly, your resume is bound to stand out.
It is important to understand what employers want to read in a resume. Hence, populating any CV template with all that you have done in your life till now may not prove fruitful. This article will walk you through some tips to achieve a well-written resume suited for various job roles.
How To Add Experience In Resume (2022 Updated)
Overview of a Resume
A Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a formal document that sums up your educational qualifications, past work experience resume, skills, and accomplishments that you have won so far. Every employer asks you for your resume if you wish to apply for a job and you must show your job experience in resume.
The key to making an impressive CV lies in understanding the anatomy of a resume:
- Contact details
- Introduction
- Educational background
- Work experience
- Relevant skills
- Accomplishments
How To Write Experience In Resume (Things to Remember)
The main question arise and that is how to add work experience in resume but do you know which of these above resume sections is the recruiter’s favorite? You guessed it right! It is the work experience section that gathers all the eyeballs.
It is a well-known fact that HR managers spend 6 seconds on an average per resume, so remember to highlight your work experience with the right keywords.
Once they feel that you might be the right fit for the role from your professional experience, they look for certain keywords in your educational background and relevant skills.
Basic Formatting
How to write experience in resume while including all essential points, it must not be too long to read. It should ideally not exceed one page. A one-pager is meant to capture a synopsis of your professional story, so you need not go in-depth.
You should follow a basic format while dealing with sections to keep it right and to the point.
Job Title and Position
The first thing that an HR person will look for is your job title. To make it easy, align the job title you saw in the job description. Additionally, keep it formal and do not add unprofessional adjectives that may make your job role look like you are not a serious candidate.
- CORRECT EXAMPLE: Digital Marketing Expert
- INCORRECT EXAMPLE: Awesome Social Media Expert
Company Name/ Description/ Location
Once the HR managers find contentment in your job position, they will move on to the company/companies you have worked for previously.
Add the company you were employed in and then the position/job role you were serving in exactly below it. If the company is not well-known, you may want to add the company description in 1-2 sentences. Adding the location of the company is also essential.
If you have served in many companies, then try to add only the most recent 3-5 job roles. Especially if you think it can go on for too long. Keeping it brief will keep HR interested.Dates Employed
This aspect may sound obvious but is indispensable. The dates tell HR how stable you have been in your past roles. You should include the exact date of joining and leaving in dd/mm/yyyy format. However, giving an approximate time frame will work just as fine too.
- GOOD EXAMPLE: Pharmaceutical Representative: 02/08/2016 - Present
- BAD EXAMPLE: August 19 of 2016 to present
If you have chosen to follow the mm/yyyy format, remain consistent with the same throughout the resume with work experience. Make sure all your past experiences in various firms look the same way.
Responsibilities and Achievements
While writing about your achievements, bring to light any specific change you brought about in your job role. The HR recruiter may find this element relevant to the position you are applying for.
Wherever possible, list your achievements before responsibilities because the recruiter may already know your duties as you might be applying to the same field of work. The chances are that recruiters may have gone through a sea of resumes with similar responsibilities
So it is your achievements that will truly make you stand out.
- CORRECT EXAMPLE: Came up with a new macro-enabled report that reduced Turn-Around-Time (TAT) from 5 to 2 hours.
- INCORRECT EXAMPLE: Made a new macro-enabled report.
If you cannot list your achievements owing to your job’s nature, you can simply write your responsibilities in bullet form. While listing your job responsibilities, briefly sum up all that is important in no more than 6 bullets.Languages
Do you think it is vital to include the languages you speak in your resume? The answer is yes!
While listing languages, always remember — the more, the merrier. If you are proficient in more than one language and your job requires it, including your proficiency level will prove to be helpful.
- CORRECT EXAMPLE (TEXTUAL)
English: Fluent
Hindi: Fluent
French: Proficient - INCORRECT EXAMPLE
English: (Perfect)
Hindi: (I am very good at it since it is my mother tongue.)
As a general rule, proficiency in a language, in increasing order, is described by the use of the following words:
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Proficient
- Fluent
- Native
Grade yourself on a scale of 1-5 to describe your proficiency as reflected in the correct example above. You may choose to include it along with your technical skills to save space.
Incorporating Some Important Points in Work Experience
If you have a gap in two consecutive jobs or are a fresh graduate, there might be a few questions in your mind.
For Recent Graduates
Suppose you are applying to your first job. Then consider adding the following to your work experience section:
- Summer Job:
Did you take up a part-time role during your seasonal off? Include the same. This experience adds value to your resume, even when your summer job might not be related to the position you are applying for.
- Personal Projects:
How you decide to spend your free time tells the recruiters how passionate you are. Relevant projects that you took up beyond your working hours will add to your resume. Whether you took up an online course or published podcasts on some platform, let it reflect in your resume.
Personal Projects
Joined an Indian History and Culture online community (02/2019 -09/2020)
- Created videos and wrote articles on lesser-known Indian tribes and pre-Mughal Indian History.
- University Projects:
Recruiters are looking for team players. Suppose that a project you took up during your college days may demonstrate you have some experience working in a team or leading a group of a few people. In that case, it is a huge plus.
- Co-Curriculars:
If you were a part of some cultural committee in your college, do not forget to include it. Other activities include participating in Model United Nations (MUN) or organizing an intra-college or inter-college event.
Any activity that demonstrates your social and communication skills can be listed.
Gaps in Your Resume?
It is okay to have gaps in your resume, provided you write a reasonable explanation. We recommend you be honest and write 1-2 sentences on it. Do not explain too much, especially if it is personal.
For example, May 2016 – January 2017: I had to take some time off to look after my ailing mother. Do not shy away from addressing a gap in your resume. This aspect is something that recruiters will point out. They may sense something doubtful if this factor is left unaccounted.
Tips and Tricks to Land that Dream Job
Tailor-made resumes always win.
Before applying for an opening, go through the job description and tweak your resume accordingly. Recruiters will be pleased to know that you have the work experience in resume and the skills they expect.
Resumes do not follow the one-glove-fits-all strategy, and it is only prudent to optimize the same before you send them for a screening. Sometimes recruiters might be looking for a specific skill set instead of a work experience of many years.
EXAMPLE: Developed valuation models in MS Excel to calculate reserves.Follow a reverse-chronological order.
If you have vast prior experience to display, follow a reverse-chronological order to list the job positions along with the firms you served that position in. This approach means that you write your current role on the top and list that last company you worked in next and so on.
This representation method is a psychological tactic that makes your progress look more appealing.Write achievements instead of responsibilities.
Responsibilities become explicit when you mention your job title. However, it is your achievements that will help you take the lead. What you can do instead is highlight the impact of your suggestions or the reforms you brought about in your past roles.Courses and Certificates
You can add this information beneath the education header. Or you can dedicate a separate section for it. Always mention the institute or the online platform that issued the certificate just below the name of the course.
EXAMPLE
Certificate of Professional Development (2017)
Online course - Udemy
Key Takeaway
The work section of your CV is easily the most critical part. Having the right format will make it easier for recruiters to navigate your profile.
- Stick to the following order when writing your work experience: Job Title and Position, Company Name / Description / Location, Dates Employed, and Responsibilities and Achievements. This outline will make your CV appear streamlined and to the point.
- Go through the job description of the opening you are applying for and custom-make your CV to suit the role requirements.
- If you are a recent graduate, include any internships you took.
- Highlight your noteworthy achievements to impress the recruiter.
- The work experience is just one section of the resume. Other parts should be well-written, and the entire document should follow the same format throughout.
- Make use of strictly professional language while drafting and use a formal format. MS Word has some CV templates that you can use, and there are much more available online.
I hope you liked our article on how to add experience in resume, and it must have solved your queries such as how to mention experience in resume, how to write work experience in resume, how to add working experience in resume, how to show professional experience in resume and how to mention work experience in resume
If you have any comments or suggestions do share them in the comments below.
