Creating a Strong Work Experience Section: Resume Writing
Introduction
The work experience section is the most important part of a resume as it determines the chances of getting an interview and illustrates the professional skills of the candidates. It highlights the accomplishments, duties performed, and the overall career advancement making it easier for the recruitment officer to evaluate a candidate's potential worth. However, creating a perfect work experience section is not just about stating the job's objectives- it is about building the content around what was achieved and how well it was done. This article discusses some of the elements that an effective work experience section should incorporate. If you require professional assistance, Mycvcreator has the best resume writing packages available to help you prepare your application flawlessly. Get in touch with us now to begin the process.
Why the Work Experience Section Matters
Most recruiters will first check your work experience section since it helps them understand whether you are a good fit for the position or not. It brings attention to your expertise and successes in your career development enabling the potential employers to estimate your chances of carrying out similar responsibilities in their company. Rather, it has to be compelling, pertinent, and, above all, outcome focused to give one a competitive edge.
The Work Experience Section - Tips & Guidelines
Your Occupation and Employing Institution
Always list your occupation title, the name of the company or organization you worked for plus the period you worked there. When listing your occupation, be specific and avoid the broad terms such as ‘Associate’. Including the company's address is also valuable for more understanding including when one holds a remote or an international position.
Use Active Language
All the bullet points, remember, must be preceded by action words like “Led,” “Managed,” “Designed,” “Achieved,” etc. Such words make your role more interesting and provide employers with a visual impression of what you did proactively to make things happen.
Provide Numerical Figures for Achievements
When looking for tangible impact, quantifying achievements is one of the strongest techniques employed. Where applicable, quantify using numbers, percentages, and concrete figures or results. Whereas one might mention “Sales were improved”. They would rather say “Sales increased by 20% in a period of six months.” This provides pleasant proof of your achievement.
Present Work Experience in a Particular Order Starting with the Most Recent Role Held
Custom write every entry of your work experience to suit the position you are applying for by ensuring that you bring forth the pertinent skills and accomplishments. Make sure you study the details of the position and attempt to see how your experience matches the critical area of focus that the employer is looking for.
.Problem-Solving Skills Should be Emphasized.
It is important to find a way to highlight your problem solving capabilities. Call attention to instances where you succeeded in solving a problem or even better a positive outcome you were responsible for creating. This demonstrates that you are quite a strategic thinker and a go-getter in the workplace.
Incorporate Key Skills and Keywords.
Because a large number of companies utilize ATS when looking at resumes, it is necessary to incorporate the keywords from the job ad into the application. Skills like, project management, data analysis, and even client relations tend to assist in ensuring that your CV is seen both by the ATS and the hiring managers.
Demonstrate Slow and Steady Approach.
In the case that there are any promotions or positions that have been taken up in the past, it is important to state this within the work experience section. Career progression is an excellent indicator of your performance and level of commitment providing proof of your development.
Work Experiential Section of the Resume
Work History: Reverse Chronological Order
Put down the most recent employment at the top and work your way up. It is preferred by recruiters due to the fact that it puts the most relevant experience to the position being applied for, which is usually the most recent one.
Organize With Bullet Points
Present each job based on events and use bullet points for list of duties. This aims for clarity and makes it easier for readers to understand the most significant achievements. 4 to 6 bullet paragraphs, short and clear are all that need to be pushed in each position held.
Standardization of Formatting
Standardized formatting ensures that your resume does not look unprofessional. You should also ensure that the font type, font size and spacing are all the same throughout. Long paragraphs should be avoided as they make a very busy document.
Effective Work Experience Entries: Practical Exercise or Examples
Example 1:
Digital Marketing Specialist
ABC Marketing Solutions http://www.abcmarcom.com , New York, NY
January 2020 – Present
Formulated and launched marketing campaigns that increased website traffic to the target level of 35% in a year.
- Improved client engagement activities through personalized email marketing by 20%.
- Managed a group of five people in restructuring the SEO strategies, achieving a 50% increase in search rankings.
- Reviewed the monthly performance indicators for campaigns and optimised them to lower the cost per click by 15%.
Example 2:
Project Manager
Company XYZ’s Construction, Chicago, IL
March 2018 – December 2019
Oversaw $2 million project budgets, and completed all projects within the stipulated budget maintaining a variance level of 10%.
- Performed inter departmental coordination during the course of projects for better efficiency in the work process and cut project timelines by 15% on average.
- Applied risk management strategies to have 25% reduction of delays caused during project execution.
- Supervised the planning, scheduling, resource distribution and interaction with the clients concerning the status of high-value projects.
Common Mistakes to be Avoided
Concentration on Performing Job Functions Only
Merely listing responsibilities without custodianship of accomplishments can render your past experiences boring. Rather, put up results that show your endeavors that are different from the rest in the company.
Use of Too Many Specialist Words
Engineers use too many specialist words and too high a standard terminology when there is no need. State things in language that is appropriate but does not lose the essence of effective communication.
Adhering to Applicable Yet Moving Words Only
Critical and sensitive materials like the name of the organization, post held, and time of service need not be dropped. Always make it plausible for the reader to have a complete picture of what each entry was about.
Writing Using Passive Voice
Constructing sentences in passive voice should be prohibited because it makes your successes seem less impressive. Never use construction like ‘Was responsible for’ but instead employ such actions as ‘Led’, ‘Managed’, or ‘Improved.’
Conclusion
In summary, the work experience section is the most important portion of the resume. A job candidate’s skills and achievements could be emphasized by strong action words, numbers wherever possible, and a perfect content-creating strategy. For such professional individuals who want their resumes to be attention stealing and memorable, Mycvcreator provides an expert resume writing service for clients. Call us now and get it started, because this is the first step to getting an impressive resume and landing that job.