Writing Effective Job Experience Descriptions
The job experiences detailed in your resume can be the determining factor whether you are considered as a potential candidate. When you only have six seconds (the average amount of attention a hiring manager spends scanning a resume) to make an impression, you need to focus on how you present your job experience. Use the following tips below when you revisit or start to work on your resume.
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Detail accomplishments, not your day-to-day duties
Try to imagine yourself in the position of a hiring manager. Sure, they're looking for applicants that have the right core competencies and knowledge base needed to do the job. On top of that, they're looking for candidates that have the potential to benefit the company, whether that is, for example, through productivity improvements or new methodologies to increase profits. Think back on each job position you are including on your resume and write about moments where you took action and that action resulted in benefiting the company. -
Expand your word choices
No, you don't need to write like the greatest novelist of the century in order to garner interest from a hiring manager. However, if your words can't capture the interest of a hiring manager, you won't be getting requests for interviews, especially if you're applying for a position in marketing, advertising, or writing. Try using the thesaurus to switch out some words that might get repeated often. Read other resume examples. Use keywords from the job description. -
Use actual data to strengthen your listed accomplishments
If you have any kind of positive data from your job experiences, use it to paint a clearer picture of your value to past companies. Detailing you "increased sales and profit margins by 70% through making critical layout changes" will make the hiring manager want to learn more about what you did (in an interview, in the best-case scenario!).
We hope that these tips will help not only to improve your resume but also to get the attention of future hiring managers. This exercise will not only assist in improving your resume, but it will help jog your memories of those experiences to make you more prepared to answer more questions during the interview.
