Writing about your own work can be awkward and, at times, a little uncomfortable. Most people spend a lot of time listing what the job involved and very little on what changed because they were there. They're prone to the same few slips, such as copying the job ad, leaving out numbers and burying the best result in the last bullet, so a plan for each entry pays off.

Experience carries the most weight. The steps below work for a first job and a twentieth one alike.

What each job entry includes

Every entry opens with the same four facts: your job title, the employer, the city and state, and your dates. Either order works for the first two. Put the title first when it is your strongest selling point, or the employer first when the name will mean more to the reader, and keep that choice the same for every job.

Three to five bullets are enough for a recent or relevant job. Older or less relevant jobs can shrink to one or two bullets, or to a single line under a heading such as Earlier Experience.

Example entry

Warehouse Shift Lead | Wrenfield Freight Services, Joliet, IL | 2022 to present

- Lead a night crew of 12 pickers and loaders across two docks

- Cut mis-shipped orders by half in one year by adding a second scan at packing

- Trained 20 new hires on forklift safety, with no recordable injuries on the shift since 2023

Write bullets that show results

Job ads list duties. Your bullets should show what happened when you did them.

For each job, think back to something you fixed, sped up, saved, sold, built or taught, then write it as the action, the thing you acted on and the result. If you have no number, describe the scale or the outcome in words: how many people, how often, what got better. These prompts help.

  • Something that took less time, money or effort after you changed it
  • A number you were measured on, such as sales, calls, orders or accuracy
  • Praise, an award or a promotion, and what earned it
  • People you trained, supervised or helped, and how many
  • A problem you were trusted to handle on your own

Duty, then result

Duty: Answered phones and greeted patients

Result: Checked in about 80 patients a day and cut the average wait at the front desk from 15 minutes to 5

Duty: Stocked shelves

Result: Reset seasonal displays in 14 aisles overnight so the store opened on schedule for its holiday sale

Promotions and several jobs at one employer

If you were promoted, list the employer once and stack each job title under it with its own dates. That way the reader sees your progress at a glance and does not mistake one employer for several. Give the most bullets to your latest title. Keep earlier ones short.

Example: a promotion at one employer

Harwick Community Credit Union, Boise, ID

Branch Supervisor | 2023 to present

- Supervise six tellers and approve cash transactions above the teller limit

Teller | 2020 to 2023

- Balanced a cash drawer every day and opened more new accounts than any other teller in 2022

Part-time, temporary, freelance and volunteer work

It all counts. Part-time, temporary, freelance and volunteer work can show the same skills as a full-time job, and part-time jobs go in like any other job, with no need to label them part-time.

For temp work, list the agency as the employer and name the main places you were sent in a bullet or two. Freelance work can go under your own business name or simply Freelance, with a few clients or projects named. Volunteer roles can sit in the main section when they are relevant to the job, or in a section of their own when they are not.

Example: temp work through an agency

Administrative Assistant, temporary assignments | Ottermill Staffing, Omaha, NE | 2021 to 2023

- Covered front desk and data entry roles at a law office, a hospital billing department and a manufacturer

- Asked back by the manufacturer three times, then offered a permanent role

Gaps, and how far back to go

A gap does not need hiding. If you were caring for family, studying, recovering from an illness or looking for work, one honest line in date order can answer the question before anyone asks it, such as "Career break: full-time care for a parent, 2022 to 2023."

Older jobs can shrink to a line each, or drop off entirely when they have nothing to do with the work you want now. Keep one if it explains how you got into your field or shows a skill that nothing else on the page does.