The Steps to Writing Resume Experience
How you express your experience on your resume is critical to being considered for an interview. When resume writing, resume experience should be stated in terms that use the employer keywords, power resume words, and statements constructed to show how you positively affected your previous employer.
1. First write down anything you have done that has somehow had a positive affect on an employer.
Have you ever thought about all the things you do or have done that helped your company?
These acts do not have to be momentous actions of heroic fashion. Start with the small less significant things you can think of. Here are some varying examples:
- Gave coworker without a car a ride each day to make sure she arrived on time and could perform her job.
- Maintained walkways outside our office building including picking up trash and removing snow even though this was not in my job description or expected.
- Developed professional relationships with clients as they waited in the reception area and provided them with snacks and drinks in order to get them in a positive state before meetings.
- Though not in sales, wrote quotes that customers claimed were much easier to understand and sales increased as a direct result.
- Witnessed and reported vandalism to company vehicles resulting in convictions and an end to several years of damage losses.
- Kept office supplies in stock for all other attorneys.
Then list the ways you have benefited your employer with your
relevant skills and knowledge by performing your job. Use the resume skills checklist for help. Keep this list and review and add to it every few months and it will come in handy for any resume skills statements you need for the rest of your life.
2. Contact previous employers and coworkers for assistance.
This next exercise is like the old movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Ask your present or previous employers if they can tell you instances where they feel you have made exceptional contributions to them. Our perception of ourselves and our performance can be very different than that of our employer or others. You might be presently surprised by their answers with actions you had not thought of, considered, or were even aware of the impact you had made. Request the same from past and present coworkers. All this can give you some tremendous ammunition for resume experience you might not of even been aware of.
3. Now make a list of all the keywords from the job posting describing the skills and abilities the employer desires.
Employer keywords can be obtained from the job description. Highlight the keywords in the ad or job posting as if you were creating a job resume. (See job resume.)
Depending on your work experience, finishing this exercise with an extensive or long list is not uncommon. If you find your self with too much on your list you are either a high achiever or might be an older candidate with extensive experience. In this case refer to resume writing for the older candidate.
4. Browse the Resume Dictionary for power words for your resume experience.
Now browse the Resume Dictionary power words to create statements about your relevant skills and abilities with quantifiable concrete examples of benefiting your employers.
Review the resume skills tier method to write about your relevant accomplishments.
See more tips for resume experience writing and work experience words.
Phil Baker
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