How to Write a Great Resume Experience Section

Last Updated on February 5, 2024 by Career Reload Team

The experience section on a resume shows your career history, job titles, and responsibilities. The key to the experience section is to exhibit career growth. Your career growth depends on your ambition and willingness to learn and improve over time.

Including diverse skill sets on a resume improves one’s standing as a candidate. Along the same line of thinking, leaving out jobs that do not fit the narrative that you are trying to relay to the hiring manager is also advisable.

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Writing the experience section

List your prior places of employment, dates worked, positions held, and work responsibilities in the experience section. These should be enriched with keywords and can be enhanced by quantifiable achievements listed in a clean and concise bullet-list format.

Typically, you would present the information in the experience section in reverse chronological order. You would start with your current or most recent job and move backward through your prior positions. You can also include any prior part-time, temporary, or summer jobs in this section, along with any relevant internships.

Little or no work experience

Employees applying for an entry-level position are encouraged to include every job they have had with an emphasis on how those jobs are added to their skill set required by the position for which they are applying.

Focus on relevant skills, achievements, and experiences to demonstrate your potential, especially if you have little or no work experience. You should showcase relevant projects and achievements, such as if you’ve completed any projects, coursework, or participated in extracurricular activities that are relevant to the job. Focus on the skills you gained or utilized, any notable achievements, and the impact you made. This could be a research project, group assignment, or even a personal initiative.

When you have limited work experience, it’s important to highlight transferable skills, such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and organizational abilities.

Over a decade of work experience

After about a decade of work experience, you may find that any positions before that point are less relevant to your career. Omit these positions from your resume or list them briefly at the end of your experience section.

For example:

Additional experience includes retail sales jobs at Harvey’s Books (20XX-20XX), Lucy’s Clothing shop (20XX – 20XX), and early roles at ABC company.

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Unless the positions are relevant to your current career, anything beyond the 10 to 15-year timeframe does not need to be included. In certain industries, noting experience from too far back can actually be detrimental to a resume. Excessively old job listings might make a candidate appear outdated, despite their current skillset.

Writing resume job descriptions

You will want to provide the job title, company name, location, and your tenure at that place of employment, along with a short list of your responsibilities and accomplishments.

Remember that the goal is to highlight your achievements, so avoid simply listing tasks in this section. Focus on how you helped the company solve its problems and achieve its goals using resume action words. If you can show that your role earned the company some amount of money with a number attached to the accomplishment, that is a good bonus. If separated using bullet points, these achievements draw a hiring manager’s attention and “pop” as points they will remember. Boldfacing growth percentages, dollar figures, and other key accomplishments is also a good strategy.

When listing your current position, use the present tense. When describing previous positions, one should employ the past tense.

Keep formatting consistent, regardless of your resume style. If you choose to use bullet points to outline your current position, you should use the same formatting breakdown for prior ones as well. Make sure to align the years of tenure for past positions in the same left-aligned format as your current place of employment.

Job description writing tips briefly

• In a few lines before the bullet points, summarize your main responsibilities and provide information about the organization.
• For your present position, you can use the present tense, for the rest, use the past tense.
• Highlight your most relevant qualifications and accomplishment for the job by listing them first. If you have specific numbers or percentages to quantify your accomplishments and qualifications, use them.
• Boldfacing growth percentages, dollar figures, and other key accomplishments is also a good strategy.
• Start your bullet points with a powerful action verb like “managed”.
• The secret to an outstanding and great resume is to remove the pronouns (he, she, I) entirely. Pronouns are redundant.
• Bullet points ensure that your key achievements will be seen. Keep it short and concise. Avoid listing irrelevant experiences.

Frequently asked questions

What should I include in the experience section of my resume?

In the experience section of your resume, you should include your work history, job titles, dates of employment, and a brief description of your responsibilities and achievements in each role. It’s important to highlight your most relevant experience and accomplishments that demonstrate your skills and qualifications for the job you’re applying for.

How many bullet points should I include for each job in my experience section?

It’s recommended to include 3-5 bullet points for each job in your experience section. Be sure to prioritize your most significant achievements and responsibilities to showcase your skills and experience.

Should I include my entire work history in the experience section?

It’s not necessary to include your entire work history in the experience section of your resume. Instead, focus on the most relevant and recent experience that demonstrates your qualifications for the job you’re applying for.

How can I make my experience section stand out to potential employers?

To make your experience section stand out, use strong action verbs to describe your achievements and responsibilities, quantify your accomplishments with numbers or percentages, and tailor your experience to the specific job you’re applying for. Additionally, make sure your formatting is clean and easy to read.

Should I include any non-work experience in the experience section?

If you have a non-work experience that is relevant to the job you’re applying for, you can include it in the experience section. This can include volunteer work, internships, or extracurricular activities that demonstrate your skills and qualifications. However, if it’s not relevant to the job, it’s best to leave it out.

How far back should I go in my experience section?

Generally, it’s recommended to include your experience from the past 10-15 years. However, if you have significant experience beyond that timeframe that is relevant to the job, you can include it as well.

Career Reload Team

We’re a team of writers dedicated to providing insights and tips for navigating the professional world. With a collective wealth of experience across various industries and roles, our team understands the challenges and opportunities that come with seeking meaningful work and advancing your career. We help job seekers to better their careers by offering career advice & free resources. Download free Word resume templates and resume templates for Google Docs.