Crafting a great resume is difficult, especially if you aren’t sure whether or not to use bullet points. Here’s a handy guide on where to place resume bullet points.
Where to Place Bullet Points in Resume
Resume Bullet Points
Resume writing is one of the most tedious parts of the job search. It can take a lot of time to explain your specific skills and work history to a hiring manager. Fortunately, job seekers have an easy solution: use bullet points. Though bullet points might seem unprofessional to use on a job application, they are quite useful for gathering all your work-related information in an easy-to-read resume format. Here’s how you should utilize bullet-point lists to your advantage on your next resume.
Why Use Bullet Points?
Bullet points allow you to condense the information and metrics you write on your resume into easier-to-digest tidbits of information. Effective resume bullet points will be easy for a hiring manager to scan and they will get a better sense of your particular skill sets and work experience much faster.
Where To Place Resume Bullet Points
You should use bullet points in the following resume sections:
Skills section
Your potential employers don’t need an extensive description of your skill sets. Rather, a short list of the most relevant skills in your repertoire should work just fine. You should include a good mix of soft skills and hard skills within this section. Hard skills focus on work-related skills that prove you are qualified to perform your daily duties. Soft skills, on the other hand, can show off your personality traits and how you would fit into the company culture. Considering adding humor to your resume? It might seem like a great way to show your personality, but you need to weigh the pros and cons of a funny resume.
Here are a few bullet point examples to use:
- Social media management
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Adobe Suite
- Microsoft Office
- Adaptable
- Strong work ethic
- Verbal and written communication
- Creative thinking
Work experience section
Again, you don’t have to dive into your entire work history in this section. Bullet points can help you condense all the duties you performed at your previous jobs in just a few sentences. Make sure that the first bullet point you use is the most important part of the job. Ordering your bullet points by relevance to the job description can display the more stand-out aspects of your job first.
Always list your work experience in reverse-chronological order. By showing off your most recent accomplishments first, you can demonstrate to the hiring manager that you are qualified for a specific position. For instance, a recent role as an administrative assistant can help propel you to become an office manager within the same company.
Tips on Writing Good Resume Bullet Points
Writing good bullet points on your resume can be tough. Here are a few tips to help you start writing more effective resume bullet points.
Use action verbs
Action verbs are verbs that convey a specific action. Strong action verbs include:
- Assessed
- Coordinated
- Created
- Boosted
- Maintained
- Transcribed
Recruiters tend to look for candidates who are proactive and nothing shows that off more than using a strong action verb. You should always start your work experience bullet points with at least one action verb, such as:
- Coordinated with team members to increase department sales by 20%.
- Assessed customer needs and increased customer satisfaction by 15%.
- Composed daily reports, billing and client documents for the front office.
Use only relevant information
Creating a strong bullet point requires you to use only the most relevant information to the position. For instance, you don’t want to talk about the arts when you’re applying for a data analyst job.
If you’re having trouble brainstorming the best skills or experience to add to your resume, then scan the job description for relevant keywords and other phrases to use instead.
Use accurate metrics
You can show off your work achievements and professional experience best when you use numbers and metrics. For instance, you don’t want to just say that you helped your department increase sales. Rather, you want to indicate that you “boosted department sales by 30%.” Any further elaborations of these metrics can later be touched on in either your cover letter or during the job interview itself.
