Resume Tips: How To Write Short, Sweet, Succinct Work Experience Bullet Points

When we recruiters say to keep your resume easily scannable (as in, we're able to grasp in a 5-second scan the geist of what you bring to the table about), it's because there's never enough time in a recruiter's day to get everything done (honestly, who can really say that they do, right?).

Not only does a recruiter have to go through several job requisitions (15 req's is already pushing it, I think, if you want to deliver a great candidate experience where people don't feel like they're just another body being shuffled through the system as quickly as possible, so kudos to my fellow recruiters who can handle 50+ and not let the quality of their work suffer), but there's also job postings to write and post, LinkedIn profiles to look up, passive candidates to source online and through networking events, sync meetings with hiring managers, interviews to set up and reschedule, interviews to do, candidate prep, post-interview feedback calls, salaries to negotiate, references to follow up with, offers to send out, pre-and post-start date check-ins to do and last-minute items to coordinate, and everything in between... I think you get the picture!

Believe me, there have been weeks when I've looked at hundreds of resumes that by mid-afternoon on Friday, my brain is so fried and my eyes are crossed from resume fatigue that I feel like I've lost IQ points. I stare at a resume, cringe at the fact that it's five pages long and looks like a novel in 7-size font (Whyyyyyyyyy?!!! Why would you do that to me? What have I ever done to you?!!!), so I put that resume aside, move on to the next resume and decide to push that one to the next stage instead because I didn't have to wrack my brain to figure out what point that applicant was trying to get across.

All that said, here are some tips for you to make your resume short, sweet and succinct so you get moved from Application to Shortlist and Phone Vetting stage:?

When putting the work history section of your resume together,

1. Use bullet points instead of paragraphs (especially for chronological resumes).

After reviewing the 50th resume for the day, our eyes start seeing boxes of gray instead of sentences. That's no bueno when recruiters and hiring managers don't have the luxury of time and need to determine quickly whether you're potentially a good fit for the role or not.

2. There's no need to put your job description in as a bulletpoint.

We all pretty much know what an admin assistant, a realtor or a sales manager does. The same goes for technical and C-level roles. The recruiters and hiring managers reviewing those resumes understand the space they're recruiting for. Focus instead on your achievements and compelling experiences.?

3. Use this formula when writing your bullet points:?

ACTION VERB + ACCOMPLISHMENT = OUTCOME.?

Example: Exceeded annual sales quotas, resulting in 75% revenue increase over 12 months.?

Or, you can also use OUTCOME = ACTION + ACCOMPLISHMENT.?

Example: Increased 12-month revenue by 75% by exceeding annual sales quotas.?

4. Quantify your results where you can.

It's the difference between saying you're a top sales producer vs. "Awarded 2018, 2019, 2020 President's Cup for achieving 237% of quota.?

5. No more than 3-5 bullet points per job, pretty please and thank you!

If we see more than that, we'll think that you don't know how to prioritize nor analyze what's important to include and what isn't.? Your resume is a snapshot of what you bring to the table, not an autobiography.

In conclusion...

If you think your resume is what's going to get you the job, you're in for a lot of headbanging (the frustration kind, not the rock n' roll kind). Your resume is not the be-all and end-all. It's a snapshot that hopefully gives a potential employer enough information to look you up on LinkedIn, explore further and start an exploratory conversation.

Ask any of my students and clients and they'll tell you I repeat that mantra ad nauseam till they feel like running away with their fingers stuffed into their ears. They will, however, tell you that my resume tips, along with the other job search techniques I share with them, have helped them land the right jobs sooner rather than later.

However, with all that said, I hope these tips help you put a resume together that pushes you into the "Let's have a conversation" stage.