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Bullet Points: Make an Impression

Man reviewing resumeBy Rachel Dhaliwal
Contributor, Career Services

Everyone knows that a good private-sector resume uses bullet points to describe one’s previous work experience. What is less well known, however, is how to go about writing those bullet points. The easy answer is to “describe what you did.” Unfortunately, the most common interpretation of this is to “write what your day-to-day duties were.” Of course, to a certain extent, this is true – especially for those positions that aren’t as well-known as others (think: “Financial Quantitative Analyst” vs. “Cashier”); however, a better interpretation would be “describe what YOU did.”

The whole point of a resume is to tell your future employer why YOU are the ideal candidate for the job. For this reason, you want to market YOU as an employee. Here are some guidelines to follow as you’re composing your bullets:

Be Creative
Rather than simply listing your duties and responsibilities, think of your accomplishments and achievements, the things you are proud of, and/or any issues you helped your organization overcome. What was something you received praise for? Can it be made into a bullet point? Use these to provide demonstrations of what makes you unique as an employee.

Use Action Verbs
Try to begin each bullet point with an action verb, such as “calculated, supervised, assessed, recommended, etc.” to draw in your reader. Your resume is your story. Whether the hiring manager is consciously aware of it or not, passive voice creates disinterest, and that’s the last feeling you want an employer to have while reading your resume! (Bonus: Don’t use “Responsible for….” Nine times out of ten, you can simply omit those two words, and begin your bullet point with the third word. For example: “Responsible for tracking purchase orders,” becomes “Track(ed) purchase orders.” See how much stronger the second one sounds?)

Show, Don’t Tell
Give examples, use numbers, and show the results. Rather than telling the employer you are “Excellent at selling products,” show it, instead: “Landed 10 new accounts in 1 quarter – 4 accounts more than the established sales goal.” Anyone can say they are good at this thing or that thing, but numbers and examples speak for themselves. These are concrete substantiations of your experience, skills, and qualifications.

Take a look at what happens when we put all three of these principles together:

“Trainer for employees” becomes “Developed training program for tax-incentive benefit for company, resulting in $1.3 million reimbursement.”

Now, if you were the hiring manager, which candidate would you choose?

[Related: 3 Ways to Make Sure Your Resume Bullet Points Will Impress Recruiters]

Rachel Dhaliwal is a Senior Career Coach with 10 years of experience in higher education. In addition to supporting students and alumni throughout their career journey, Rachel also serves as the university point of contact for those interested in the federal Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program. She holds a B.S. in psychology from Troy University, as well as the Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF) and the EQ-i 2.0/EQ 360 Certification credentials.

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