WORK EXPERIENCE

DESCRIPTIONS
One of the most difficult parts in writing a resume is composing the descriptions of your jobs, volunteer
work, projects, and other relevant experiences. Each description of your work history and volunteer
experience should be clear and concise, yet descriptive. After reading your description, a prospective
employer should know exactly what your responsibilities were, what skills you have developed, where
your strengths lie, and what you have achieved.

Here are some tips to help you write a concise and informative description:

 Begin each item by stating the name of the place, location, dates, and job title (e.g. manager, volunteer) List
experiences in reverse chronological order (most current experience first).
 Describe your responsibilities in concise statements led by strong verbs. Focus on those skills and strengths that
you possess and that you have identified as being important to your field. Try to incorporate industry specific key
words. Show potential employers exactly how you will fit their position and their company. Click here for Sample
Action Words (PDF).
 Be sure to vary your action words. You do not want all your descriptions to sound the same. Use present tense
for those activities which are ongoing and past tense for those with which you are no longer involved.
 Avoid using "I," "and," "the," and the use of any pronouns and prepositions.
 Whenever possible, quantify your accomplishments and responsibilities. That is, use numbers, amounts, dollar
values, and percentages (e.g., "Increased monthly sales by forty percent," "Supervised and trained five new
employees," "Handled daily receipts totaling $3000," "Designed 14 costumes for local production of").
o Remember: You should spell out numbers under 10 and use numeric symbols for numbers 10 and over.
However, there are always exceptions.