How to Write a Great Work Experience Resume Section that Lands Interviews

If your job search isn’t yielding the positive results you need, it may be time to take a second look at how you’re highlighting work experience in your resume. While your skill section is vital for catching an employer’s attention, your work experience resume section can really showcase the type of value you can provide to employers.

• But what type of information do you need to include in your work experience section? 

• Which format should you be using? 

• Where do you place it in your resume? 

Here, you’ll find vital tips to help you tailor your resume, address employment gaps, and list multiple roles at the same company. There’s also examples you can refer to as you craft your own work experience resume section.

Key information to include in your work experience resume section

As you work through how to describe work experience on a resume, remember that most employers want to get a sense of your overall career trajectory, which skills you’ve developed, and how you’ve used those abilities to add real value as an employee. 

To convey that information, your resume work experience section should include the following details:

• Company name. Each entry in your work experience resume section should begin with the employer’s name. You can also add a brief description of the firm if you’re afraid that the hiring manager may not be familiar with the business or what it does.

• Company location. When it comes to location, simply list the city and state where the company does business. There’s no need to include addresses or other contact information.

• Dates of employment. Include the month and year of employment and make sure that you use the same date format for each job entry that you choose to include in your resume.

• Job title. On a line below the company name, location, and employment dates, add the title of the position you held at each company. That will enable the hiring manager to quickly ensure that your previous work history is aligned with their company’s needs.

• Notable achievements. This is the most important part of your work experience section since it provides you with an opportunity to highlight your value as an employee. Try to list four to six measurable achievements that show how you used your skills to create real benefits for each former employer. List these achievements in bullet point format.

Remember, an achievement in this context doesn't mean something personal to you, such as learning to use new computer software. It means a benefit you've delivered to the company.

Start every achievement with a dynamic verb, such as reduced, exceeded, improved, increased, won – the options are endless. Again, quantify everything you can so the hiring manager can appreciate the impact you've had on the business.

Work experience resume example

ABC Corporation | Los Angeles, CA | Jan 2018 - Present

Marketing Director

• Expanded company market share by 35% with sustained expansion campaign into 12 new markets

• Led 20-person team in successful management of dozens of accounts worth more than $100 million

• Revised client onboarding process, reducing ramp time by 42% and eliminating 30% of onboard costs

• Launched dynamic online client acquisition campaign that increased company revenues by 21%

How to format work experience in your resume

While there are several formatting options for a resume, your best bet is to choose the reverse chronological format. Employers are familiar with this format and almost always prefer it over a functional or hybrid resume. It’s also easy to use once you know what it is.

To use a reverse chronological format for your resume, you simply need to list your jobs in reverse. Start with your most recent or current position and work backward. That will help employers quickly identify the most recent experiences and achievements in your resume without wading through a lengthy list of disorganized employment listings.

Resume work experience example

Below is an example of a work experience section that uses the reverse chronological resume format.

Professional Experience

Big Business Inc. | Dallas, TX | May 2015 – Present

Head of IT

Led a team of 25 software engineers and controlled a $30 million annual budget to provide IT services to 5,000 users across 15 locations. Directed transformation projects and contributed as a key member of the senior leadership team.

• Saved $5 million by overseeing a project to implement a time management system for 2,500 staff

• Reduced average support resolution times by 20% by upskilling and expanding the team

• Reduced printing costs $30,000 per year by renegotiating contracts with suppliers

Small Business Inc. | El Paso, TX | Jan 2013 – May 2015

Senior Systems Engineer

Met all IT requirements in 3 offices, supported 50 users, and managed a portfolio of IT projects.

• Improved data retention and retrieval by 4 hours per request by transitioning from tape to cloud back-up

• Implemented new IT management processes that resulted in 35% reduction in response time

• Named Manager of the Year for 2 consecutive years

As you can see, the use of the reverse chronological format makes it easy for any prospective employer to assess the candidate’s career trajectory. In this case, the most recent position is the Head of IT, which is a big step up from the previous role of Senior Systems Engineer. 

Since the primary focus of the resume work experience section is on the value added to the business, it's easy for the reader to understand this candidate’s previous experience and their potential value as an employee.

Where to place work experience in your resume

Though your work experience will make up the bulk of your resume, that doesn't mean you should put it right at the top of the page. Instead, you should typically place this section closer to the end of your resume. Here are some tips to help you structure your resume the right way:

• Always begin your resume by including your contact details right at the top of the page. Then add a resume headline, profile summary statement, and a core competencies or skills section.

• At this point, you’ll have a decision to make. If you're a recent graduate or are applying for your first job, your education credentials are probably more impressive than any work experience you have. If that’s the case, then put your education section directly under the key skills and place your work experience resume section at the end of your resume.

• However, if you're established in your career or have already held a few jobs then your professional experience should be highlighted right after your core competencies. You can then place your education section right after your work experience section.

How to tailor your work experience for specific jobs

While you might be tempted to use the same resume for every job application, that’s not the best way to show you’re the right person for any given role. Instead, you should tailor your resume to align with each company’s specific needs.

To tailor your work experience resume section, start with the job posting and the role description. Go through that posting and highlight every one of the main qualifications for the job. Now, review your resume to make sure each of the most relevant qualifications is represented in your work experience section.

As you customize your achievements to highlight your qualifications, focus on using the exact words the employer used in the job description. Those terms are keywords that need to be in your resume to satisfy any applicant tracking system the employer is using to screen applicants.

For example, you may notice that the role requires someone who can code in C#, but your resume currently states “programming.” Changing that one word to “coding in C#” aligns your resume better with the role requirements. By aligning your work experience and key resume achievements with these keywords, you’ll increase your chances of getting noticed by the employer.

Make sure you’re focused on relevant achievements that allow you to incorporate industry specific keywords. That may require you to replace accomplishments that have little to do with the job you’re seeking. For example, let’s say your prospective employer’s job description includes the following candidate requirements:

Candidates must have online marketing experience, including Facebook and Instagram advertising. Great candidates should have at least 4 years of experience with client account management. Some experience in content marketing, strategic campaign development, and team leadership is also expected.

Those three sentences provide a host of information you can use to customize your achievements. You can use those keywords to help you tailor your work experience bullet points. Here’s what that might look like:

• 6 years of experience with client account management, successfully managing customer accounts valued at more than $30 million

• Leveraged team leadership skills by guiding/supervision 30-person content marketing team that expanded ABC Corp.’s online sales by more than 30%

• Partnered with CMO on strategic campaign development strategies for more than 50 client corporations, boosting their marketing results by an average of 22%

• Engaged in content marketing on multiple client Instagram and Facebook platforms, successfully doubling or tripling individual clients’ online advertising results

Tips for addressing employment gaps

If you’ve been in the workforce for any length of time and held multiple jobs, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced one or more employment gaps. Most employers understand that people sometimes have gaps of a few weeks or months between different jobs, but it can cause concern if your resume contains lengthier gaps.

It’s important to minimize that concern in your resume work experience section. Fortunately, there are several ways to do that:

• Fill in the gaps with entries that describe other work or projects that you completed between jobs. You can list that work as freelance or independent contracting

• You can include information about skill development, continuing education, and similar educational or training opportunities you’ve taken advantage of during the gap period

• If you have done any charitable or volunteer work, create an entry describing those activities – only if they’re professionally relevant to the role you seek

Of course, there are many reasons for employment gaps. If yours involves time away from work to care for a sick loved one, you can include that information as well.

Below are some examples of how you can convey this type of employment gap information to prospective employers:

• 2020-2023. Scheduled career break to raise a family

• 2020-2021. Returned to college to complete Bachelor’s degree in Marketing

• 2017-2018. Independent contracting projects helping companies with cloud data migration

• 2018- 2019. Upskilling career break: time spent pursuing online coursework 

• 2023-2024. Career break due to illness: now fully recovered and fit to return to full-time work 

• 2019-2021. Volunteer activity with Habitat for Humanity, managing construction projects

How to list multiple roles at the same company

If you’ve held multiple positions with the same company, you’ll want your work experience resume section to clearly explain your progression through those roles. The goal here is to highlight your career progression and show how you’ve used your increased responsibility to add value to the company’s bottom line.

For similar roles, you should stack them within a single company entry. For example:

XYZ Company, Dallas TX (2018-2024)

Sales Manager (2023-2024)

• Quantifiable achievement #1

• Quantifiable achievement #2

• Quantifiable achievement #3

• Quantifiable achievement #4

Sales Associate (2018-2023)

• Quantifiable achievement #1

• Quantifiable achievement #2

• Quantifiable achievement #3

• Quantifiable achievement #4

There are times when you may want to include separate entries for each job. For example, you should consider separate entries if you held those positions during two different periods of employment with the company. If you left the firm for a different job and then later rejoined the company in a different capacity, use two separate listings to maintain your reverse chronology narrative.

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Common resume work experience mistakes you need to avoid

As you craft your winning resume work experience section, it’s vital to avoid mistakes that might undermine your narrative or send the wrong signal to employers. 

• Don’t use too much space. Even though your resume work experience section will be the longest part of your resume, you should still try to keep everything as concise as possible. Remember, your entire resume should require no more than two pages.

• Avoid vague descriptions. Make sure you use power verbs and accurate descriptive language to avoid being vague. Instead of writing things like “led a team that increased sales for the company,” try to use more precise language like, “Spearheaded 10-person sales team that boosted sales revenue by 32% in six months.”

• Omit any irrelevant details. Avoid including any work experience or achievements that are irrelevant to the position you’re seeking. That will make your relevant information stand out.

• Focus on achievements, not duties. There was a time when applicants routinely described their job duties in their work experience section. That’s no longer the case. Instead of focusing on those duties, highlight your accomplishments and the skills that enabled you to produce those results.

• Don’t forget about the ATS. Are keywords really all that important? Yes! Do not forget to include those job posting keywords in your resume! Ignoring them could cause your resume to get rejected by the machines.

• Eliminate typos and grammatical mistakes. Proofread your resume for spelling errors, typos, poor grammar, and wrong information. Hiring managers hate these types of errors and will often toss resumes that have even a single mistake.

How much work experience to include on resume

Resume best practices suggests that you should only flesh out details for jobs you’ve held in the last 10-15 years in your resume work experience section. Recruiters and hiring managers are only going to focus on your most recent experience.

If you've held an unusual number of jobs in the last 10-15 years, you may want to change the cut-off point to 8-10 years. Remember, your resume’s purpose is to demonstrate your suitability for the role, so there’s no need for an endless list of similar jobs. As a general rule of thumb, a work experience section with four or five jobs is usually more than sufficient.

How to write a resume with no work experience

Everyone has to start somewhere! If you haven't started your first job yet, that doesn't mean you can't write an impressive resume. Consider these options:

• Include volunteering. If you've worked in a professionally relevant volunteer position, that's ideal – your resume work experience section can include both paid and unpaid work. Just present your volunteering experience the same way you'd list paid employment.

• Create a skills-based resume. If you have no work experience to add, you can create a skills-based resume. Add sub-headings for your relevant skills, with bullets underneath giving examples of when you've used each skill. Again, focus on measurable results when possible.

• Leverage school and college experience. Were you the captain of a sports team? Secretary of a society? Mentor for other students? Pet-sitter? If you lack professional experience, you can draw from those experiences to demonstrate that you have the skills needed for the job.

Resume example for students with no work experience

The work experience section of a resume for students with no work experience could look like this:

WORK EXPERIENCE

College Ambassador at XYZ College | 2022 - 2023

Represented the Computer Science course as a subject ambassador, speaking with prospective students and parents about the course and the college. Answered questions and shared relevant information.

Assistant Golf Coach at ABC Golf Club | 2022 - 2023

Assisted with coaching junior players aged from 9-15. Drove golf carts safely and with consideration for other players. Enabled players to progress, improve their skills, and enjoy a new sport, resulting in additional memberships at the club.

Resume work experience FAQs

Pulling together your resume work experience can be tricky. Here are some of the most common questions people tend to have.

1. Can I omit jobs from my resume?

There are certain situations where it's acceptable to leave jobs off your resume. For example, jobs that you held forty years ago probably won’t draw much interest from today’s hiring managers. A resume is a sales brochure – not a life story – so there's no harm leaving off outdated experience.

But what if you were fired or left on bad terms? Everyone has an unpleasant tale from their career history. If the work you did at the company was professionally relevant to your next career role, add it to your resume. Be prepared to answer questions about what happened during an interview. There’s always a way to spin a bad time into a positive event – perhaps a lesson learned. 

2. Should I put a short-term job on my resume?

It's not unusual to take a job to maintain income between permanent roles. Whether you choose to include it on your resume depends on how relevant it is to your current career aspirations. You could emphasize that it was a “short term contract” or “freelance.”

3. How can I show a promotion on a resume?

A promotion shows that you've performed well and received recognition from your superiors, and that's definitely something a hiring manager will want to know. When detailing your time with that company, you may want to add a line to your achievements section that explains the promotion. For example:

“Promoted to a more senior role after reducing customer complaints by 50% in just 6 months”

4. How do I list an internship in my resume work experience?

Internship experience can be included just like any other paid, permanent role. Focus on the skills you learned and used, experience you gained, and any value you added to the company. For example:

XYZ Inc. | Los Angeles, CA | Apr 2023 - Jan 2024

Marketing internship

• Developed blog and website content that helped generate 22% boost in site traffic

• Provided support for 10-person marketing research team, identifying new market opportunities

• Helped launch multi-platform social media campaigns for three major clients, increasing customer online engagement by an average of 44%

• Initiated new processes for administrative support, reducing office redundancy by 9%

5. Can I get AI to write my resume work experience?

These days, many job seekers are wondering whether they can use AI to write their resumes – including their resume work experience section. Unfortunately, artificial intelligence is not yet up to the task of writing a compelling resume. 

There are several reasons you shouldn’t rely on AI for your resume writing needs, including:

• As good as AI can be, it still lacks the natural human touch that a good resume requires.

• AI cannot always be trusted to provide accurate information.

• Your achievements need to be unique to your experience. If you allow an AI to describe those accomplishments, there’s a good chance that your resume will sound too generic.

A little effort now can get you far

Creating your resume work experience section will probably be the most difficult part of your resume writing process. At the same time, it can also be the most rewarding – since it’s the one area in your resume that provides the most opportunity for bragging about your accomplishments and abilities. Using the tips and advice in this guide, you should be able to craft an attention-grabbing resume that helps to earn you the interview and job offer you’re looking for.

For continued success, make sure you’re continually tailoring your resume for each new job opportunity. As you progress throughout your career, refine your resume to ensure it’s always providing the most accurate and updated description of your value as a potential employee.

Want to make sure your resume work experience is sending the right message? Submit your resume for a free resume review by our experts. They'll make sure you're getting it right before you apply for your dream job.

This article was originally written by Jen David. It has been updated by Ken Chase.