Looking for a new job is time-consuming, but having a professional CV can speed things up. To move the balls in the right direction, it’s important that you invest time in crafting the work experience section where all your achievements prove that you’re the strongest candidate.

How to make your work experience shine? 

Consistent layout

Your experience section must be well-organized help recruiters spot the needed information easily.

List your past experiences in reverse chronological order with the latest job first. For each part, start with your position, the company’s name, dates of employment and a brief description of your responsibilities and achievements. Use bullet lists to separate details in your descriptions, but don’t add more than 5 points.

Consider this:

Marketing Executive

Adecco Vietnam – From 6/2018 to 6/2019

• Detail 1
• Detail 2
• Detail 3

Marketing Intern

Adecco Vietnam – from 1/2018 – 6/2018

• Detail 1
• Detail 2
• Detail 3

Be selective

To persuade recruiters of your excellent candidacy,  avoid bothering them with irrelevant details. Study the job requirements beforehand to sort out which skills are crucial to the employer. Then, only mention positions or duties that match.

Limit your experience

Even though you have been working in this field for years and gain considerable relevant experiences, think twice before including all of them in your career history. The industry and business change every year, so strongly focus on the past will raise a concern about your adaptability to the changes.

Your most current job should be most detailed. For previous positions, add only the most related accomplishments and try to be as short as possible.

Choose your words wisely

To stand out from other applicants, use strong and positive verbs to define your duties in place of purely listing them all. Some suggestions can be: managed, trained, mentored, analyzed, initiated, developed, negotiated, reduced, increased, improved, achieved, accomplished, resolved, coordinated, …

Use alternative words and be diverse in your word choices. Don’t make your experience history sounds repetitive. Additionally, as all experiences are yours, avoid using first person, third person or possessive pronoun in this part.

Quantify your achievements

All recruiters want to see your real quantifiable accomplishment and what you’re able to contribute to their business. Hence, whenever possible, demonstrate your experiences, as well as your value, by data and metrics.

For instance, you can mention about “Trained and managed 6 employees”, “Increased website traffic by 30%”, “Achieved 100% monthly sales targets” or “Developed and tested new internal communication system”.

Cover your employment gap

In case you have an employment gap in your work history, it’s acceptable for a clear and brief explanation. For example: pursue further education, start a business, become full-time parents, leave for a medical issue or former company downsized.

On the other hand, you can always list month-to-month or year-to-year for employment dates, as an alternative to exact dates.

Conclusion

Landing a new job is challenging. However, send out a professional CV with impressive experience details will surely make your journey smoother and easier.

For more advice to move your career ahead, visit Adecco Knowledge Center.