The work experience section (sometimes called “professional experience” or “employment history”) is the core of your resume. It can make or break your job application. It’s the first place recruiters look to determine if you’re qualified, and where Applicant Tracking Systems scan for relevant keywords. Yet most job seekers treat it like a boring list of job duties instead of a compelling showcase of their professional impact.
In this guide you’ll learn how to:
We’ll cover formatting best practices, action verb selection, and common mistakes that get resumes rejected.
What to Include in the Work Experience Section
List your previous positions in reverse chronological order, showing recruiters your career progression and demonstrating that you have the skills and experience needed for the target role.
Here’s what to include in every entry in the work experience section:
This section usually takes up 50-70% of your resume real estate, making it the most important area to optimize when you tailor your resume for specific applications.
How to Structure Your Work Experience Section
Reverse Chronological Order
List your most recent position first, then work backward. This format works best for 95% of job seekers because recruiters want to see what you’re doing now, not what you did a decade ago.
Copied!WORK EXPERIENCE Senior Marketing Manager TechCorp Solutions | San Francisco, CA | March 2021 – Present • [Achievement bullet point] • [Achievement bullet point] • [Achievement bullet point] Marketing Manager StartupXYZ | Austin, TX | June 2018 – February 2021 • [Achievement bullet point] • [Achievement bullet point]
How Many Jobs Should You Include On Your Resume?
General rule: Include 10-15 years of relevant experience, or 3-5 positions maximum.
| Career Stage | Positions to Include | Time Range |
|---|---|---|
| Entry-level (0-2 years) | 1-2 positions | All experience |
| Mid-level (3-10 years) | 3-4 positions | Last 10 years |
| Senior-level (11-25 years) | 4-5 positions | Last 15 years |
| Executive (25+ years) | 4-5 positions | Last 15-20 years |
Exceptions:
- If older experience is highly relevant to your target role, include it but with fewer bullet points (1-2 instead of 3-5).
- For positions which are 10+ years old, consider grouping multiple roles into a single paragraph with 1-3 bullets to outline your key responsibilities, actions, and related achievements.
How to Format Employment Dates on a Resume
Use consistent formatting throughout. The most ATS-friendly formats are:
Avoid:
How to Write Resume Bullet Points That Stand Out
Here are some frameworks you can use for creating impactful bullet points:
1. The Achievement-Focused Formula
Most resumes fail because they list job responsibilities instead of achievements. Recruiters don’t care what you were supposed to do—they care what you actually accomplished.
Weak (responsibility-focused):
Copied!• Managed social media accounts for the company • Responsible for customer service inquiries • Worked on team projects to improve efficiency
Strong (achievement-focused):
Copied!• Grew Instagram following by 340% (12K to 53K followers) in 8 months through data-driven content strategy and influencer partnerships • Resolved 95% of customer inquiries within 24 hours, improving satisfaction scores from 3.2 to 4.7/5.0 • Led cross-functional team of 6 to streamline order processing, reducing fulfillment time by 35% and saving $180K annually
2. The CAR Method (Context-Action-Result)
Structure your bullet points using this proven framework:
Example:
“Identified 40% cart abandonment rate during checkout (Context), redesigned 3-step payment flow and implemented exit-intent popups (Action), reducing abandonment to 18% and increasing monthly revenue by $95K (Result).”
You don’t need all three elements in every bullet point, but the strongest bullets include at least action + result.
3. Quantifying Outcomes
Metrics transform vague claims into credible proof. Whenever possible, quantify your impact using:
Revenue & Financial Impact:
Efficiency & Time Savings:
Scale & Scope:
Percentages & Growth:
Don’t have exact numbers? Estimate conservatively. “Approximately 50 clients” is better than “multiple clients.”
4. Strong Action Verbs
Begin each bullet point with a powerful action verb that show a bias towards action. Avoid weak, passive language.
| Instead of… | Use… |
|---|---|
| Responsible for | Managed, Directed, Oversaw, Led |
| Helped with | Contributed, Supported, Assisted, Facilitated |
| Worked on | Developed, Created, Built, Designed |
| Did | Executed, Implemented, Delivered, Achieved |
Action verbs by function:
- Leadership: Directed, Spearheaded, Orchestrated, Championed, Mentored, Supervised
- Achievement: Achieved, Exceeded, Surpassed, Delivered, Accomplished, Attained
- Growth: Expanded, Scaled, Accelerated, Increased, Grew, Boosted
- Improvement: Optimized, Enhanced, Streamlined, Refined, Transformed, Revitalized
- Creation: Developed, Designed, Launched, Established, Built, Created
- Analysis: Analyzed, Evaluated, Assessed, Identified, Researched, Investigated
Tense matters: Use past tense for previous roles (“Managed,” “Developed”) and present tense for your current position (“Manage,” “Develop”).
Resume Examples By Career Level
Senior & Executive Level
A senior or executive-level resume work experience section should double down on showcasing leadership skills, strategic decision-making, and achievements that you were solely responsible for that directly influenced a company’s success.
Senior and executive professionals should focus on:
- Strategic leadership: how you shaped strategic directions and led large-scale initiatives that aligned with the organization’s long-term goals.
- Impact on key business metrics: contributions that directly affected business goals, objectives, and outcomes.
- Team development: how you build and guide teams towards success.
- High-level problem-solving: examples of how you solved pressing business problems and transformed internal operations or processes.
- Stakeholder engagement: managing relationships with key stakeholders, such as board members and investors.
Example
EXPERIENCE
Chief Marketing Officer
Cloud Tech Solutions | Seattle, WA | March 2023 – Present
- Architect and execute comprehensive marketing strategy for $500M B2B technology company, driving 60% revenue growth over 4 years and expanding into 12 new international markets
- Build and lead global marketing organization of 85+ professionals across Brand, Demand Generation, Product Marketing, Communications, and Marketing Operations functions
- Spearhead digital transformation initiative that modernized the marketing technology stack, implementing AI-powered tools that increased marketing efficiency by 45% and reduced customer acquisition costs by 35%
- Partner with CEO and Board of Directors to develop corporate positioning and messaging for successful Series D funding round raising $150M
- Establish data-driven marketing culture by implementing advanced analytics and attribution modeling, enabling real-time optimization that improved marketing ROI from 3:1 to 7:1
- Direct rebranding initiative that elevated market perception, resulting in 50-point increase in brand awareness and recognition as industry leader by Forrester and Gartner
- Cultivate strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, generating $75M in co-marketing driven revenue
Vice President of Marketing
InnovateSoft Solutions | Boston, MA | June 2020 – February 2023
- Transformed marketing function from tactical execution to strategic revenue driver, scaling annual revenue from $150M to $400M over 4.5 years
- Recruited, developed, and managed team of 40+ marketing professionals, establishing career development frameworks that reduced attrition to below 5%
- Led account-based marketing program targeting enterprise accounts, generating $100M+ in pipeline and closing 15 strategic deals averaging $5M each
- Orchestrated company’s first major analyst relations program, securing leadership positions in 3 Gartner Magic Quadrants within 2 years
- Directed customer marketing initiatives including advocacy program with 200+ participants, producing 50+ case studies and increasing customer retention by 15%
- Championed marketing’s role in M&A activities, leading integration of 2 acquisitions and creating unified go-to-market strategies
Mid Level
A mid-level resume work experience section should focus demonstrating specialized expertise and skill sets. Include achievements and responsibilities that indicate your ability to manage projects or teams, and drive outcomes within a particular department.
Mid-level professionals should focus on:
- Technical areas of expertise: how you applied specific skill sets to reach department objectives and get closer to business goals.
- Business outcomes: positive results that you helped the business achieve, such as increasing efficiency and reducing costs.
- Career progression: illustrate continuous growth by including a range of relevant responsibilities that you carried out.
- Process improvements: examples of how you improved a function of the business by implementing certain solutions.
- Collaboration: your ability to work effectively with others and communicate with other departments.
- Project management: instances where you led projects from planning to execution, along with the impact these projects had on the organization.
EXPERIENCE
Senior Product Marketing Manager
Data Cloud Inc | San Francisco, CA | January 2022 – Present
- Lead go-to-market strategy for 5 enterprise SaaS products generating $15M in annual revenue, resulting in 40% year-over-year growth
- Manage a team of 4 product marketing specialists, providing mentorship and professional development that resulted in 2 team promotions
- Develop and execute integrated marketing campaigns across digital, content, and event channels, driving 3,000+ marketing qualified leads quarterly
- Collaborate with Product, Sales, and Customer Success teams to create sales enablement materials, reducing sales cycle time by 20%
- Conduct market research and competitive analysis to inform product positioning, directly influencing roadmap decisions for 3 major features
- Present quarterly business reviews to C-suite executives, communicating marketing ROI and strategic recommendations
Product Marketing Manager
Tech Solutions Corp | San Francisco | June 2020 – January 2022
- Launched 3 new B2B software products, creating positioning, messaging, and launch plans that exceeded first-year revenue targets by 25%
- Partnered with demand generation team to develop targeted campaigns, generating $2M in pipeline within the first quarter
- Conducted 30+ customer interviews and synthesized insights into buyer personas that informed all marketing materials
- Managed $500K annual marketing budget, optimizing spend allocation to improve cost per acquisition by 30%
- Created thought leadership content including whitepapers, case studies, and blog posts that increased website traffic by 45%
Entry Level
An entry-level resume work experience section focuses on practical application of academic knowledge, internship experiences, and the development of professional skills in a real-world setting.
Entry-level professionals should focus on:
- Quantifiable contributions: Include specific metrics and numbers that demonstrate your impact, even in support roles (e.g., “increased engagement by 35%”, “improved accuracy by 25%”)
- Technical skills and tools: Highlight specific software, platforms, and tools you’ve used and how you applied them to complete tasks (e.g., Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Hootsuite, CRM systems)
- Support and coordination: Emphasize how you assisted, coordinated, or supported team initiatives and projects, showing your ability to contribute to larger goals
- Problem-solving and process improvement: Demonstrate instances where you identified inefficiencies and implemented solutions, even on a small scale (e.g., “implementing a new filing system that reduced retrieval time”)
- Cross-functional collaboration: Show your ability to work with different teams and departments, highlighting exposure to various business functions
- Initiative and contribution: Include examples where you took initiative or contributed ideas that were implemented, showing proactive behavior
- Progressive responsibility: If possible, show growth from internships to full-time roles, or increasing responsibilities within the same position
- Achievement of benchmarks: Compare your results to industry standards or targets to contextualize your success (e.g., “achieving an average open rate of 22% above industry standard of 18%”)
- Task ownership: Demonstrate accountability by showing tasks you independently managed or maintained (e.g., “maintained CRM database with 1,500+ customer records”)
EXPERIENCE
Marketing Coordinator
TechStart Solutions | San Francisco, CA | June 2024 – Present
- Coordinate social media campaigns across 4 platforms, increasing follower engagement by 35% within 6 months through targeted content strategies
- Assist in organizing 3 virtual product launch events with 200+ attendees, collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless execution
- Analyze campaign performance metrics using Google Analytics and create weekly reports for the marketing manager, identifying trends that informed future strategies
- Maintain and update the company CRM database with 1,500+ customer records, improving data accuracy by 25%
- Support email marketing initiatives by designing newsletters in Mailchimp, achieving an average open rate of 22% (above industry standard of 18%)
Marketing Intern
Creative Agency Group | Austin, TX | June 2023 – August 2023
- Researched competitor marketing strategies and compiled findings into presentation decks for the senior marketing team
- Assisted with content creation for client social media accounts, writing captions and scheduling posts using Hootsuite
- Participated in client brainstorming sessions and contributed ideas that were incorporated into 2 client campaigns
- Organized and maintained the digital asset library, implementing a new filing system that reduced file retrieval time by 40%
How to Tailor Your Resume Work Experience to Each Job
Generic resumes get rejected. The most successful job seekers customize their work experience section for each application—but doing this manually takes 40-60 minutes per resume.
Step 1: Analyze the Job Description
Identify the top 5-7 requirements in the job posting. Look for:
Step 2: Match Your Experience to Requirements
For each requirement, find examples from your work history that demonstrate that skill or experience. You may need to:
Step 3: Incorporate Relevant Skills and Keywords
ATS systems scan for specific keywords from the job description. Naturally incorporate these terms into your bullet points without keyword stuffing.
Job description mentions: “project management,” “cross-functional collaboration,” “Salesforce CRM”
Your tailored bullet point: “Led cross-functional project management initiative coordinating 3 departments to implement Salesforce CRM, completing migration 2 weeks ahead of schedule and training 45 users.”
AI-powered tools like Upplai can automate this analysis and suggest which bullet points to emphasize, which keywords to incorporate, and how to restructure your experience section for maximum relevance—reducing tailoring time from an hour to just minutes.
Common Work Experience Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake 1: Using Paragraphs Instead of Bullets
Wrong:
Copied!As Marketing Manager, I was responsible for developing and executing comprehensive marketing strategies across multiple channels. I managed a team of three marketing coordinators and oversaw a budget of $500K. I also worked closely with the sales team to generate leads and collaborated with product teams on go-to-market strategies.
Right:
Copied!• Developed and executed multi-channel marketing strategies, generating 1,200 qualified leads quarterly • Managed team of 3 coordinators and $500K budget, achieving 15% cost savings while increasing campaign ROI by 34% • Partnered with sales team to create lead nurturing program, improving lead-to-customer conversion by 28%
Recruiters spend 3-7 seconds scanning resumes. Bullet points are scannable; paragraphs aren’t.
Mistake 2: Listing Job Responsibilities Instead of Achievements
Your job description already tells recruiters what you were supposed to do. Show them what you actually accomplished.
Responsibility-focused (weak):
Achievement-focused (strong):
Mistake 3: Being Too Vague
Specificity builds credibility. Vague claims sound like exaggeration.
| Vague | Specific |
|---|---|
| “Managed large team” | “Managed team of 12 across 3 time zones” |
| “Increased sales significantly” | “Increased sales by 34% ($1.8M to $2.4M)” |
| “Improved efficiency” | “Reduced processing time from 6 hours to 45 minutes” |
| “Worked with stakeholders” | “Collaborated with C-suite executives and 5 department heads” |
Mistake 4: Ignoring ATS Optimization
75% of large employers use ATS systems to filter resumes before human recruiters see them. If your resume work experience section doesn’t include the right keywords, it gets rejected automatically.
ATS-friendly practices:
ATS resume checkers like Upplai, Jobscan, and Skillsyncer can show you exactly which keywords you’re missing and how well your experience section matches the target role.
Mistake 5: Inconsistent Formatting
Inconsistency signals carelessness. Maintain uniformity in:
Time Saving Tip: AI resume tailoring platforms like Upplai can help you craft effective bullet points with the aforementioned best practices, use consistent formatting and language, and make your resume ATS friendly – in just a few seconds.
Quick Checklist: Is Your Work Experience Section Ready?
Use this checklist before submitting your resume:
If you checked all boxes, your work experience section is ready to get past ATS filters and impress recruiters.
