In a candidate-led market, itâs important to stand out from the crowd when you apply for a new role.
The best way to do this is with your CV, which can demonstrate your skill set, your work experience and your qualifications to a potential employer.
Above all else, the most important section to consider is your work experience, which not only provides context for the employer but highlights previous successes and the skills you used during your tenure.
If youâre working with recruiters, a good CV also means youâre halfway to being hired, as theyâll likely be able to match your skill set to the clients they work with.Â
So how should you write work experience on a CV? Below we explore the best way to format your work experience on a CV and the different approaches you might take.
How to write work experience on a CV
When you come to write your work experience on your CV, itâs worth breaking down the process into several steps so that youâre not overwhelmed. Firstly youâll want to think about structure and then about the contents itself.
Understanding how to properly format a CV – particularly your work experience – is a critical skill that will aid you frequently throughout your career.
1. Format the work experience section correctly
As a general rule of thumb, recruiters or hiring managers expect to see a work experience section within your CV, usually within the top half of the document.Â
The format of the work experience section should run in âreverse chronologicalâ order. This means you put your most recent experience first and work backwards throughout your career.
Depending on how many roles youâve had, youâll also want to limit the work experience section to the most relevant or recent positions. If youâre applying for a senior engineering role, for example, itâs not worth noting down the retail roles you had at 16 when that space could be used to further explain the other 3 engineering jobs you had.
In terms of structure, make use of titles, font formatting and bullet points to break down your responsibilities or past experience. This not only saves on space but increases the readability of your CV.
Get In Touch With Our Team Today
2. Be consistent with the information you provide
For each entry within the section, be sure to include the same facts. You should note down the following:Â
⢠Job title
⢠Employer name
⢠Dates of employment (use âpresentâ if youâre still working there)
⢠Your primary responsibilities
⢠Work achievements
⢠Promotions
The last three sections will make up the bulk of the information and this is where youâll want to highlight key points around the job role. Wherever possible, use context to explain your responsibilities and achievements as this helps readers better understand how your skills led to successes.
You can use the problem, action, result method to achieve this. An example of this is:
âIdentified and automated a step in the reporting process that reduced processing time by 25% and increased productivity for the associated team members.â
Rather than explaining what you did, explain why what you did was useful – this is much more effective for both recruiters and hiring managers.
3. Use engaging language and statistics
When you start writing out your responsibilities, take the time to use âactionâ words where possible so that you can create a more engaging document. For example, instead of saying âI was responsible forâŚâ you might say âI devisedâŚâ or âI supervised and actioned entirely new processesâ.
Likewise, when providing context youâll want to make use of statistics as they act as tangible proof of your accomplishments.
Itâs much better to say âthe team I supervised directly increased sales by 50%â rather than saying âI helped increase salesâ.
If you have a particularly exceptional achievement itâs worth including this underneath the work role on a separate line, perhaps preceded by âkey achievementâ in bold. This ensures that readers see it and puts more emphasis on the success.
Why is work experience so important on a CV?
For both recruiters and potential employers, thereâs no better measure of a candidate than their work experience. It can tell a lot about a candidateâs knowledge, skill set and even work ethic – all of which are incredibly valuable. On top of that, work experience may help an employer better understand how much training or resources you may require within the role.
Finally, the work experience section acts as a map of your work life so far and, in some cases, may provide some insights into what the future holds for your career or ambitions you have. This is useful for employers to know as it shows commitment, dedication and how you might fit into the business over the long-term.