Listing Work Experience on a Resume (with Examples)

Your work experience section is the most important part of your resume and making it perfect can be challenging. Highlighting your professional past in a way that resonates with potential employers needs a well-structured resume that should not only include previous roles but also emphasize the impact of your contributions. 

To write the perfect resume work experience section you must go beyond listing duties and write about your success in projects and accomplishments. After reading your description, a prospective employer should have a clear idea about what your responsibilities are, what skills you have developed, what your strengths are, and what you have accomplished in your career. 

Although every section of the resume is equally important and should be created with meticulous care, here, we will talk about the work experience section. This blog will guide you through everything you need to know about including your work history in a resume. The key contents covered in this guide will consist of: 

• Understanding work experience section 
• What to include in your work experience section
• The Treatment of freelance, remote, and contract work in the work experience section 
• Examples of work experience for various job markets and different career levels  

Understanding Work Experience Section 

The work resume section of your resume is a detailed description of your previous work experience. In other words, this comprehensive report should include professional history including previous titles, dates of tenure, employers, responsibilities, skills you acquired there, and accomplishments. Also, you can add full-time positions, part-time and temporary engagements. Moreover, depending on your background, internships and even volunteer work if you don’t have paid work experience can also be included. 

Why is Work Experience on a Resume Important? 

Your past experience takes up the bulk of your resume and tells prospective employers what you’ve done up until now that qualifies you for the position opened by them. Before we dive into the details of writing a comprehensive work experience, we should understand why this section is so important. 

The work experience segment of your resume is the foundation that either qualifies or disqualifies you for an interview or the next step in the hiring process. Many HR managers regard the detailed summary of your work experience as the most crucial element of your resume. To get a quick idea of your employment history, the employers read the contents of your past experience before moving to any other detail. 

This resume section includes 10-20 years of relevant career history to tell a potential employer whether you have the work experience required to become a good match for the role. The work experience section provides credibility to your application and should sync with every other aspect of your application materials i.e., portfolio, cover letter skills, etc. 

What to Include in Your Work Experience Section?

Choosing which jobs to include on your resume depends on your previous work history and the type of job you are seeking. The general practice is to use the backward chronological order or reverse chronological order by putting your most recent position at the top of the section.

If you have had some job hopping in your career that makes your work history cluttered, don’t stress. Job hopping has been in trend for some time and more common among the younger workforce. Incorporating remote duties and short part-time stints is good if those loosely professional engagements directly relate to the job or list skills that align with the position. 

Also, the section is going to look different depending on your career level, how recent your work experience is and what industry know-how you ought to have. 

To market yourself and show the recruiter you are the best fit for the job, it is important to create a strong work experience section. Let’s look at what information HR managers and employers will consider to make their hiring decisions. 

• Job Title Position: Job title/position comes at the top of each work experience entry. It takes a glance for HR managers to notice that you have relevant experience. 
• Company Name: Immediately after the Job title is the name of the employer. Sometimes, if the employer is not native or well known, feel free to use a couple of words to provide context. 
• Location: Job title and company name are followed by the information about the city you worked or relocated for work. Sometimes just mentioning the name of the city is sufficient. 
• Employment Dates: Add the approximate timeframe of your employment. There is no need to provide exact dates of joining and exit. Use the prevalent mm/yyyy format. 
• Responsibilities and Achievements: The core contents of each work experience entry are what you accomplished during various employment. It is a standard practice to list your responsibilities and achievements in bullet points instead of paragraphs to enhance the readability. Add 5-6 bullets for the most recent professional work and 2-3 for older engagements. 

More Useful Tips to Write Your Work Experience on your CV

Add relevant work history: Don’t overwhelm potential employers by including every job you’ve ever worked and avoid doing that especially if your job history spans over 10 years. Prospective employers only look out for your work experience relevant to the role. 

Use recent experience: As a job seeker with many years of experience, only focus on jobs from the last decade. Keep your CV concise and limit it to 2 or 3 pages. 

Tailor your work experience to the role you have applied for: Read the job posting thoroughly before creating your work history section and customize your accomplishments and skills according to the job requirements. 

Use action verbs: Tell the journey of your responsibilities with strong action verbs like, provided, offered, designed, developed, created that will not only help you to be precise but also present you as a proactive and energetic resource to the HR managers. 

Similarly, if you have a management, sales or customer care background, you can quantify your own resume by mentioning following: 

• Dollars saved
• Sales numbers improved
• Customers served
• Expenses reduced
• Customer satisfaction increased
• Revenue generated
• Clients acquired
• Employees trained/managed
• Attrition rate decreased

Use success metrics: Make powerful use of numbers to create a lasting impression. Adding success metrics will give you an edge over the competition. For example, as a content writer your metrics might typically include a certain increase in the traffic of a website you worked on or ranking improvements of your blogs in search engines. 

Make Your Resume ATS-Friendly 

Optimizing your resume is crucial and even important is optimizing your work history section to be ATS-friendly. Applicant tracking systems nowadays have a vital role in the initial screening process and are deployed by many employers which means in order to get under their radar it is mandatory to tailor your resume according to ATS systems. In order to get noticed by these bots you have to include relevant keywords related to the job title posted by the recruiter in your resume. 

Optimizing your resume work experience section can ensure your application gets effectively scanned and recognized by applicant tracking systems and ultimately improve your chances of getting the interview call. 

You can optimize your resume for ATS by making use of proper or standard job titles, relevant keywords, bullet points and by quantifying your achievements. Also avoid graphics and images because the Applicant tracking systems find it difficult to read graphics and images. So, your best bet is to rely on plain text. 

Treatment of Contract, Remote and Freelance Work in the Work Experience Section 

Don’t shy away from displaying your short-term projects or gig work! Either mix them up with your traditional full-time jobs or dedicate a separate section for them in the work experience section. Including remote jobs and side work in the work history section proves your versatility, adaptability and most importantly the abilities to go the extra mile. It also demonstrates that you dare to be transparent.  

Here are some tips to incorporate your flexible jobs: 

Use clear labels: Clearly mention if the position was freelance, contract, remote or a gig work. Tailor your descriptions relevant to the role under headings such as Contract work, Remote Job or Freelance projects to separate these roles from traditional full-time positions. 

Highlight key projects and clients: Enlist the specific projects you worked on and the clients or companies you provide your work during the brief stints. Showcase any achievements during these collaborations.   

Emphasize your transferable skills: Highlight your transferable skills you developed through remote, freelance and contract work. For example, time management, adaptability, problem solving and communication may be some of the transferable skills you refined during those small stints of professional work.  

Examples of work experience for various job markets and different career levels  

Need inspiration for writing your resume work experience section? Compare these examples of work history section bullet points to understand how to list your responsibilities, skills and achievements and quantify them in your CV. 

Sample 1: Software Developer

Lead Software Developer

Tech Innovators Inc.

August 2019 – Present

• Spearheaded the development of a new enterprise software platform, leading to a 50% improvement in operational efficiency.
• Managed a team of 8 developers, overseeing code quality, project timelines, and team collaboration.
• Implemented agile development methodologies, resulting in a 20% increase in project delivery speed.
• Conducted code reviews and provided mentorship to junior developers.

Software Engineer

NextGen Solutions

May 2015 – July 2019

• Designed and developed scalable web applications using JavaScript, Python, and React.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and deliver high-quality software solutions.
• Optimized application performance, reducing load times by 35%.
• Participated in the full software development lifecycle, from planning to deployment and maintenance.

Junior Software Developer

CodeCrafters LLC

January 2013 – April 2015

• Assisted in the development and maintenance of internal tools and client-facing applications.
• Wrote clean, efficient, and well-documented code for various software projects.
• Debugged and resolved software issues, ensuring timely fixes and updates.
• Contributed to software design discussions and participated in code reviews.
• Software Development Intern

Intern

Innovatech Labs

June 2012 – December 2012

• Supported senior developers in coding, testing, and debugging software applications.
• Gained hands-on experience with programming languages such as Java and C++.
• Assisted in documentation and quality assurance processes.
• Participated in team meetings and contributed to project planning.

Sample 2: Graphic Designer

Senior Graphic Designer

Creative Studios

May 2019 – Present

• Led the design and development of visual branding and marketing materials for high-profile clients.
• Managed a team of designers, ensuring the delivery of high-quality work within deadlines.
• Collaborated with clients to understand their vision and create compelling design solutions.
• Oversaw the production process, from concept to final delivery.

Graphic Designer

DesignWorks Agency

February 2016 – April 2019

• Created engaging visual content for print and digital media, including brochures, websites, and social media graphics.
• Developed design concepts and mockups based on client requirements and feedback.
• Worked closely with marketing and creative teams to ensure brand consistency.
• Participated in client meetings to present design ideas and revisions.

Junior Graphic Designer

Art & Design Co.

August 2013 – January 2016

• Assisted senior designers in producing high-quality visual content for various projects.
• Contributed to the creation of design assets, including logos, infographics, and advertisements.
• Edited and retouched images to meet design specifications and client needs.
• Managed multiple design projects simultaneously, adhering to deadlines and client expectations.

Graphic Design Intern

Visual Impact Studios

June 2012 – July 2013

• Supported the design team in creating and preparing design materials for client projects.
• Gained experience with design software such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
• Assisted in brainstorming and conceptualizing design ideas for marketing campaigns.
• Conducted research on design trends and gathered inspiration for new projects.