STEP FIVE:  Professional Experience

In the Professional Experience section you will list your employers, job titles, and dates of employment in a reverse-chronological order; that is, your most recent job comes first, followed by your next most recent job, and so on.  This format is standard and is expected by all hiring managers and admissions directors.

With regard to employment dates:

Generally speaking, hiring managers prefer years of employment, rather than months and years (i.e. 1999 - 2003 as opposed to May 1999 - April 2003).  However, some college admissions programs want specifics when it comes to dates, so it’s best to use precise dates when applying to graduate school.

In the Professional Experience section you will also include daily tasks and responsibilities beneath the appropriate employer listing.  If you’ve included a Career Accomplishments section in your resume, you should not repeat that data here.  Once data is presented in a resume, it must not be repeated.

To ensure that your daily tasks are presented in an interesting and easy-to-read manner, you should do the following:

1. Use a bulleted format.  This breaks up large blocks of text that could prove daunting to a hiring manager.

2. Delete unnecessary articles and adjectives.  Your sentences should be short and snappy.

3. Begin each sentence with an action verb.  This quickens the pace of your writing and makes the text more enjoyable to read. For a comprehensive choice of action verbs, please use this link: Power Verb List.

An example of a bulleted format, pared down writing, and sentences beginning with power verbs follows: (Again, we use our accountant)

Verb tense:

• For those jobs where you are still currently employed, write your job duties in the present tense.

• For those jobs in the past, write the responsibilities you held in the past tense.

Additionally, Professional Experience can be captured and showcased in three formats:

1. Functional

2. Chronological

3. Combination

In the functional format, you are stressing what you know over where you gained your experience. This works for those who have strong skills, but a weak employment record.

In the chronological format, you are providing a work history dating back from the present. This is the most common format and is generally preferred by hiring managers.

In the combination format, you are stressing what you know in one section, while also providing work history dating back from the present in another.  This is a highly popular modern format.