It is often helpful to begin your job description with a summary, or an overview of what you did. It typically consists of a string of items and is very effective in helping a reader quickly understand what you did. A job description summary might look something like this: Research databases and create surveys to analyze trends and to identify opportunities for improving customer support strategies. For this sign manufacturing company, prepared financial statements and supervised payroll, billing, and accounts receivable personnel.
- Directly responsible for all phases of investment analyses, development, and property management of properties.
- Coordinated all aspects of the Early Childhood Special Education Program, including hiring and training of staff and support professionals, and the design and implementation of curriculum.
- Administered and trained lending staff of four in credit and business development efforts.
- Interviewed, counseled, and educated patients and families preceding and following open-heart surgery.
Several Jobs within One Company
Sometimes a person will have five or six changes in job title within one company, during a 4-6 year period. Frequently the person was promoted and kept all or most of the previous responsibilities, and then added others. To describe each job separately would be redundant and unnecessary. Look for any two jobs which were essentially the same, and treat them as one.
What to Call Your Employment Section
There are a variety of words and phrases you can use to head your employment section: Employment, Employment Experience, Work Experience, Professional Experience, Employment History, Work History, and Experience are all good terms. You can generally use Employment, and sometimes Professional Experience. Each of the terms is a good term so pick the one that feels right for you.
Dates
Dates should be used on nearly all resumes. If you have no time gaps between jobs or short gaps, you should usually use the months and years you started and left. If you have long gaps, you can indicate the year you started and the year you left. When to use month and year (example: 5/87-8/92):
- No gaps in employment,
- Short gaps of less than five months.
- One gap of over five months several years ago.
Location of the Job
Your resume should indicate the city and state you actually work in, not the location of your company's national headquarters. If you work out of your home, include your city as your location; if you live in a suburb, include either the name of the suburb or the more familiar name of the large city you live near.
Job Titles
In most cases, the job title on your resume should match the one assigned by your employer. If you work for a company which has not assigned job titles, you can select a title which accurately reflects what you do. This is easiest with smaller, informal companies that haven't gotten around to writing job descriptions with exact titles. For instance, if you were a secretary who ran the office and supervised one or more clerical workers, you might use the title "Office Manager." Or, if you ran construction projects, but never had a title, you could call yourself "Construction Superintendent."
The situation gets sticky if you had a title that does not accurately convey what you did. In most cases you should use the title given you. If a potential employer contacts a former employer and learns of a discrepancy in job titles, it may not look good. To avoid changing the title, yet still give a sense of responsibility, try something like this:
FOREMAN - Functioned as construction superintendent on five commercial projects including the 280,000-square-foot Radkin Plaza Building. Established and maintained tight production schedules, set up stringent cost controls, and scheduled and coordinated subcontractors. Completed each project on schedule and under budget.
The key in the above examples is the use of the phrase "functioned as." It indicates that the person had responsibilities that were larger than the job title would normally indicate. By no means should you always use the phrase "functioned as/' but it can be a good alter native to changing your actual title. Another alternative would be:
FOREMAN (Construction Superintendent) - Managed five commercial projects..."
In this case putting Construction Superintendent in parentheses indicates that he functioned in that role.
Another alternative is to simply ignore the fact that your title does not match what you did. In other words, give the correct job title and then describe your duties and accomplishments, letting your results speak for you. If you've been self-employed, employers will be concerned about whether you can take direction and can fit into a corporate environment. One way to minimize this concern is to not indicate that the business was yours. If the company had your name as part of the title, you may want to simply use the initials of the company. If that is not possible, refer to yourself as "Owner/Manager." Otherwise, avoid the term owner and call yourself "Manager" or "General Manager." Call yourself "President" only if that is the type of position you are now seeking.
Clarifying What Your Company Does
If you work for General Motors, General Electric, or Boeing, there is no need to explain what the company does. If your employer is Eastside Masonry Products, it is also unnecessary to elaborate because the company name explains its type of business. If you work for SLRC Corporation, though, you may want to explain in the resume. Handle it this way:
SLRC Corporation, Montgomery, Alabama 5/78 to Present SALES REP - For this producer of food additives, opened up a new territory and increased sales an average of 32% each year.
Or this way:
CBD, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts 1978 to Present
SALES REP - Increased sales 20% each year for CBD, the Northeast's second largest distributor of electronic components.
Scope of the Job
The scope of a job includes such things as the products and services of the company, size of company in terms of gross sales, the size of your department in terms of people and dollar budget, the budget you personally work with, and the number of people supervised. It is useful to include the scope of the job if doing so will clarify your level of responsibility or any other key point. To describe the scope of a job you might say, "Managed all finance, accounting, and data processing functions for this $80 million manufacturer of outdoor equipment."
Or you might say, "Supervised a staff of four supervisors and managed a department budget of $1.2 million."
