Your Work History is the most important section of your resume, yet it's the one area where people make the most mistakes!
When preparing your resume this is, without a doubt, the most important section.
And yet, it's the one section where mistake after mistake is made.
The aim of the Work History section is to outline what positions you have held, and what skills you used and gained in those positions.
Most resumes leave a lot of information out of this section - some people use their Job Description as a basis for their work experience. It is important that you do not do this, as roles evolve over time, and it is a sad fact that Job Descriptions are not regularly updated, so often the official "description" actually bears very little resemblence to what the tasks actually are.
Remember: your Work History area is all about YOU! It must show what you did in the role, what skills you used and your achievements. Many people are worried about including statistics, but this is where you prove yourself.
If your KPI was to take 100 calls per day, and you consistently took 150, then list it as an achievement. If you managed a ledger of 200 people, or supervised 10, then list it. It is this information that a prospective employer can use to quantify your skills and experience.
We don't need to know the size of the company, or what it did. We do need to know what your role was, where it was (eg: Brisbane, Australia).
The KISS Principle
Keep it simple. Writing a long story about your job makes it hard for a prospective employer to see what you do. All you need to do is use bullet points for each task - and then sub-points if neceesary.
If your role involved you in several areas, you may want to list the main area, and then use sub-bullet points to show the tasks involved in that area (a sample Work History is shown below).
Always remember - it may be insignificant to you, but it may be important for the position you're applying for, so put it in!
Why listing your duties is important
Job Titles have a way of changing their meaning from company to company. For example, some companies call a Collections Officer a Credit Controller; however, within the Credit Industry, the two titles have two completely different meanings.
This is the reason why you must list everything that makes up your job, no matter how insignificant it seems to you.
Using the above example, Collections Officers are usually employed to contact customers regarding outstanding debts, and have the authority to negotiate repayment arrangements for the debts.
Credit Controllers usually have a higher level of authority, that includes not only supervising staff, but also approving and reviewing credit limits.
As you can see, if you don't list your duties, it may be assumed that you have skills you don't - or the reverse! It may show that you don't have skills that you used every day!
What else to include?
Always include any major achievements in this section. For example: if each month, you exceeded your sales targets, then say that. You should also give an average of by how much you exceeded them over the time you were employed in that position.
The same as if you were in charge of a special project, say what it was, and what the outcome of the project was.
This is also the place to mention if you were involved in things like Six Sigma or TQM.
In short - this is where you show off! Even if you won Employee of the Month - say so. But always give the Month and Year.
The other important area you should include is your reason for leaving. Be tactful. If the boss was a complete waste of time and you clashed every time he walked past your desk, then, naturally, don't say that. Look at other reasons you want to leave. Not to say that you don't mention the personality clash, but don't make that your sole reason for leaving.
In the same vein, don't make money your sole reason for leaving, as there are usually other factors as well.
Sample Work History
Note: due to the vagaries of formatting, this is not formatted exactly as it should be. The bullet points and position title should all be aligned under the name of the company.
January 2000 - June 2007 XYZ Corporation Ltd, Brisbane, Australia
Position: Collections Officer
Duties:
- Control of a ledger of 800 accounts, and expected to make 40 calls per day
- Outbound & inbound calls to customers regarding outstanding amounts
- Negotiation of arrangements to pay outstanding amounts
- Reconciliation of accounts as required
- Liaison with solicitors & process servers for legal action
- Allocation of payments received to the correct account
Achievements:
- Reduced outstandings to 0.1% of ledger
- Exceeded KPI's on average each quarter
- Put in place a form to accurately track repayment arrangements
Reason for Leaving:
- Felt I had achieved all that I could in this position, and need to move to a role with more challenges
