Turn Bullet Points into Stories on Your Resume

These days, a resume needs to get past two gatekeepers to advance in the job search process: It needs keywords for applicant-tracking systems and then proper formatting so human eyes can easily scan the document. Bullet points are one way to set text apart so an HR manager can see your main ideas, but they can also serve as a way to complement your work experience story.

Big Picture First

Improve your resume by starting with the big picture view before adding bullet points. This means fill in your dates of employment, job titles and job duties. Then go for your bulleted text that enhances your role with a company. Use plenty of action verbs, and quantify your achievements with every point you make.

Attention-Grabbing Headline

The top of your resume starts with an attention-grabbing headline that shows your major labels. The headline introduces your main traits, the type of job you hope to find or your career aspirations. Right below that, bullet points summarize your career to that point.

Past Experience

After that, enhance your resume further by drilling down into your work experience and history. Your most relevant or most recent position goes at the top of the list. Below that, it's time to get to the details of your work with specific bullet points.

Tell Your Story

This area of your resume outlines the most important aspects of a position. Quantitative achievements, accomplishments and skills go here. Ask yourself a few questions: What did you do for this company that was special? How did you take this employer to the next level? What made you shine in this position?

Each point should reflect on how you affected a previous employer in a positive way. This is where your story becomes the most interesting, because each sentence shows the most impressive things you did with previous jobs. Your resume began with your overall personality in the career summary, then got a little more specific with job titles and hiring dates before moving to your accomplishments in each position.

The very first position an HR manager sees on your resume should note exactly how and why your most recent job prepared you for the next phase of your career. That's why your story must make sense right away as you go from generic terms to important details. Otherwise, you lose the HR manager in a jumble of points that do not fit well together.

Highlights

Bullet points also serve as ways to highlight the most important information. HR managers skim through the document to see what you have to offer. If your points are irrelevant to the position listed above them, your resume could be doomed from the start.

Improve your resume by telling your story with relevant bullet points. These points aren't just random facts about your career. Instead, they fill in the details of your career to catch the eye of people who hire you. The resume starts the conversation, and then an interview lets you explain why you're the perfect fit.

Photo courtesy of Amy at Flickr.com