Learn how to put your work experience on your resume and complete your professional profile with the best tips.
Without a doubt, the most important section of a resume is the candidate’s work experience. For all types of applications, regardless of the area or field of work, it is important to make a count of the jobs that have been held and what tasks were performed, in addition to the achievements in each function.
Between dates of entry and duration, type of position held, name of the company and specific tasks performed, you can get confused when capturing this information on your resume. Therefore, in this article we will show you how you should write your work experience on your CV.
Examples of work experience in a CV
Within a Curriculum Vitae, as we have already said, the section on professional experience should have as much space as possible, since it is the most important thing. You should name this category as it is: WORK EXPERIENCE.
Just below the title, you should list the jobs you’ve had in chronological order starting with the last one.
The duration
It is important that you include the start and end date of each of the jobs you have had, as shown below:
- January 2010 – July 2015
- From December 2014 to May 2018
- 2013 – 2019
- 2016 – present
Position or position held and name of the company
After having indicated the date, you must enter the position or position you held, followed by the name of the company:
- Human Resources Manager | Coke
- Assistant director | To field
- Producer | sony music
- Waiter | Anderson Group
- Graphic Designer | Uniq Magazine
- Sales Manager | Grecco
- ProjectManager | Ogilvy
Completed tasks
It is important that you have precision and clarity at this point. Remember that you do not have much space to make a broad summary, therefore, you must be very concise in what you present.
Do not hesitate to include figures or percentages to demonstrate the good results obtained through your work.
Your achievements are very important and you need to mention them:
- Increased the budget by 130% in a period of five months.
- Immediate detection of capital flight and execution of the emergency plan with a favorable result.
- Preparation of the 2018 budget where 120% of the capital was saved compared to the previous year.
What elements to place within the work experience of a CV
Work experience is not only entering the name of the companies where we have worked, it also includes:
- The courses or training we had within the companies.
- The seminars or conferences we gave when working in certain positions.
In this way, all the relevant activities carried out in the previous works must be included. If you have extensive work experience, it is best to choose your most important positions, since, if you have to summarize your CV to one page, you will have to choose only the most important experience.
For example, if you’re applying for a human resources job, it’s best to include anything you’ve done in that industry in your work experience and leave out any summers you worked in hospitality or tourism.
How to write a CV without work experience
Do not worry, there is always a first time to start the resume and you may not have work experience.
Therefore, this is your first CV, instead of jobs, include professional internships, social service or summer jobs that you have had, you must mention it in the following way:
- journalism practice
- Management Assistant Internship
- Chef’s assistant internship
- Summer job in hospitality
- Summer job as a tour guide
- Social service in Editorial Alfaguara
Then include the date:
- June 2018 | Internship at Femsa
- May 2017 – October 2017 | Social Service at Unicef
Below this information, it is important that you write two or three bullet points detailing the tasks you performed and what you learned.
In some cases, you might submit an abstract of your college thesis so recruiters can see what topic you’ve done professional research on.
If you haven’t done any internships, simply remove the Experience section from your CV. On the other hand, you should mention more details in the other parts of your resume: Hobbies, Skills, Professional objective, Education…
Certify your work experience
You should know that it is important to certify the work experience you mention. If, for example, you mentioned your participation in an international congress, you must have the diploma or proof of the event. This, in order that you can corroborate the veracity of your information.
Normally, during the interview, the recruiters will find out if everything you have said about yourself is true. Therefore, if you do not have documents to support you, it could be more difficult to obtain approval. Do not forget to certify your courses, diplomas, conferences and other experiences.
Show your evolution in work experience
Candidates who mention their work experience in detail and emphasize achievements or improvements allow recruiters to note the evolution they have had throughout their work.
If you started as a sales assistant and talk about the achievements you had, in the end they will understand the how and why of your arrival in management.
Also, if you mention what motivated you to take action within the company, the recruiter will know about your proactivity and will want you for the job.
What comes first: work experience or academic training?
If you have doubts about what to prioritize on your CV: studies or work experience; The best thing would be for you to answer the question: what have you dedicated the most time to?
If you have been studying for more years than working, it is best to write about your studies before your professional experience.
On the other hand, if you stopped studying many years ago and have worked in various companies and your work experience is extensive, you should give greater importance to this section.
It all depends on you and what you have done in life. Perhaps you are one of those who have studied more than two master’s degrees, three doctorates and post-doctorates. Or, of those who have an unfinished career and have since been placed in the world of work. You decide.
