It’s time to translate your communication abilities, experience, skills, and strengths into a strong resume for any position or program you’re applying for. Employers only look at each resume for about 6 seconds so it’s important that your resume is tailored for each application you submit it for. Employers use resumes to get a deeper understanding of your skills, strengths, and experiences to decide if they want to interview you. Check out this quick video to learn our formula for writing strong bullet points:
Transforming a Weak Bullet into a Strong Bullet
Let's see how we can use this formula to turn this generic, vague bullet point into a strong, action-oriented bullet. Here's the formula from the video for reference:
Generic Bullet Point
Texas Public Health Student Organization, Events Coordinator
- Responsible for organizing events and panels.
In this example, it is not clear what the candidate did to organize events and panels, what skills they used, or what kind of events and panels they organized. These details are important for distinguishing you from the rest of the applicants.
Strong, Concrete Bullet Point
Texas Public Health Student Organization, Events Coordinator
- Plan and coordinate panels on public health for audiences of 25–50 undergraduates on a bi-monthly basis.
- Identify and contact health professionals in the community to participate in panels.
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Designed Instagram posts, digital flyers, and banners to promote campus public health fair, resulting in 500 attendees and over $10,000 raised.
Our Analysis:
- The first bullet point clearly highlights organizational skills. It also lets the employer know the scope, target audience, and frequency of the events.
- The second bullet point indicates research and interpersonal skills that were used to secure panelists and demonstrate the ability to communicate with professionals outside the university.
- The third bullet point highlights a specific business skill and the ability to be strategic in marketing, as well as familiarity with using social media for marketing purposes.
Now employers reading these new, strong bullet points will better understand the student’s unique qualities. The quantified details also add depth and credibility to the student's skills and experiences.
Extra Resume Content Tips
- Use strong action verbs: Check out our list of strong action verbs to pick from.
- Include numbers: Quantify your work and achievements where possible.
- Avoid acronyms: Not all employers are aware of all companies, methods, or various UT offices you have worked with. Avoid acronyms to give your resume context and clarity for your readers.
Should I include high school experience on my college resume?
A good rule of thumb for including high school experience on your college resume is to remove it by the start of your 2nd year at The University of Texas at Austin. Employers are most interested in the experiences you’ve had in college, but there are exceptions to every rule. Make an appointment with a CNS Career Coach if you have questions.
Example Bullet Points by Experience or Position
Here are some more examples to give you an idea of how different flavors of experience are reflected based on a particular position:
Computer Science
“Redesigned Internet and intranet pages (Java, C, C++, and HTML) and used SEO best practices to optimize website for search engine rankings and improved functionality of company database.”
What more help with describing your technical experience? Check out our guide:
Non-Profit/Government
“Initiated and developed community workshops and used survey feedback to increase event attendance resulting in education of 120+ attendees per event.”
Research
“Processed and analysed samples from over 1,000 mouse embryos resulting in a peer-reviewed publication on the embryonic development of lung tissue.”
Student Projects
“Initiated and led weekly meetings with team members to plan project and assign tasks resulting in project being completed 2 weeks early.”
Customer Service
“Arranged new merchandise with signage and appealing displays that encouraged customer sales and moved overstock items.”
Student Organization
“Prepared semester and yearly budgets of $5000+, kept track of expenditures and profits, and wrote grant proposals to secure funding.”
Overall, writing strong, specific bullet points can make a huge impact on the employer who is reading your resume because they will be able to imagine you in your past experiences. We understand that writing strong bullet points can be tough! If you get stuck, look on JobHero for examples of how other people wrote bullet points for the same job titles. However, just be sure to ignore all JobHero's resume formatting advice.