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- Detailing your work experience on your resume helps recruiters find more suitable jobs for you.
- There are seven vital details to include about your work experience, according to two headhunters.
- However, it should be noted that not everything goes on a resume.
The resume has undergone some changes over the years, with new keywords and skills being becoming relevant all the time. But its purpose has pretty much remained the same. It’s there to provide a summary of personal data, education, skills, and work experience for recruiters.
However, it should be noted that not everything goes on a resume.
There are things that headhunters want to see on your resume or LinkedIn profile and others that you should avoid at all costs.
“Sometimes people just put the name of the company and the title they had. And often they forget to say what team they had or what team they were part of, who they reported to, other keywords, responsibilities, and achievements,” said Sara Bieger, from Alto Partners, at an event organized by Deusto Business School in Spain, to which Insider was invited.
“I would summarize: who do you report to, what team do you have, what responsibilities would you highlight, and what are the achievements. This way, you get a lot out of your work experience,” she added.
Two headhunters specializing in senior talent described the seven most important things to include in the work experience section of your resume.
1. Companies you’ve worked for
Your past companies are key for your future career, according to headhunters Sara Bieger of Alto Partners and Puri Paniagua of Pedersen & Partners, who took part in the same event to which Insider was invited.
“I like to understand which companies you’ve been at and what achievements you’ve made at each of them,” Paniagua said.
“We all think we know what El Corte Inglés is, but El Corte Inglés can be supermarkets, it can be travel, it can be technology… So, let’s say something more about the company,” added Bieger.
2. Relevant information about the company
Bieger suggested adding certain key information about the companies you’ve worked for. This should include their name, what they do, their turnover, and their different locations.
“There are companies with well-known names, but there are companies that if we say X name can be anything,” she explained.
3. Locations you’ve worked at
According to Bieger, information about the companies helps recruiters to believe what the candidate includes in the resume summary. If you have international experience or if you’ve worked with multidisciplinary teams, for example.
“If you don’t tell me that the company is based in several countries and if you’ve been in several countries, when I think about whether you’re international or not and I see that you’ve been in a company that’s based in the US, in France, and in Germany, I’m like, ‘Well, you’ve probably worked with international teams,'” Bieger said.
4. Avoid describing duties if the resume is for a headhunter
If you’re preparing your resume for a headhunter, there’s one major difference you need to keep in mind.
“Having a duty isn’t the same as being responsible for something,” said Bieger.
Duties describe what you do in your job, something Paniagua said that, most of the time, “they don’t know.”
However, information about the company, your accomplishments, and work teams could boost your chances.
5. Accomplishments you’ve achieved in your career
Conversely, the experts stressed that candidates should definitely include the accomplishments they’ve made in each of their positions and companies they’ve worked for.
“It’s not bad [talking about your duties], but we’re mainly interested in achievements, to see what value that person brings in each position,” explained Paniagua.
6. Teams you’ve worked with
Very few people tend to include details about the teams they were part of.
Bieger believes that information like who you reported to, which teams you were part of or led, and how they evolved should be highlighted in the experience section of your resume.
7. Include significant figures or percentages
Data that helps recruiters get a clearer picture of the impact that an achievement or team has had on your career can be the key to distinguishing you from other candidates with a similar career path and the same career aspirations.
“Any information that can be quantified, the better. In other words, put numbers,” Bieger said.
“You don’t need to give specific data, but an increase of 2% or a market share of 7.5…,” she added.
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