Every single resume you ever make will include your work history. Your work history will include four main details that provide crucial information to the prospective employer.
How you order these items on your resume will be up to you, but keep in mind which of the items in your professional life is most impressive. Try and think like a recruiter; what do you want employers to notice and what do you want them to ignore?
Company Name
The first item on the resume work history checklist is the names of the companies you have worked for. If you’ve worked for a company that has strong brand recognition or just a good reputation in the industry, you may want to emphasize the name of the company in your work history.
Be thorough if you have to when listing the company name – I’ve had job-seekers questioned when the background job search matches the name of the parent company instead of the one listed on their resume.
Dates Worked
The next point we want to cover on our resume work history checklist is the dates you worked for a company. The more stable your work history, the more you will want to emphasis this section on your resume.
Depending on how specific you want to be, there are a number of ways you can list the dates on your resume.
- September 2010 – August 2014
- 8/9/2008 to 10/15/2013
- 1998-2013
You can certainly manage gaps better depending on how you list the date information on your resume. Regardless of how much you try to hide this information though, the three or so applications you’ll fill out will eventually ask for specific dates.
I find it best to be up-front and open with your shortcomings. Just detail how you’ve improved.
Location
The third point on your resume work history checklist is the location of the job where you worked. This is generally listed as the city and state (Hollywood, CA for example).
Fairly straightforward information, but make sure this information is 100% accurate based on the company as it will make the background check process go smoother.
Job Title
The last point of information on your resume work history checklist is your job title. Depending on your past employers, you may or may not have had an official job title. If you did, stick with it. Even if it’s not the most glorious sounding job title, it makes things easier when employers call your past jobs.
If your job title was more up in the air, there’s no reason not to give yourself an appropriate job title that corresponds with your duties. If you managed others, use manager in your job title. If you directed teams of people and staff, then use the director job title.
The most important thing is to be able to explain these job titles by referencing your duties and responsibilities so make sure they match.
Organizing Your Work History
With those four points in mind, there are a number of ways you can go about listing your past employment. Again, as you look through these examples keep in mind what you are wanting to emphasize and what you are trying to gloss over.
Company Name – Hollywood, CA August 2011 – September 2014
Customer Service Representative
JOB TITLE | Company Name 8/2011 to 9/2014
Hollywood, CA
Company Name | Job Title 2011 – 2014
Hollywood, CA
There are a lot of different ways you will be able to organize your information. No matter how you put together the work history section on your resume, make sure all of your information is correct and consistent. The recruiter should be easily able to identify each piece of information in your work history just with a glance of the resume.