Resume bullet point breakdown: Tips for a stronger resume

Searching for a job without luck? Have you considered the possibility that your resume bullet points are letting you down?

If you are writing a weak work history every time you write a resume, you are telling employers that you haven’t achieved much in your career. Strong bullet points can uplift your resume and show recruiters that you are a go-getter.

Better resume bullet points equal a better resume. If you want hiring managers to notice you, we suggest making the following changes to your resume bullet points.

Emphasize achievements

Take a look at the bullet points of your resume. Do all of them talk about job duties and responsibilities? Then, they all need to pack their bags and move. A strong resume is built when you prioritize professional achievements above job duties. Instead of listing what you did, talk about what you achieved. Here’s an example:

• Weak bullet point: “Answered client calls.”
• Strong bullet point: “Resolved client issues through the phone achieving a 98% client satisfaction rate.”

Use action verbs to write your resume

Do all the bullet points on your resume start with the phrase, “responsible for...”? Then you are totally responsible for the failure of your job search. Instead of writing passive bullet points that pour cold water over the reader’s enthusiasm, write active bullet points. Start your bullet points with strong action verbs. Here are some great examples of strong action verbs:

• Achieved
• Spearheaded
• Managed
• Planned
• Executed
• Organized
• Delegated
• Eliminated
• Improved
• Visualized

Use numbers generously

The best way to bring out the impact of your professional achievements is to quantify the results of the feats you’ve accomplished. Numbers help recruiters imagine the length and breadth of your actions. Also, it helps them visualize what you can do for their company if they hire you. Here’s an example of how numbers can transform your bullet points:

• Weak bullet point: “Responsible for improving efficiency across teams.”
• Strong bullet point: “Spearheaded automation project affecting 35 team members and improved the overall efficiency of the department from 65% to 89%.”

Make those bullet points shorter

The next time you write a bullet point for your resume, don’t let it stretch over three lines. I read a lot of self-written resumes as a certified professional resume writer, and I spot this mistake on several resumes a day. Job seekers want to describe their achievements in as much detail as possible and write unnecessarily long bullet points. They are difficult to read, a pain to comprehend, and add a lot of bulk to your resume. The primary point of using bullet points for your resume is to reduce the bulk. Therefore, write shorter bullet points that speak to the point you are trying to address.

Use a formula that works for you

I have talked about writing the perfect resume bullet points several times in the past. One thing I always swear by is resume bullet point formulae. No matter how much of a complex achievement you are trying to describe on your resume, you can’t go wrong with a bullet point formula. This article I wrote a while back describes how to use a formula to write effective bullet points. While you read that, here are some excellent bullet point writing formulae you should know about:

• Action verb + Quantified outcome + Linking phrase (by, using, through) + Your action
• Situation + Task + Action + Result (STAR method)
• Problem + Action + Result (PAR method)
• Challenge + Action + Result (CAR method)
• Situation + Obstacle + Action + Result (SOAR method)
• Context + Action + Result + Evaluation (CARE method)
• Challenge + Context + Action + Result (CCAR method)