Building Strong Content for Your Resume

Bullet Points or Skill Statements

Skill statements are the bullet points that you can use to describe your experiences. Focus on specific duties/accomplishments, and ways to connect your experience to the position. 

To build a strong skill statement, use the following tips:

Step 1: Identify keywords (especially verbs)

Keywords are specific skills, language, qualities, or experiences looked for in a candidate. Examples include:

• Software proficiencies (e.g. Office Suites, HTML)
• Degrees/Certification 
• Specific Communication Skills (e.g. Negotiation, Collaboration)

You can identify keywords in:

1. Job Listings: look for items repeated often, or are very specific. 
   • e.g. Make sure to copy the phrasing they use. If they list “CRM software,” use that phasing instead of an example like “Salesforce”
2. O*NET: Look up the job you’re interested in.
   • For example, under the “Technology Skills” heading, see ideas that are noted with a flame emoji . These are noted as frequently used in job postings, and may be helpful for the job you’re applying for.

Find ways to integrate the keywords throughout your resume, in bullet points and/or skills sections.

Step 2: Connect yourself to the keyword

Once you’ve identified keywords, begin to brainstorm ways that you can connect yourself to those skills/qualities/actions. Try to ask yourself:

• Have I done this before?
• If I do not have experience with this, is there something similar I’ve done?
  • e.g. If the keyword is “assess patients,” and you have no patient care experience, think of ways you’ve assessed other groups of people (e.g. customers).
• How have I demonstrated this quality?
• Do I have any achievements related to this quality/skill/action?

Once you’ve identified the connection, place that keyword/phrase as a bullet point under that experience.

Step 3: Add details

Now that you’ve selected a key word or verb that you would like to include in your bullet point, you will want to add relevant details. You can do this by clarifying and quantifying.

Clarify: Clarifying allows you to explain the context of your accomplishment/duty. Ask yourself: Who? What? Where? When? Why?

Example:

• Keyword: Monitored
  • Who/What did you monitor? (e.g. Students, patients, employees)
    • What did you monitor about them? (e.g. Vitals, behavior, grades, progress)
  • What item/equipment did you use to monitor?
  • Where did you monitor? (e.g. in a busy hospital setting, in one-on-one sessions)
  • When did you monitor? (e.g. when students are at risk of failing a course, during surgery recovery)
  • Why did you monitor it/them? (e.g. to ensure success, to aid in recovery)

Quantify: Quantifying allows you to provide the context and the scale of your accomplishment/duty. Ask yourself: How much? How many?*

*You don’t have to have specific numbers. You can always show a range (e.g. 7-12 employees) or an estimate (e.g. about 60 calls per shift).

Example:

• Before adding details: Edited submitted articles for paper
• After adding details: Line-edited and fact-checked about 50 articles per week to ensure quality in published content

Step 4: Format the bullet point

Bullet points for resumes should begin with a verb that represents the skill or achievement that you are hoping to demonstrate. Avoid using “I…” or “Duties included…”

If you are struggling to come up with ideas, try using these templates:

Accomplished [x] as a measured by [y] by doing [z]

Increased team efficiency by 15% as measured by delivery time by designing and implementing a new delivery system

Action verb + how you did it + why you did it

Facilitated creative activities for four children to support their emotional and social development during the COVID-19 lockdown

Action verb + details + outcome/result

Coordinated the service of 10 tables in a high-volume restaurant, delivering efficient and friendly service to guests

Take a look at these common activities and how you might strengthen them using our “Verb + Details + Outcome” equation:

Action Verb Examples

Looking for more examples of strong verbs? Check these out: