Crafting Strong Bullet Points

Starting Tips:
 1. Always start each bullet point with an action verb.
 2. Use past tense for jobs that happened in the past, and present tense for jobs you are currently still employed at.
 3. Include 3-5 bullet points for each experience.

Ask Yourself These Questions:

  • What: What were your responsibilities? What did you accomplish? Quantify achievements using numbers, percentages, or dollar amounts.

  • How: How did you do it? What methods, skills, or technologies did you use?

  • Why: Why was it important?

  • When: When did you do it? Quantify by sharing how frequently you did something.

  • Who: Who was involved? Be specific about your interactions (coworkers vs. customers, age ranges, group sizes).

Starting Point

Ask yourself…

 

Led activities for campers

How and Who?

Leveraged clear and engaging communication style to lead 10-12 campers aged 7-9 in activities.

Operated cash register

When and Why?

Processed up to 20 customer transactions an hour in a friendly and efficient manner while enhancing the customer experience.

Used research skills

How and What?

Conducted primary and secondary research using historical archives, digital libraries, and scholarly journals to produce a 20-page paper on early 20th-century literature.

Bonus Tip: For bullet point sentences that go over onto the next line by one word, what is commonly referred to as a “cliffhanger”, it is best practice to edit the sentence to fit on one line.