On average, employers spend less than a minute reviewing a candidate’s résumé, therefore candidates need to make every second count! The biggest mistake a candidate can make when writing bullet points for the experience section on their résumé is simply telling the employer the tasks they did. For example, “Provided tutoring to students.” does not tell the reader how you provided tutoring to the students; why providing tutoring to the student is important; or the impact your actions had on the students. Providing the reader with a descriptive bullet point gives them the opportunity to understand the duties of your position and how well you performed them. Let’s try this statement again:
“Provided tutoring to students” becomes “Provided after school, one-to-one instruction for over 50 students prior to ISTEP testing impacting in an increase in test scores among 85% of the participants.” When writing a successful bullet point, remember S.H.I.P!
- Start with an action verb.
- Highlight achievements, results, skills learned and/or used
- Include tailored statements to the education industry
- Provide quantitative data when possible
Tradara McLaurine, Assistant Director
Career Center, Indiana State University