how to put unpaid work experience on resume

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How to showcase unpaid work experience in your job search.

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Unpaid work experience can be helpful to your job search

Volunteer work, pro bono consulting or other unpaid work experience can be helpful to your job search in multiple ways:

·      in-between jobs, unpaid work experience allows you to stay busy and keep your skills and expertise updated;

·      For a career changer, unpaid work experience allows you to experiment with a new area and gives you proof in a new role ;

·      If you’re currently employed and unsure you want a new job, unpaid work experience on the side can help clarify your preferences and priorities.

Ideally, any unpaid work that you do is hands-on and substantive enough to give you stories to share and tangible results. Showcase unpaid work experience in these seven areas of your job search:

Include unpaid work experience in your Summary, when it is relevant to jobs you are pursuing, especially if you are a career changer and probably have little else directly related to your new field. Depending on how substantive the experience is (length, results, responsibilities) you can include the details either in your Work Experience section or Additional Information section of the résumé. The more substantive experience should be counted with your other Work Experience.

2 - LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn has a Volunteer section, and LinkedIn insiders report that including volunteer service results in six times more clicks on your LinkedIn profile . If you are doing pro bono consulting work, and it’s substantive, you may want to include that in your Experience section, rather than volunteer. If you are working with a start-up on the side, along with your day job, I would include that in the Experience section, not Volunteer section, even if it’s unpaid work.

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3 - Cover Letter

If your unpaid work experience is one of your strongest examples of why you’re well-suited to a job, don’t forget to highlight it in your cover letter. You don’t need to specify it’s unpaid work, but rather focus on the results achieved and your specific contributions.

4 - Networking Pitch

When you introduce yourself, it’s often helpful to talk about something you’re currently working on or recently did. Similar to the cover letter, if your unpaid work experience is most relevant to the person with whom you’re currently speaking, then incorporate it into your introduction about yourself.

5 - Informational Meetings

As a job seeker, you always want to show you’re staying active, so that the people you’re meeting with know you’re serious about your search and not just looking to them to do the heavy lifting. Prepare examples from your unpaid work experience that show specific skills or expertise you’re learning or that showcase you in a specific role.

6 - Job Interviews

Like in informational meetings, it is best to have examples to share in job interviews. As you go through the job description and match your experience with the requirements and responsibilities, don’t forget about unpaid work experience. If a volunteer role or pro bono project is the closest match to the job at hand, it may be a more powerful example than something from your paid experience that is less aligned.

7 - Negotiation

Don’t assume that because work is unpaid, it means that prospective employers will devalue your worth to zero. If the unpaid work experience is relevant and shows impressive results, then it’s tangible proof to an employer that you are worthy of a role and the market value of that role. Landing even unpaid work shows prospective employers that you make things happen and that you don’t wait around. Use your activity, even in unpaid roles, to remind prospective employers that you are busy. You are a candidate who may just move on if they stall too much!

Keep in mind that while unpaid work experience is valuable and can be helpful to your job search, you want to move to paid experience as quickly as you can. If the role, your contributions and your results are truly important to an organization, they should find a way to pay you. This could be giving you options if it’s a startup, or a Board title if it’s a nonprofit. If your work is truly substantive, you want substantive remuneration to follow suit.

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Work Experience on a Resume: 20+ Examples of How to List It

Your work experience is the resume section hiring managers look at first. And if they’re busy, it’s often the only part they review. To get the interview, you need to pay extra attention to your resume work history section. In practice, this means you should spend roughly 80% of the total time spent on your resume on the work experience section. As with other resume sections, there are some simple rules to follow.  In this guide, we’ll unpack them for you and help you create a resume that stands out every single time.

Here’s what you’ll master today:

• How to describe your work experience on a resume (plus how to format it)
• Extra tips on how to make your work history super-memorable
• How to sell yourself on a resume in different situations
• How to draft your work experience section based on real examples for the most common scenarios and jobs

Let’s dive in!

How to List Your Experience on Your Resume

• Put it under a clear, legible heading
• Place it right after the resume summary or objective
• List your most recent experience first
• Include relevant experience
• Be clear, concise, and consistent with your formatting
• Use bullet points to describe your responsibilities and achievements

1. Put it under a clear, legible heading

Make sure your work experience section is clearly visible and has its own heading. You can name this section “Work Experience”, “Experience” or “Employment History”.

2. Place it right under the resume summary or objective

It’s best to place the experience section right under your resume summary or a resume objective. However, if you’re fresh out of college and have little or no work experience, you can fit the work history under your education section.

3. List your most recent experience first

You typically list your work experience in reverse chronological order — put your current or most recent gig at the top, followed by the previous one, then the one before that, and so on.

This is effective because it gives the hiring team the most relevant information instantly. If you’re a UX designer looking for a new opportunity, the hiring manager will want to know about your most recent accomplishments to see how you progressed, where your expertise lies, and how your latest experience can translate into success in your new role.

4. Include relevant experience

Do you need to put all your past experience on a resume? By no means. Professional resume writers and career coaches advise that you include up to 15 years of relevant work experience. Including every single job you’ve done (like that pizza delivery summer gig when you were 16) can actually work against you.

Remember, this is just a general rule that can be broken in certain situations.

For instance, if you’re looking for a job in tech, where skills, frameworks, and tech stacks change often, your experience from 13 years ago may not be truly relevant today.

Also, if you’ve had a major career change, e.g. switched from teaching to copywriting 10 years ago, you could omit your teaching roles. However, if working in that position gave you relevant skills and experience that you still consider useful and valuable (e.g. clear communication, time management, or presentations), you can definitely include it in your resume.

Read on if you’re changing careers, switching from the military, or are freshly graduated (we’ll cover those scenarios in a bit).

5. Be clear, concise, and consistent with your formatting

This is a big one. It’s crucial to format your entries properly so that the information is easy to spot and read. Also, consistency is hugely important. Maintain the same order of information in each entry for a polished, organized, and harmonious look.

Here’s how you can order the items in a single work experience entry:

• Your position (usually written in bigger font or in bold)
• Company name
• Dates worked
• Bullet points highlighting your responsibilities and achievements

6. Use bullet points to describe your responsibilities and achievements

Instead of writing a paragraph or description explaining your role in detail, make sure to use a bulleted list (it’s way clearer, better organized, and memorable).

Next, it’s always wise to focus on your most important accomplishments and achievements, rather than simply listing your everyday responsibilities. After all, the point of this section is to gently persuade the hiring team that you’re equipped to do the job and that you have an excellent track record.

In other words, this is where it pays to take a moment to think back to your biggest career wins and corroborate that with some data (more about this later).

Finally, make sure to limit the number of bullets as you go back in time. While it’s perfectly fine to have 5–8 points for your latest job, 3–4 will be enough for older entries.

Now let’s put theory into practice and look at two great examples of work history on a resume that follow the steps we discussed above.

Sample resume work experience section (senior candidate)

Vice President of Marketing Vue 03/2017 – Present

• Helmed website overhaul, resulting in increase of organic traffic by over 300%
• Spearheaded the team of 7 full-time employees and 12 contractors
• Tracked email, PPC and display marketing performance to optimize cost per lead
• Hit 541% and 137% return on marketing investment for organic and email, respectively

Sample resume work experience section (junior to mid-level candidate)

• Responded to up to 20 tickets a day, resulting in 97% first touch resolution score
• Maintained a >9.0 monthly average satisfaction rating each of last 12 months
• Resolved 7 escalations with the IT/SysDev teams in the last 3 months
• Wrote 24 knowledge base articles to reduce ticket resolution times by 1.3 minutes

How to Take Your Resume Work Experience Section from Standard to Job-Winning

Now let’s zoom in on your work experience section even closer and help you take those bullet points from average to outstanding. To sell yourself on your resume, just follow these simple tips.

1. Focus on achievements over day-to-day duties and quantify wherever possible

This is precisely where most candidates get stuck. A lot of you are probably thinking: yes, I’ve heard this piece of advice many times. But I don’t have any stellar achievements. I just do my job well .

Precisely. That’s enough to be sure you do have achievements. You might not even know it. And the best way to showcase those is by hard numbers.

Again, don’t freak out. You don’t have to be in the data and numbers game to be able to come up with quantifiable results and statistics. There are simple strategies to present tangible results to back up your accomplishments. And just so you realize how miserably bad people are at showcasing their accomplishments —

Here’s a real-life story that a resume-writing consultant friend told me.

He was hired to revamp a spacecraft engineer’s resume (btw, how cool is that!). When she walked him through her resume and explained what each item meant, one caught his attention — ” Optimized and automated the procurement and invoicing flow. ” Optimizing and automating? That always means something cool.

She eventually explained how she made a highly complex process fully automatic, and in doing so, saved around 18 work hours a month for 7 people each. These people were paid an average of $200/hr. That’s $1.3 million a year saved for the company. And that was not on her resume.

Why am I telling you this?

Because this is proof that you’re not alone in being horrible at framing duties as achievements. Apparently, even the most extraordinary candidates are. Bottom line: you will most definitely stand out if you know how to do it!

So here are a few tips on how to really stand out from the crowd:

Mention the scale , e.g. how many people you managed, or the size of the budgets you handled

• Provided consultations for 120 students a year over 7 consecutive years
• Managed a shift of 70 workers in a 250.000 square foot facility
• Standardized the Sales process in a 2000-employee company averaging 300M annual ARR
• Controlled an annual marketing budget of $30K

Mention the frequency , e.g. how many tasks you performed within a time frame

• Wrote 14 new SEO-optimized articles in the last quarter
• Onboarded 17 Fortune 2000 clients in 2021
• Performed 13 weekly technical website audits and resolved 25 issues
• Hosted 5 company webinars attracting a total of 790 B2B leads

Mention specific results , e.g. money and time saved

• Reduced the employee turnover rate by 5% in 2021
• Tripled the number of Instagram sales since 2019
• Reduced cost per sale from 3.8K to 2.7K in two years’ time
• Attracted 2.6 new LinkedIn followers in the last quarter

Pro tip: Record your accomplishments as they happen. This is how I do it. Every time something cool happens (e.g. 89% of email subscribers click on the CTA button in an email and read my article or 5 product demos were booked on a blog page that I wrote), I take a note in a Google document. Even if I’m not actively looking for a job. (Or not even thinking about it.) In time, you’ll have a killer list of accomplishments to add to your resume, cutting your writing time in half. Otherwise, you’ll either forget the details or spend hours digging through your old projects to find the right info.

2. Use action verbs at the beginning of your bullet points

If you take a closer look at all the examples we listed in this guide so far, you’ll notice a few common themes — none of the bullets start with “I” and they sound super descriptive although we used zero adjectives.

The secret lies in action verbs, the powerful verbs that are used at the beginning of each bullet to draw the reader in and show your impact.

Take a look at these examples again:

• Responded to an average of 20 tickets a day, resulting in 97% first touch resolution score
• Received 9.1 satisfaction rating in the last 365 days
• Resolved 7 escalations in the last 3 months with the IT/SysDev teams

Combined with numbers and specific results, these verbs show the recruiting team exactly how you accomplished things and attained goals at work.

There are extensive lists of power/action verbs you can find on the web, but here’s a short list of our favorite ones to get you started.

Top 50 action verbs to use in your resume work experience section:

• Coordinated
• Established
• Facilitated
• Implemented
• Standardized
• Streamlined
• Strengthened

Expert tip: Vary your power verbs to avoid repetition. Keep your bullet points as short as possible and avoid the use of pronouns, articles, and adjectives.

Here’s an example of a bland work experience section turned amazing and catchy by applying the 3 tips above.

• Responsible for all content marketing activities in the company
• I was in charge of the link-building project
• Proofreading of the copy before publishing.

Why we think it sucks:

Let’s dissect this Frankenstein.

• Consistency issues: Although the candidate uses the bulleted list to provide more information about their recent role, they are not consistent. The first bullet starts with an adjective, the second uses a pronoun (“I”) and looks like an actual sentence, while the third one starts with an -ing form. All in all, it’s a mess.
• No details or real info: The candidate uses overused phrases like “responsible” and “in charge of” combined with little other info. All in all, super bland and nonspecific.

Now let’s see how you can transform this meh work history section into an unforgettable one by using action verbs and quantifiers.

• Designed annual content marketing strategy, resulting in 247 SQLs (500+ employees)
• Oversaw a team of 10 writers, resulting in 60 do-follow links in the last 90 days
• Increased content downloads website-wide by 78%
• Conducted quality assurance for 100% of content

Why we love this version:

First, it’s super specific and it tells us exactly what this Content Marketing Manager did. Next, they listed the results of their efforts in a consistent and persuasive way. Finally, a nice mix of power verbs (designed, oversaw, increased, and conducted) leaves the reader with the impression that this person knows what they’re doing.

3. Customize your employment history section to the job description at hand

We’ve been saying this forever and we’ll say it again: don’t expect to have a single resume that can win you endless jobs. Heck. Don’t expect a generic, all-purpose resume to land you more than 1 interview out of 50 applications.

That’s not how the pros do it.

Instead, you’ll need multiple versions that you’ll then further customize by tailoring your work experience section to the exact position you’re targeting.

The easiest way to do this is to peruse the job description, identify which skills and requirements matter to the employer and then have your resume prove that you possess those very skills.

Here’s how it works in practice.

Let’s say a MarTech company is looking for someone to join the Billing Customer Support Team.

Here is a sample job ad and some of the requirements and duties listed in the description:

After carefully reading the job description details, this candidate found 5 points they have previously excelled in. Next, they’ll use them as guidelines to tailor their work experience resume section to match the requirements 100%.

Customer Support Engineer Omnis

• Solved a daily average of 20 Zendesk tickets over a 3-year period
• Maintained the internal knowledge base 100% clean and up to date
• Prioritized feature requests and worked with AppDev and PO until implementation
• Hit company-record ticket response times (11 hours Zendesk; 2 minutes live chat)
• Authored a total of 56 technical articles in the Help Center

Why we like this answer: The candidate relied on the information from the job ad to highlight their accomplishments in a clear and convincing way. They showed their familiarity with Zendesk, their dedication to keeping the internal company wiki updated, and proved that they are independent and proficient enough to write technical documentation. Finally, they illustrated most of their efforts with relevant metrics and KPIs and used power verbs to convey authority and skill.

How to List Work Experience on a Resume for Different Scenarios

This may make perfect sense to someone who’s had 10+ years of experience and few job gaps. But what if you’re applying for a job outside your industry or aren’t sure whether to include your volunteer experience? Here are all your questions answered.

How to show a promotion on your resume?

If you’ve held multiple positions in the same company or if you’d like to highlight your growth and change in roles, you can approach this in two different ways.

1) List them as a single entry if similar and if the career path is clear. Start with the company name, dates worked, and then list your positions together with the from-to period when you held them. Like this:

Acme Technologies Inc. 03/2017 – Present

Content Marketing Manager (01/2021 – Present) (a bullet-pointed list of accomplishments)

Content Writer (03/2017 – 01/2021) (note the promotion, followed by a bulleted list of responsibilities and achievements)

2) List them as two separate entries if you made a bigger shift or changed departments (e.g. started in a call center, then switched to Business Development).

A note of caution: When using stacked entries (1), there’s a chance that the ATS software won’t recognize your promotion as such, and may list your skills and experience under the earlier position. To ensure your resume will be well-parsed by the ATS and look good, it’s safer to stick to the format shown in (2) and list your promotions as two separate entries.

How to put freelance work on a resume?

Absolutely include your freelance work in your employment history, as it shows your versatility, skill set, and soft skills like client management, negotiation, and independence. Here’s an example of how a writer and illustrator listed their freelancing experience.

Content Writing Consultant (alternatively, you can use Contractor ) Freelance

• Contributed original blog content to businesses (include most notable clients)
• Increased organic traffic by 250% with a 6-month blog project
• Helped generate 14 Fortune 2000 leads through Google AdWords over a 6-month period
• Illustrated for both web and printed media
• Provided 50+ illustrations for clients such as NewYorker Magazine, CondeNast, Monocle
• Won Best Book Cover Award (Illustration Category) in 2021
• Collaborated with 20+ teams with an average UpWork score of 4.8

Should I include volunteer work on my resume?

If you can supply at least 5 years of paid work experience, you can skip your volunteering experience altogether or add them to other resume sections.

If your employment history is short or if you’re just starting your job search after being a stay-at-home parent or a student, then definitely include the volunteering gigs in your main work history section. After all, recruiters love seeing this type of experience — it tells a lot about who you are as a person, what you’re passionate about, and that you’re not entirely motivated by money.

How to list part-time jobs on a resume?

When adding your part-time jobs to your resume work history, treat it like any other entry. However, make sure to add that you worked part-time. A simple note next to your position works just fine. Like this:

Online Marketing Specialist (part-time) Forwa

• Posted 5 blog posts weekly in WordPress over a 2-year period
• Set up an average of 10 email marketing campaigns/week
• Assisted 2 Lead Gen Specialists to clean 14 lists over a 2-year period

How to put internships on a resume?

You can include your internship just as you would with any other work experience, no matter if it was paid or not. Add your official role, the company name, and then provide a bulleted list of your responsibilities and accomplishments. Here’s how one candidate did it:

• Used javascript, HTML, and bootstrap to build UI pages
• Worked closely with frontend developers to solve more complex issues
• Collaborated with backend developers and UX/UI designer to assess requirements

How to explain employment gaps on a resume?

I’ll start with a general note here: people freak out about their employment gaps way more than they should. Yes, employment gaps on your resume can be considered red flags, but not by default.

As a matter of fact, a recent study published in the American Economic Review reveals that “long-term unemployment spells in the past do not matter for employers’ hiring decisions.” The study also found that all subsequent experiences canceled out the gaps in employment, as well as that employers didn’t treat short-term and long-term unemployment much differently.

So no reason to panic, okay?

You’d normally have the chance to explain the gaps in your employment in an interview. To get there, it’s wise to address them in your resume work experience section and provide a bit of information and context.

This is especially valid if the gaps are bigger and happened for a good reason like getting a degree, being a full-time parent or caregiver, or for medical reasons.

And here’s how you can integrate that smartly into your resume employment history.

• Took time off from professional career to provide care for a baby and a toddler and manage the household
• Used the gap years to complete 3 B2B Sales courses

(In case you need more inspo, here’s what else you can put on a resume .)

Resume Work Experience Examples for Different Careers

Here you’ll find some of the best resume experience examples for the most common professions.

Customer service and tech support

• Assisted customers and troubleshot technical issues on 30+ calls/day on average
• Resolved 90% of issues without transfers or escalations
• Decreased cancellations by 11% over a one year period
• Ran regular customer satisfaction surveys resulting in 9.6/10 satisfaction rating
• Built close relationships with CIOs and CTOs from prospective companies
• Provided software demonstrations to 52 companies in the last quarter
• Closed 36 new deals, hitting a 69% closing rate in the last quarter

Software engineering

• Worked with PO team to update and rearchitect 50+ page web app
• Built 5 additional features in the last 12 months
• Cooperated with a team of 8 agile developers to prioritize biggest impact features

Office administration

• Provided reliable administrative assistance to the Regional Manager
• Organized 2 conferences for 2000+ attendees
• Managed 7 workshops and 10 local events over a two-year period
• Interviewed 6 potential new candidates and trained 3 new team members

Digital marketing

• Posted daily on 5 company social media profiles
• Interacted with 10 LinkedIn HR influencers every day
• Grew the LinkedIn account by 525% over a six-month period
• Provided emergency health care to 20 patient per shift on average
• Participated in 300+ emergency procedures over a one-year period
• Exceeded standards of care to hit 9.7 patient satisfaction rating in an anonymous survey
• Prepared and delivered 100% of lessons to second year students (<20 students/class)
• Coordinated 30+ extra study sessions to prepare students for state exams
• Increased assignment completion by 40% via technology-based learning during Covid19

Business analysis & data science

• Reduced the cost of IT infrastructure by 24% via alternative software solutions
• Relocated budget from social to organic for 30% increase in ROI
• Restructured the Sales department, resulting in 45K of new revenue

Find out how to write a next-level resume work experience section for 100+ other professions in this free resume library .

Need a bit more guidance?

You can hop over to Big Interview’s Resume Builder, where you’ll get to enter your information section by section (basic info and contact details, summary, work experience, education, certifications, skills), choose the design and then have the tool create a resume for you. Here’s what you’ll find inside:

This is super useful because you can easily create many iterations (for different job ads) and save a bunch of time in the process.

Once that’s done, you can also use ResumeAI , a new feature that assesses your resume for various criteria hiring teams use in real life – how easy it is on the eye, how you used action words to convey experience and skills, and whether it’s ATS-friendly Basically, you’ll get a rating based on how effective you were in showcasing your skills and experience.

And if you need a bit more support, we created a short course on resume writing, designed and led by our own co-founder, Pamela Skillings (aka *the resume and job interview guru*). In this curriculum, you get 8 video lessons with Pam (with a transcript), after which you’ll be 100% sure to crush that resume.

Key Points Summarized

TL; DR? Here’s the essence of a killer resume work experience section that you can copy in no time.

• A well-written employment history section directly impacts your chances of being shortlisted. Take some extra time to do it right.
• Always present your work experience in a clearly separated section and place it under your resume summary.
• Begin with your current (or most recent) job and work backward from there.
• Include the following information, in this order: your position, company name, and dates worked.
• Back up this information with a bulleted list of up to 5 achievements and responsibilities. Forget false modesty and show your excellent track record. Quantify and provide tangible results wherever possible. Use power verbs to convey authority and entice the hiring team.
• When applying for multiple jobs in different companies, custom-tailor your work experience section to each job opening. Browse the job requirements and duties and match them with examples from past experience.
• Bonus tip: Keep the high standards in other resume sections too. Learn how to best showcase your skills on a resume.

How many years of work history should I describe on a resume?

List 10–15 years of experience, depending on your individual circumstances. The key thing here is to include only relevant work experience, so if you’ve been in the job market for 10 years, but only 6 are relevant to the job you’re applying for, focus on those 6 years. You can still list the previous experience, but there’s no need to go into great detail.

How many bullet points should I use per entry in the work history section?

A common guideline is to have 3–8 bullet points per entry. This way you can give plenty of relevant information about your achievements and responsibilities without overwhelming the reader with excessive detail. You can use 5–8 for your most recent and penultimate positions. As you work your way backwards, 3 bullet points is usually enough. Remember to aim for quality over quantity — if you can fit your best accomplishments into 3 bullet points, there’s no need to write 2 additional weak ones. Make sure to refer to your “strongest” qualities in the first 2 bullets.

What work experience should I not include in my resume?

Here are some examples of work experience that should not be included in your resume: irrelevant experience, experience from over 15 years ago, high school jobs, or volunteer work. However, this all depends on where you are in the career journey. For example, for first-time job seekers, school jobs, part-time jobs, and volunteer experience will matter.

What should I do if I have little to no work experience?

If you have no or little formal work experience, include other types of experience and focus on your qualifications and results. Some ideas to consider: internships, volunteer work, academic projects, freelance or contract work, leadership roles in student associations or sport clubs, and community work. Don’t worry about your title or if it was a formal experience. Instead, focus on the relevant skills and tangible results you accomplished in these roles.

Should I put volunteer experience in my work history section?

You can include it if you have little to no relevant professional experience. Otherwise, you can put it in a separate resume section or omit it if your resume is already full.

How to address gaps in employment in my work experience section?

If there’s a significant gap in your resume, address it proactively in the document and don’t wait for it to come up at the interview (imagine you miss out on one because of that gap!). This way, your potential employers will know you have nothing to hide. Briefly explain the reasons for the gap, keep your language positive, and mention if you did any coursework or upskilling during that time. If you took a sabbatical to travel, take care of a family, or get degrees to prepare for a career change, say it proudly.

When should I take a job off my resume?

A general rule is to remove a job from your resume if it’s no longer relevant to the position you’re applying for. For example, if you’re applying for a marketing role, already had 4 marketing roles, but had initially worked as a history teacher for 1 year, it’s safe to assume your history teacher experience can be taken off. The point is to not overwhelm the resume with unrelated experience. You can also remove some short-term jobs or jobs you had a long time ago, especially if your resume is already getting longer than 2 pages.

Should I include a job I was fired from on my resume?

That depends on several factors. If this was a recent position you held for a long time, you should include it. Otherwise, there would be a big employment gap that you’d still have to address (and it may come up anyway during a background check). If you can come up with a tactful, honest explanation behind the termination, and especially if you’ve gained new relevant skills in the meantime, don’t hesitate to include that position. On the other hand, if the job was a long time ago or if it’s unrelated to the position you’re currently applying for, feel free to omit it.

Pamela Skillings

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How to List Volunteer Experience On a Resume [W/ Examples]

Let’s face it - first impressions matter. And when it comes to job search, your resume will be the first impression a potential employer will have of you. 

This begs the question: how do you make your resume stand out in a pile of job applications? 

You try to make every section count. And a particularly beneficial one to have in this regard is volunteer experience.

A volunteer experience section can be a great way to showcase your skills if you’re just starting on your career, or even if you have a work experience gap on your CV. It is also an indicator that you are not just any other money-driven applicant, but also someone who cares about giving back to the community. 

But what is the best way - and time - to include volunteer experience in your resume? That’s exactly what this article will show you.

Read on to find out: 

What is a Resume Volunteer Experience Section?

• When to Include Volunteer Experience in Your Resume?
• How to Include Volunteer Experience in Your Resume?
• How to Get Your Volunteer Experience Section Right?

The volunteer experience section of a resume includes any unpaid work you’ve done that could be relevant to your application. In addition to being an effective way to showcase your professional skills, it also shows that you are a purpose-driven person. The studies speak for themselves - volunteering can open a new path to employment. 

You can list volunteer experience either under the work experience section or as a separate section entirely. Below, we’re going to explain how, exactly, you can do both.

But first, here’s an example of how volunteer experience (as a separate resume section) looks like: 

When to Include Volunteer Experience in Your Resume? 

While having a volunteer experience section in your resume can be an asset, it’s not always going to be useful. There’s value in knowing when volunteering can be relevant in improving your chances to get hired and when it can be dead-weight.  

Here’s our cheat sheet on when to and when not to include volunteer experience in your resume. 

• The company you are applying for emphasizes ‘giving’ as part of its identity. Employees at VMware, for example, are given volunteer hours which they can use instead of doing standard work.  
• You have recently graduated and have no work experience . 
• You have extra space on your resume or an employment gap. 
• You are applying for an NGO, non-profit, or charity organization . 
• The volunteer work is outdated. Volunteer work is awesome, yes, but you want it to be as time-relevant for the recruiter reviewing your application as possible. And experience from a decade ago rarely cuts it.
• You can fill up your resume with more relevant sections, such as paid work and education . As a rule of thumb, the first thing a recruiter notices in a resume is paid experience and education - volunteering experience is just a nice-to-have extra. This means you shouldn’t squeeze in volunteer experience if it means cutting out more important sections from your resume. 

How to Include Volunteer Experience In Your Resume

Now that we went over the whens, let’s go over the most important part - how to include volunteer experience in your resume in a way that highlights your skills and emphasizes your achievements. 

As we mentioned before, volunteer experience can be a section of its own or can count as work experience in some specific cases. 

DO include it as part of the work experience section if: 

• The experience is super relevant to the job you are applying for.
• You have otherwise little paid experience. 

For example, let’s say you’re applying for a job in Journalism, but you’ve never worked as a professional in the field. However, you have plenty of journalism experience from years of volunteering at your university’s newspaper. 

Journalism Experience 

Reading Owl Daily

2017 - 2019

• Volunteering experience as Reporter for the University’s daily newspaper. Covered the News section, as well as handled copy editing. 
• Kept track of the newspaper’s online presence and updated its WordPress site daily. 
• Wrote a total of 50 interviews for two years. 

Now, when your volunteering experience isn’t specifically related to the job you’re applying for, you’re better off creating a separate volunteer experience section and formatting it just like the work experience section:

• Volunteering Position
• Organization You Volunteered For
• Responsibilities & Achievements

If you want your unrelated volunteering experience to stand out, however, simply listing your responsibilities and achievements won’t do. Instead, you want to show how the volunteer experience ties you to the job you are currently applying for.   

Confused? Let us cover an example: 

Say that you have been helping at the local animal rescue center for a year, but now you’re applying for a marketing company. Your volunteer experience is not marketing-relevant, but it can be tailored as such.

Volunteer Experience 

• Helped develop an online platform for stray animals’ adoption that saved 100+ dogs and cats, on behalf of the Animal Rescue Center.
• Wrote copy for the online platform and created banners and brochures to advertise it.  

Keep in mind, though, that tailoring is not something that you have to do all the time - volunteering experience is going to help whether or not it’s related to your field.

If you can tailor it to the job, though, that is, for sure, a big plus.

Volunteer Experience Section Example

Looking for some inspiration? Look no further!

Here’s what a well-crafted volunteer experience section looks like on a resume: 

International Federation Red Cross, France

5/2016 - 5/2017

• Provided presentations about Red Cross programs in the community. 
• Assisted the fundraising team with writing grant proposals. 

Now, if you’re listing your volunteering experience as part of the work experience section, here’s how it could look like if you were applying for a job in the communications field:

Team London Volunteer 

Mayor of London Office

09/2018 - 08/2019

• Supported the implementation of a new external communications strategy.
• Created a new e-newsletter to share with a variety of stakeholders to keep them up to date with internal news and to gain new supporters.  
• Generated visual content for the organization’s social media platform. 

How to Get Your Volunteer Experience Section Right 

There’s more to creating a compelling volunteer experience section than just writing it out. Here are our top 3 tips on including volunteering in your resume the right way:

Tip #1: Follow the Format. 

As we mentioned before, there is a pretty straightforward format one can follow to list volunteering experiences.

Here’s what it looks like:

• Your position and/or title 
• Company/Organization name
• Achievements/Responsibilities 
• Volunteering timeframe 

Tip #2: List Achievements Over Responsibilities. 

When possible, you want to focus more on achievements as opposed to responsibilities in your resume (and this applies to volunteer experience, too).

Here’s what we mean by that:

Let’s assume that you have volunteer experience as a research assistant. The responsibilities are pretty obvious - i.e. compiling and distributing questionnaires, collecting and analyzing relevant data, doing statistical and analytical work, etc. 

The HR knows all this - they’re reviewed hundreds of similar resumes, all of which mention the same responsibilities.

If you, however, focus on showing how you concretely contributed to the research, by say, pointing out that 50% of the data analyzed by you was used to advance it, you’d have told the recruiter something completely new and compelling that makes you stand out. 

Focusing on your achievements, when relevant, is your best chance at giving your resume the upper hand. 

To give you a more concrete example, though, here’s a comparison of achievements done right: 

• Compiled and distributed qualitative questionnaires with a 90% response rate. 
• Completed 50% of the data analysis later used to advance the project’s research. 

However, in some industries, you might have fewer achievements to list than in others. If you volunteered at your local homeless shelter, your day-to-day goal probably wasn’t to distinguish yourself but help others. If that’s the case, listing responsibilities is OK. 

Here’s how that would look like in your resume: 

• Registering homeless people into the shelter.
• Unpacking and distributing food aids. 
• Oversee opening and closing of the shelter 2 times/week. 

Tip #3: Keep It Relevant

Only mention your volunteering experience if they’re recent and relevant .

For example, if you volunteered 5 years back, and since then you have worked several professional roles in your field, you don’t need to go back in time and mention that volunteering experience (even if it was an amazing learning experience).

In such a case, your volunteering experience is neither recent (it happened 5 years ago), nor relevant (you probably learned a lot more from your recent positions).

Key takeaways 

And we’re done! By now, you should know everything on how to include volunteering experience in a resume.

Now, let’s recap all the main points we’ve covered:

• Volunteer experience can be a huge plus to your job application, especially if you are a recent graduate, have a gap in your resume, or are applying to an NGO.  
• List volunteer experience either as a separate section or as work-related experience (if your volunteering experience is related to the job you’re applying for). 
• When listing your volunteering experiences, when possible, include achievements over responsibilities. Responsibilities are what put you on the same plate as all other applicants - your achievements are what set you apart! 

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Does Your Experience Counts As Work Experience (+ Examples)

Not all experience is created equal — but what counts as work experience and what doesn’t? This guide will explain what experience to include on your resume and why

2 years ago   •   13 min read

Entry level position … requires 3 years of experience.

If you've ever noticed a similar phrase on a job ad and seen red, you're not alone. Most jobs — even some entry-level positions — ask for at least some experience in a similar role. The problem is, it's increasingly hard to tell what counts as 'experience' and what doesn't. Is an internship work experience? Volunteering? Hobbies? The answer, unfortunately, is yes and no.

Here's exactly what counts as work experience for your resume, what doesn't, and how to tell the difference.

What counts as work experience (and what doesn’t)

Here’s a short list of things that can — but don’t necessarily — belong on your resume:

• Volunteering
• Internships
• Hobbies and extracurricular activities
• Personal projects
• Babysitting, fast food, and other side jobs
• University coursework

So, how do you work out what counts as work experience and whether to list it on your resume? Follow this simple rule of thumb: If it's the most relevant experience you have, include it on your resume. If you have enough other experience to fill up a one-page resume, leave it off.

How has the idea of traditional work experience changed in 2024?

As we make our way through 2024, we're seeing a shift in what's stamped as 'experience'. Sure, your classic job roles still snag that title, but there's a growing club of contenders.

The modern rise in remote work, the gig economy, and digital skills have redefined the definition of traditional work experience. Virtual roles are now as valued as in-office positions, and proficiency in digital tools and online platforms can greatly enhance a resume as much as paid experience. Post-pandemic employers value adaptability and independence, and modern recruiters are far more open to accepting personal projects, freelance work, and remote learning on your resume than in previous years.

Paid vs. unpaid experience

When deciding if your experience counts as work experience for your resume, paid positions often hold more weight with recruiters than unpaid experience, as these roles typically come with tangible responsibilities and expectations.

However, unpaid roles, like internships, personal projects, and volunteer work, can be just as impactful, especially if they're industry-relevant and showcase the right skills. In both cases, it's the skills acquired, projects undertaken, and accomplishments that stand out to employers.

Does volunteering count as work experience?

Volunteering is a pretty safe bet to include on your resume. Even though it’s not paid experience, most volunteer roles usually have similar requirements to traditional workplaces — things like requiring volunteers to be committed, on time, and perform their set tasks — which makes it one of the best things to include on your resume if you don’t have a lot of paid work experience.

Here's an example:

• When to include it: If you don’t have more relevant work experience.
• When to leave it off: If you have enough paid experience to fill at least one page on your resume.

Do internships count as work experience?

Not exactly — most companies won’t count internships toward the number of years’ required, but this can depend on the company. Regardless, internships are still a great way to demonstrate accomplishments in a professional setting, especially if they’re in the same industry as the jobs you’re applying for.

• When to include it: If the internship was in your field or you can use it to demonstrate transferable skills.
• When to leave it off: If it’s been a few years since the internship(s) and you’ve racked up more experience since then.

Does research count as work experience?

Post-graduate research definitely counts as work experience. If you held a graduate research assistant position, you can list that in your regular work experience section , including the employer, dates, and relevant accomplishments.

Undergraduate research doesn’t officially count as work experience, but you can still list in on your resume. Include your involvement in research projects in a projects, education, or publications section , depending on how you choose to format your resume.

Or here's an example of including a university project on your resume:

• When to include it: If you held a graduate research position or participated in significant undergraduate research.
• When to leave it off: If you were only marginally involved in the research and it doesn’t demonstrate relevant skills or experience.

Does college count as work experience?

No. While the education section is an important part of your resume — especially if you’re still in school or have only recently graduated — it’s not the same thing as work experience. Regardless of how relevant it is, it would look naïve and out of touch to include things like coursework as part of your work experience. List these in your education section instead — if this is your most relevant experience, it can still go at the top of your resume.

• When to include it: If you graduated recently and your degree is the most relevant experience you have.
• When to leave it off: If you graduated more than a few years ago, your coursework is less relevant than more recent work experience.

Do hobbies and activities count as work experience?

Generally, no — which doesn’t mean you can never list them on your resume. Private hobbies aren’t particularly relevant to most jobs, with some exceptions (for example, if you want to use your involvement in team sports to highlight your teamwork skills). More organized activities, like involvement in extracurricular clubs and organizations, are a better way to showcase accomplishments.

• When to include it: If you can demonstrate relevant accomplishment or transferable skills.
• When to leave it off: If it’s a personal hobby without any notable accomplishments, like reading or taking long walks.

Do personal projects count as work experience?

As Work experience? Not necessarily. But as a valuable addition to your resume? Yes! Personal or educational projects can be a great way of demonstrating how you've used your hard skills in action, which is far more persuasive than simply sticking them on a skills list at the end of your resume. If you can, link directly to a GitHub or portfolio so potential employers can judge your work for themselves.

Examples of relevant personal projects for resumes:

• Website design or development : If you've built a website from scratch or revamped an existing one, this can  showcases skills in coding, design, SEO, and more.
• Writing a book or blog : Demonstrates dedication, expertise in a particular area, and writing skills.
• Creating a mobile app : Shows programming skills and problem-solving abilities.
• Art projects : If you're applying for design or creative roles, personal art projects can display creativity and attention to detail.
• Community service projects : Organizing a community event or starting a neighborhood initiative can be great for roles requiring leadership or organizational skills.

• When to include it: If you want to demonstrate relevant hard skills that you haven’t used in a traditional work environment.
• When to leave it off: If it was more of a casual hobby or it’s still unfinished — completed projects make a better impression.

Does babysitting count as work experience?

Yes! Especially if you’re still in school, part-time gigs like babysitting, retail, or food service are a great way to show that you have a good work ethic and some kind of experience.

• When to include it: If you don’t have more relevant paid work experience in your field or industry.
• When to leave it off: If it was a once-off or very occasional thing.

Does fast food count as sales experience?

Yes, if you can demonstrate relevant accomplishments. Again, use common sense when talking about part-time jobs — if a job posting calls for 5+ years’ experience as an account manager and you spent a summer as an assistant manager at a restaurant, you’ll look a bit out of touch if you try to try to claim it’s the same thing.

But if the ad simply asks for “ sales experience ,” you can absolutely list appropriate accomplishments from a part-time job.

• When to include it: If you can include hard numbers or metrics to quantify your accomplishments .
• When to leave it off: If you only spend a few months in the job — especially if it wasn't particularly recent — you might be hard-pressed to list any real accomplishments from that position.

Do short-term jobs count as work experience?

Frequent short-term or contract positions can be challenging to present effectively on a resume. To ensure short-term positions reflect positively, group similar roles or list them under a common heading like "Contract Positions" or "Freelance Engagements". Emphasize transferable skills and notable achievements, even if they were gained in a short period. Using phrases like "accelerated project completion" or "quickly adapted to diverse roles" can underscore adaptability and value in brief employment stints.

What to do if you don’t have enough experience

It's the age-old conundrum: How do you get experience if you need experience just to get a job? Here's how to bridge the gap between your experiences and the requirements of the position and how to search for an entry-level role without any experience:

Get more experience

It might sound glib, but the best thing to do if you don't have any experience is to get some. Instead of waiting around for someone to hire you, why not take advantage of the gig economy and do it yourself?

Go freelance

Engaging in freelance and gig work not only offers experience for your resume but also provides a platform to showcase your skills to future employers. Create a freelance profile on sites like Upwork, Fiverr, or Reddit and advertise your services directly. It might not exactly be your dream job, but it'll get your foot in the door and allow you to list some actual work experience and gain industry-relevant skills.

Consider virtual and remote opportunities

In today's evolving job market, virtual internships are becoming more common, helping you acquire industry experience from any location. Remote projects also offer opportunities to showcase adaptability and digital proficiency and can significantly enhance your resume, especially for roles that value global perspective and competitive digital skills.

Contact recent startups

Recently funded startups are more likely to take a chance on less experienced hires, since they're an unknown quantity themselves. They often don't have strict hiring processes in place, which makes it easier to get your foot in the door. You can then use that experience as a springboard to bigger and better opportunities — or you might decide you enjoy helping to build something from the ground up.

It’s a cliché for a reason: Who you know really is more important than what you know. Reach out to people in your chosen industry on LinkedIn to ask for an informational interview , ask people you know if they have any job leads or if they can connect you with people who might, use your college’s alumni network, and reach out directly to second or even third-degree connections for advice.

Focus your search on graduate schemes

Plenty of employers offer dedicated graduate schemes to target promising entry-level candidates. If you’re in an industry where graduate schemes are common (think fields like finance, management, law, marketing, and even retail), it’s worth searching for these in addition to applying directly for jobs.

An entry-level resume template

Here’s a sample entry-level resume template that looks impressive — without including any paid work experience:

For more entry-level resume examples, check out our professional ATS resume templates .

How to write a resume with limited experience

Crafting a compelling resume with limited experience can feel daunting, but it can be done. Here are some key techniques to effectively showcase your achievements, skills, and potential, even without traditional paid experience.

List accomplishments in bullet points

No matter what you choose to include on your resume, always list at least 1-3 relevant accomplishments in bullet point format. You should start each bullet point with an action verb ( led , organized, revamped, etc.), clearly state what you did, and include the result or some sort of measurable success.

Tailor you resume to the job description

Customize your work experience for each application by:

• Analyzing the job description: Start by reading the job description thoroughly and highlighting the keywords, skills, and experience they're looking for.
• Sticking to relevant experience: If your experience a) isn't directly relevant to the job you're applying for, and b) doesn't showcase any relevant skills or accomplishments, it doesn't belong on your resume. Reorder your work experiences to showcase the most relevant positions at the top.
• Adjusting job titles (with caution): If a previous job title doesn't directly align with your application, consider tweaking the title. However, ensure that it remains truthful and is backed up by references or further details.
• Updating your resume summary: Tailor your summary to align with your intended position, and make sure to include the job title of the position you're applying for.

Highlight transferable skills

You don't need experience to highlight transferable skills that are relevant to the job you're applying for. Soft skills like teamwork, communication, time management , and attention to detail are in demand no matter the industry or role, so choose accomplishments that illustrate them.

Include the right keywords

To make it past modern ATS software, your resume needs to include keywords that align with the job description. As far as the ATS is concerned, it doesn't matter if those keywords reference volunteer work or paid experience, as long as they appear somewhere on your resume.

Upload your resume to the tool below to find out if you’ve included the right keywords and skills for your application. The tool also scans your resume for mistakes and gives you personalized suggestions on how to improvement.

List key technical skills

If you have hard skills — things like proficiency with specific software, programming languages, hardware, or certifications — list them directly in a skills or additional information section. To get a feel for what technical skills are required, scan the job description and browse our database of top industry-specific hard skills and keywords .

If you want to find technical skills relevant to the job you’re applying to, use our hard skills and keywords tool below — it’ll give you a list of skills to include in your skills section .

Create appropriate section titles

Listing other types of experience on your resume doesn’t mean hiding the fact that it wasn’t official work experience. Especially if you’re a recent graduate or applying for an entry-level position, hiring managers understand that you may not have a lot of paid work experience.

Instead of trying to be sneaky about it, be upfront about what kind of experience it really was and let your accomplishments speak for themselves. Some appropriate section titles to use on your resume include:

• Community Involvement
• Hobbies and Interests

Balancing honesty with a targeted resume

It's vital to find a balance between being honest about your work experience and framing it strategically to meet job requirements. Always ensure the skills and experience you claim are genuine. Over-exaggerating or stretching the truth too far can be seen as dishonest and will negatively affect your application rather than helping.

Frequently asked questions

Should i apply for a job if i don’t have the required experience.

Regardless of whether or not your experience is official work experience, Yes. Obviously, there's some common sense involved; if a senior or mid-level position is asking for 7-10 years of work experience and you have maybe one, don't apply. But if it's an entry-level position asking for 1-3 years, or a job asking for 5 years and you have a solid 3 or 4, go ahead!

Job ads often exaggerate how much experience is really needed or describe their ideal candidate when they aren’t realistically expecting to hire someone who ticks every single box. If you have a reasonable level of experience and meet most of the criteria in the job description, go ahead and apply — you won’t look silly or out of touch, and you might even land the job.

Why do job ads ask for more experience than they need?

You should think of the requirements in a job posting more as more of a wish list: In the best possible situation, this is what the ideal candidate would look like. But hiring managers understand that the perfect candidate isn’t always out there, so any reasonable recruiter is going to expect people to apply who don’t meet every single criteria. Just make sure you can tell the difference between a ‘nice to have’ and a true ‘must have,’ like basic qualifications or key skills.

How do I find out how much experience is really needed?

The job ad is the most obvious way, but it isn’t the only way. Search LinkedIn for people with the same job title and look up the company on Glassdoor. This should give you a good idea of how much experience people in that role realistically need and whether the company routinely hires candidates with fewer qualifications than they’re asking for.

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How to word unpaid professional experience on my resume?

I'm doing copy editing and proofreading work for a small business that's well known in the web fiction arena, but I'm doing it on an unpaid volunteer basis. They like my work and have said they will give me a letter of recommendation when we part ways, but I wonder how to put this experience on my resume? Should I list it as "unpaid volunteer" work, or should I just say I've worked professionally for so and so as a copy editor and proofreader?

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• Resume and Cover Letter
• Work Experience for a Resume:...

Work Experience for a Resume: How to Add it to Get Hired

14 min read · Updated on June 12, 2024

Present your work experience well and you'll blow other applicants out of the water!

For most professionals, the Work Experience section of their resme will be the most important part of their most important career document. This is the part that proves to a hiring manager that you have the knowledge, background, and experience to excel. But, given that it carries so much weight, how can you write and format it for maximum impact?

In this article, we'll examine how to lay out your resume work experience section, what to include, and how to word it. There are plenty of examples too, so that you can visualize how your resume could look. In short, we'll give you the crib sheet that teaches you how to produce a stellar resume that gets noticed for all the right reasons.

Where should I position my resume work experience?

While your work experience is likely to make up the bulk of your resume, that doesn't mean you should put it right at the top. Start with your contact details and headline , followed by a profile summary and your key skills .

Then, you have a decision to make. If you're a recent graduate , or you're aiming for your first job, your qualifications are probably more impressive than any work experience you have. Therefore, put your qualifications section directly under the key skills and position any work experience you have underneath that.

If you're established in your career, however, it's your professional experience that should take center stage. Relegate your qualifications to the bottom of the resume and promote your work experience to start just below your skills.

Pro tip: When you're writing a resume, put yourself in the mind of your reader. Make sure it's easy for them to find the most impressive and relevant information!

How to lay out your resume work experience

First things first – you need to create a basic layout for your resume work experience that you can then replicate for every role. You'll need the following elements:

Section heading

To ensure your resume is easy to navigate, begin with the section heading. You can choose from any of the following:

Work experience

Professional experience

Career history

Career summary

The heading should be in a larger font than the body of the text, so that a reader can immediately identify and jump to the section they're interested in.

Next up, you'll need a subheading for every role you've held over the last 10-15 years. Within that subheading, include:

Your job title. Ideally use your official job title, but if you're going for a similar role with a slightly different title, it's fine to tweak it, or to put the target job title in brackets. The key point is that the job title should accurately reflect what the job actually entails.

The name of your employer. Use their formal name, e.g. “Ford Motor Company” rather than just “Ford.”

The start and end dates of your employment. Just month and year will do – or even just year if you've held each role for a long time. Keep the format consistent, whether you chose “12/2023” or  “Dec 2023” or “December 2023.”

The location. Add the state or country you worked in, unless you've always worked, and will continue to work, locally - in which case location is less important.

When you've laid out this sub-heading, duplicate it for every role so that you have a uniform presentation that looks professional.

Role and responsibilities

Below the sub-heading for every role, you'll need to briefly explain your overall role and responsibilities. You don't need to go into much detail on this – 3 to 4 lines or bullet points should be plenty. The key here is to ensure that someone from outside the company, or someone unfamiliar with the role, can immediately understand what you were employed to do. Quantify whatever information you can, so that the reader can understand the scope of your duties, too.

Achievements

Now we come to the star attraction of your resume work experience section – your achievements! Aim to list a minimum of 3 achievements for every role you've held over the last 10-15 years. Remember, an achievement in this context doesn't mean something personal to you, such as learning to use new computer software. It means a benefit you've delivered to the company.

Start every achievement with a dynamic verb , such as reduced, exceeded, improved, increased, won… the options are endless. Again, quantify everything you can so that the hiring manager can appreciate the impact you've had on the business.

Which work experience is listed first on a resume?

Always write your resume work experience in reverse chronological order – that means your current (or latest) job first, working backwards in time as you go down the page. By doing that, your most recent, high-level, and impressive experience will be the first thing the reader sees.

Resume work experience example

Let's put all that together to see how it works:

Professional Experience

Head of IT                                                                                                                       May 2015 – date

Big Business Inc.

Led a team of 25 Software Engineers and controlled a $30million annual budget to provide IT services to 5,000 users across 15 locations. Directed transformation projects and contributed as a key member of the senior leadership team.

Key achievements

Enabled $5million of savings by overseeing a project to implement a time management system for 2,500 staff

Reduced average support resolution times by 20% by upskilling and expanding the team

Reduced printing costs by $30,000 per year by renegotiating contracts with suppliers

Senior Systems Engineer                                                                                      Jan 2013 – May 2015

Small Business Inc.

Held full accountability for all IT requirements in 3 UK offices, supported 50 users and managed a portfolio of IT projects.

Improved data retention and retrieval by 4 hours per request by transitioning from tape to cloud back-up

Won Manager of the Year for 2 consecutive years

As you can see, the focus of the resume work experience section here is on the value added to the business. By quantifying the scope of the role and the achievements, it's easy for the reader to understand this person's previous experience and how they can make a positive impact in the role.

How much work experience do I put on my resume?

As you'll have seen above, we recommend using this resume work experience format for all the roles you've held in the last 10-15 years. That doesn't mean any earlier work experience is useless and should be discarded! No, it just means that this level of detail isn't required.

Recruiters are usually most interested in your most recent experience. Earlier roles can simply be summarized in an Early Career section, giving just job title, employer name, and years of employment (you can omit the years, or even your earliest jobs, if you're concerned about age discrimination).

Similarly, if you've held many roles in the last 10-15 years, you may want to change the cut-off point to 8-10 years. A resume is flexible! Its job is to show your suitability for the role, so if you're repeating yourself or adding less relevant information, you can start summarizing sooner – it will benefit both you and your reader. As a general rule of thumb, 4-5 roles in detail is usually plenty.

How to write a resume with no work experience

Everyone has to start somewhere! If you haven't started your first job yet, that doesn't mean you can't write an impressive resume . Consider these options:

Include volunteering. If you've worked in a voluntary position , that's ideal – your resume work experience can relate to both paid and unpaid work. Present your volunteering experience the same way you'd present paid experience, as we outlined above.

Create a skills-based resume. If you have no work experience to add, you can create a skills-based resume. Add sub-headings for your relevant skills, with bullets underneath giving examples of when you've used each skill (preferably outcome-oriented).

Leverage school and college experience. Were you the Captain of a sports team? Secretary of a society? Mentor for other students? Pet-sitter? If you lack professional experience, you can draw from every other area of your life to demonstrate to a hiring manager that you have the experience and attitude to succeed in their vacant position.

If you're worried that the work experience section on your resume is a bit light at the moment, now's the perfect time to get out there and beef it up. Ask neighbors if they need a babysitter, volunteer to tutor younger students, help out the elderly lady across the street – get creative in finding ways to build up this part of your resume!

Resume example for students with no work experience

The work experience section of a resume for students with no work experience could look like this:

Work Experience

College  Ambassador at XYZ College (ad hoc)                                                    2022 - 2023

Represented the Computer Science course as a subject ambassador, speaking with prospective students and parents about the course and the college. Answered questions politely and shared relevant information, with the course being over-subscribed following every open evening.

Assistant Golf Coach at ABC Golf Club (part time)                                           2022 - 2023

Assisted with coaching junior players aged from 9-15. Drove golf carts safely and with consideration for other players. Enabled players to progress, improve their skills and enjoy a new sport, resulting in additional memberships at the club.

How to tailor your resume work experience

Now that you've written your resume work experience section, you're ready to start job-hunting. But wait! Don't just fire off your master resume to every vacant job! You may have spent time perfecting the layout and the wording, but there's one final step before you hit send.

With the job posting in front of you, you'll need to tailor your resume work experience to your target role. What does that mean? Well, go through the advert and highlight the key requirements for the role, then make sure they're reflected back, very clearly, within your resume. Aim to use the exact words you've highlighted, so that your resume pops up when recruiters carry out a keyword search.

For example, you may notice that the role requires someone who can code in C#, but your resume currently states “programming.” Changing that one word to “coding in C#” aligns your resume better with the role requirements. Do this with every point you've highlighted and watch your resume fly to the top of the pile!

Resume work experience FAQs

Pulling together your resume work experience can be tricky, so we've pulled the most common questions together to make it easier for you.

Do employment gaps on a resume matter?

Employment gaps are a perfectly normal part of life, so embrace the gap! If you've had a break longer than a few months, though, it may help to positively (but briefly) address the gap on your resume. Here are some suggestions on how you could do that:

2020 – 2023 – Planned career break to raise a family

2018 – 2019 – Career break due to redundancy: time spent pursuing an online course and completing home renovations

2023 – 2024 – Career break due to illness: now fully recovered and fit to return to full-time work 

Should I include work experience that's not relevant to my target job?

Sometimes, life can blow you in unexpected directions. If you've had a role that doesn't align with your current career aspirations, it need not be a problem. Consider these suggestions:

Eliminate the role. If taking the role off the resume won't leave a gaping and unexplained hole, you can simply remove it, no questions asked.

Minimize the role. If removing the role would raise unnecessary questions, include it – briefly. Keep the same sub-headings as usual, but don't dedicate more than a line or two to your responsibilities and achievements, just mention the job and move on.

Reframe the role. Rather than focusing on the irrelevant aspects of the role, just write about the transferable parts.

Can you include volunteer experience?

Absolutely! Volunteering is generally very positively viewed. We described above how a student with no work experience can include volunteering on their resume, but what if you have a solid career already? You have four options here:

Use it to cover a gap. Volunteering can be used to cover a gap in your resume if you include it as part of your work experience section. Treat it as you would a paid role.

Create a volunteering section. If your voluntary work uses relevant skills that aren't coming through elsewhere on your resume, create a separate volunteering section, laid out in the same way as the work experience section. While you won't want to go into such great detail, it gives you the opportunity to highlight information that would otherwise go unmentioned.

Add a brief one-liner. If your volunteering doesn't add any relevant skills or experience, but you still want to mention it, you can add a brief line in your Further Details section – that's where you can include any information to support your candidacy that doesn't fit neatly anywhere else – for example, foreign language proficiency.

Ignore it. There's no obligation to include volunteering on your resume, so if you don't think it adds any value, just leave it off!

Can I leave jobs off my resume?

There are certain situations where it's acceptable to leave jobs off your resume. We mentioned irrelevant jobs above, but you may want to leave them off for other reasons. If you held a job back in the eighties, for example, it probably has very little relevance to your career today. A resume is a sales brochure, not a life story, so there's no harm leaving off outdated experience.

What if you were fired, or left on bad terms? Well, ideally a resume wouldn't have an unexplained gap on it, so you can either include it and hope they aren't asked to provide a reference, or you can take it off and find another brief way to explain the gap. The shorter the time in the role, the easier this will be!

Should I put a short-term job on my resume?

It's not unusual to take a stop-gap job to retain an income between permanent roles. Whether you choose to include it on your resume depends on how relevant it is to your current career aspirations. If it's relevant, there's no harm in including it. You could emphasize that it was a “short term contract” or “maternity cover” to pre-empt questions. If it's not relevant, however, you can pick the most suitable option above where we discuss irrelevant work experience.

How can I show a promotion on a resume?

Congratulations on your promotion, it's definitely resume-worthy! A promotion shows that you've performed well and received recognition from your superiors, and that's definitely something a hiring manager will want to know. Make sure that you include the company name within the sub-heading of every role, as that way any reader will be able to trace your progress within the business. 

You may also want to add a line into your achievements section, if there was a particular reason for your promotion – for example, “Achieved selection into a more senior role having reduced customer complaints by 50% in just 6 months.”

How do I list an internship?

An internship can be included just like any other paid, permanent role. Include the same details and focus on the experience you gained and any value you added to the business.

A little effort now can get you far

The work experience part of your resume is arguably the hardest part to write, but it can have a great impact if it's done well. By following our guidelines on including resume work experience, you'll soon have a resume to be proud of that opens doors for you.

Want to check you're hitting the right notes? Why not submit your resume for a free resume review by our experts? They'll make sure you're hitting all the right notes before you apply for your dream job.

Recommended reading:

9 Soft Skills Employers Want

How to List Education on Your Resume (with Examples)

How to Write a Targeted Resume That Lands You an Interview

Related Articles:

Do Hiring Managers Actually Read Cover Letters?

How to Create a Resume With No Education

Why You Lose When You Lie on Your Resume: Learning From Mina Chang

See how your resume stacks up.

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Can I mention unpaid internship experience on my resume and LinkedIn profile?

I have recently completed an internship at a company. In this internship I was not paid. I had already agreed to work unpaid at the start of the internship since completing an internship at a company is a compulsory graduation requirement.

Can I mention unpaid internships on my resume or profile under the Experience section? If not under which section should I mention it? Is it wrong to mention unpaid internships as experience?

• it's normal to do so. but keep it BRIEF, always. –  Fattie Commented Oct 23, 2020 at 15:11
• 1 From my experience as a recruiter, it's also beneficial (for you and the recruiter) to mention what did you achieve or what value you added to organization during internship. Unless you just sitting all day doing nothing. –  imeluntuk Commented Oct 23, 2020 at 17:24
• 1 Why would you take an unpaid internship other than to put it on your resume? –  Acccumulation Commented Oct 23, 2020 at 22:09

2 Answers 2

Can I mention unpaid internships on my resume or profile under the Experience section?

Yes you can.

Gaining experience has nothing to do with being paid.

Make sure you indicate that this was an unpaid position, so that it won't look deceptive if the issue comes up during interviews.

• As far as indicating it on a resume, I've often used the title Volunteer Summer Intern , since it sounds a bit more professional than Unpaid Summer Intern . –  A N Commented Oct 23, 2020 at 15:16
• 4 Why indicate it was unpaid? –  cela Commented Oct 23, 2020 at 19:44
• 1 @AN Just "internship" is sufficient. "Volunteer" is not necessary, and a bit misleading. –  Acccumulation Commented Oct 23, 2020 at 22:10
• 1 It's not deceptive to not mention it's unpaid, as long it's listed as an internship. –  Acccumulation Commented Oct 23, 2020 at 22:11
• No reason at all to explicitly mention it is unpaid. –  Fattie Commented Nov 20, 2020 at 12:25

You can indicate any position you've held in you resume, as long as there is someone who had a supervising role for you or an HR department that can be contacted by a potential employer to confirm that you have indeed held that position and that the company exists. In other words, just make sure that a third party confirmation of the job is possible.

Unlike Joe Strazzere, I'd advise not to ostensively disclose the salary of the position. In general, nobody cares what your internship salary was. Be honest if asked, but I'd bet that nobody cares. Previous salaries are only important to determine if you would be willing to quit your current job (wouldn't be the case if I"m offering half you current rate) or to gauge if you are likely to find a new job paying much more than what I'm offering (maybe you got fired from a high paying position, accepted to be underpaid for the short term and is looking for something on par with your past salary, which I may not be offering, so even if I can give you a 10% raise on your current position, I cannot match your previous one, hence you are likely to leave the job I'm offering because you kept looking and found something better, which I should have expected).

All that being said, there are very few situations in which an "unpaid" internship or whatever position is legally acceptable in a for-profit business. So keep in mind that some people might not be willing to confirm and document that you've held a position that stood on shady legal basis, as not to create proof and paper trail or irregularities. Best way to handle this is to talk with whoever will be vouching for this previous position.

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7 Ways to Improve Your Resume if You Lack Work Experience

Searching for your first “real job” after college can be both exhilarating and frustrating. In a perfect world, potential employers would hire you based on your college transcript, your credentials and your willingness to learn. However, in the real world, employers want proof you have what it takes to get the job done. At the same time, gaining experience may seem impossible if you can’t get anyone to hire you in the first place.

So, with a seemingly blank resume, how do new graduates overcome their lack of work experience and get a job? Here are seven ways to gain applicable experiences to beef up your resume:

1. Apply for an internship

No matter what field you earned your degree in, you’ll find paid and unpaid internships available. While a paid stint with a company may be ideal, you should also consider the latter option and be willing to take the best internship you can find, even if it’s unpaid.

Internships provide the perfect opportunity for you to network with other like-minded professionals, gain valuable work experience and build your resume. Also, some internships can actually lead to a job with the same company. Now that would be a win-win for all involved.

2. Volunteer your services

While some businesses may not offer formal internship arrangements, you can always ask them to make an exception — or volunteer to show up and help out. Depending on your field, you could volunteer to complete a specific project or simply fill in over holiday break. You could even volunteer to show up and run errands for the company, complete simple, manual tasks, or deliver mail or coffee.

You never know what kind of connections you’ll make when you volunteer for a company just for the sake of learning more. So, put your volunteer cap on and be grateful for any opportunity you can find. A smile and handshake could be all you need to get your foot in the door. At the very least, your volunteer experience will help add depth to your resume.

3. Shadow a professional in your field

Job shadowing is a great way to improve your resume while gaining skills and experience that will make you a better employee. Shadowing the right professional could also help you make a valuable connection in your industry and earn a friend who could vouch for your potential and serve as a reference.

To find the right individual, reach out to your social and professional network. Look for those who are already working in your desired field or position and ask if they are willing to let you see their world firsthand. Like any other work experience, you never know where job shadowing could lead. Finding the right professional to learn from could be the first step toward gaining the experience you need to get your dream job.

4. Apply for a temp job

While the previously mentioned points can help you learn new skills and make connections, it can also help to find work while you search for something more permanent. If you plan to enter your new field as quickly as possible after graduation, getting a temp job in any industry can help you earn money and make new connections.

Even if your temp job is in an outside industry, the fact that you have a job may impress a potential employer. Sure, you may be performing a job that doesn’t relate to your new industry, but at least you’re proving you can show up each day and do the work. Sometimes, that’s half the battle.

5. Get involved in clubs or meet-ups

While work experience looks good on a resume, so do unique experiences that define and highlight your individual strengths. If you want to put your individuality on display, it makes sense to get involved in as many clubs or meet-ups as you can handle. Depending on your circumstances, clubs to consider can include fraternities, academic meet-ups, debate clubs, student government, athletic teams or any existing groups related to your college major.

By getting involved, you can show potential employers you know what it’s like to collaborate with others and be part of a team. Also, if you complete a project with your team or club, you can use that experience on your resume to prove you are able to work with others to accomplish joint goals. In today’s modern workplace, simply proving that you can collaborate with a team can go a long way towards portraying yourself as an asset.

6. Start your own business

Have a profitable idea that you feel passionate about? If that’s the case, you can consider starting a new business on your own. Even if it’s just a short-term venture to hold you over until you find a full-time job, you will no doubt learn many valuable lessons along the way. The leadership, organizational and problem-solving skills necessary to start a business are transferable to any job, so the skills you learn will help round out your resume. Also, the experiences you gain while starting and running a business will give you plenty to talk about in an interview.

Another benefit of starting your own business is that you can create a job that no one can take away from you. It is one way to take control while learning the ropes along the way, and your work can create a valuable enterprise you could sell down the line.

7. Take relevant classes or earn certifications

In addition to work experience, many employers look for credentials, certifications or other proof you have invested in yourself. Fortunately, there are more than a few ways to make yourself stand out in this respect.

Depending on your specific career field, you could pursue certification in a number of subjects or technologies. If you hope to work in information technology , for example, certification in any number of crucial software programs can show employers you went the extra mile. Likewise, if you work in construction or any rugged, manual labor industry, certification in fork lift safety or first aid can show you are dedicated to your desired career. While certifications are offered at traditional schools and institutions of higher education, you can also pursue them online.

The bottom line

Preparing to enter the workforce can be frustrating if you don’t have work experience to build on. It can be difficult to land that first job without actual job experience or tangible evidence you can hold down a 9-5 job and handle the responsibilities that come with it.

The answer to this conundrum is simple: To gain the applicable work experience and transferable skills you need, you have to be willing to explore opportunities that aren’t obvious. While any of the suggestions offered in this article may take some extra work on the front-end, the payoff could be well worth it.

“10 Clubs That Will Make Your Resume Flawless,” College Magazine, http://www.collegemagazine.com/10-clubs-will-make-resume-flawless/

“Easy Certifications to Add to Your Resume,” Investopedia, http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0712/easy-certifications-to-add-to-your-resume.aspx

“Odds Are Your Internship Will Get You a Job,” Forbes.com, http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/07/25/odds-are-your-internship-will-get-you-a-job/

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How to List Awards and Achievements on a Resume [+Examples]

Awards and achievements on a resume elevate your CV by showcasing your successes. Including this section will make your resume stand out and ensure you’ll be well ahead of your competition.

The thing is, most job seekers outline their past experiences, responsibilities, and duties in detail — while forgetting to showcase how well they performed. Achievements and awards in a resume fulfill this purpose.

So without further ado, let’s show you how to list awards on resume, describe your academic achievements , and how to put scholarships on your resume to make it stand out.

This guide will show you:

What is the awards and achievements section on your resume?

Why list achievements and awards in your resume, where to list awards and achievements in a resume, how to list awards and achievements on a resume.

• How to put scholarships on resume.
• Awards and achievements examples for different professions.
• Achievements and awards in resume examples.

Find out your resume score!

As the name suggests, awards and achievements on a resume is a separate section where you list relevant honors, achievements, awards, and acknowledgements you earned for going beyond average.

It can include scholarships, competitions, work-related awards, or even promotions to leadership positions in your job.

The name of this section is usually based on the contents of the specific awards or achievements you earned. And, even though these two terms are often used interchangeably, there's a distinction between the two.

So, what's the difference between awards and achievements ? 

• Example: Gold Award for Leadership 
• Example: Exceeded sales goals by 20% by bringing in 50 new clients.

Hence, you can name the section as " Awards ", " Awards and achievements ", " Achievements ", etc. depending on what you want to include.

Finally, you don’t always have to create a separate awards and acknowledgements section for your resume. Instead, you can also incorporate them into your other sections, such as professional summary , education , or work experience . 

But more on that later.

Have you included your awards and achievements in your LinkedIn profile, too? You can easily  turn it into a polished resume with just one click.

• To stand out. The job market is very competitive. Anything that can help you stand out works to your benefit. You're more likely to be invited for an interview if your resume is focused on your achievements, rather than mere responsibilities.
• To distract from lack of relevant work experience. Let’s say you’re a fresh graduate without much past work experience. Any past scholarships, dean’s list mentions, or academic awards can help you secure that internship or entry-level job.
• To highlight your value. As an experienced professional you’ve perhaps contributed to a breakthrough that helped move your industry forward or added to your company’s recent revenue growth. In cases like this, simply listing your responsibilities is playing yourself down.

To demonstrate your skills. Achievements and awards go beyond just showing what you've done — they prove that you did it well. For example, winning an award for a project demonstrates project management, leadership, and other relevant skills.

To show you're committed to your career. A list of professional achievements shows potential employers that you're dedicated to your field and are always striving to improve and excel. This signals that you'll bring a similar level of commitment and enthusiasm to their organization.

Listing achievements like these will surely leave a better impression than heaps of buzzwords and worn-out generic phrases describing your daily duties.

However, keep in mind that your experience and qualifications are the main selling point. So no matter how impressive your achievement section is, it shouldn’t be the main focus of your resume.

There are generally two ways to include your accomplishments in your resume. You can either:

• Distribute them across other parts of your resume. Do this if the award you were given isn't widely recognized within the industry or it's an award/achievement you were given as a part of your job or within the company. Additionally, do this if you want to include less than three awards/achievements. 
• Create a separate section on your resume. Do this if you were awarded for doing something outside of the usual scope of your work, you were recognized by a notable and reputable institution, or you simply want to highlight it. Moreover, create a separate section if you have 3 or more awards/achievements to highlight. 

Regarding the placement of the  Awards and achievements section within your resume, it's really up to you. Though not wrong, people often place it towards the end of the document which can sometimes take away from its importance. 

Hence, consider putting the  Awards and achievements section above the  Work experience section if the achievement is highly notable and you want it in the spotlight. Alternatively, place the section after Work experience . 

HR expert advice

“Sometimes, having a Key Achievements section above Work History is OK, because it helps recruiters to see immediately what your accomplishments are if they are significant. Otherwise, I'd say incorporate achievements in the work descriptions. That's where they’re the most relevant and where the context of your achievements is, so it makes more sense to the reader. But you can also mention anything particularly awesome in your summary. Something like “Award-winning sales person” will immediately catch the attention of recruiters. Then you can mention the specific award/s in the job descriptions.” —   Christy Morgan , Kickresume's Resident HR Expert

Listing your achievements on a resume is always a very effective way of catching employers’ attention. But, how to write the awards section in resume?

You should follow certain rules to ensure you include your accomplishments in an ATS-friendly and professional way. 

Here's how to do that:

• Consider significance.  Only list achievements in a separate section if they’re relevant and notable enough. If they're not, either exclude them completely or use other sections instead.
• Three or more rule . If you only have one or two awards/achievements, it's best to incorporate them into other sections rather than create a separate section. 
• Quantify your achievements. A measured achievement is particularly impressive. Claiming that you “Cut client costs” doesn’t sound as impressive as “Cut client costs by 16 % in 12 months.” Be specific!
• Include the date of recognition. Including the date you earned the award or achieved something is considered the norm. Let an employer know you still have all the skills that earned you the prize.
• Describe the purpose of the award. For example: Earned Clio Music Award 2016 for Use of Music in the Best Ketchup advertisement campaign.
• Mention the scope of the award. Was it a regional, national, or an international award? Are you the only one who received it? What did you have to do to accomplish it?

And what if you got a scholarship?

How to put scholarships on resume

A scholarship is a grant or payment made to support a student's education and is awarded on the basis of an academic or other achievement. Hence, it belongs on a resume!

Here's a few tips on how to list scholarships on a resume:

• Include the name of the scholarship
• The organization that awarded it
• The date it was awarded to you
• Why it was awarded to you or what you did to get it
• (Optional) The dollar amount

You can include your awards or scholarships in several sections of your resume.

Include a scholarship in a separate " Awards and achievements " section on a resume if it was awarded by a reputable organization or there are multiple scholarships, not only one.

On the other hand, if the scholarship is awarded by your university, you should include it in the education section .

However, it's really up to you. You can list your scholarship in either of these two sections and still be correct. For instance, check the sample below.

How to list scholarships on resume example

Awards and achievements examples for different professions

Are you still not quite sure which achievements and awards belong in a resume? Or perhaps you're unsure which awards are obtainable in your industry?

Here’s what kind of awards and accomplishments you can include:

• Grants and scholarships you received (E.g, Vivienne Camp College Scholarship )
• Dean’s list mentions (E.g. Dean's list 2015/6 )
• Graduation distinctions (E.g. Magna Cum Laude )
• Awards for specific activities or subjects (e.g. Fine Art Award )
• High GPA (E.g. 3.6 GPA )
• Maurice Wilkes Award for outstanding contribution to computer architecture
• Software Process Achievement Award for innovative contributions to the field of software quality
• Computer Entrepreneur Award
• Employee of the Year Award
• Sold 600 products per month
• Received a 90% positive customer survey results
• Raised revenue by 15%
• NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence
• Teacher of The Year 2017 award
• Managed to maintain an average exam score above 70% in GG302 course in the last 4 academic years
• Supervised 6 MA theses, and 2 PhD dissertations
• Published over 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including Science and Nature
• Batchelor prize f or an outstanding research in fluid dynamics
• Royal Society of Chemistry Award
• My article, "An optical innovation for meteorology at the quantum limit of predictive precision" was published by Nature.com
• Designed a customer site that won a Shopify Ecommerce Design Award in 2020
• Leibowitz Branding & Design Award
• AGDA Best Design Award
• Developed 200+ templates for infographics creation
• Awards like Volunteer of the Year
• Completion of a marathon for charity
• Increasing donations for a charity
• Learning a new programming language

Achievements and awards in resume examples

Since sometimes one picture is worth a thousand words, here are some examples of awards and achievements sections from resumes belonging to real people who got hired by well-known companies like Amazon or Maersk.

These people created their well-crafted resumes by using Kickresume’s Resume Builder . 

 Awards and achievements in resume example #1

Achievements in resume example #3

It goes without saying, but read the job description carefully and ditch anything irrelevant. 

For instance, if you’re a seasoned professional, you should skip your academic achievements and accomplishments.

Additionally, you should only include irrelevant awards and achievements if they’re from very prominent institutions or companies.

Final piece of advice: Awards and achievements on a resume

• Keep it short. Avoid writing long paragraphs and use bullet points instead.
• Prioritize. If you decide to designate an entire section to your achievements, think about which accomplishments are the most significant. Would you be impressed by it if you were a hiring manager?
• Avoid controversy. Some awards and achievements may be too personal or controversial. Avoid listing any political or religious accomplishments.
• Don’t exaggerate. Avoid making something up. You might be asked about your award and accomplishments in your job interview. Or they might contact your references. Lying or exaggerating can cost you a job.
• Mention your biggest accomplishments in your resume summary. If you’re a seasoned professional with many notable achievements, they deserve to be placed at the top of your resume. Impress hiring managers from the get-go.

How to put scholarships on resume?

You should include the name of the scholarship, the organization that awarded it, the date it was awarded, why it was awarded to you, and the dollar amount. You can either include it in the education section or in a separate awards section.

What can I put for awards and achievements on a resume?

In this separate section, you list relevant honors, achievements, awards, and acknowledgements you earned for going beyond average. It can include scholarships, competitions, work-related awards or even promotions to leadership positions in your job.

What type of awards should you put on a resume?

You can include academic awards, industry-related awards, work-related awards, volunteering or personal awards.

What are 3 accomplishments?

An accomplishment should include a verb in the beginning and a numeric value. For instance:

• Boosted quality measures by X%.
• Improved revenue by X%.
• Trained X employees in Z.

How do you put academic achievements on a resume?

When putting each award or achievement on your resume, include the name of the award, the name of the University, the date it was awarded, why it was awarded to you. In regards to academic accomplishments, you should use numeric values to quantify these.

Klára Červeňanská

Klara recently graduated from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. After having written resumes for many of her fellow students, she got an opportunity to write full-time for Kickresume. Klara is our go-to person for all things related to student or 'no experience resumes'. At the same time, she has written some of the most popular resume advice articles on this blog. When she's not writing, you'll probably find her chasing dogs or people-watching while sipping on a cup of coffee.

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