Candidates often struggle with just how to present their work history – or work experience – on a professional resume.

Resume templates are useful but it is necessary to customize them to best achieve you specific goals. Many candidates fall into the trap of listing all of their previous jobs from A to B, noting the place of employment, their role and their responsibilities. Much as this is a reasonable approach it is unlikely to grab the attention of someone who has to sift through umpteen resumes.

It’s far better to take the bare facts and organise them in a manner that will both appeal to the reader’s eye and pique their interest.

Experience that is most directly related to the job in question should appear closest to the top of your resume. It makes sense to speak to your potential employer’s strategic recruitment needs rather than to hand them your whole career and hope they will sift through to the parts that are most relevant.

Experience that is completely unrelated to the job at hand should be discarded. There is simply no point spelling out the particulars on your job at your parents’ dental clinic if the post you are applying for is with the television industry, for instance. It will only serve as a distraction and take up valuable resume space.

Do, however, give a nod to any gaps in timing that this may create. This can be achieved with a simple one-liner at the bottom of your work experience outline that states, for example, during ‘x’ time you held graduate positions in one field or another. 

In terms of formatting, bullet points make for an easy read, and feel free to manipulate how you present your facts – without changing their nature. If you don’t wish to identify certain employers, for instance, it is acceptable to describe them in general terms, as a medical surgery perhaps, or a communications store.

Resumes are often only skim-read, and the onus is on you to direct the reader’s eye in your favour. Remember, a professional resume provides an opportunity to make a first impression. It is essential to make the most of it.