Writing Impactful Resume Bullet Points
What, How, Why? 🤔
When I was pivoting into tech from civic tech/federal government, my mentor gave me a piece of resume advice that I still use today (and always pass along to mentees). It’s not enough to say what you did, but you need to explain your approach and the impact of what you did as well.
His formula for writing impactful resume bullet points is super simple but extremely effective:
What you did,
How you did it,
& Why you did it (and/or what the impact was)
Examples In Action ✍️
Here are a couple of examples (from my own now-outdated resume):
Overhauled all corporate processes through generative research and service blueprinting to support company growth and increase contract bidding opportunities
Conducted user surveys using attitudinal research methodologies and survey tagging to identify potential areas for process improvement
Generated research-backed user personas through user interviews and segmentation analysis, increasing understanding of our users and informing cross-functional product decisions, customer communications, marketing efforts, and sales strategies
This formula not only provides additional context to recruiters and hiring managers but it also demonstrates your understanding of the purpose behind your work and how it aligns with user, product, and/or business strategies.
So take a moment to revisit your resume and give this method a try! It will really make a huge difference in how you showcase your skills and accomplishments during your job search.