“How many bullet points should I list for each job on my resume?” As a career coach, I’m asked this question nearly every time a job seeker client is writing or updating their resume.
Although calculating the perfect number of bullet points per job isn’t a detail you need to overanalyze, it’s worth addressing since you only get one first impression with prospective employers.
Answered: “How Many Bullet Points Should Each Job Have On My Resume?”
First and foremost, you need to understand the goal of including bullet points on your resume. While you may be tempted to use them to summarize your responsibilities, I caution against this, as it won’t help you stand out from other job seekers.
Instead, consider beginning each role with a short paragraph that summarizes your scope and responsibilities, then strategically using bullet points to communicate your career accomplishments. Implementing this approach allows recruiters and hiring managers to first scan your bullets to learn the value you delivered to the organization, then revisit your paragraphs to glean the details of your roles.
Note: You don’t need the same number of bullet points for each job. For example, an entry-level role from a decade ago may only require one to two bullet points to communicate its relevance, while your current leadership role may need a half-dozen or more accomplishments to demonstrate your impact, value, and transferable skills.
While the weight of the accomplishments will be the primary factor in determining how many bullet points you include under each position on your resume, you’ll also want to consider how recently you held the role, as well as how relevant it is to your target position.
Recent experience tends to be the most applicable, so dedicate more attention — and bullet points — to your last few roles. Of course, there are always exceptions, and if your older experience is far more relevant, you can always dedicate more to that.
To put it simply, the number of bullet points listed for each job on your resume should be based on the impressiveness of the accomplishments. Most often, this will mean focusing your attention on those that are most recent (i.e., from the last decade or so).
Tip: If you have more than four or five bullet points under a single position, you might consider adding headers to avoid death by bullet points and improve readability. For example, if you have three accomplishments related to employee recruitment, training, and mentorship, they can all be grouped under a header labeled “Team Building & Development.”
[Read: What Are The Best Colors For Your Resume?]
The following are a few final reminders as you craft your bullet points to make them as impactful as possible.
- Lead with the results of your efforts, such as users acquired, new revenue generated, or costs decreased.
- Include your fabulousness (unique selling proposition) and how it enabled your success.
- Customize your resume for applications, which you can do quickly by adding a customizable keyword/phrase at the beginning of each bullet point.
Conclusion: How Many Bullet Points Per Job On A Resume?
To summarize, allow the weight of your accomplishments to guide you in determining how many bullets to include for each job on a resume. Additionally, focus on your most recent, relevant accomplishments. Also, don’t overcomplicate the process, since your resume is only one part of landing an interview. You’ve got this!
