What's the best way to show career progression on a resume?

Pro Tip: You should (*almost) ALWAYS use a reverse chronological format. Use clear and concise job titles and descriptions, highlighting increasing levels of responsibility and accomplishments in each role. You should also incorporate a "Career Summary" or "Professional Accomplishments" section at the beginning of your resume to provide a high-level overview of your career journey and key achievements.

Include your achievements and leadership positions instead in each role instead of a traditional job spec under the "Employer, duration and Job Title" Also include "reason for leaving"

Edit your resume to showcase career progression, providing more information for more recent roles and subsequently less and less as you go back further in your career. This provides a clear visual of your career momentum.

Start with your most recent role, detailing increased responsibilities and achievements. Use clear job titles and bullet points to highlight accomplishments at each stage. Emphasize promotions, new responsibilities, and skills gained. Quantify achievements whenever possible to showcase impact. This chronological presentation provides a clear narrative of career growth and progression, making it easy for employers to recognize your professional journey.

To show career progression on a resume, structure it to highlight your growth. Start with your most recent position and work backwards. Use clear job titles and include dates to show the duration and timeline of each role. For each position, list key responsibilities and achievements, focusing on how you added value. Demonstrate increasing responsibility through promotions or more complex tasks. Use specific examples and metrics to quantify your accomplishments. Tailor your experiences to align with the job you're applying for, emphasising skills and experiences that are most relevant. This approach showcases a trajectory of professional growth and development, making your career progression clear and impactful.

A mistake a lot of people make is that if they've had a few roles within the same company they lump them all together with the most senior title. ie "Senior Sales Manager" Instead break those out and you literally are showing the progression. Senior Sales Manager, 2020 to Present Bullets Sales Manager, 2018 to 2020 Bullets Sales Representative, 2014 to 2018 Bullets Show your career progression on your resume literally!

Using words in a simple and easy way. It is important to remember that the recruiter will spend less than a minute reading the resume, or perhaps even less than five minutes.

What a better way to show your career progression than through your job titles?! In fact, I have occasionally played around with clients' job titles to ensure they are standard in the industry and not ambiguous. You should also make sure the job titles are listed in reverse-chronological order and consistently formatted throughout your resume to create a seamless and easily understandable narrative of your career growth.

Not all titles are recognized by ATS or candidate dashboards. Ever since companies started using titles like Wizard of Coding or Chancellor of Excellence, it became industry accepted standard to swap those out for conventional titles or to provide a functional title to clarify. For example, Chancellor of Excellence (Chief Strategy & Growth Office).

Check with HR and make sure you verify your job title on record with the old companies you were employed with. You want to be sure the job titles match when a new company conducts an employment verification. You do not need to create screen out factors for yourself by misrepresenting your job titles.

Once you have your metrics-supported accomplishments for each role, edit those to showcase career progression, as well. We don't want to list 15 accomplishments for a position 10 years ago, then only a few for your most recent roles. (That would make it look like a career peak.) Instead, list only a few earlier in your career, then progressively more and more as you build to your most recent role. If you have some phenomenal wins or a period of tremendous success earlier in your career, consider using a key accomplishments section.

Quantify Achievements: Use numbers and percentages to quantify your achievements wherever possible. For instance, mention how you increased sales by a certain percentage, reduced costs, or improved efficiency. This provides concrete evidence of your impact and makes your accomplishments more impressive.

You'll read a great deal about including metrics but not all achievements are quantifiable so don't worry. The point is, don't produce a Clark Kent (mild mannered reporter who faithfully did his job) resume. Instead, create a Superman resume. *Faster than a speeding bullet doesn't contain metrics but it definitely tells a story. But, that is an action. The result was, Saved hundreds of people on sinking ship. We always start with the achievement in BOLD. Saved hundreds of people on sinking ship (no period because it's not a sentence) * Bullet 1 - Action taken * Bullet 2 - Action taken * Bullet 3 - Action taken Now all your keywords are incorporated and mean something!

Highlighting your achievements and results on a resume is crucial because it demonstrates your tangible contributions to past employers. It sets you apart from other candidates and shows that you're a proactive achiever. To overcome this, start by quantifying your accomplishments whenever possible. Use specific numbers or percentages to showcase the impact you've made. Focus on results that are relevant to the job you're applying for. Additionally, use action verbs and power words to describe your achievements. Be concise, and emphasize the most significant outcomes. Tailor your resume to match the requirements of the job to make your accomplishments even more relevant and eye-catching.

Make sure the achievements you focus on are relevant. Do they align with your target job? Do they demonstrate your value? How do they support your value proposition? Make sure you can answer these questions and use this as the rubric for highlighting achievements.

Emphasize Your Continuous Learning: Highlight your commitment to professional growth by showcasing relevant certifications, courses, and workshops. This demonstrates your adaptability and your dedication to staying current in your field. Leverage Your Achievements: Demonstrate the tangible impact of your professional development on your career. Share specific examples of how new skills or knowledge have led to successful projects or increased responsibilities. Numbers and metrics are persuasive! Seek Mentorship & Networking: Show your dedication to professional development by actively seeking mentorship and engaging in industry-related networks.

Today there is no excuse for not continually learning with the advent of thousands of online courses, certificates, diplomas, degrees and more from leading globally recognized academic institutions. A red flag during recruiting is a lack of recent education. Do yourself a favour, manage your career and update your learning. The rewards can be significant.

As you update your resume, it is important to showcase your career progression by highlighting any promotions, recognition, and awards you have received, as well as any skills you have gained that are relevant to your new position. This will provide a clear picture of your professional development and highlight your potential as a candidate for another promotion or new job offer. Of course, as has been mentioned elsewhere, training, and certifications - some of which can even be taken online, including via LinkedIn Learning - will demonstrate upward mobility in your career.

To really showcase career growth, think of your resume as a narrative of your professional journey. Beyond listing qualifications, highlight how each training, certification, or award propelled you forward. Did a certification open doors to new projects? Did winning an award lead to more significant responsibilities? Integrating these achievements within your work experience tells a compelling story of progression, not just a timeline of events. For example, instead of just listing "Certified Scrum Master," detail how this certification enhanced your project management skills, leading to successful project completions. This approach transforms your resume from a list of titles to a dynamic map of your career's growth and impact.

Given a choice, I will always hire a lifelong learner because their curiosity and thirst for knowledge means they will learn with me. Also, they probably know things I don't. At the end of your resume, after your formal education, list all your certificates and training.

If you don't customize your resume to each job application, your chances of securing an interview will be weakened. Read the job description in detail and pick both the top hard skills and soft skills the potential employer is seeking and place them in the resume above the fold, the top third of the first page, place a couple of times further down in the resume. The more customizing you do to the resume to the job description the more the ATS system will pick you up as a candidate. I also place the top 4 hard skills under the job titles high on first page to again trigger the ATS.

Resume customisation is more than just a recommendation; it is a strategic necessity. By tailoring your career story to a potential employer's specific needs, you not only show how you can help the employer grow but also demonstrate that your skills are directly relevant. By researching companies and roles, you can add keywords and qualifications, to your resume, that resonate with potential employers and make you the ideal candidate. It is not just about adapting; in a competitive job market it is imperative to stand out!

Customize your resume for each job by matching keywords, reordering sections, and highlighting relevant achievements. Use the employer's language and show cultural fit to demonstrate your strong alignment with the job and company.

Highlight Relevant Skills: When using GPT to tailor your resume, emphasize skills and experiences directly related to the job. Use specific keywords from the job description to showcase your qualifications effectively. Customize Your Summary: Craft a unique career summary or objective using GPT that aligns with the company's values and mission. This personal touch can catch the recruiter's eye and demonstrate your genuine interest in the role. Show Results and Achievements: GPT can help you articulate your achievements clearly. Quantify your accomplishments using percentages or numbers to illustrate the impact you've made in previous positions, making your resume more compelling to potential employers.

Resume tailoring is imperative if you want to align your brand closely to your target job. Start reviewing the job announcements and compiling a list of relevant keywords that you can integrate into your resume.

Avoid frontloading keywords in a description and using special formats like MS Word templates. Many HR systems strip out a lot of formatting and the end result looks nothing like your original resume. A huge block of keywords just looks like garbage to the human reviewing the resume on the other end. Also make sure that any acronyms are spelled out...especially if the acronym can be attributed to more than one thing.

To demonstrate career progression on a resume, start with a clear, organized format. Begin with your most recent job and work backward. Highlight promotions, increased responsibilities, and achievements at each role. Use quantifiable metrics to showcase accomplishments. Emphasize transferable skills and certifications gained over time. Additionally, mention any relevant training or education that contributed to your growth. Tailor your resume to the specific job you're applying for, focusing on experiences that align with the role. Be concise and use action verbs to describe your contributions. A well-structured, achievement-focused resume will effectively convey your career progression to potential employers.

For our Executive resumes, we create a career trajectory section on the first page. It's designed to show the growth at a glance. However, you don't want to use a chart because it can look shoddy. We use tab stops between sections to ensure it is tidy and easily read.