How Many Bullet Points Per Job on Resume ?

Your resume doesn’t need to include everything. Overdoing your resume and adding irrelevant details that don’t concern the job post you are currently applying for won’t get you anywhere. The dozens of accomplishments at your last job that are completely irrelevant to the job you are applying for? Your first internship as a clerk for a law firm? The toxic job that you left only after 2 months? None of these irrelevant job experiences need to stay on your resume. Instead of a detailed rundown in the form of paragraphs, you should only focus on adding relevant information in form of bullet points. Bullet points are not only easy to read and comprehend but HR managers also encourage them as most HR managers have to go through tons of resumes to find the right candidate. 

Here is how and why you should use bullet points in your resume. We will also inform you on how many bullet points you should add per job based on your skill and experience level. Carefully read this article from start to finish to know how to write a perfect resume that stands out.

Understand The Purpose of Resume

Understanding the purpose of writing a resume will help you understand how detailed or specific you should be in your resume. The primary purpose of a resume is to get you an interview for the job that you are applying for. 

People don’t often understand this and add irrelevant details that include:

• Skills and achievements that are not relevant to the job role
• Give reasons in a resume on why they are switching
• When, where, and why they got awards and recognition
• The size and budget of the previous organization they worked with
• Try to persuade an employer to give them a job without an interview

The Basic Purpose of Using Bullet Points in Resume

The most important function of using bullet points is to provide relevant information in form of chunks that are easy to understand by the hiring manager. Bullet points make it easy to highlight your qualifications as well as your achievements that are relevant to the job role you are applying for. 

Hiring managers have to go through tons of resumes and cover letters to find a candidate that they are looking for to fill the job role. Using lengthy paragraphs and irrelevant details in your resume makes their job even more difficult. Therefore if you add long paragraphs in your resume that are hard to read then most hiring managers won’t even read your resume.

Another reason bullet points are very important for your resume is because they help you satisfy different resume screening software. Not satisfying a resume screening software with your resume will kick you out of the race to get good employment. This software mainly works based on keywords that you add to your resume and what is required by the employers. Adding bullet points help you cover as many relevant keywords as you like. 

This means that using bullet points in your resume enhances visibility and raises your chances of getting hired by your dream employer.

However, there is still a question about how many bullet points you should add to your resume per job. Keep on reading to know the answer.

When Should You Use Bullet Points in Your Resume?

Whenever you are listing details about your previous job role you should use bullet points. Bullet points are essential when you are using a combination of chronological resumes. However, bullet points are not very useful while creating a functional resume as this type of resume requires more in-depth skills and focuses less on experience. 

How Many Bullet Points You Should Add Per Job on Resume

It’s time to answer the most important question about the number of bullet points that you should add per job. Well, it is very hard to estimate the exact number of bullet points that you should add to your resume. It mainly depends on your previous experiences and the level of position you are currently applying for. 

Let’s leave the experience thing for now as we have discussed all these things further below in this article. For now, let’s talk about the perfect middle that you should aim for if you don’t want to be very specific:

You very well know that a  resume contains many sections like header, experiences, address details, personal information, summary, education, skill, awards, and certifications therefore you should keep each section brief. 

However, you can elaborate on some important sections that matter the most. The two sections that matter the most are your experience and achievements. It makes sense to assign most of your resume space to the experience section by adding details about your responsibilities in form of bullet points. 

While adding details in form of bullet points about all your past experiences you should focus on:

1. How old or relevant your previous experience is to the role that you are applying for.
2. While adding details about your most recent experience that is relevant to the job role that you are applying for, you can use up to 8 bullet points.
3. We recommend that while adding bullet points you choose one area of expertise and make all bullet points revolve around it.
4. The older the job role is the fewer bullet points you should use. Only use 1-2 bullet points per job that are older. 
5. The perfect middle for the number of bullet points per job is between three and five.
6. According to hiring managers, bullet lists with 3 to 5 bullet points per job is the most ideal and psychologically effective way of adding bullet points to a resume.

How to Make a Resume Shorter?

If you see that your resume is too long and you have added a lot of bullet points per job then you can always make it shorter. Here are some pro tips to make your resume shorter:

1. Only include 1-2 bullet points (3 maximum) per older job that is 2-3 years older. 
2. If you have a lot of bullet points, look for the skill that you want to showcase through that bullet point. Now delete the bullet point and add the skill in the skills section. 
3. The perfect middle for the number of bullet points per the most relevant jobs in no more than 3-5 bullet points per job. 
4. Delete all the extra details and sections from your resume if they are irrelevant to the job role you are applying for.

Right Number of Bullet Points Based on Experience Levels

As we have told you earlier, your experience level and the level of job that you are applying for are the most important factors in deciding how many bullet points you should add per job. Read on to know the perfect number of bullet points based on the level of position:

Entry-level positions

For the entry-level positions, you should add your student placements, internship experience, personal projects, volunteer work that you did, and extracurricular activities that you participated in. You should never leave your resume blank.

We recommend you use bullet 1-2 bullet points per role to elaborate on why you are a perfect candidate for an entry-level position.

Even if you are a fresher, you should focus on adding your accomplishments in the form of bullet points. These bullet points can be the difference between getting a job and not getting a job. 

Senior or Leadership Positions

For leadership positions, you obviously need to showcase all your relevant skills and experience to get the job. Being so well established and experienced can also put you in a difficult position just like an entry-level worker. 

You have too many things to include in your resume. You will definitely be tempted to add 8-10 bullet points per job but we recommend you don’t do it. 3-5 bullet points per job is optimal but you can still go to the maximum of 6-7 bullet points if your previous job role was very similar to the one you are applying for.

Freelance and Consulting Positions

While describing your self-employment or freelance positions it is important to only add relevant information in the form of bullet points. For this type of role consider grouping your bullet points about different projects and clients.

Focus on your own accomplishments and don’t focus too much on what was specifically required from you in those projects. Use big numbers to grasp the attention of the employer. 

In conclusion, remember that quality is always better than quantity. Keep your bullet list as relevant to your job role as you can and you will have a greater chance of securing the job that you desire.