How Many Bullet Points Per Job on Resume

NextJobPro

October 29, 2022

How Many Bullet Points Per Job on Resume

Bullet points in a resume separate block of text, emphasize important points, and provide a neat way of dividing information. The question is how many bullet points per job on resume is optimum number that makes an impact on recruiters?

In the last article, we discussed how to update your resume for today’s job market. This article focuses on how you can leverage the use of bullet points in your resume to get an interview invite. Follow along, the subsequent sections are going to be important for you to understand the importance and correct usage of bullet points.

It is important that you know how many bullet points is too many on a resume, because a long list of points kills the readability of your resume. On the contrary, the fewer points lose the aesthetic look and you are prone to being considered non-professional.

Let’s uncover how many bullet points should a resume have that gets you a professional image and eventually an interview invite.

First of all, you should know that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The requirement of number of bullet points varies depending on:

  • Whether the position is recent, 
  • How much experience you have overall, and 
  • What relevant accomplishments you have made.

Depending on the job, you should provide between three and six bullet points in your work experience section. The length of each bullet item should be between one and two lines. More bullet points should be included for the most recent and relevant experience.

The following general guidelines should be kept in mind.

How Many Bullet Points Per Job On Resume Based On Levels Of Experience

1. Posts At The Entry Level

The information you include on your resume must be relevant even if you lack much experience (or none at all). Volunteer work, personal projects, coursework, and extracurricular activities can all be substituted for paid work experience on a resume, as well as internships and student placements. 

Regardless of how small your achievements may seem; it is significant to take time to acknowledge them. By including even a few relevant bullet points in your resume, you may be able to land your first job.

2. Vacancies At Mid-Levels

You should consider applying if you have experience in similar roles to the one you are applying for. By brainstorming what you believe to have been your most significant accomplishments, you can compare your biggest accomplishments with the job description. 

In order to demonstrate the skills or competencies that the hiring manager is seeking, analyze the job description by ATS Scan Tool to get relevant keywords, and then use these keywords in the bullet points. You should aim to cover 4-6 qualifications here.

The more on it is in the subsequent section: A Guide To Writing A Resume That Uses Bullet Points

3. Authority Or Leadership Position

If you are well established in your career and applying for senior positions, it may be tempting to exceed the 4-6 bullet point rule. No matter how impressive your accomplishments may be, anything more than 8 bullet points is going to cause a recruiter's eyes to glaze over, regardless of how impressive they may be.

Take advantage of your past accomplishments to highlight your ability to perform the job. This includes managing a team or department, launching or spearheading new initiatives, and making significant changes to the way business is conducted.

4. Consulting And Freelancing

An honest description of what the job entailed can be of great benefit to self-employment, freelance, and consulting positions more than any other type of position. Additionally, you may wish to consider breaking down your bullet points into specific projects or clients. 

Your bullet points should follow the same pattern regardless of whether your job looked very different from a traditional internal position highlight your accomplishments, emphasize the impact of your work with hard numbers, and include a conventional company name and title.

5. Internship position

Bullet points should be used to describe your duties. It is acceptable to use up to five bullet points. Be sure to emphasize any experience you have gained that is relevant to the job you are seeking. Therefore, it is essential to tailor your resume in accordance with the job description. 

The first paragraph of your resume should consist of a few short sentences followed by some resume action words, such as collaborated, evaluated, applied, delivered, etc. In the end, focus on your achievements and quantify them as much as possible. You can demonstrate the impact of your work through numbers.

A Guide To Writing A Resume That Uses Bullet Points

Your resume should contain bullet points throughout, as you have just seen. As a matter of fact, bullet points are merely symbols that are used in typography to introduce items in an orderly list. Nevertheless, they perform a wide range of duties. The purpose of bullet points in a resume is to separate blocks of text, emphasize important points, and provide a neat way of dividing information. 

In addition to being able to read quickly, recruiters and hiring managers also want to be able to pick out the information that they require quickly. Bullet points are a convenient way to organize everything into bite-sized chunks that are easy to identify. The perfect solution for employers who are in need of information.

Regardless of the case, each bullet on your resume should present a context of what you did and what you achieved. Nothing less, nothing more.

Resume Header

Your resume header can benefit from bullet points starting at the very top. Your contact information can be neatly displayed on them so that employers will easily be able to contact you.

Resume Summary

Typically resume summary comprises only of one or two short paragraph that describes your professional journey in brief. If it makes sense to include bullet points to make it concise, go ahead. Makes recruiter’s life easier by providing digestible information in less possible time.

You can use three bullet points in resume summary section. Adding more kills the purpose of summary, and less loses the aesthetic look of your resume. Three bullet points are an optimum number that gives you ability to draw recruiters attention to your unique selling point without losing his/her attention.

How Many Bullet Points Per Job On Resume In Work Experience Section

Well, this is the part where bullet points are more relevant. If you are limiting the length of your resume to less than 2 pages, bullet points are your friend in need. Keep in mind, every word you type in your resume should add value – which means no fluff but keywords.

Here are the bullet points that should be included in a resume.

  • Your work experience in in reverse chronological order
  • Be sure to highlight your accomplishments 
  • Enlist items in an order taking into consideration the reader’s interest
  • Turn your bullet points into stories
  • Maximize the impact of each bullet item by including action verb and the outcome. If the outcome is quantifiable, include the numbers.
  • There should be 4-6 bullet points
  • Your most recent job can have as many bullets as you would like
  • Your resume should not contain bullet points if your last job was more than 10 or 15 years ago.
  • The number of bullet points on your resume may need to be reduced if you want to keep it under one page

Education Section

The education section of your resume is another unexpected place where bullet points are useful. For candidates without experience, particularly students and recent graduates, this would be a valuable addition to their resumes. 

Below your standard education information, you should include a few bullet points that highlight your key skills and knowledge relevant to the occupation you are seeking. 

  • Coursework relevant to the field
  • Grade point
  • Academic honors 

Skills Section

Skills section is another sweet spot where you can enlist your relevant skills using bullet points. Keep in mind, that you cannot just pick a list of abilities at random in order to make it effective. In the same way that you should tailor your entire resume with relevant information specific to the job you are applying, be specific with what you include in skills section. 

Make sure that your skills section matches the job posting as much as possible within your abilities by taking note of the skills and requirements for the position.

Take a note of these tips for the bullet points in your skills section.

  • Provide 5-10 bullet points describing relevant skills. There will be a limit to the number of words depending on the amount of space available and the job's technical requirements.
  • You should be able to demonstrate a mix of hard skills and soft skills, and keep in mind that some abilities are transferrable skills that can be applied to virtually any career field. Skills in communication, analysis, and information technology are such good examples.

Additional Sections

You can demonstrate your abilities and experience by adding additional sections to your resume. Volunteering, foreign languages, hobbies, and personal interests are all examples of good activities. 

Personal Information And Contact Information

In the contact and personal information section of your resume, you should provide your name, telephone number, e-mail address, and permanent address. This section is also a good place to enlist your information using bullet points.

In Summary

Bullet point for resume are important in all aspects – from helping you to limit the number of pages to presenting information in an organized manner. The question, however, is “how many bullet points per job on resume”. The go-to answer is 4 to 6 bullet points per job. This varies depending on whether you are an experienced professional or just starting out. Also, whether you are enlisting bullet point for your current job or the job you had 15 years ago. 

The correct use of the bullet point along with the usage of keywords will help you stand out from the crowd. That will eventually help you land your next job much quicker.