May
11
When completing a resume, is it recommended to use “I” when describing past job experiences and tasks?
ByQuestion by prophecy515: When completing a resume, is it recommended to use “I” when describing past job experiences and tasks?
Im filling out a resume, but im wondering if I should use “I” when describing my past work experiences or should I jus state the action…example…”I worked with customers” or “Worked with customers”
Best answer:
Answer by sassy
Leave off the I- it is more professional.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Keep it consistent. If you use complete sentences, maintain that format throughout. If you use fragments (I suggest in bullet form), keep it consistent.
Use common sense writing. “Worked with customers” has no subject whether it is trendy or not.
No, just say “Worked with customers” There is no need for the I. Its not an autobiography, it’s just a list of things you did.
Ask 5 people about the best way to create a resume, and you’ll get 8 answers.
After 35 years in my career, and having interviewed candidates myself, I’ve heard that you should use ACTION words and always make sure it says that “I” did this and “I” did that. I think it’s hooey.
Of course, YOU did it, who else is the resume for? And while a resume is, in fact, an advertisment of a sort, it’s not some high pressure slick sell on a late night infomercial.
For experience, I’d be more interested in your experience that you worked with customers than how you worked with customers (what, did you wrangle them like cattle?) Unless is was a specific customer-handling job, like Customer Service.
A resume should list the experience that makes you the best candidate for the job requirements, but nobody can predict what the interviewer considers to be just the ‘right’ experience. And that’s what the interview is for. Just list the experience and expound on it in the interview.
(Many other interviewers will disagree with me, right here, so take my opinion for what it’s worth.)
You want to avoid using “I” as much as possible, not only in your resume, but in your cover letter too. “I” puts the focus on you and gives the person reviewing your resume and/or cover letter a sense of conceit, where shifting the focus to them gives a sense of team work and cooperation. It’s a subconscious reaction, but believe me, it’s real.
Don’t use the I word. Upon reading your entire resume, it will sound like way too many “I’s”. Just state what you did the second way you worded it in your question….
Worked with customers
Created financial spreadsheets
Balanced cash drawer, etc.
They should all start with the same tense of the verb.