Career advice

Resumes

Duties vs. results: how to rewrite one bullet

By Jon King, recruiter and founder of Role Rewritten

Here's a line I see on almost every resume that crosses my desk:

Responsible for managing warehouse staff and improving operations.

There's nothing wrong with it. It's true, it's clear, and it tells me almost nothing. Every warehouse manager is responsible for managing staff and improving operations. That's the job description. What I need to know, in the 10 seconds I spend on a first look, is how big your job was and what changed because you were in it.

Let's rewrite that line in four steps. You can do the same to every bullet on your resume.

Step 1: Cut the duty words

"Responsible for," "duties included," "helped with," and "worked on" all tell the reader you're about to describe a job, not a result. Cut them and start with a verb that says what you did.

Managed warehouse staff and improved operations.

Shorter. Still vague. Keep going.

Step 2: Add the size of the job

Numbers that show scope tell a recruiter what level you work at. How many people? How many shifts or sites? How much volume, budget, or square footage?

Lead 85 employees across three shifts in a 220,000 sq ft distribution center.

Now I know this person runs a real operation. A manager of 85 people across three shifts is a different candidate from a manager of 12 on one shift, and the old line hid that.

Notice the tense: "lead," not "led." Use present tense for your current job and past tense for everything before it.

Step 3: Add what changed, with a number

"Improved operations" means nothing until we know what improved and by how much. Think about the metrics your boss cared about: errors, on-time shipping, cost per unit, overtime, injuries, turnover. Which ones moved while you were in charge?

If you don't know exact numbers, estimate honestly. "About 30%" is fine if it's true, and you should be ready to explain how you got there.

Cut order errors 38% in 12 months.

Step 4: Say how, briefly

A result is stronger when the reader can see you caused it. Add a few words on how, then stop.

Cut order errors 38% in 12 months by rolling out scan-to-confirm picking.

The result

Here's where we started and where we ended up:

Before: Responsible for managing warehouse staff and improving operations.

After: Lead 85 employees across three shifts and cut order errors 38% in 12 months.

Same person, same job. The second version gets a phone call.

Do this to your own resume

Pick the first bullet under your current job and run it through the four steps:

1. Cut the duty words and start with a verb.
2. Add the size: people, budget, volume, sites.
3. Add what changed, with a number.
4. Say how, in a few words.

You won't have a number for every bullet, and that's fine. Aim for at least half of them. And keep every number true. A recruiter will ask about the ones that stand out, which is exactly what you want.