Résumé bullet points: before and after

Short answer: To rewrite a résumé bullet, start with a strong action verb, say what you did and how much of it, then end with the result. Formula: Action + Scope + Result. For example, change 'Responsible for customer service' to 'Resolved 40+ customer inquiries a day, keeping satisfaction above 95%.'

The formula: Action + Scope + Result

Most weak bullets describe a duty: what the job required. Strong bullets describe an achievement: what you actually did and what changed because of it.

• Action. Start with a specific verb: led, built, cut, grew, resolved, trained.
• Scope. Add size: how many people, customers, dollars, tickets, or projects.
• Result. Finish with the outcome: time saved, money made, errors reduced, growth achieved.

Canada’s Job Bank gives the same advice in its résumé guide: use action verbs and quantify your achievements.

Before and after examples

All examples below are illustrative. Use your own real numbers.

Retail

• Before: Responsible for opening and closing the store.
• After: Opened and closed a high-volume store 4 days a week, reconciling up to $8,000 in daily sales with zero cash discrepancies.

Administrative

• Before: Answered phones and did scheduling for the office.
• After: Managed calendars for 6 managers and handled 60+ calls a day, cutting double-booked meetings to near zero.

Tech and IT support

• Before: Helped users with computer problems.
• After: Resolved 25 to 30 help desk tickets a day across Windows and Microsoft 365, keeping average response time under 2 hours.

Customer service

• Before: Responsible for customer service.
• After: Resolved 40+ customer inquiries a day by phone and chat, keeping satisfaction scores above 95%.

New graduate

• Before: Did a group project for my marketing class.
• After: Led a 4-person team to build a social campaign for a local café, growing its email list by 150 sign-ups in 3 weeks.

Hospitality

• Before: Worked as a server.
• After: Served up to 60 guests per shift in a 120-seat restaurant and trained 5 new servers on menu and POS.

What if you do not have numbers?

You almost always have more than you think. Estimate honestly using:

• Frequency: daily, weekly, per shift
• Volume: customers, tickets, orders, calls, students
• Size: team members, budget, square footage, accounts
• Time: how long something took before and after you

If a number is an estimate, keep it conservative and be ready to explain it in an interview. “About 40 a day” is fine. Inventing figures is not.

Words to cut

These phrases take up space without proving anything:

• Responsible for
• Duties included
• Hard worker, team player, fast learner
• Helped with
• Various tasks

Replace each one with what you actually did.

How many bullets per job?

Job Bank suggests about 5 to 7 bullet points per section. For older or less relevant jobs, two or three strong bullets are enough.

Want every bullet rewritten for you? A résumé edit is $29 CAD and comes back in 24 hours, with a marked-up copy showing each change.