Alright, let’s be honest for a second. Most people don’t know what to do with the “work experience” part of their CV. They just copy-paste whatever was on their old one, maybe change a few verbs, and move on. I used to do that too. It felt like ticking a box. Where did you work before? Say you did a few things and are done. And guess what? The hiring managers don’t care where you worked, half the time. What they want to see is: Did you do anything? Did you fix a problem? Make something better? Help the team? Grow the business?
So, if your CV is just a long list of stuff you were told to do, it’s not going to work anymore. You need to tell them what you achieved, even if it feels small. Even if you’re not sure, it counts. Trust me. It counts.
So, in this JobsBuster blog post, let’s go over how to turn that section of your CV from “meh” to “wait… who’s this?”, because you’ve probably done a lot more than you realise.
- Actions are not enough. Add the outcome.
Let’s play a little game. Read this:
“Handled customer queries.”
Now this:
“Resolved 40+ customer queries daily with a 92% satisfaction rate, reducing escalation tickets by nearly half.”
Which one are you more likely to call in?
The second one shows you did the job, and you did it well. Most CVs stop at the “what.” Better CVs go further and say, “This is what happened because of what I did.” It could be cost savings, time saved, customer wins, smoother operations, less chaos, anything that counts as an improvement.
It’s not always about massive changes. Sometimes the outcome is as small as helping your manager save time or making a messy process slightly less chaotic. But the point is to mention it. If something improved while you were there, say it. You don’t have to win an award. You just have to make a difference.
Think about the before and after. What changed between the time you joined and the time you left? That’s where the impact lives.
- Use Numbers. Even When They’re Not Perfect.
Numbers do something words don’t. They ground your experience in reality. They make everything more believable. Think of it this way: a recruiter might not know your company, or your job title, or how “big” your team is. But if you say you “increased sales by 12% in Q3” or “trained 18 new employees in 6 months”, they instantly get it.
Recruiters trust numbers more than adjectives. Words like “efficient”, “hard-working”, or “detail-oriented” have no proof behind them. But “reduced invoice errors by 25% over two quarters”. Now that’s something people can picture.
“But I don’t have data,” people say. Not true. Think harder. Everyone has volume, frequency, time, or comparison metrics. Ask yourself:
How many people did I help?
How often did I do this task?
How long did it take?
Did I do it better or faster than others?
You can even say “around” or “approximately” if you’re not sure. “Handled approximately 60 service requests per week during peak season.” That’s more useful than “Handled service requests.”
And don’t worry if the number feels small. Small can still be impressive when framed right. You served 10 customers a day at a boutique? Great! Say what you helped them buy, how you increased their satisfaction, or how you improved sales through personal interaction. Context matters more than scale.
- Use the car framework: without sounding like you memorised it
This one sound old-school, but still works: CAR = Challenge, Action, Result. Which means,
- Challenge: What was the problem?
- Action: What did you do about it?
- Result: What happened because of it?
But it doesn’t have to be robotic. You don’t need to write like a case study from a business textbook. Just build the logic into your bullet points.
Here’s an example.
Basic version: “Worked with vendors to ensure timely deliveries.”
Stronger version: “Resolved delayed vendor shipments by redesigning the communication protocol, leading to 30% faster inventory replenishment.”
Now it’s real. It shows the situation, what you did about it, and what changed.
You can even split it across two bullet points if it flows better. Some stories don’t fit one sentence. Don’t force it. The point isn’t to be fancy, the point is to show you thought, acted, and helped.
When recruiters see a CAR-shaped story, their brain lights up. It gives them proof you’ll do the same thing in their company. That’s what matters.
- Small Jobs Can Still Be Strategic — If You Explain Them Right
You don’t need to be a manager to show value. Let’s say you worked in a takeaway restaurant. Most people would write something like “Took orders and served food.” Great. So did everyone else.
But what if you said:
“Improved weekend rush efficiency by memorising common orders and prepping sauces ahead of shift, cutting wait times by 4 minutes on average.”
Now you sound like a team player with initiative, time awareness, and problem-solving.
No job is too small to show value. Every business needs things to run smoothly. If you contributed to that, even by a fraction, write about it.
Think,
Did you help train someone?
Did you keep customers from walking out?
Did you come up with a better way of doing something?
That’s not “just a job.” That’s experience recruiters want.
- Ask “So What?” until the sentence deserves to stay
Here’s what I tell people, and I’ve done this myself when I had no clue what to write. Start with what you did. Then just ask, “So what?” And keep asking it till the sentence stops being boring.
Example:
“Updated customer records” → So what?
“Made sure the CRM stayed clean” → So what?
“Helped the sales guys stop wasting time on dead leads and actually close more — I think conversion rates jumped like 10 or 12 percent that quarter, not kidding.”
That’s when it starts to sound real.
Recruiters don’t want unnecessary details. They want proof. If nothing changed because of what you did, what’s the point? One senior recruiter once told me in an email, “Tasks are fine. But if it didn’t lead to movement, it’s just filler.” She was right.
Your CV isn’t just about what you were told to do. It’s about what you actually did with it. You didn’t just manage emails. You responded to 60 of them daily, cut down client wait time, and probably saved your manager from three angry calls a week. That’s the kind of stuff you write down.
If I had written my first CV with this in mind, maybe I wouldn’t have wasted three months sending it out to nowhere.
So yeah. Keep asking “So what?” till it hurts. And if a line doesn’t earn its spot? Bin it.
- Avoid buzzwords like ‘Hardworking team player’
Here’s a hard truth: 80% of CVs sound like they were all written by the same person. Everyone’s “dynamic.” Everyone’s a “go-getter.” Everyone “thinks outside the box.”
Buzzwords kill personality. They drown your real achievements in fluff.
You know what sticks?
“Launched a new onboarding checklist that helped three new hires complete training a week early.”
“Created a stock rotation plan that reduced wastage by £300 per month.”
No “excellence.” No “vision.” Just impact.
Write how you’d explain it to a colleague or your manager. Then trim the fat. You’ll sound honest, and that’s rare enough to stand out.
- Use industry jargon carefully and sensibly
We know you want to sound professional. Using a few technical terms from your field is good. It shows fluency. It signals credibility. But overloading a CV with acronyms is a trap. The person reading it might not be from your team. It might be someone from HR. Or someone outside your industry entirely.
Write it for both the expert and the stranger.
Bad: “Improved KPIs in E2E P2P process via Agile sprints across SME segment.”
Better: “Improved key procurement metrics by redesigning purchase process using agile methods, which reduced order cycle time by 18%.”
You’re still showing expertise. But now you’re also showing understanding — and that’s more impressive.
- Test it on someone who doesn’t work in your industry
Take your CV. Show it to your friend, sibling, or even your parents.
Ask them:
“Do you get what I did in this job?”
“Does this line make sense?”
“Can you tell if this is good or just… regular? “If they say ‘kind of’, rewrite.
This test helps you strip away jargon and focus on clarity. The best CVs make it easy for anyone to understand what you did and why it mattered. That’s especially helpful when your CV gets passed between departments.
- Be comfortable showing off, just a bit
Many of the best candidates undersell themselves. They think it’s arrogant to mention awards, promotions, or results. Being humble is fine. But when it comes to your CV, nobody else is going to talk you up. That’s your job.
But here’s the truth: if you don’t write it, we won’t know it happened.
Were you selected to lead something? Write it.
Did a client send praise? Add that.
Did you get promoted earlier than others? Show the timeline.
“Promoted to team lead after 9 months (company average = 18 months)” tells us you’re doing something right. It’s not ego. It’s evidence.
- Think like an HR Manager
Before hitting “send”, pause and ask yourself: if I were hiring, would I call myself?
That’s not just about grammar or layout. It’s about clarity.
Do your bullet points show growth or just tasks?
Can someone tell what you care about by how you write?
Is it easy to imagine you stepping into the new job and adding value?
HR teams don’t hire resumes. They hire potential. And your experience section is your chance to make them feel like you’ve already done the job or at least parts of it, just somewhere else.
Thinking from their side shifts how you write. You stop listing, and you start persuading.
Conclusion
Job seekers often worry they haven’t done anything “impressive” enough. But impressive isn’t about job titles or Fortune 500 firms. It’s about owning your impact. Whether it’s saving time, increasing output, improving a process, or supporting someone’s growth, it’s all valid. And when you frame your work in terms of outcomes, not just tasks, you change the way recruiters see you.
The next time you update your CV, don’t just write what you did. Write what changed because you did it.
Next in the series? We’ll look at the skills section, the underrated patch of your We’ll show you how to turn it into a focused, keyword-rich section that helps you pass those pesky ATS filters and impress human reviewers too.