How Many Bullet Points per Job on Resume? Spoiler: There Is an Ideal Number

Is it really important to know how many bullet points per job on resume is the ideal?

How many bullet points are too many? Or too few?

Well, since your resume is supposed to be only one page long, there is, indeed, a consensus.

Spoiler alert: The ideal number of bullet points per job on a resume is somewhere between 3-6, depending on several factors.

In this article, we cover:

• Why you should use bullet points on your resume;
• How many bullet points per job on resume & what it depends on;
• What should your bullet points say;
• And, a (not so secret) resume hack.

Why you should use bullet points on your resume

Crafting a great resume is all about including the right information and presenting it the right way. 

And, to this effect, bullet points can prove useful on several fronts: 

• They improve readability by breaking the text down into smaller chunks. Who wants to read solid walls of text? Certainly not the recruiters! In fact, dense paragraphs are some of the most effective recruiter repellents. 
• They encourage you to use your resume space effectively. With bullet points, there's no room for flowery descriptions or unnecessary words. Consequently, they force you to think twice about which information truly adds value to your resume. 
• They give your resume a professional look. Aesthetics-wise, nothing beats an easy-to-read and structured layout. 
• They are universal. Lastly, apart from your work experience, you can use bullet points to describe your education, volunteering, or awards. 

What information should your bullet points contain?

Now what is it exactly that these bullet points should say? Well, there's a clear answer to that as well.

When it comes to content, we can distinguish between two types of information in bullet points:

1. The most common tasks and responsibilities pertaining to a job.
2. The most significant accomplishments achieved during your tenure.

Firstly, you should reserve only 1 bullet point to describe the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities connected to a specific job. This is to provide the necessary context for the recruiters.

Secondly, your most significant accomplishments should make up the remaining bulk of the bullet points. The employers are interested in seeing specific examples of what you've achieved in your previous job. And, in turn, this will give them an idea of what you can potentially bring to their table!

These 'accomplishments' bullet points should be structured like so:

1. Specify the accomplishment. 
2. Write about what action you took.
3. Point out the result of your actions. 

To see what bullet points can look like on a resume, take a look at the example below:

How many bullet points per job on resume?

Yes, we did say that the ideal number of bullet points ranges between 3-6.

However, that doesn't automatically make it the right number for every single work experience entry on your resume. 

Before putting the pen to paper (metaphorically), you want to consider these factors:

• How recent a job entry is. The golden rule is – the more recent the job, the more bullet points you should use. 
• How relevant the job entry is. What if your latest job has very little in common with the position you're applying to, while the one before that has a lot? In that case, relevancy supersedes recency. 
• The number of accomplishments pertaining to a single job entry. Were you extra diligent and managed to achieve more than 6 significant milestones? Don't be afraid to add the 7^th! And 8^th. And … Well, you get the gist.
• The number of job entries on your resume. If you've worked at multiple positions with the same/similar responsibilities, focus mainly on one (ideally the most recent) and the rest will do with just 2-3 bullet points. 

Also, avoid listing less than 2 bullet points in a job entry. It makes the job entry look incomplete and, well, bad.

Quick tips to make your bullet points memorable

Before we say goodbye, we have a few more recommendations up our sleeve:

• Use numerical quantifiers to drive home your point. Concrete numbers make your achievements feel more real. 
• Start your bullet points with a strong action verb. "I have been a part of the employee performance evaluation process." Instead: "Evaluated employee performance using available data."
• Avoid using filler words (such as I, we, they're, actively, frequently, ...). According to our resume statistics, up to 44% of resumes are needlessly riddled with fluff that doesn't add any value.
• Sprinkle your bullet points with keywords. Take this opportunity and make your resume ATS-friendly by incorporating keywords into your bullet points.

All things put together, your bullet points can look something like this:

Resume hack: Using AI resume writer

Lastly, if you still struggle to figure out what to write into your bullet points, don't get yourself worked up!

Instead, save yourself the time, and nerves, and use an AI resume writer to assist you. It can generate bullet points to go with your job experience entry in a few seconds. 

And it's easier than you'd think – here's a simple step-by-step:

1. Firstly, sign up or log in to your Kickresume account. When logged in, on the dashboard scroll down to Your Documents and click on Create New.
2. When filling in the Work Experience section, enter your job title, click “Use AI Writer” and the AI will generate a number of bullet points for your work experience subsection.
3. Then if you don't like these bullet points, you can either edit them or delete them and click the button again.
4. Finally, if you like the bullet points but feel like that section is still too short, simply click the button again and the AI will add more phrases to it.

Key takeaways: How many bullet points per job to include on resume?

Bullet points enable you to condense your job experience descriptions into more digestible sections.

Therefore, they are indispensable in making your resume professional, brief, and laser focused. 

Here's a rundown of our tips:

• Use 3-6 bullet points per job entry, focusing on readability and relevance.
• Start with action verbs and use numerical quantifiers to make your bullet points more impactful and memorable.
• To make your resume ATS-friendly, incorporate keywords into your bullet points and avoid unnecessary filler words.
• Finally consider using AI tools for crafting compelling bullet points, saving time and enhancing quality.