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How to Write Bullet Points in a Resume

By Editorial Team

7th August 2025
5 Mins
Media

One of the most critical yet often overlooked resume tips is writing strong resume bullet points. A bullet point isn't just a way down the things one did; rather, it's an opportunity to highlight the achievements. The well-written resume bullet points demand attention from the recruiter or hiring manager, creating a more impactful resume and ATS friendly.This article will walk you through creating powerful resume bullet points, why such points are critical to a winning resume, how to A soft skills, action verbs, and measurable results, and finally, some tools for driving up your ATS friendly resume score.

Why Bullet Points Matter and How to Make Them ATS Friendly

Bullet points enhance readability and structure. Recruiters give very short glances at a resume. Hence, if a resume reads like an enormous glare text, it just won't come into notice. Resume bullet points assist in organizing your experience and make them noticeable to the recruiter.


But that is only half the story; nowadays, resumes should also be ATS friendly. Before a resume actually goes into the hands of a human being, the ATS scans it for:


  • For proper formatting


  • Keyword usage


  • Clear job-specific phrases


  • Minimal graphics or table use


What makes Resume Bullet Points ATS Friendly?


  • Use plain text in a basic font (Arial, Calibri)


  • Start with action verbs


  • Use keywords that are in the job description


  • Have consistent structuring of the bullet points


Other resume tips for bullet points emphasize they should have less than 2 lines; describe the results clearly, as well as, avoid fluff like "Responsible for" or "In charge of." 


Examples:


  • Managed a team of 5 to deliver 3 software projects on time and under budget 


  • Created content that increased web traffic by 45% over six months 


  • Trained 20+ staff members, improving onboarding efficiency by 30% 


These resume bullet points are short, powerful, and ATS-formatted; pictures-perfect examples of an ATS friendly resume.

What Makes Resume Bullet Points ATS Friendly

How to Structure Powerful Resume Bullet Points

Resume carriers are most efficacious when coming with apt bullet structures. A powerful bullet point would have to be constructed as follows:

Action Verb + Task + Result (Quantified, if possible). 


Do not merely say what you did-analyze the impact it had on the company or team. Numbers make your accomplishments real.


Examples of Strong Resume Bullet Points: 


  • Managed a customer service team and improved resolution by 25%


  • Automated the monthly reporting process, saving 10 hours per week


  • Collaborated with five departments in streamlining cross-functional operations


  • Designed and launched new UI/UX updates lowering bounce rates by 20%


  • Led market research with a direct impact on ₹3 lakh revenue increase



Resume bullet points structuring:


  • Avoid "I" and "we" type pronouns


  • Always start with a strong action verb


  • Be concise, preferably no more than 1-2 lines per bullet


  • Focus on accomplishments, not duties


  • Use past tense for past jobs and present tense for current jobs


Strong resume bullet points contain experience but tell how you contributed value to the company. It is an element of ATS friendly resume.

Optimize Resume Bullet Points with Keywords (and Tools)

Most resumes get trashed by ATS not because of the weaker experience but because keywords do not come into play.  Putting in relevant keywords in your resume bullet points is among the critical resume tips you can follow for discoverability.


How to Add Keywords:


  • Analyze the job description


  • Highlight repeated phrases and skills


  • Incorporate keywords naturally into bullet points



Examples:


  • Implemented project management tools to support Agile workflows (if job mentions "Agile project management")


  • Analyzed data in SQL- and-Python-based customer behavior trends


  • Tracked KPIs and gave insight to leadership


  • Managed stakeholder communication to ensure alignment between project goals and business objectives


Hence the right keyword helps with the ATS scanning process as well as the recruiter's understanding and ensures a higher match score in your ATS-friendly resume.



Use Resume Keywords by mployee.me


To make this process easier, give Resume Keywords by mployee.me a try. Simply upload your resume and the job description; it will tell you:


  • What keywords you’re missing


  • What keywords are irrelevant


  • What keywords to add for better ATS ranking


These are among the most useful resume tips on turning average bullet points into excellent keyword-optimized ones that bring the resume into perspective.

Showcase Impact with Numbers and Measurable Results

Generic statements such as "helped with sales" and "worked on projects" add no value. The bullet points on the highest-quality resumes always have numbers or outcomes to illustrate your impact.



Examples of Quantified Resume Bullet Points:


  • Increased monthly lead generation by 35% through email campaigns


  • Decreased customer churn by 20% by launching loyalty programs


  • Boosted website conversions from 2.5% to 5% after A/B testing landing pages


  • Reduced vendor processing time by 40 hours/month via system automation


  • Saved ₹1.5 lakh annually by renegotiating supplier contracts


  • Delivered 12 cross-functional workshops, training over 150 employees


  • Managed a ₹10 lakh marketing budget and exceeded ROI targets by 15%



Quantification gives classic testimony of accomplishment. Hence, it lends a degree of stature to your resume and refinement to your ATS friendly resume.



Validate with ResuScan


If you’re unsure whether your bullet points are working or have not been properly ATS-optimized, use ResuScan. Simply upload your resume, and it can show you:


  • Your ATS compatibility score


  • What is missing in your bullet points


  • Formatting, keyword, and structural improvements way


ResuScan gives individualized recommendations to help you make your resume more focused, professional, and keyword-stuffed.

Resume Tip for Quantification:
  • Use percentages, money amounts, or time saved
  • Estimate numbers if exact figures aren't available
  • Focus on results, not tasks

Write Soft Skills as Bullet Points in Experience Section

Soft skills are as important as hard skills. They are simply misrepresented. Put them down in just the Skills section and also list them: "team work," "adaptability"—fine, just not effective. Show soft skills in the resume bullet points, especially under the Experience section.


This method presents an opportunity to show your soft skills while being ATS friendly and results-oriented.


Sample Soft Skills in Bullet Format:


  • Provided weekly progress reports to senior management to keep all stakeholders aligned


  • Adapted to sudden change in process, ensuring projects were always delivered on schedule


  • Mentored 3 junior analysts, resulting in a 100% improvement in project accuracy


  • Worked with sales and engineering teams to reduce sales cycle by 15%


  • Led virtual team meetings, increasing remote engagement by 40%


  • Resolved customer issues with empathy, driving retention


  • Negotiated deliverables with vendors, solidifying long-term commercial relationships


  • Remained flexible with rotating shifts so as to cover 24/7 customer support


  • Mediated inter-team conflicts to enhance a work environment


  • Took initiative to improve documentation processes; reduced review time by 50%

Resume Tips for Writing Soft Skills:
  • Always relate the skill to an action and a result
  • End-point: How the soft skills helped the team/client/business
  • Avoid generalizations; get specific

These examples and resume tips show you how generic attributes can be turned into concrete accomplishments.

Tailor Your Bullet Points for Each Job

One of the most powerful resume tips yet often ignored is: each job an applicant applies for should have a resume created just for it. The work history remains the same, but the resume bullet points have to describe it in a manner appropriate to the job description.


Resumes Tailored Effectively Should:


  • Read the job posting


  • Highlight the main duties and required skills


  • Mirror that language in your bullet points


  • Rearrange the bullet points, putting the most relevant points into the first one



Examples of Tailored and Untailored Versions:


  • Untailored: Created digital marketing content for clients


  • Tailored: Created digital campaigns using SEO and Google Ads, increasing client ROI by 25%


  • Untailored: Assisted in customer service operations


  • Tailored: Handled 50+ daily customer queries with a 95% first-call resolution rate


  • Untailored: Supported product launches


  • Tailored: Supported 3 Agile product sprints, coordinating with design and QA teams to ensure timely delivery


Tailoring does not mean rewriting all the points in a resume; it means adjusting. Use a Resume Keywords by mployee.me to make sure your resume bullet points reflect the most apt keywords for each opportunity.

Resume Tips to Stay Tailored and ATS Friendly:
  • Put industry jargon to work where appropriate
  • Edit bullet points rather than rewrite
  • Take out menial tasks and focus on what matters
  • Never compromise on keywords and their relevance

This tuning ensures your ATS-friendly resume will speak directly to recruiters!

Dos and Don’ts of Writing Resume Bullet Points

Have a look at do’s and don'ts of writing resume bullet points:

Dos:
  • Begin each bullet point with an emphatic action verb.
  • Use metrics to quantify accomplishments, whenever appropriate.
  • Make sure bullet points are short and pertinent.
  • Customize your bullet points according to each job description.
  • Include soft skills alongside your achievements and outcomes.
Don’ts:
  • Don’t use passive language and avoid verbs such as “helped,” and “worked on.”
  • Don’t treat your bullet points as a paragraph.
  • Don’t list job duties without indicating their impact.
  • Don’t apply the exact bullet points to all your jobs.
  • Don’t disregard ATS keywords. Resume Keywords by mployee.me is an excellent tool to discover which ones you may be missing.

Conclusion

In resume creation, writing efficient bullet points is an indispensable step in producing an ATS-friendly resume. Action verbs leading bullet points that showcase achievements, keyword-rich, and tailored to the job description can give you a huge leg up onto the interview table. 


Two handy tools are Resume Keywords by mployee.me, which lets you know what to add or take away, and ResuScan, which rates your ATS score and pinpoints what needs to be fixed. Just go off to give a very clear, concise story about how your skills, soft traits, and achievements make you the best fit for the job. Following these resume tips means you get screened through ATS and also the eyes of human recruiters.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the ways for writing bullet points on a resume?

As an example, all resume bullet points should begin with strong action verbs such as "Manage", "Create", or "Lead". All the bullet points should record achievements or results rather than merely duties performed during the job. 

How to set bullet points in Word for a resume?

Are bullet points for resumes written in present tense?

How many bullet points per resume?

Should resume bullets be sentences?

Do resume bullet points need periods?

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