Resume Experience Section Format: ATS-Optimized Work History Layout
The work experience section is the most content-rich and keyword-dense part of your resume. Its format determines how accurately the ATS extracts your employment history, associates achievements with specific roles, and calculates your total experience. Proper formatting maximizes both parsing accuracy and scoring potential.
Job Entry Format
Each job entry should include four clear elements: Job Title, Company Name, Location, and Dates. These should be formatted consistently across all entries and clearly separated from each other.
The most ATS-reliable format places each element on its own line or uses clear delimiters:
Senior Software Engineer Google, Mountain View, CA January 2020 – Present
Alternatively, a two-line format works: 'Senior Software Engineer | Google, Mountain View, CA | Jan 2020 – Present'. Both formats parse well with most ATS platforms.
| Element | Format | Importance for ATS |
|---|---|---|
| Job title | Bold, standard industry title | Matches title requirements, level assessment |
| Company name | Full company name | Organization recognition |
| Location | City, State or City, Country | Location matching and filtering |
| Dates | Month Year – Month Year | Experience calculation |
| Bullets | 3-6 per entry, action verb start | Keyword matching, achievement scoring |
Achievement Bullet Best Practices
Under each job entry, include 3-6 achievement bullets that demonstrate your impact and contain relevant keywords. Each bullet should follow the Action-Skill-Result format.
Start with a strong action verb that mirrors the job description's language. Include 1-3 relevant keywords naturally within each bullet. End with a quantified result whenever possible.
Example: 'Architected microservices-based payment processing system using Java and Spring Boot on AWS, handling $10M+ daily transactions with 99.99% uptime.'
This single bullet contains 5+ searchable keywords (microservices, Java, Spring Boot, AWS, payment processing) plus quantified impact.
Handling Multiple Positions
If you held multiple positions at the same company, list each role separately to show progression. This gives the ATS accurate date ranges for each role and demonstrates career growth.
Format: Senior Software Engineer | Google | Jan 2022 – Present • [bullets for this role]
Software Engineer | Google | Jun 2019 – Dec 2021 • [bullets for this role]
Group them under the company name to save space while showing clear progression. Each role should have its own bullets and date range for accurate parsing.
Pro Tips
Include all four elements for each job: title, company, location, dates
Format all entries identically for consistency and parsing reliability
Use 3-6 achievement bullets per position, starting with action verbs
Include 1-3 keywords per bullet in natural context, not as keyword lists
Show multiple positions at the same company separately to demonstrate progression
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Missing job title, company, or dates from some entries, causing incomplete parsing
Inconsistent formatting between job entries that confuses the parser
Writing responsibilities instead of achievements in bullet points
Having 10+ bullets for one job and only 1-2 for others, showing poor prioritization
Not quantifying achievements with numbers, percentages, or dollar amounts