You’ve been working hard, and you earned a promotion! That’s great!
It’s safe to say there is no downside to getting a promotion, and you absolutely should update your resume with that great news.
Your job promotions show your potential employer that you have initiative, and you are capable of growth within a company.
But now you are standing in front of a difficult question - how to include it in your resume?
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
We will go through some important topics, including:
- Why is it critical to include promotions on your resume?
- How to show your promotions on your resume and all the different ways to do so
- Formatting tips to make your promotions stand out
And, of course, we will top it all with some great examples.
If you want to Make your resume stand out, there are plenty more ways, so you might want to check them out too.
But now, let’s dive in your promotions and make the best out of them on your resume.
Why it's important to show your promotion on a resume
Upload & Check Your Resume
Drop your resume here or choose a file. PDF & DOCX only. Max 2MB file size.
Resumes are all about showing off your accomplishments, and getting promoted is definitely a big one.
They can show your potential employer that you are a reliable employee who is able to grow inside a company and could be trusted with more responsibilities.
This accomplishment shows the hiring manager a dedication to your career and expertise in your field.
Your resume could be awesome as it is, but you can always improve your resume.
A great way to do that is to include your promotion on your resume, which would ultimately show that your past employer really valued you and sensed your potential.
All in all, having even a single promotion on a resume could really help you get distinguished from other candidates.
So don’t hesitate no more, include your promotion on your resume and you will already be one step ahead of other candidates.
How to show your promotion on a resume
There are three main options you need to consider as a way to present your promotions on your resume.
We will give you some tips and tricks about each one of them and in the end you will be able to decide which one matches your needs.
So let’s not waste any more time and start exploring the possibilities.
Stacked Entries
The first method we are going to take a look at is the stacked method.
If your past jobs are similar and within the same company, that’s definitely the way to go.
What you should do is stack all the positions you have held in the company under the company’s header in the Work experience section.
While stacking your entries, don’t forget to list:
- Company’s name
- Company’s location
- The different positions you have held in the company
Keep in mind that all the entries under a company should be in reverse chronological order.
Under any position you can also make a bullet list with your job duties, recognitions or promotions.
An important side note would be that this method is not very ATS friendly.
The Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) would assign all skills and responsibilities to your earlier role and would make your resume score lower.
But if you are not applying for a big company that would most certainly use ATS, this format is really easy-to-understand by the hiring manager, and it would work great.
Separate Entries
The separate entries' method may seem similar, but it is very different in its core.
You would want that method if you held not so similar positions within the same company.
In this case you can again list all entries under the same company, but you will separate them as different positions, because they actually are.
It should be easy to see for the hiring manager that these are separate positions, and so you should use a separate bullet list for all entries.
Your bullet list can contain your responsibilities, as well as your biggest accomplishments and the experience, relative to the job position you are applying for.
Make sure you clearly state it, if the new role was a step forward in your career path.
Even if it is not, don’t worry, it would still show the employer that you are adaptable and have a rich skill set.
Either way, the hiring manager would see that you are a loyal and dedicated employee, and that’s always in your favor.
And, as a bonus, unlike the stacked entries' method, this one is really well accepted by ATS, so you don’t need to worry about that.
List the company twice
This method is used mostly in special cases.
For example - if you switched companies, but then came back to the previous one with a promotion.
What you would want to do here is create a separate section for each job position you held, regardless of the company.
Under each one you should make a bullet list, just like with the previous two methods, and fill it up with your most impressive accomplishments from each position.
This method is also very ATS friendly, just like the Separate entries one, because they use a similar layout of your experience.
Keep in mind that this method takes up lots of space, so you might want to cut out some details from your junior experience.
Building a separate section
We’ve got just one last case for you.
If you have plenty of years of work experience that relates to the job position you are applying for, you might want to consider creating a completely separate section for your promotions.
In this case, you should list all of your promotions in a list with job titles and dates, but keep your accomplishments out of that list.
If you really consider some of your achievements important to include, you should write them in your accomplishments section.
Be careful what you include and how relevant it is. Resumes are very limited when it comes to space you can use.
Let’s mention ATS one last time - by using this method, you can get the ATS a little confused, as it will consider your promotion section equivalent to your work experience section.
Don’t worry, as long as your more senior and recent positions are somewhere on your resume, you should be fine.
Formatting is critical
Now that you have your promotions ready to go, we need to cover some basic points on formatting them.
No matter how awesome your experience, it will remain unnoticed, if it is not formatted correctly.
Here are some basics that you require to follow:
- Keep the formatting simple - you might be tempted to use some cool bullet points, but you shouldn’t. Use the standard bullet circles or squares. You can copy your section into a TXT file, and you will find out how an ATS would see it.
- Always format it in Reverse Chronological Order.
- Always include the name of the company and time of employment - at the bare minimum you can include the years of employment, but hiring managers prefer seeing months as well. It’s important that you would be credited for the experience you have.
If you follow these rules, you should be all set to get to your interview.
Examples of how to show your promotion on resume
As we promised, we are going to show you the basics of using every method listed above.
Stacked Entries
Google, CA, USA | June 2014 - Present
IT Manager | July 2019 - Present
Android Programmer | June 2014 - July 2019
- Responsibility/Achievement
- Responsibility/Achievement
- Responsibility/Achievement
Separate Entries
Google, CA, USA | June 2014 - Present
IT Manager | July 2019 - Present
- Responsibility/Achievement
- Responsibility/Achievement
- Responsibility/Achievement
Android Programmer | June 2014 - July 2019
- Responsibility/Achievement
- Responsibility/Achievement
- Responsibility/Achievement
List the company twice
Google, CA, USA
IT Manager | July 2019 - Present
- Responsibility/Achievement
- Responsibility/Achievement
- Responsibility/Achievement
Google, CA, USA
Android Programmer | June 2014 - July 2019
- Responsibility/Achievement
- Responsibility/Achievement
- Responsibility/Achievement
Separate section
PRIOR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Google, CA, USA
IT Manager | July 2019 - Present
Android Programmer | June 2014 - July 2019
IT Intern | June 2013 - June 2014
Takeaways: How to show promotion on resume?
We are all done.
Now you know how to use promotions on your resume in a variety of ways.
You are now ready to get through the ATS and the hiring manager and get straight to your big interview.
Don’t forget - pick the right layout for your promotions and make sure it is formatted correctly.
Check out our examples once again and make your promotions get you your next interview in no time.
Make one that's truly you.
