# Describe your experience for a job application Turn what you've actually done into clearer wording for a resume or application, without inventing a thing. **Time:** 15 minutes **What you'll have when you're done:** Three to six clear, honest bullet points for one role, matched to the job you're applying for, and a list of what the posting asks for that you haven't shown yet. ---You did the work. You kept the front desk running, trained the new hires, sorted out the scheduling mess. Written down, it comes out as "Responsible for various duties," and you know that doesn't do it justice. AI is good at turning a plain description into clearer wording. It's also capable of making things up: a bigger title, a percentage nobody measured, a skill you've never used. This method is about getting the first without the second. Everything on an application has to be true, because you may be asked about any of it. --- ## Before you paste Leave out your full name, address, phone number, and email. Leave out the names of coworkers and customers. Your employer's name is already on your resume, so including it is usually fine here. If you'd rather not, write [EMPLOYER]. --- ## Do this 1. **Write what you actually did, messily.** Tasks, problems you solved, things people relied on you for, anything you counted. Don't polish it. 2. **Paste the job posting**, or the part that lists responsibilities and requirements. 3. **Ask for bullet points**, using the prompt below. 4. **Read every bullet and ask: could I explain this in an interview?** Delete or fix anything you couldn't. ``` Here's a job posting I'm applying for: [paste the posting] Here's what I actually did in a past role, in my own words: Role: [your title, or "volunteer", or "family business"] What I did: [plain description, as messy as you like] Write 3 to 6 resume bullet points for this role that: - Use clear, specific wording - Connect to what the posting asks for, where that's honest - Only use facts I gave you Don't invent numbers, percentages, titles, tools, or results. If a bullet would be stronger with a number, write [NUMBER?] so I can fill it in or remove it. After the bullets, list anything the posting asks for that my description doesn't show. ``` --- ## Check this before you trust it - **Every claim, against what really happened.** If a bullet says "led," did you lead? If it says "improved," do you know it improved? - **Every [NUMBER?] placeholder.** Fill it with a real figure you can back up, or delete the phrase. Never keep a guess. - **The list of gaps.** Those are things an interviewer may ask about. Better to know now. --- ## If it goes wrong **The bullets sound impressive and not like you.** Ask it to "keep the wording plain and specific, the way a person would describe their own job." Over-polished wording can read as generic. **It added a skill or tool from the posting that you don't have.** Delete it. Matching the posting doesn't mean claiming what's in it. **You don't think your experience counts.** Describe it anyway: caregiving, volunteering, a side business, a family business. Ask "Which parts of this relate to the posting?" and decide for yourself what's fair to include. **You're applying for several jobs.** Rewrite for each posting, starting each time from the same honest description. Save that description so every version starts from the truth.

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