How to Use the STAR Method to Craft Great Resume Bullets

Writing great bullets for your resume can be difficult. An effective way to craft bullets is to use the STAR method. You are probably familiar with using the STAR method for interviews, however you probably never thought about using it to craft bullet points for your resume.

One word of caution when drafting your bullet points. Your resume is not a place to just list everything you have done.

The resume is used to showcase your narrative and this narrative must be exactly what the hiring manager is looking for. The narrative you need to portray will become evident after you read the job posting multiple times. Remember, you should be crafting tailored resumes for each job application you submit.

Upon reading your resume, you want the reader to say, “this is the ______ who can help us ________.” An example is, “This is the excel wizard who can help us automate our business processes.” If you just list a bunch of random things you did, then the reader is going to have a hard time determining your fit in the position; therefore, having a narrative makes the readers’ job a lot easier.

Once you have determined the narrative you are going to portray, dig deep into your memory banks and choose the best examples you can think of to showcase the key skills and successes you have had in your past jobs. If the experience doesn’t help your narrative, then don’t include it, even if it sounds impressive. Sometimes less is better.

The STAR method is a great format to help write bullet points that clearly walks the reader through your story.

Situation

Define the general context (who/what/when) and mention the problem/challenge you had to overcome.

Task

Identify the key objective and issue that you have addressed in the situation.

Action

Describe the action you took, emphasizing the “how” and the skills/tools you used to complete the task.

Result

Summarize the outcome of your actions. Use numbers, recognition, awards, etc. to show the value of your actions.

Examples of Bad and Great Resume Bullets

Example #1:

Bad: Designed an Excel model to help the marketing team forecast costs.

Great: Designed and utilized an Excel model to track and forecast all costs for the marketing team on a $10M+ campaign, delivering executive summary, variance report, and supporting commentary to Vice President. Model was identified as a best practice and adopted for use amongst all marketing teams.

Example #2:

Bad: Managed a team to successfully navigate a factory-wide audit.

Great: Selected by management to lead a team of 20 as part of a factory-wide quality audit. Created project plan, assigned deliverables, compiled data, and presented results to external audit team. Facility was one of only a handful to pass audit on its first attempt.

Example #3:

Bad: Helped the risk management team develop processes to track high-risk activity.

Great: Developed risk framework and control plans for high-risk processes and regulatory requirements to implement targeted testing to increase call compliance 15% quarter over quarter.

After reading the examples, you should now have a good idea of how to turn a bad bullet into a great bullet. Remember to be detailed and specific to allow the reader to get a good picture of your example.

Don’t be afraid if your bullet points extend beyond one line – that is totally acceptable. It is not uncommon to have bullet points that extend to two to three lines.