The formula: action → impact → number
Every strong bullet answers three questions: What did you do? What changed because of it? By how much? Lead with a strong action verb, state the outcome, and quantify it. This is the same idea behind the XYZ formula("Accomplished X, measured by Y, by doing Z") and the STAR method — they all push you from duties to results.
Template: [Action verb] [what you did], [result] [by how much].
Before & after
WEAK
Responsible for the company's social media accounts.
STRONG
Grew Instagram following from 2k to 11k in 6 months by shipping 3 posts/week and a weekly reel series.
WEAK
Worked on improving the checkout page.
STRONG
Redesigned the checkout flow, lifting completion rate from 61% to 72% (A/B tested over 4 weeks).
WEAK
Handled month-end accounting tasks.
STRONG
Closed monthly books 3 days faster by automating reconciliation for 1,200+ transactions in Excel.
Where to find numbers
"I don't have metrics" usually means you haven't looked. You almost always have one of:
- Time: hours saved, faster turnaround, cycle time reduced.
- Money: revenue, cost saved, budget managed.
- Scale: users, transactions, team size, requests/second.
- Change: a before/after percentage, a rank, a rate.
- Frequency: per week, per release, per quarter.
If no honest number exists, lead with the concrete outcomeinstead — never fabricate a metric. A made-up number is the fastest way to fail the interview where you're asked to explain it.
Strong action verbs (vary them)
Open each bullet with a verb that fits the work: Built, Led, Shipped, Cut, Grew, Automated, Designed, Migrated, Reduced, Launched, Negotiated, Streamlined.Avoid starting three bullets in a row with the same word, and skip weak openers like "Responsible for" or "Helped with".
Bullets and the ATS
Metric-led bullets aren't just for the human reader — they're where your JD keywords belong. A skill named in a real, quantified bullet carries more weight (to the parser's context scoring and to the recruiter) than the same skill sitting alone in a list. my-resume rewrites your bullets to weave in the keywords from a specific job — using your real experience, never inventing it.
FAQ
What is the XYZ formula?
"Accomplished X, measured by Y, by doing Z." Lead with the result and a number, then how you achieved it.
What if I don't have numbers?
Look for time, money, scale, change, or frequency. If none genuinely exists, lead with the concrete outcome — never invent one.
How many bullets per job?
Three to five for recent relevant roles; one to two for older ones.
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