How to Handle Repetitiveness on Your Resume

Repetitiveness in a resume can sometimes be unavoidable.  This is especially true if you have followed a particular career path where the roles you’ve held have been similar from company to company.  This was the case with one of my viewers who wrote to me asking how he should handle repetitiveness on his resume.  If you’re struggling with this issue, then this post is for you!

Tips for Dealing with Repetitiveness

1. Focus on Accomplishments – as a best practice, you should highlight your accomplishments on your resume. Assuming that you have accomplished different things in different roles, you should be able to illustrate how you have developed along the same career path.
2. Change the Wording – although you may have had similar experience, try re-wording some of the line items. Use a thesaurus for reference or inspiration.  Again, if you can demonstrate some level of progression in terms of added responsibilities or expanded experience in the more recent role, all the better.
3. Change the Formatting – if the roles you’ve had were practically identical in duties and accomplishments, then consider combining the roles. You can edit the format so that you have your job title listed first, then each of the organizations (with dates) in which you’ve held each position.  Follow this with a brief description of your job duties and highlight your accomplishments.  This can be especially impactful for career changers

Final Thoughts

Repetitiveness in a resume may be unavoidable.  You can use this opportunity to maximize the keywords throughout your resume.  Keep in mind, you should be using keywords that are relevant to the role to which you are applying.  This is a great opportunity as well to highlight any transferable skills you would have gained in the event that your experience isn’t directly aligned with the role to which you are applying.

I hope you found this post helpful.  If you have any additional insights, or would like to share your experience, I’d love to hear from you.  For personalized advice, click here.

Until next time, happy hunting!