How to Highlight Your Promotions on Your Resume (with Examples)

At this point, most job seekers have probably read the statistics surrounding how little time recruiters look at resumes. Some research says the number is between six and eight seconds, while more forgiving analyses show it’s more likely between 30 seconds and one minute. But whether someone takes a single glance at your resume, or spends a minute scanning the major points, you still don’t have a lot of time to impress.

You need to ensure that the sections of your resume employers consider the most important are doing the heavy lifting. Since 88% of hiring managers cite work experience as being the most important part of a resume, that’s where job seekers really need to shine.

And what better way to impress your future employer than to highlight all the times you’ve been promoted? The trick, however, is to make sure you’re formatting these achievements in an organized and succinct fashion.

Formatting Your Promotions

There are two things job seekers need to keep in mind when deciding how to include promotions on their resume. First, not all promotions are created equal, and therefore not all promotions deserve the same amount of space. And second, keeping your resume short and to the point is a must. Resumes should rarely exceed two pages, and for those who have less professional experience (like students), one-page resumes are recommended.

Using those two guiding principles, let’s take a look at the three different resume templates you can use to highlight all your hard work.

Format One: Splitting

Splitting is the most concise way to include a promotion on your resume, and it’s a formatting technique that should only be used when you’re truly running out of space, or for promotions that are lateral/less impressive. For instance, if you were given a new title or a slight pay-bump, but your day to day contributions to the company didn’t change much at all.

Example:

MAPLEWOOD APPLE PIES, Maplewood, MO • September 2015 to October 2019

Junior Account Manager, Account Manager

• Managed Client relationships and addressed any/all quality assurance issues
• Took steps to assure the company met all sales goals
• Forecasted and tracked key account metrics

Format Two: Stacking

Stacking is the most common way to include promotions on your resume. This template includes two different positions listed separately under a single company header. Stacking should be used to highlight any promotion that came with new responsibilities, but wasn’t entirely different from your former position.

Example:

SHEBOYGAN SCIENCES, Sheboygan, MI • June 2019 to November 2020

Data Engineer — February 2020 to November 2020

• Collected a wide-range of data from varied sources using the following techniques: surveys, formal experiments, and focus groups
• Integrated data into both formal and informal databases
• Performed cloud computing

Data Analyst — June 2019 to January of 2020

• Assisted in data collection and ran focus groups
• Helped streamline the data integration process by introducing my coworkers to new integration software

Format Three: Separating

The last formatting technique is separating, which entails creating multiple, independent sections for each of the positions you held at a single company. This template should only be used when the position you were promoted to is vastly different from the one you had before.

Example:

PROBST HOUSE PRODUCTIONS LLC, Worldwide • March 2022 to Present

Lead Project Manager

• Managed a team of a dozen people
• Organized and implemented a strict production schedule and ensured that we were on-site and ready to shoot at the appropriate time each morning
• Addressed workplace struggles which often arose between cast members

PROBST HOUSE PRODUCTIONS LLC, Worldwide • December 2020 to March 2022

General Assistant

• Made hotel, rental car, and activity reservations for project managers, directors, and talent at each new shooting location
• Ran all necessary project-related errands and ensured that everyone kept to their schedules
• Kept detailed notes regarding coffee orders, lunch orders, and dietary restrictions

Final Thoughts

While the examples we provided were obviously quite silly, we at CyberCoders take job searching and recruiting very seriously. We are dedicated to helping every individual land their dream job, and each company build strong, highly skilled teams.

For more information about the services we offer, check out our website! Whether it’s knitting sweaters for needy bumble bees, getting coffee for a reality TV star, or something totally different, there’s a perfect job out there for you, and we want to help you find it!