What Does Relevant Experience Mean on Your Resume? (With Examples)

How to identify relevant experience

Here are examples of how you can extract experiences relevant to your target role or industry.

Drawing experience from volunteer work

Suppose you are a recent graduate and you are applying for a role in HR.

Although you still have no professional experience as a fresh graduate, you previously volunteered to organize a recruitment event for a non-profit organization.

While volunteering, you assisted with screening candidates, organizing interview schedules, and ensuring the smooth operation of the recruitment event.

Here’s how you can word your relevant experience:

Drawing experience from a different industry

Suppose you are shifting from a career in education to project management.

Previously, in your teaching role, you organized and managed multiple classroom projects. You ensured they were completed on time and you met educational objectives. You also coordinated school-wide events involving various stakeholders.

Although these are two different industries, you can draw relevant experience from your experiences as a teacher.

Here’s how you can word it:

Drawing experience from leadership roles

For instance, you are a recent graduate interested in an entry-level Project Coordinator position.

While in university, you led a club and managed group projects. You coordinated activities, managed schedules, and ensured effective team communication.

Here’s how you can word your relevant experience:

Drawing experience from previous roles

Let’s say you are applying for a Product Manager position.

As a former Senior Project Manager at a construction firm, you managed large-scale projects, coordinated cross-functional teams, and developed strategic plans. You also previously worked as a Marketing Director, where you implemented marketing strategies, led teams, and analyzed market trends.

With your previous roles, you can emphasize transferable skills such as leadership and critical thinking.

Here’s how you can word your relevant experience:

5 tips on demonstrating relevant experiences on your resume

Now that you already know how to extract relevant experience, here is how you can effectively identify and present your experiences on your resume:

1. Study the job description

First, you need to review the job description and understand what it requires.

Some jobs might require years of experience, a certain level of education, or knowledge of specific software or tools. They might also outline specific skills needed for the job.

Next, you must comb through the job description and list the requirements and specific skills mentioned.

Then, carefully assess whether you have the skills and professional background that prove you are eligible for the job.

You can also use a tool like Jobscan, which uses AI to analyze the job description and highlight the job-specific skills and competencies you need to include in your resume to increase your chances of getting interviews.

Here’s what a scanned job description looks like:

2. Focus on measurable results

Measurable results are your specific accomplishments. They provide concrete proof of your capabilities and the value you bring to the company. 

Instead of just listing your job titles and job responsibilities, highlight your notable achievements. You can also emphasize any promotions you earned and highlight tangible results.

Use numbers to show the impact you made and quantify your contributions using figures, dollar amounts, percentages, or metrics.

For example:

Using measurable achievements adds credibility and makes your application more attractive to recruiters.

3. Showcase transferable skills

Transferable skills are skills you can use in different jobs, fields, or industries.

Examples of transferable skills include communication skills, problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and leadership skills. 

In your resume, emphasize how you used those skills to excel in your previous jobs. 

For example:

Suppose you are a nurse transitioning to a career in HR. You can frame your relevant experience this way:

It is critical that you list all the skills mentioned in the job description. You can do this by manually highlighting the skills or using a tool like Jobscan’s resume scanner.

It saves you time by analyzing the job description and giving you a comprehensive report of how you can better match the job.

It also gives you a list of hard skills and soft skills you should mention to stand out to recruiters.

Here’s what the hard skills section of the report looks like:

All you have to do then is work these skills into your resume. You also have to aim to match the number of times a specific skill is mentioned in the job description.

In the image above, “business development” appears three times in the job description. This means that it should also be mentioned at least three times in your resume.

4. Include volunteer work, certifications, and other relevant activities

When listing your relevant experience, include any volunteer experience, training, workshop, or certifications. Make sure they are relevant to the job you are applying for.

If you have limited work experience, you can include extracurricular activities. You can also include experiences from. your freelance work, internships, or other leadership roles. 

You just need to frame your experiences in these activities to show recruiters that you are right for the job. 

For instance:

Let’s say you are applying for a job in customer service, but you only have experience volunteering at a food bank.

You can mention the key skills you used or notable accomplishments you had while volunteering. Make sure to write it in a way that shows recruiters how these experiences uniquely qualify you for the role.

Here are sample relevant experiences:

In this example, although your experiences are drawn from volunteer work, they still show how you can excel in customer service.

5. Tailor your relevant experience to the job

The key is to tailor your relevant experiences to the specific job. Do this, especially when you are applying to many jobs.

It is important that you choose experiences that relate to the position. You should prove to recruiters that you have the relevant skills and abilities to do the job well.

Tailor your entire resume to the specific job you are applying for

When you submit your resume, it often goes into an applicant tracking system (ATS). This system helps recruiters quickly sort through hundreds of resumes.

Recruiters use the ATS to search for suitable candidates. They do this by typing job-specific keywords into the search bar.

Keywords can be:

If your resume lacks specific keywords, no matter how qualified you are, recruiters will not be able to see it.

To prevent this, you need to tailor your resume to the job. Go through the job description. Then, pick out the relevant keywords and incorporate them into your resume.

Yes, this will increase your chances of getting noticed by recruiters. But it can also take a lot of your time and energy.

Thankfully, there are tools that automate this, such as Jobscan’s resume scanner. It matches your resume to the job description and gives you a resume score. It also suggests other ways to improve your resume so that it matches the job.

All you have to do is upload your resume and the job description and click “Scan.”

Here’s what it looks like:

Aim to increase your resume score by incorporating the keywords and following the tips. The higher your score, the higher your chances of being seen by recruiters.

However, don’t overdo it and stuff your resume with too many keywords. Just include the relevant ones.

Relevant work experience examples

There are different ways to showcase your relevant experience in your resume.

Here are examples of how to craft relevant experiences. They are useful whether you are just starting out, switching jobs or careers, or already a pro.

When you have limited work experience

When you lack work experience, you can include any volunteer work, internships, freelance work, and other activities.

Instead of outlining your job responsibilities, show what you accomplished. Include measurable accomplishments when possible and use strong action words. Then, tailor your experiences to the specific job you want.

Here is an example of a job description for an entry-level marketing analyst position:

A good relevant experience example for a recent business graduate applying for this job looks like this: