How To List Promotions on a Resume

Being promoted is a big achievement, and it deserves a spot on your resume. It shows that you’re a valuable employee who brings positive results for your employer, and it demonstrates company loyalty. Around 63% of the workforce has received at least one promotion in the last two years, but many may be wondering how to list promotions on a resume. This guide explains how, where, and why of effectively listing promotions on a resume.

Why You Should Include Promotions on Your Resume

Listing promotions on your resume gives a more complete picture of your work history and professional experience and demonstrates your career growth. Seeing that a candidate earned a promotion can also indicate to the hiring manager that the candidate has leadership potential, which can increase your chances of qualifying for management roles.

Different Approaches To Listing Promotions on a Resume

Combining roles under one employer

One of the best ways to list promotions on a resume is to combine the roles under one employer. This works well when the roles were in the same industry and had similar job functions. For example, listing project manager and senior project manager positions at one company under the same section of your resume makes sense.

Listing each role separately

When it comes to how to list promotions on a resume, another method is to treat each role as its own entry in the work history. This provides more separation for different positions within the same company, such as if you started as an administrative assistant and eventually became a product manager.

Highlighting promotions in a summary section

Calling attention to a promotion in the profile summary ensures the hiring manager immediately recognizes you as a candidate who prioritizes career growth and development. An example of how to list a promotion on a resume in this manner is to end your profile summary with:

Tips for How To Show Promotions on a Resume

Including promotions on your resume can be challenging because you need to call attention to it without taking up valuable space on the document. Use these tips for how to show promotions on a resume:

• Use consistent formatting for clarity. When listing a promotion on a resume, format matters. Use the same formatting throughout the entire resume and make sure it is clear and easy to read, such as using parentheses.
• Include measurable achievements for each role. It can help to use data metrics that give the hiring manager an idea of why you were promoted, such as “increased sales by 20%.”
• Avoid overloading with too much detail. Even though a promotion is something to call out, the resume must focus on relevant achievements and qualifications for the role you’re seeking now.

Examples of How To List Promotions on a Resume

When you’re deciding how to show promotions on a resume, it can help to see how others have used organization and formatting tools to make this clear. We’ve included some resume promotions examples to help you get started.

Resume promotion example for combining roles under one employer

Resume promotion example for listing each role separately

Resume promotion example for highlighting promotions in a summary section

Common Mistakes To Avoid When Listing Promotions on a Resume

Stay away from these issues when learning how to show promotions on a resume:

• Not separating the roles enough. The hiring manager should see a clear evolution of responsibilities from one role to the other. If the roles had similar duties, focus the one that was a promotion on the additional responsibilities and results.
• Including too many unnecessary details. Hiring managers often review dozens of resumes for every open role. Ensure yours focuses on your accomplishments and relevant skills and doesn’t just list basic tasks without metrics or results.
• Using inconsistent formatting. The formatting you choose to highlight the promotion should work with the rest of your document and be easy to understand and read to avoid confusion.