How to Show a Promotion on a Resume

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: September 6, 2019

If you excelled at your job in a way that earned you a promotion, it's important to indicate that achievement in your professional experience on your resume. If your responsibilities with a company were very different after you were promoted from what they were previously, the best way to do this is to use separate entries for both positions. If your responsibilities didn't change that much between the 2 positions, however, it's best to use a stacked entry method.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Making Separate Entries

1
List the name and location of the company you work or worked for. This should be the company you worked for following your promotion. Write the name of the company first, followed by a comma and the company's location. Use bold lettering to write out all of this information.^{[1]
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- For example, if you were promoted to a new position within the Walt Disney Company, you would start this entry by writing: Walt Disney Company, Los Angeles, CA
- Note that even if you worked for the same company before you were promoted (i.e., you were promoted within the company), you'll still need to make a separate entry for each position.
2
Write out the job title you were promoted to in italicized letters. Place the start and end dates for this position in parentheses after the job title, separated by a hyphen. If you're still in this position when you go to write your resume, simply put “Present” instead of an end date.^{[2]
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- For example, if you were promoted to executive assistant in May of 2018, your job title for this position would read: Executive Assistant (May 2018 - Present)
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3
Add your responsibilities and other details about this job underneath. Explain what your typical responsibilities were in this position, as well as any significant achievements you accomplished during your tenure. Use bullet points to list this information underneath your job title.^{[3]
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- Don't write this information in the form of full sentences. Instead, begin each sentence with an active verb in the past tense, such as: “Coordinated administrative duties at corporate headquarters.”
- Don't list more than 3-4 bullet points for any 1 position.
4
Repeat this process for the previous job you held with the company. Make a completely separate entry for the job you were in when you were promoted, including the name and location of the company, your job title and dates worked, and your responsibilities. Place this entry underneath the entry you've already created. You should also state that you received a promotion in this position and explain why you were promoted.^{[4]
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- For example, if you were promoted because of the excellent work you did on a particular project, add a bullet point to this entry that reads: “Promoted within company as a result of demonstrated project leadership skills.”^{[5]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using Stacked Entries

1
Write out the company name and location first. Start with the full name of the company, followed by its location, with a comma separating the two. Be sure to write this information in bold.^{[6]
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- For example, if you were promoted from floor staff to assistant manager at the Cinemark movie theater in Myrtle Beach, the first line of your entry would read: Cinemark at Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, SC.
2
Place all the jobs you've held at this company underneath. Write the jobs in reverse chronological order, starting with the position you held after your promotion. Be sure to include the start and end dates for each position in parentheses after each job title. If your most recent position is also your current position, simply write “Present” instead of an end date.^{[7]
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- For example, if you were promoted in December 2018, the second line of this stacked entry would read: Assistant Manager (December 2018 - Present).
- The end date for your first job title chronologically should also be the date of your promotion. For example, if you were hired in August 2014, the third line of this entry would read: Floor Staff (August 2014 - December 2018).
3
List your responsibilities and achievements, including your promotion. Since your responsibilities didn't vary all that much between the 2 positions, you can simply list them all together in this entry. Use bullet points to list this information below your first job title chronologically. Be sure to include a bullet point explaining that you were promoted from your first job title to your second.^{[8]
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- For example, if you were promoted for how efficient of a worker you were, add a bullet point that reads something like: “Promoted following the completion of 3 major projects ahead of schedule.”
- If there are any responsibilities you have that are unique to the position you held after being promoted, put these at the top of this list.^{[9]
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