How to Write Better Workscopes/Job Descriptions (with 3 Examples)

Thaddeus Han
Work Life Balance
Published in
3 min readJan 5, 2021

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Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Workscopes, also known as job descriptions, are the meat of your resume.

They describe your professional work experience. Employers infer what you can and cannot do by reading the workscopes in your CV.

Everyone can write them, but few write workscopes with impact.

Impact leaves an impression on your reader. An impressed reader calls you in for a job interview.

So, how do you write impactful and effective workscopes?

By following three simple rules.

  1. Use Power Verbs
  2. Write Simply
  3. Put Outcomes First

1. Use Power Verbs

Begin every bulletpoint with a power verb.

Power verbs are strong and emotionally-charged.

This adds impact to your resume.

Use power verbs.

Check out a list of 150+ action verbs here.

2. Write Concisely

Each bulletpoint should be simple, succinct and with impact.

Short, strong, and to the point. Like this.

You don’t want your workscopes to stretch into multiple lines or sentences in your CV, in an attempt to wow employers with your sophisticated writing skills. You don’t want your workscopes to be structured in a long-winded narrative that expects your reader to read till the end, just to get the point of the sentence.

Write simply.

3. Put Outcomes First

Simple, short sentences create impact.

But structure them wrongly and they’ll sound… average:

Prospected to >30 clients daily via cold calls and cold emails, boosting revenue by $400 in 10 days.

So how do you write effective workscopes?

Workscopes that put you ahead of similar candidates?

By putting outcomes at the start of each point. Then, write what you did, and how you did it.

Put outcomes first.

Why was the second example better?

Because the main point of the sentence (revenue growth) was presented first. Employers are wowed by this.

In contrast, the main point is pushed to the back of the first example. Employers may not even read till that point.

Always structure outcomes first. Then, explain/elaborate how you achieved it.

This helps you write more impactful workscopes.

Conclusion

It’s not difficult to write effective and impactful workscopes.

It just takes practice, and these three simple tips:

  1. Use Power Verbs
  2. Write Simply
  3. Put Outcomes First

I hope you are on your way to writing stronger workscopes, and using more powerful words in your resume.

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Thaddeus Han
Work Life Balance

Obsessed about understanding and serving consumers.