By: Indeed Editorial Team

At every company, you have a job position that summarizes the work you do. Companies use job positions to clarify each employee's role and their responsibilities. Learning more about how you contribute to your position can help you better describe your role on your resume. In this article, we explain what a job position is, how it differs from a job title and how to describe your position on your resume.

What is a job position?

A job position is a function you serve at a company. It includes the daily tasks and projects you complete. Every employee has a job position that includes specific duties and responsibilities that help the company reach its goals.

Over time, you understand your job position more because you become familiar with daily work. Job positions vary from business to business and even change over time while still at the same company. For example, you might gain more responsibilities in the same position after earning a raise. If you earn a promotion, your position and title change to reflect your new duties.

Job title vs. job position

There are a few distinctions between a job position and a job title. A job title is a label your company gives you, while a job position describes your responsibilities. When including your job positions on your resume, it's important to list your everyday tasks to give the hiring manager a clear idea of your duties. Each candidate with the same job position defines their work slightly differently. This distinction is because companies vary in the type of work they provide employees.

In a larger company, several employees may share the same job title as you. Businesses provide job titles to effectively organize employees and provide clarity as to who has which role. However, the work you do may differ slightly.

For example, a customer service representative could work in a department with multiple CSRs, but some of the representatives handle client issues while others process product returns. Though they all work with customers and have the same job title, they have different responsibilities. That's why it's important to clearly define your duties on your resume.

Recruiters often look at your job title first when scanning your resume, so make sure your job title accurately defines your job position. Consider speaking with your manager or supervisor about changing your title if you feel your responsibilities don't match it. If you've accepted greater duties or more of a leadership role, receiving a new title can be useful for future job and salary negotiations.

Related: 15 RULES FOR NEGOTIATING A JOB OFFER

How to explain your job position on a resume

Source: Image HR1Jobs

Follow these steps to accurately describe your job position on a resume:

1. Be specific

When composing your resume, it is important to be specific so hiring managers know your exact role in your company. Being specific also helps them determine if you have performed the tasks that the open role requires. Try to add numbers when you can to give the recruiter a clear idea of your work.

Instead of writing: "Answered incoming customer calls", you could write: "Answered 30 customer calls daily, responding to requests and transferring to appropriate departments when necessary".

2. Use active verbs

Active verbs are a great way to strengthen your resume by explaining what you did rather than the tasks themselves. They put you as the focus of your resume, strengthening the document and projecting your confidence in your roles. Active verbs also form shorter statements, making them easier for hiring managers to scan. Instead of writing: "Tasked with leading a group in multimonth project", try: "Successfully led a team of seven in 10-month project".

3. Include examples

Include examples in each of your job positions to guide the hiring manager in visualizing your accomplishments. It is much easier to understand a situation when describing it to your audience in detail. To better explain your job position, make sure to include specific examples of the work you did. Think about specific projects you worked on that capture your responsibilities well. For example, you could write: "Managed $500,000 budget to renovate and update office space".

4. Describe results

Describe the results of your work to demonstrate the difference you made at the business. Explaining results shows the hiring manager how you contributed to the company's success. For example, if your responsibility was to manage a company's social media page, include how many followers you acquired for the company in a month.

5. Present the position clearly

Clearly presenting your job position helps the hiring manager fully understand your role in the company. Sometimes, at specific jobs, you have complicated and complex work that not every recruiter will understand. By selecting the most important duties and writing about them in a straightforward manner, you can capture the hiring manager's interest. In your interview, you have more time to detail the complexities of your duties.

6. Provide details

If your job title is vague or doesn't fully encompass all of your duties, you can add your position next to the title. Adding this clarification helps hiring managers to learn more about the position while still scanning your resume. For example, if you're a team lead but your title doesn't reflect it, you could write: "Maintenance technician (team lead)". In this example, including "team lead" shows you have management and leadership experience in addition to your basic responsibilities.

7. Elaborate in your cover letter

Elaborating on certain job positions in your cover letter helps the hiring manager better understand the responsibilities listed in your resume. Since you can only provide so much information in a resume, use your cover letter as an opportunity to expand on the job positions you are the proudest of serving in. For example, explain how your job position as a head retail manager taught you leadership skills that transfer well to a new role.

Soure: Indeed Editorial Team

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