What Tense Should a Resume Be in: Past or Present Tense?

If you've never written a resume before and this is your first time, you might have questions like what tense should your resume be written in? Or when creating a resume, why do we need to pay attention to the verb tense?

Firstly, using proper tenses will help the recruiter to understand what you currently do and what you have done before. In addition, the information written in your resume using past or present tense should also correspond to the timeline of the events you put in to avoid confusion. Having flawless grammar and consistency in your resume shows that you are organized and pay great attention to detail.

Even if this isn't your first resume writing rodeo, read this guide to revamp your existing one and have a stand-out resume. Perhaps there are some sentences in your resume written in the present tense, but should actually use the past tense, who knows?

There are three fundamental tenses in English: present tense, past tense, and future tense. 

When writing your resume, the present tense is used to describe your current role or ongoing projects. Meanwhile, entries like achievements, prior job duties, and completed projects in your resume are written using the past tense. The only section in a resume where you possibly use future tense is to state your career objective and what you hope to achieve in a specific company or role.

Since the majority of your resume space is to convey your past experience, the basic resume writing and tenses rule is using the past tense. Generally, resumes should only be written in past tense because it is essentially a record of what we did professionally and where we studied. However, when talking about your current position in a resume, describing it with present tense is the correct way to go. 

To achieve perfect grammar and a good sense of logic in your resume, the key is to be accurate and consistent in the use of tenses. Accurate means no mistyping and choosing the correct tense for each section. On the other hand, being consistent means maintaining the same tense – whether it's past or present tense – for all the sentences within a resume section.

On certain occasions that will be discussed further in this article, mixing up tenses to use in a resume for different verbs is acceptable.

Keep reading to see which past tense action verbs for your resume you should use to amaze the hiring manager, how to use present tense on a resume (with examples), and how to incorporate both tenses in a resume.

You can expect that 90% of your resume content is going to be written in past tense because the bulk of it is talking about your previous work and experiences. 

If you are wondering which sections of a resume should be in the past tense, we have the ultimate guide for writing in the past tense for your resume, topped with examples.

Past experiences

Past experiences are basically a track record of what you have done throughout your life up to this point. Although employment history is probably the most associated when we talk about past experiences, it is not only limited to work history. It could also include internships, volunteering experiences, participation in certain organizations, and others.

Here’s a sample of work experience resume section in past tense:

Here’s a sample of a volunteer experience resume section in past tense:

Achievements

The definition of "achievement" itself is a thing done successfully with effort. Thus, when talking about achievements in your resume, past tense should be used to emphasize that it indeed has been attained.

Here are some examples of an achievement section in a resume written in the past tense:

Awards

This one is pretty obvious, isn't it? You have to receive the awards first before actually telling others that you have it.

Here’s an example of an awards section in a resume written in the past tense:

Finished education

If you're no longer enrolled in an institution, the part explaining your completed studies in your resume should always be written in the past tense. Your completed projects or courses during your studies in this resume section are also described using the past tense.

From the examples above we're sure you get the idea of how you can properly write those resume sections in the past tense.

The ultimate cheat for implementing present tense in your resume entry is when the date range of the section ends with "- Present". Pretty straightforward, isn't it? The following sections of a resume are where you can apply present tense.

Resume summary

In this section, you normally communicate who you are as a professional, your career objectives, and highlight your skill sets. It is usually placed on top of the resume and acts as an introduction to the company you are applying to.

Here is an example of a resume summary using the present tense:

Current job

When elaborating about your job duties and responsibilities in your resume, writing them in present tense makes the most sense. Write them in bullet points and begin each sentence with a strong action verb using the present tense to make an accurate and impressive resume.

Ongoing education

In this era of competitive job market, everyone wants to secure a position before they graduate, be it from high school, undergraduate, or graduate programs. This is the perfect opportunity to insert present tense verbs in your resume.

Ongoing projects

Put your professional and personal projects that are still advancing in your resume using the present tense to show that you are doing more than just what your current role obliges. Keep in mind that the projects should also be relevant or support your skills.

Here’s a sample of a projects section in a resume using present tense:

On some rare occasions, you don't need to contemplate whether you should write your resume using the past or present tense. A mixture of both past and present tenses in one resume section makes perfect sense too. 

Sometimes when you have been working for a company for a few years you probably have done and accomplished various things, or even got promoted. In this scenario, you can list your achievements in your resume with the past tense and your existing duties in the present tense in your resume.

Another possible scenario is where you successfully completed projects which you can elaborate in your resume using the past tense. But since your daily duties remain the same, you can illustrate them under the work duties section of your resume using the present tense. 

For example:

Still unsure what tense should your resume be in? Should a resume be in the past tense or present tense? The answer is, both past and present tense can be used in writing your resume. And same goes with a CV if you're wondering what tense should a CV be written in. The most important thing is to use it properly and accordingly.

--- Originally written by Teresa Edria ---