XYZ resume formula: 10 before and after bullet examples

• X: lead with the impact you delivered.^[1]
• Y: measure what you accomplished with a number.^[1]
• Z: detail specifically what you did.^[1]

Yale also advises giving a baseline for comparison, so a reader can judge the size of the result. "Increased participation by 100%" says more once you add "from 50 to 100 members."^[1]

Other career offices ask for the same thing in different words. MIT tells students to record accomplishments and contributions, not just responsibilities, and Harvard asks for bullets that are specific, active, and fact-based with measurable results.^{[2], [3]}

These examples are fictional. Each "before" states a duty, and each "after" follows the formula. Your own numbers must be ones you can explain in an interview.

1. Nursing

   Before: Responsible for patient care on a medical-surgical unit.

   After: Cut patient falls on a 32-bed medical-surgical unit from 9 to 4 in a year by adding hourly rounding checks.

2. Software

   Before: Worked on the checkout page.

   After: Reduced checkout page load time 38%, from 3.4 to 2.1 seconds, by lazy-loading images and compressing scripts.

3. Teaching

   Before: Taught eighth grade math.

   After: Raised average end-of-year math scores for 120 eighth graders by 11 points by adding weekly small-group review sessions.

4. Sales

   Before: Managed accounts in the Southwest.

   After: Grew regional sales 22%, from $1.8M to $2.2M in 12 months, by building a referral program with 14 clinics.

5. Accounting

   Before: Helped with month-end close.

   After: Shortened month-end close from 9 days to 6 by automating three bank reconciliations in Excel.

6. Marketing

   Before: Ran the company newsletter.

   After: Grew newsletter subscribers 40%, from 5,000 to 7,000, by testing four sign-up page layouts.

7. Customer support

   Before: Answered customer questions by phone and email.

   After: Lifted first-contact resolution from 68% to 79% across a six-person team by writing 25 help-center articles.

8. Warehouse operations

   Before: Responsible for picking and packing orders.

   After: Cut order-picking errors 30%, from 2.0% to 1.4%, by relabeling shelf locations and training 12 pickers.

9. Construction

   Before: Coordinated subcontractors on renovation projects.

   After: Finished a $2.4M office renovation three weeks early by sequencing trades in a weekly lookahead plan.

10. Research lab

    Before: Prepared samples in the lab.

    After: Shortened sample prep from 4 hours to 90 minutes for a five-person lab by writing a standard protocol.

Yale also lists a second format: an action verb, the project, then a quantified result. MIT likewise suggests starting each description with a strong action verb such as built, managed, developed, or wrote.^{[1], [2]}

Our advice: use the formula for your three or four strongest bullets per role, and write plainer action-and-result bullets for the rest. If you have no measurement, describe the scope, such as team size or how often you did the work, instead of inventing a number.

1. 1
   Yale Office of Career Strategy: writing impactful resume bullets

   The "accomplished X as measured by Y by doing Z" bullet format, quantifying impact, and giving a baseline.

2. 2
   MIT Career Advising and Professional Development: five steps to writing a great resume

   One page unless you have extensive experience or an advanced degree, accomplishments over responsibilities, and a strong verb to start each description.

3. 3
   Harvard Mignone Center for Career Success: guide to creating a strong resume

   Specific, fact-based bullets, no stated resume page limit, and cover letters of no more than a single page.

Sources last reviewed November 4, 2026.