How to Write a Resume for an Internal Job Posting

The hiring manager for an internal posting is often in a different department. They may know you from one meeting, or not at all. An HR reviewer may see only your job title and start date. Even a manager who likes you needs something on paper to pass along to a director or second interviewer who has never heard of you. The most common internal-applicant mistake is sending a thin resume because everyone already knows you. Write it as if the reader has never worked with you. Include the usual sections: a short summary, work experience with results, education, and relevant skills or certifications. Your HR file lists titles and dates. It doesn't say what you actually accomplished, and that is what the resume is for.

Every company has its own vocabulary: project code names, acronyms, internal tool names, team nicknames, and job levels like 'Associate III.' People in other departments may not recognize them. Replace them with a plain description of what the thing was and what you did. Before: Supported the Phoenix migration for the NE region and cleared the Tier 2 backlog. After: Supported the move of 3,200 customer accounts to a new billing system in the Northeast region and cleared a backlog of 400 escalated tickets. (The numbers here are examples. Use your own.) If the code name is widely known at your company, you can keep it in parentheses after the plain description. For your job title, use the official one in HR records. If your day-to-day title is different, add it in parentheses, such as Customer Support Specialist II (Billing Escalations). Keep your dates and titles consistent with HR records, because the reader can check them. Then read the posting closely. Pick the four to six requirements that matter most and make sure your resume shows where you've done each one, using the posting's wording where it's accurate. Internal postings are often written for a team's needs, so some of your best-fitting experience may be work you never thought of as related. Our guide on tailoring a resume to a job description walks through this step by step.

At a new company, nobody can easily verify your claims. At your own company, they can ask your manager or a coworker. That works in your favor if you stay accurate and specific, and it hurts you if you stretch the truth. Lead with results rather than duties. Compare 'Responsible for training new employees' with these: - Trained 9 new hires on the scheduling system; all were working independently within their first month. - Cut average order processing time from 3 days to 2 by rewriting the handoff checklist between sales and shipping. - Covered for the team lead during a 6-week leave, running daily huddles and assigning work for a team of 12. If a result was a team effort, say what your part was. 'Helped,' 'with,' and 'contributed to' are honest, and a specific description of your piece is better than a vague claim of the whole result. Be careful with confidential information. Revenue figures, customer names, unreleased products, and internal metrics may not be yours to share, even on an internal application, since resumes get forwarded. Use percentages, ranges, or general terms, and check company policy if you're unsure. If you're short on material, look through old performance reviews, thank-you emails from coworkers, and project documents. Our guide on turning a performance review into resume bullets shows how.

Internal moves usually fall into three types: a step up, a move to another team, or a change of function. Your summary should say which one you're making and give the reader evidence. Step up: Customer support specialist with 4 years at this company handling billing escalations. Has covered for the team lead, trained new hires, and wrote the checklist now used on all three shifts. Ready to move into a team lead role. Move to another team: Warehouse associate with 3 years of experience who works daily with the purchasing team on cycle counts and reorders. Has caught and corrected recurring count errors and is looking to move into an inventory control role. For a move to another department, put any work you've already done with that team near the top. Shared projects, cross-team requests, and tasks you took on outside your job description all count. If you've held more than one title at the company, show each one as its own entry so the growth is visible. Our article on listing a promotion at the same company covers the formatting. Keep the tone forward-looking. Leave out phrases like 'seeking new challenges' or 'ready for a fresh start,' which can read as unhappiness with your current team. Never criticize your current manager or department anywhere in the resume.

Check the company's internal transfer policy first. Some employers require you to tell your manager before applying, or to have been in your role for a minimum time. Others don't. Even when it isn't required, it's usually better for your manager to hear it from you than from HR or a hiring manager. Work on your resume on your own time, and on a personal computer if you can. Work devices and email may be monitored, and you may not want your search visible before you're ready. Keep the length to one page, or two if you have many years of relevant experience. Being an internal candidate doesn't mean you can skip proofreading. The hiring manager is still judging how you write and how carefully you work. Ask someone outside your company to read it and tell you if any part is unclear. If you don't have a current resume, aNewJob can build one from documents you already have, such as old resumes, performance reviews, and job descriptions, through a short interview. Then adjust it for the internal posting using the steps above.