journey of work experience

30 Smart Answers: ‘Tell Me About Your Work Experience’

When an interviewer asks, “Tell me about your work experience,” it’s your opportunity to connect the dots between your past roles and the job you’re aiming for, showing how your skills and experiences make you the perfect fit.

I know from personal experience that having a few well-thought-out responses can boost our confidence and make a great impression. In this article, we’ll share some smart answers and strategies to help you tackle this common interview question.

30 Examples of Smart Answers: ‘Tell Me About Your Work Experience’

• 1. “I’ve been in digital marketing for the past five years, mainly working on social media campaigns and content creation. I love how your company is always at the forefront of marketing, and I’d be thrilled to bring some fresh ideas to the table.”
• 2. “I was a project manager at a construction company, making sure projects ran smoothly and stayed on budget. Your infrastructure projects sound really interesting, and I’d love to help keep things on track.”
• 3. “I spent three years in customer service, helping clients sort out their issues and making sure they had a good experience. I really admire your commitment to customer service and would love to contribute to that.”
• 4. “I’ve been a software developer for a while, mostly using JavaScript and Python to build web apps. Your focus on cutting-edge tech is exciting, and I’d love to work on some innovative projects with your team.”
• 5. “I worked as a sales associate in retail, learning about products and how to close a sale. I’m eager to help meet your sales goals and deliver great customer service.”
• 6. “For the past two years, I’ve been a graphic designer, creating visuals for both print and digital media. I’m excited about the chance to bring my creativity to your team and work on impactful designs.”
• 7. “I taught high school English and History for five years. Your organization’s focus on education and community outreach really resonates with me, and I’d love to help develop educational programs.”
• 8. “I worked in hospitality for several years, managing a team of servers and ensuring top-notch service. I’d love to bring my leadership and customer service skills to your restaurant.”
• 9. “I’ve been an administrative assistant, handling scheduling, correspondence, and office management. I’m looking forward to supporting your team and helping keep things running smoothly.”
• 10. “I spent three years as a financial analyst, analyzing market trends and giving investment advice. I’m excited about the chance to bring my analytical skills to your team and help make informed financial decisions.”
• 11. “I’ve been a registered nurse, providing patient care in a hospital. I’m passionate about continuing to make a positive impact on patients’ lives with your team.”
• 12. “I worked in quality assurance in the tech industry, testing software to make sure it was bug-free. I’m excited about helping maintain high-quality standards for your software products.”
• 13. “I’ve been in human resources, focusing on recruitment, employee relations, and benefits. I’m eager to help create a positive workplace environment for your team.”
• 14. “I worked as a journalist, writing and editing articles for a local newspaper. I’m excited about the chance to bring my writing skills to your team and help create engaging content.”
• 15. “I have experience in logistics, managing shipping and receiving for a large distribution center. I’m looking forward to using my organizational skills to ensure efficient operations.”
• 16. “I spent several years as a chef, creating and preparing dishes in a high-end restaurant. I’m excited about bringing my culinary skills to your kitchen and creating memorable dining experiences.”
• 17. “I’ve been a real estate agent, helping clients buy and sell properties. I’m looking forward to using my market knowledge and client service skills with your team.”
• 18. “I worked as a mechanical engineer, designing and testing machinery for manufacturing. I’m excited about contributing to your innovative engineering projects.”
• 19. “I’ve been in public relations, managing media relations and crafting press releases. I’m eager to help enhance your company’s public image.”
• 20. “I spent five years as a librarian, helping patrons find information and managing the library’s collection. I’m excited about contributing to your library’s mission of providing valuable resources to the community.”
• 21. “I worked in the automotive industry as a service technician, diagnosing and repairing vehicle issues. I’m looking forward to bringing my technical skills to your team and ensuring high-quality vehicle maintenance.”
• 22. “I’ve been a social worker, providing support and resources to individuals and families in need. I’m passionate about continuing to make a positive impact on people’s lives with your team.”
• 23. “I have experience in event planning, organizing corporate events, weddings, and other special occasions. I’m excited about bringing my organizational skills to your team and creating memorable events.”
• 24. “I spent several years working as a bartender, mixing drinks and providing excellent customer service. I’m looking forward to bringing my mixology skills and customer service experience to your establishment.”
• 25. “I worked in education as a school administrator, overseeing daily operations and supporting teachers and staff. I’m excited about contributing to your school’s success.”
• 26. “I’ve been a marketing analyst, analyzing data to help guide marketing strategies. I’m eager to bring my analytical skills to your team and help drive effective marketing campaigns.”
• 27. “I have experience as a paralegal, assisting attorneys with case preparation. I’m excited about supporting your legal team and contributing to your firm’s success.”
• 28. “I worked as a personal trainer, creating fitness plans and helping clients reach their health goals. I’m passionate about helping clients achieve their fitness objectives and lead healthier lives with your team.”
• 29. “I’ve been a web developer, building websites and ensuring they’re user-friendly. I’m excited about working on innovative web projects and enhancing user experiences for your clients.”
• 30. “I spent several years as a photographer, capturing images for events, portraits, and commercial projects. I’m eager to bring my creative eye and technical skills to your team to produce stunning visual content.”

How can you describe your work experience and its relevance to the position?

Focus on key roles and how they match the job you want. Mention specific tasks, responsibilities, and achievements – show how these experiences make you a strong candidate.

Example Answer:   “I used to work as a Marketing Coordinator at (…) Company. There, I handled social media campaigns, kept an eye on market trends, and organized events. These tasks needed me to be super organized and detail-oriented, which are key for the Project Manager job I’m applying for now. Plus, I often worked with different teams, which fits right in with the collaborative nature of this role.”

How to Answer “Could you provide an example of how your background has prepared you for this job?”

Think of a specific job or project. Explain what you did and learned, and connect those skills and experiences to the requirements of the new job.

Example Answer:   “In my last job as a Software Developer, I led a project to redesign our company’s website. I gathered requirements from different departments, designed the user interface, and coded the backend. This project helped me sharpen my project management, teamwork, and technical problem-solving skills, all of which are crucial for the Web Development Manager position at your company.”

What skills have you gained from your past jobs that will be beneficial in this role?

Highlight skills like teamwork, problem-solving, or communication. Give examples of how you used these skills in the past. Explain why these skills are important for the new role.

Example Answer:   “From my previous roles, I’ve gained strong communication skills, especially when it comes to explaining complex information in a simple way. For example, as a Data Analyst, I often presented my findings to people who weren’t tech-savvy, helping them make smart decisions. This skill will be useful in the Business Analyst role, where clear communication is key.”

How would you explain your work history to someone unfamiliar with your profession?

Use simple and clear language. (Avoid jargon.) Describe your jobs in basic terms, focusing on what you did and why it mattered – make it easy for anyone to understand.

Example Answer:  “I’ve spent the last five years working in digital marketing. Basically, my job is to promote products and services online. I create and manage online ads, check how they’re doing, and tweak things to get better results. In simple terms, I help companies reach more people through the internet.”

Can you discuss your work experience in a way that highlights your strengths?

Identify your top strengths. Share examples from your past work that show these strengths in action, and explain how these strengths will help you succeed in the new job.

Example Answer: “One of my main strengths is leading teams effectively. In my previous job as a Team Lead at (…) Corporation, I managed a team of 10 people, making sure projects were done on time and within budget. My leadership and organizational skills helped boost our team’s productivity by 20%. These strengths will definitely help me succeed in the Operations Manager position you’re offering.”

In terms of customer service, what experiences do you have that make you a good fit for this job?

Describe specific customer service scenarios you’ve handled. Highlight your communication and problem-solving skills. Share positive outcomes or feedback you’ve received – show how your experience will benefit the company!

Example Answer: “I worked as a Customer Service Representative at (…) Inc., where I handled a lot of customer inquiries and resolved issues quickly. One time, I turned an unhappy customer into a loyal one by really listening to their concerns and offering a personalized solution. My strong communication and problem-solving skills, along with positive feedback from customers, make me a great fit for the Customer Service Manager position at your company.”

Crafting Your Response

Structuring your answer.

You can mention your role, the company, and the dates you worked there.

• “I was a manager at (…) Corp from 2020 to 2024.”
• “I worked as a software developer at (…) Inc. from 2018 to 2024.”
• “I served as a customer service representative at (…) Services for two years.”
• “I was a marketing intern at Cool Tech during the summer of 2024.”
• “My first job was as a sales associate at (…), where I worked for three years.”

Highlighting Key Responsibilities

Talk about what you did daily in your roles: you can mention tasks and responsibilities that were central to your position.

• “I managed a team of 10 sales reps.”
• “My duties included handling customer inquiries and resolving issues.”
• “I created social media content and tracked engagement metrics.”
• “Regular tasks involved inventory management and staff training.”

Emphasizing Achievements

Ideally, highlight specific accomplishments in your roles. If applicable, focus on measurable outcomes whenever you can, because it’s more impactful to mention what you achieved rather than just listing tasks.

• “I increased sales by 20% in one year.”
• “I developed an app used by over 50,000 users.”
• “I resolved 95% of customer complaints successfully.”
• “My marketing campaign boosted followers by 30%.”
• “I streamlined the inventory process, reducing errors by 15%.”

Illustrating Your Professional Growth

Describing career progression.

• Started as a marketing assistant, now a marketing manager.
• Began as an intern, promoted to project coordinator.
• Progressed from junior developer to senior developer.
• Shifts from sales trainee to sales executive.
• Moved from customer service rep to team lead.
• Upgraded from administrative assistant to office manager.
• Growth from teaching assistant to head teacher.
• Evolved from junior designer to art director.
• Transitioned from analyst to department head.
• Developed from barista to store manager.

Highlighting Leadership and Management Experience

• Managed a team of 10 employees.
• Led three major projects to success.
• Set and achieved quarterly sales goals.
• Improved team performance by providing training.
• Guided a team through a company merger.
• Handled budget planning for projects.
• Designed a new workflow for better efficiency.
• Developed leadership programs for new managers.
• Conducted performance evaluations and feedback sessions.
• Launched a successful new product line.

Reiterating Your Interest in the Role

Showing you’re excited about the job and explaining why you want it can help make a strong impression. Express why the role inspires you and state the specific reasons you applied:

• “I’ve always been passionate about helping customers, and this role allows me to do just that.”
• “I admire your company’s commitment to innovation and am thrilled by the opportunity to contribute.”
• “The team-oriented environment at your firm excites me because I thrive in collaborative settings.”
• “This position aligns perfectly with my desire to grow in the field of marketing.”
• “Your company’s dedication to community service is something I truly value and want to be a part of.”

Outlining Reasons for Wanting the Role

Explain why you’re interested in this role and how it fits with your career goals. Try to be specific about what attracts you to this job.

• “I am drawn to this position because it offers the chance to work with cutting-edge technology.”
• “The opportunity to advance within this company is a major reason I’m eager to join your team.”
• “I respect your company’s mission and believe this role will allow me to contribute meaningfully.”
• “This role matches my skills and gives me a platform to further develop my expertise.”
• “I am excited about the chance to work on diverse projects and expand my knowledge in the industry.”
• "Describe Your Work Ethic": 3 Examples of Smart Answers
• 30 Smart Answers to "What Is Your Greatest Weakness?"
• 9 Smart Answers to "How Would You Describe Your Work Style?"
• What Are Your Strengths And Weaknesses? (Answers & Strategies)
• 35 Smart Answers to "What Are Your Strengths?"
• Top 23 Interview Questions With Smart Sample Answers

How to Describe Work Experience on a Resume in 2024 (Examples & Tips)

Your work experience is a summary of all your hard work, dedication and achievements over the years. Here's how to do justice to your work history.

The work experience section of a resume will be the crown jewel that demonstrates to potential employers that you have the work history to back up your credentials.

In this guide, we will provide you with in-depth coverage for how to craft the perfect work experience section to help you land more interviews and job offers. 

Here's an outline of what we'll learn:

Including Work Experience on a Resume

What to exclude from your work history, formatting your work experience section, how to list achievements and accomplishments, add more experience with relevant certifications, use strong action verbs, how to show job promotions, addressing career gaps in your work experience, how to show volunteer work and internship experience.

• How Far Back Should Your Work History Go?

Key Takeaways

For all the inside scope on each component of your resume, check out our comprehensive resume guides . 

Work experience is a major component of any successful resume.

However, it can be difficult to decipher what exactly you should be including in your work history. 

Each job applicant will have a differing amount of working experience under their belt.

The key is to not shove too much information into this section.

Instead, you will need to take the time to sit down and decide which information best highlights your strengths and gives you an advantage for a particular job opportunity.

It is important to keep in mind that you should be altering your resume to match the job description of each individual job you are applying to. 

By taking the time to re-edit your work experience section for specific applications, you will have a much greater chance of impressing hiring managers. 

In this article, we will help you craft the perfect work experience section.

Some key questions we will be answering include:

• What should you be including in your work history?
• What should you be excluding from your work history?
• How should your work experience section be formatted?

Keep reading to learn more about how you can begin optimizing your work history section.

Beautiful resume templates to land your dream job

What Information to Include in Your Work History?

Ultimately, your work history will contain the following:

• Job Position ( e.g. "Bartender" )
• Company ( e.g. "Red Lobster" )
• Location (e.g. "Brooklyn, NY")
• Start Date - Month & Year (e.g. "October 2019")
• End Date - Month & Year (e.g. "January 2021") Note : You can list "Present" if it's your current job
• Description (responsibilities and achievements)

Here's how that looks, you can also see an example of the Yoga Instructor resume here .

Yoga Instructor, January 2018 – Present Mellow Mushroom • Nashville, TN • Taught 40+ elderly clients basic yoga moves each day • Held 4 classes a day that differ in intensity, including beginner and intermediate • Advised modifications for yoga poses to ensure proper form, to meet clients' athletic abilities • Instructed clients on breathing techniques, such as Basic Breath Awareness and Retention • Developed body-mind-spirit awareness, mental clarity and physical flexibility and strength

However, when deciding which information to include within your work experience section, there are four main principles to keep in mind:

Here is a quick breakdown of each of these crucial factors:

1) Relevancy

When writing out your work experiences, it is important to consider how relevant your previous experience is to the job you are currently applying for

Your most relevant experience should always be the most emphasized and focused on, as it will be where you showcase the skills and achievements that qualify you for the position.

For instance, let’s say you are applying for an entry-level copywriting position and you have two major examples of work experience you would like to include.

These examples are:

• Managed the front of house of a restaurant for four years.
• Worked as a journalist at a local newspaper for one year.

Even though the management position may take up a greater chunk of your professional background, your experience as a journalist is much more relevant to the field of copywriting.

Therefore, you would want to place greater emphasis on your more relevant experience. 

2) Timeliness

Let’s say you are applying for a position for which all or most of your work experience is fairly relevant with similar importance in your roles.

How do you decide which of this experience is best to include on your resume?

When listing out your relevant work experience, it is recommended to showcase your most recent experience first and work backwards from there. 

As a general rule of thumb, it is good to aim to include work experience that you have gained within the past 5 years, though trying to include examples from within the last 1 to 5 years is ideal. 

Generally, work experience older than 5 years should be included on more in-depth resumes, such as on a resume for a job applicant seeking a senior position at a company.

Additionally, the academic resume format “Curriculum Vitae” – or CV – will typically include experience that spans across an even wider timeframe. 

3) Longevity

If you have held a relevant position for a long period of time, this kind of longevity can be highly impressive to hiring managers.

Showcasing your longevity at a previous job demonstrates your ability to commit to a company long-term. 

Moreover, showcasing positions you have held for a long period of time can also be a great opportunity to emphasize any promotions you may have received.

Showing your ability to not only commit, but to grow as well can be majorly influential on the impression your resume leaves.

4) Position

Different positions you have held within a field or industry may hold greater weight than others.

While it is still important to keep relevance, timeliness, and longevity in mind, it can also be useful to showcase your higher positions on your resume.

For example, let’s say you are applying for a position as an executive administrative assistant and you have the following work experience:

• Office manager for small law firm 
• Administrative assistant for a tattoo parlor

While both positions are relevant to the job you are applying for, your role as an office manager may have had greater responsibilities compared to your assistant position. 

Check out our Human Resources Resume Example to see how the work experience section utilizes all four of the above mentioned factors. 

When you are writing your work experience section, it is important to note that you don’t want to include every job under the sun that you have ever held.

A hiring manager won’t want to read through all of that, nor are all of your experiences likely to be relevant for the job you are applying to. 

For instance, short-term jobs that you left soon after being hired may not be the best to include, as this can lead to speculation and uncertainty as to why you held the position for so short an amount of time.

If you happened to work a job that was purposefully or contractually short-term but holds a high level of relevance to the job you are currently applying for, it can be useful to include a short note explaining why you were only in the position for a limited amount of time. 

Omitting Jobs from Your Resume

There may be a variety of circumstances that may lead you to wanting to omit certain jobs from your resume.

For instance, if you were fired from your previous position, you may feel inclined to try and hide this information out of fear of it leaving a bad impression on hiring managers.

However, even jobs you were fired from should be included if they are relevant working experience

Being fired from a previous job is not an automatic deal breaker in most cases, and including that position on your resume is oftentimes preferred over leaving unexplained gaps in your employment history.

Moreover, you do not have to explicitly state on your resume that you were fired.

Should this be a topic of concern, it will likely come up in a job interview at which point you can more clearly and directly explain what happened.

Keep Your Job Descriptions Simple

A common mistake that many job applicants will make is writing descriptions of previous jobs that are too wordy or long.

Although it can be helpful to include more information about your most relevant or most recent experiences, you still want to write in clear and concise sentences that are easy to skim.

In truth, it is unlikely a hiring manager will thoroughly read your resume – especially if there are many applicants for the position.

As such, you must optimize your resume to provide information clearly and quickly.

A hiring manager should be able to gain the most valuable information with only a short read-through or skimming. 

As mentioned, you don’t want to go overboard when writing your work experience section.

Although you should aim to include the best and most relevant details, you should strive to write in short and simple sentences. 

Here is the basic format to use when structuring your work experience section:

Position, Start Date – End Date Company Name, Location ‍ • Descriptive Sentence • Descriptive Sentence • Descriptive Sentence

Alternatively, you may also want to list the company name on the first line with the position title.

This can be especially true if you worked for a well-known and easily recognized company or brand.

The formatting would then look more like this:

Position, Company Name Location, Start Date – End Date ‍ • Descriptive Sentence • Descriptive Sentence • Descriptive Sentence

There are, of course, some stylistic choices you can make to help your resume stand out.

However, sticking to this straightforward and easy to read format is key. 

Here are a couple quick examples of correct and incorrect formatting:

1) Always use bullet points for your descriptions.

Long paragraphs can be hard to read and make your work experience section look too cluttered.

Restaurant Manager, 2018 – 2020 ‍ In this position as a restaurant manager, I worked diligently to help implement new point of sales systems that greatly reduced operational costs. I also managed a staff of over 20 waiters on any given day. Of my responsibilities, I was in charge of handling customer complaints and issuing refunds. 

Restaurant Manager, 2018 – 2020 Mellow Mushroom • Nashville, TN • Hired and trained over 20 staff members . • Implemented point of sales systems that reduced operational costs by 15 percent . • Reduced customer complaints and refunds by 25 percent . 

2) Be specific as possible.

When writing your work experience descriptions, try to be as specific as possible rather than providing vague descriptions of your work accomplishments in the position. 

Junior Graphic Designer, The Coca-Cola Company Atlanta, GA • June 2017 – July 2020 • Responsible for making creative designs for the company. • Created hundreds of different designs for a variety of projects. • Worked closely with top-corporate officials. 

Junior Graphic Designer, The Coca-Cola Company Atlanta, GA • June 2017 – July 2020   • Led the design, development, and implementation of a label design project. • Designed and implemented new branding materials, including a re-design of the logo.  • Presented key deliverables to executive level stakeholders. 

In the following Content Marketing Associate resume example, you can see how Sarah has emphasized each of her bullet points with specific relevant keywords.

When it comes to listing your achievements and accomplishments on a resume , there are several considerations to keep in mind

As a general rule of thumb, your job descriptions are the best place to showcase your greatest accomplishments within a position.

For example, let’s say you worked in a sales position and raised overall sales by 10 percent .

This is the kind of specific accomplishment you will want to list within your job description. 

As previously mentioned, you will always want to be as specific as possible when listing out your achievements.

Here are some examples of how to properly list your accomplishments within your work experience section:

If you have specific data to quantify an accomplishment, always provide specific numbers rather than generalized statements.

Incorrect: ‍

Increased productivity of staff immensely over the course of the position.

Improved staff productivity rates by 30 percent , leading to a reduction of labor costs by 45 percent . 

Awards are a type of achievement that can be particularly useful to include.

Keep in mind that a hiring manager may not be familiar with company-specific awards.

Thus, you should provide enough detail to explain the importance of the award. 

Earned the Departmental MVP Award in 2019.

Earned the 2019 Departmental MVP Award for increasing productivity and efficiency rates, as well as improving cross-functionality of the department. 

Depending on the quantity of achievements you have, it may also be beneficial to create a section devoted entirely to your professional accomplishments.

The key takeaway here, however, is that job descriptions are one the most useful places to showcase your job-specific achievements. 

Although certifications may not be direct work experience, they often times are major indicators to employers of how qualified the candidate is for a position.

To earn a certification, you will typically be required to complete an accredited course successfully.

It can be tempting to include every certification you have ever earned on your resume as a way to help add some extra detail and interest.

However, when you are including certifications you should still be keeping relevancy as your top priority.

As such, only the most relevant certifications should be showcased. For instance, let’s say you have a CPR and First Aid certification.

If you are applying to become a school nurse, these kinds of certifications are not only important but are likely required.

Comparatively, if you are applying to a position as a content writer, these certifications hold no relevance. 

If you have earned a certification as a result of working a previous job, then you would likely want to include that certification in that specific job description.

Otherwise, your certifications may be better suited in their own devoted section.

Additionally, working to earn relevant certifications that you can list in tandem with your work experience section can help you to greatly stand out from other job applicants.

Here is a quick list of a few well-known certifications that would be useful to include on a resume:

• PMP: PMP is a Project Manager certification and is given to professionals with a four-year degree, a minimum of three years of project management experience, and the successful completion of the PMP exam and hour requirements. 
• NCLEX-RN: The NCLEX certification is the required certification for nursing professionals put forth by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. 
• PHR: The PHR certification stands for Professional in Human Resources and is earned through successful completion of an exam upon confirmation of eligibility. 
• SERVSAFE: ServSafe certifications are used in the restaurant industry to certify that kitchen and waitstaff are following all proper food and drink protocols. 

For more information on how to best show certifications, check out our guide on listing certifications on a resume.

When you are writing your resume, you want the words you use to engage the person who is reading it.

Chances are that the hiring manager reading your resume will read hundreds of other resumes that all contain similar words, verbs, and phrases. 

When choosing which words to use in your resume, it is important to remember that you don’t want to tell the employer why you are a great candidate.

Instead, you want to use the words to show the employer why you are the best candidate. 

This is where strong action verbs come in.

In your job descriptions, rather than saying something boring like “ managed a staff of 50+ members ” —  instead use a stronger action verb such as “ delegated ” or “ directed .”

Here are a couple quick tips for using strong action verbs on your resume:

1) Always lead with your action verb

Don’t bury your action verbs or make them difficult to spot.

Start your sentences with a powerful action verb instead.

I helped senior executives with important administrative tasks.

Assisted senior executives with administrative tasks, including managing travel schedules and optimizing file organization systems. 

2) Make it contextual and supporting

While it is important to use action verbs, don’t just use any word that comes to mind.

The words you use should make sense in the context of how they are being used to describe a job. 

Prohibited operational costs from exceeding budgetary restrictions.

Maintained low operational costs according to budgetary restrictions. 

Though both of these statements essentially say the same thing, the latter is much more clear and better represents your professional achievement. 

For more ideas on which action verbs to include on your resume, check out our list of 350+ Action Verbs to Make Your Resume More Effective.  

If you have worked in a previous job for a longer period of time, chances are you have received a promotion or two along the way.

Keeping track of these promotions and showing your professionals growth is essential. 

There are a couple different ways to show promotions within a job description.

When showcasing different roles you have held within the same job or company, it is important to list your highest position first and work backwards from there.

As an example, let’s look at two different ways a job candidate could list their promotion from office assistant to office manager on a resume:

1) Stacking job promotions

Use stacked positions to show your growth over time, with the most recent and highest position at the top.

Office Assistant, Tennessee Valley Authority Nashville, TN • January 2015 – January 2016 ‍ • Promoted to current position of Office Manager in 2016.

Office Manager, Tennessee Valley Authority • January 2016 – November 2020 Office Assistant , Tennessee Valley Authority • January 2015 – 2016

This kind of stacked formatting is an easy way to show you growth within a company without having to detail each position.

This is a good format option for when you want to focus solely on the highest position you earned.

2) Listing job promotions as separate entries

This format is useful if you served in each position for several years with different responsibilities in each. 

Office Assistant and Manager, Tennessee Valley Authority January 2015 – November 2020

Office Manager, Tennessee Valley Authority January 2016 – November 2020 • Job Description & Achievements Office Assistant, Tennessee Valley Authority January 2015 – January 2016 • Job Description & Achievements

The choice to format promotions as two separate entries should be reserved for instances where most or all of your work experience has been in different positions within the same company

Otherwise, the stacked format allows you to feature other work experiences with different employers as well. 

In some cases, a job applicant may not have very much relevant work experience or they may have large career gaps.

If this is the case for you, it can be useful to consider utilizing different resume formats to help fill in those gaps. 

The worst thing you can do is try to hide these career gaps from hiring managers.

These are the types of details they will be looking out for, and signs of deception are likely to get your resume thrown out immediately.

Instead, you should consider the different resume formats that may be better suited to showcasing your skills rather than your experience.

Here are the three main types of resume formats and how we'd rate them from best to worst for addressing career gaps:

1) Functional (best)

Functional formatted resumes focus more on skills and unpaid experiences, making them well suited for applicants without a strong work history.

2) Hybrid/Combination (good)

Hybrid resumes will combine elements of both reverse-chronological and functional resumes, making them good to use when you have career gaps. 

3) Reverse-Chronological (worst)

‍ This format focuses on making the work experience section the main component of the resume so it won't be the best choice for you.

Though having limited work experience or large career gaps can certainly make the resume writing process more difficult, it is by no means impossible to create an effective resume in spite of this.

Check out our guide for writing a resume with no work experience for more advice on how to create a resume when you have limited experience or career gaps.

For some applicants, especially those who may still be in school or are recent graduates, you may lack paid working experience but have several good examples of volunteer work and internships. 

Generally speaking, your internship experiences can go in your work experience section, as these are still technically professional experiences you applied for and earned based on your academic credentials.

Volunteer work, comparatively, should often be listed in a separate section as this is not typically considered “professional experience.”

Nonetheless, volunteer work can still hold a good amount of value, especially if it is directed related to the job you are applying for.

For instance, an IT professional may have volunteered their time to work on a not-for-profit software development project.

Though this experience was unpaid, it provided the applicant with experience working directly with software developers.

This kind of experience will still be crucial to share with potential employers. 

Consider an Alternative Format

If your work experience is limited to internships and volunteer work, this may be another good opportunity to utilize the functional or hybrid resume formats.

This will allow you to showcase the unpaid experience you have, while also sharing the focus with other sections such as skills and academic accomplishments. 

How Far Back Should Your Work History Go?

We’ve covered the importance of timeliness and longevity when deciding which previous jobs to include in your work experience section.

The reality of how far back you should go ultimately depends on the position you are applying for.

For applicants who are applying to entry-level or lower-level jobs, keeping your work experience section concise and focusing on jobs you have worked in the past 1 to 5 years is likely to be preferable. 

Comparatively, if you are applying for a senior-level position, or for a position in the fields of science or academia, it is recommended to showcase more of your professional background.

For instance, applicants who are seeking positions in academic fields will likely want to use a CV format which typically will cover most – if not all – of both their professional and academic background. 

Not every job is the same, nor is every applicant the same, so how much you include on your resume will depend on the situation at hand.

Luckily, there are many resources to help, such as our guide on on writing the perfect resume.

By now you should feel a much greater sense of confidence for how you should be writing and formatting your work experience on your resume.

Here are five key takeaways to remember as you embark on your resume writing journey:

1. Relevancy is Key

When listing out your work experiences, keep in mind which of your previous jobs are the most relevant to the position you are now applying for.

You don’t want to weigh down your resume with too many jobs and job descriptions, so narrowing down to the 3 – 5 most relevant experiences is key. 

Do keep in mind the other three factors we discussed as well: timeliness , longevity , and position .

You want to showcase how your prior work experiences have given you the skillsets to make you highly qualified for the job you are seeking. 

2. Show, Don’t Tell

When writing your job descriptions, avoid using statements such as “I did this” or “I accomplished this.”

Instead, word your descriptions in a way that showcase your achievements and strengths within the position.

Employers don’t want to be told what you can do because words only mean so much without the evidence to back them up.

‍ Show hiring managers what you are capable of by providing clear and quantifiable examples of how you have excelled in your previous positions. 

3. Use Strong Action Verbs

Begin each of your bullet points in your job descriptions with strong action verbs that clearly represent the action or accomplishment you are showcasing.

The use of these verbs not only helps to clarify your work experience section, but also helps emphasize key points, tasks and achievements.

However, be wary of using these verbs just for the sake of using them.

Always make sure the verbs you are choosing relate back to the statement you are making so you don't not accidentally cause any confusion.

4. Keep it Simple 

Bullet points and simple sentences are your friend. Most hiring managers are not going to read through your resume in its entirety.

Thus, having bite size and concise descriptions that effectively represent your abilities, skills, and accomplishments is key. 

5. Determine Which Format is Best for You

If your work experience is limited, you may want to consider using an alternative resume format.

To help determine which format best suits your needs, take a look at our guide for choosing the correct resume format . 

Closing Thoughts

Your relevant work experience can make or break your opportunity for landing an interview with the job of your dreams.

Figuring out the best and most concise way to list your experience is, thus, crucial. 

To learn more about how to craft the best resume possible, check out our comprehensive guides and resume templates to get started making your perfect resume today. 

Browse more resume templates that fit your role

Get inspired with more resume examples

Read our how-to guides on making your resume perfect, how to list education on a resume in 2024 (with examples & tips).

Not sure what degree to list? If you should include a GPA? It just so happens that there's a variety of ways to effectively list your eduction.

How to List References on a Resume in 2024 (with Examples & Tips)

In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about including references on a resume, from how to format them to how to know when they should be included at all.

How to Write a Two-Page Resume (with Examples & Tips)

Don't know whether you should write a one-page or two-page resume? Find out when it is appropriate to write a two-page resume and learn how to write it correctly.

How to Choose The Correct Resume Format in 2024 (With Examples)

Choosing the best resume format will be the first step you'll need to get right in order to lay the groundwork for your entire resume.

More advice that will accelerate your career path

15+ key healthcare skills to list on your resume in 2024 (with examples).

Healthcare is a massive and important industry that contains all sorts of professionals. To land a job in healthcare, you must understand what relevant skills employers are searching for. In this guide, we will cover key healthcare skills to include on your resume and why doing so is so important.

How to Organize Your Resume with Resume Layout Examples in 2024

How you organize your resume matters. The layout and formatting of a resume can have a huge impact on a hiring manager’s first impression. Plus, the layout helps to guide the employer’s eye around the resume to the most important information! In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about resume organization and layouts.

10 Ways to Improve Your Networking Skills in 2024

Mastering the ability to network can be the secret recipe for your long-term career success years beyond 2024. Follow these methods to effectively improve your networking skills.

What is the Difference Between a CV and a Resume in 2024?

If you’ve done any research into the different types of resumes, you’ve likely heard the term CV before. A CV is a type of document with a much more specific purpose than your standard resume. In this article, we will cover exactly what a CV is, how it differs from a resume, and when to consider using one.

Professional resume templates to help land your next dream job.

Facebook • Twitter • Linkedin • Pinterest • Crunchbase

Work Experience on a Resume - How to List It Right

Imagine you’re a hiring manager who goes through countless resumes on the daily.

What’s the first thing you look at?

If your guess was work experience, then you’re right.

And if you spot a few relevant keywords in their work experience section, then you’re more likely to continue reading about their background, contact information, and so on.

The most important thing hiring managers want to know is whether you can do the job you’re applying for, and that’s where the work experience section of your resume comes in.

So how do you make your work experience do the heavy lifting?

Don’t worry! Our article is here to help.

We’re going to cover:

• What Information Your Work Experience Section Needs

How to Format Work Experience on Your Resume

• 11 Real-Life Examples of Work Experience on a Resume

Let’s get started.

What to Include in Your Work Experience Section

The work experience section is the most important part of your resume.

This is the section that gives hiring managers a look at your professional journey so far, including your skills and achievements, and it’s the section they base their hiring decisions on the most.

Your work history can show how likely you are to excel at the job, how committed you are to career growth , and what industry know-how you ought to have.

This section is going to look different depending on your career level, how recent your work experience is, and what the job you're applying for is.

Let’s look at what information employers expect from your work experience section:

• Job Title/Position . Add this at the top of each work experience entry. You want the hiring manager to know at a glance that you have relevant work experience for the job, so use the actual job title instead of any buzzwords.
• Company Name. Include the name of the employer. Sometimes, if the employer isn’t well-known, you might want to describe the company in a sentence or two to give the hiring manager context.
• Location. The general location, such as the city and state/country where you worked, is more than enough information.
• Employment Dates. Write down the approximate timeframe of your employment. There’s no need to give exact dates since the standard format for this is mm/yyyy.
• Responsibilities and Achievements. The core of each work experience entry is what you achieved while you were there. List your responsibilities and achievements in bullet points instead of paragraphs to make them easier to read. Use 5-6 bullet points for newer job entries and 2-3 for older ones.

Here’s an example of a work experience section that includes all of the above:

Want to know more about other resume sections? Learn how to write a resume with our detailed guide!

You know what to include in your work experience section, so let’s talk about how to include it.

First things first - your work experience section should always follow a reverse chronological order . Add your latest work experience at the very top, and work your way backward.

Hiring managers aren’t interested in what you did ten years ago. Instead, they’d rather know what you’ve been up to right before applying for this specific job.

That being said, if you have a lot of experience, you shouldn’t include every single job you’ve ever had.

Your resume is supposed to be one page long , so feel free to omit any summer gigs or part-time jobs to free up space. It’s also extremely important that your work experience is easy to find and that the information is well-structured and readable.

Here’s an example of how to format your work experience section:

Making Your Work Experience Stand Out

Now that you know how to list your work experience, you need to describe it in a way that makes you stand out from other candidates.

We’ve divided this process into several steps, starting with:

#1. List Achievements Instead of Responsibilities

Too many resumes focus on the day-to-day tasks in the work experience section.

The thing is, hiring managers already know what those responsibilities are. They’re the ones who write the job ads, so you won’t impress them by telling them you did just what they would expect you to do.

For example, if you’re a QA engineer, your responsibilities could include:

• Identifying software bugs.
• Ensuring test coverage for all features.
• Making detailed reports on product quality.

These same responsibilities show up in 99% of QA engineer resumes out there.

So, if you want to stand out from the crowd, you want to focus on your most impressive achievements instead. Show the hiring manager how you helped your previous employer and the difference you made while you were there.

Let’s compare how the same work experience entry looks like when we use achievements and when we use responsibilities:

• Increased test coverage by 25% by implementing new automated test suites.
• Reported and triaged over 100 high-priority defects ahead of major releases.
• Executed manual test cases across web and mobile applications.
• Logged defects into bug-tracking systems as they were encountered.

But there are some fields where there aren’t that many achievements you can mention in your resume. For example, if you’re a server , serving 120+ patrons a night, or earning a lot of tips aren’t achievements that look good on your resume.

Your daily tasks probably include:

• Taking orders, serving food and beverages, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
• Preparing tables for meals, including setting up items such as linens, silverware, and glassware.
• Assisting in opening and closing the restaurant, including cleaning duties and setting up for the next service.

In this case, it’s okay to focus on responsibilities instead. You can still distinguish yourself by following the rest of our tips on how to make your work experience shine.

#2. Tailor Your Work Experience to the Job

If you want your resume to go from “okay” to "outstanding," what you need to do is tailor it to the specific job you’re applying for. 

The hiring manager doesn’t need to know details about every job you’ve had or about the skills you gained in a different field. 

So, your work experience should reflect what the job requirements are. This way, you’re more likely to really catch the hiring manager’s attention and land a job interview .

Here’s an example of a well-tailored job ad:

As you can see from the picture, it’s easy to figure out what the most important requirements for the role are. 

So, to tailor your resume to this ad, you need to show how you meet every one of these job requirements.

Let’s look at an example of how the same work experience would be tailored differently according to different job ads.

Say, you were an advertising intern.

Here’s what your work experience would look like when you’re applying for a position as a social media assistant:

INTERNSHIPS

Marketing Intern

Full Picture Company

New York, NY

09/2023 - 12/2023

• Analyzed various social media platforms for trending content.
• Managed company social media accounts.
• Posted interesting content on the company's Facebook page, increasing engagement by 25%.

Pretty easy, right? Now, let’s look at what the same work experience entry would look like for a job as a content writer .

• Assisted the Marketing Manager in writing press releases and new blog posts, which increased web traffic by 25%.
• Created engaging content for email marketing campaigns and boosted newsletter subscriptions.
• Revitalized old blog posts with updated information and SEO optimization, improving organic search rankings by 30%.

The internship is still the same but this way, the experience you’re focusing on is tailored to the job you’re applying for. The hiring manager can immediately see your most important skills for the job and the value you could bring to their team.

#3. Add the Right Amount of Work Experience

If you’ve had a lot of jobs so far, you might be wondering if they all belong on your resume.

The answer is usually no. Your full, detailed work history belongs on your CV instead of your resume .

The hiring manager only wants the most recent and relevant information, not your full life story.

So, the amount of work information your resume should include depends entirely on your level of experience.

Let’s break it down:

• No Experience. If you’re currently looking for your very first job , you simply won’t have any jobs to fill in your work experience section. In that case, we recommend skipping this section and instead focusing on any experience gained in clubs, extracurricular activities , volunteering, and other projects.
• Entry-Level. When you’re applying for an entry-level job, you can list most of your work experience so far. Likely, some of it won’t be relevant, but it still shows the hiring manager that you have some work experience, and that’s better than none.
• Mid-Level. At this level, you should only mention relevant work experience. Don’t waste precious space listing old internships or jobs you had as a teenager .
• Senior-Level. You only need to list up to 15 years of relevant work experience. You might even need a two-page resume to apply for an executive position at this stage, but only if you have too much relevant work experience to fit onto a single page.

#4. Optimize for the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Software

Before the hiring manager reads your resume, it has to make it to them.

The fact is that 70% of resumes get discarded before the hiring manager even reads them.

That’s because most companies use specialized Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) to go through hundreds of resumes and automatically filter out ones that don’t have what the hiring manager is looking for.

Unfortunately, this means that if a resume is missing a specific skill or isn’t formatted in a way that the ATS can process , it gets rejected immediately.

So, how can your work experience make the cut?

Here are a few tips:

• Don’t go over one page. The ATS can have a limit on how long a resume is allowed to be, so we recommend always sticking to a single-page resume.
• Format everything carefully. Don’t give your resume sections quirky names. Your work experience section should be titled “Work Experience,” not “The Journey So Far.” If you try being too creative, the ATS might not recognize what that section is and reject you.
• Tailor carefully to the job ad. If you want to beat the ATS, you need your resume to be as tailored to the job ad as possible. Include as many relevant keywords as you can in your work experience section. Just make sure they’re all used in a logical context since the hiring manager is supposed to read them, too.
• Keep everything in an active voice. Describe your previous jobs with clear and specific language. (E.g.: Instead of “A team of ten people was managed by me,” say “Managed a team of ten people” ).
• Use power words and action verbs. Hiring managers don’t want to hear how you “were responsible” for this or “helped with” that. Make your work experience pop by using impactful language like “spearheaded,” “designed,” “conceptualized,” and more.

Choose one of our ATS-friendly resume templates to make sure your resume passes the test.

Where to Place Work Experience on Your Resume

The work experience section should always be one of the first sections on your resume, along with the skills section.

Typically, it comes just after your resume header , so that the hiring manager can read it immediately after your resume headline .

If you are using the reverse-chronological resume format, work experience should go at the top of your resume. This way, hiring managers can quickly evaluate your qualifications based on your most recent roles.

However, if you’re using a different resume format, such as functional or combination resume formats, you can make an exception. These resume formats emphasize skills over work history, so you could move your work experience further down, towards the middle of your resume.

Recent graduates are another exception to this rule

Suppose you’re a student with minimal professional experience. In that case, you can put your education section on top instead of your work experience section to emphasize your academic achievements and show that you’re ready to put your knowledge to good use.

Want to learn about the other popular resume formats ? Check out this article to see which one is right for you.

Complimentary Resume Sections

While your work experience might be the single most important section of your resume, at the end of the day, it works in sync with the rest of it.

Other resume sections , like your resume summary or certifications, can show the hiring manager how experienced you are and how much industry know-how you bring to the table.

So, here are a few other resume sections that come into play if you want to back up your work experience and increase your chances of getting an interview:

#1. Resume Summary

A resume summary is a short section at the top of your resume that highlights your most relevant skills and achievements related to the job.

In 2-3 simple sentences, a good resume summary tells the hiring manager:

• Your years of experience in that type of role.
• Your top qualifications or impressive accomplishments.
• What kind of responsibilities you’re familiar with.
• What your motivation for the position is.

By summarizing the core of your work experience upfront, your resume summary lets the hiring manager know what they can expect from the rest of your resume. So, when done well, an eye-catching resume summary can make you stand out from the crowd.

Here’s an example of a resume summary:

Another important section is devoted to your most important skills.

The skills section lets you list abilities that supplement your work experience, and it should be divided into two categories:

• Hard Skills. These include technical skills, tools, and specific knowledge that’s directly applicable to the role.
• Soft Skills. These can be personality traits or interpersonal skills that demonstrate how you work with others and how well you’d fit into the company’s team.

Along with your work history, the skills section helps employers quickly evaluate your credentials and relevant expertise for the position. While your work experience highlights skills in context, the skills section provides an easy-to-reference summary.

Make sure the skills you list on your resume align with what the employer is looking for. Use the job description as a reference to pinpoint the keywords you should add to your resume .

Here’s an example of a skills section on a resume:

#3. Certificates

Professional certificates and coursework can show your commitment to continuous learning and honing your skills.

Listing certificates on your resume allows you to showcase specialized knowledge and skills that might not be evident from your work experience.

For example, say you’re applying for a position as an SEO content marketer.

If you’re experienced in digital marketing but don’t have formal work experience with SEO, that could be a problem. However, listing a certificate from an SEO course can tell the hiring manager that you have the necessary knowledge to take on the role.

Relevant certificates can provide evidence of your advanced skills, industry expertise, or any other necessary qualifications for the role. They can back up your skills and distinguish you from other candidates with similar work experience.

Depending on the context, any certificates you have can either be listed in the education section or a dedicated resume section.

If the certificates are more recent and different from your formal education, we recommend listing them separately. Here’s an example:

#4. Personal Projects

One of the best ways to show your passion and dedication is through your projects.

Hiring managers love candidates who do cool stuff in their spare time.

If any personal passion project you’ve been working on is relevant to the role you’re applying for, make sure to add it to your resume. It can back up the skills and experience on your resume, and help you stand out from other applicants.

For example, if you’re applying for a job as an animator , any published flash animation videos on YouTube are a great addition to your resume.

However, personal projects should only be listed if they’re relevant. If you’re looking for a job as an architect , your incredible cosplay sewing abilities just won’t cut it.

Here’s an example of a personal projects section:

11 Real-Life Examples

Not sure how to list work experience for your field?

Check out the practical work experience in these resume examples for different professions:

#1. Marketing Executive Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a marketing executive resume here.

#2. Teacher Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a teacher resume here.

#3. Cashier Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a cashier resume here.

#4. Software Engineer Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a software engineer resume here.

#5. Career Change Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a career change resume here.

#6. Illustrator Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing an illustrator resume here.

#7. Esthetician Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing an esthetician resume here.

#8. Stay-at-Home Parent Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a stay-at-home parent resume here.

#9. University Graduate Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a university graduate resume here.

#10. University Student Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a university student resume here.

#11. High School Graduate Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a high school graduate resume here.

Work Experience Section FAQs

Are you still wondering about something related to your resume’s work experience? Check out the answers to these popular questions about listing work experience on a resume:

#1. What If I Don’t Have Any Work Experience?

If you don’t have any work experience, there are two things you should consider: first, hiring managers don’t expect candidates for entry-level roles to have a ton of experience, so you don’t have to worry too much.

And second - there are plenty of ways to make an impressive resume even without any professional experience .

For example, if you're a recent graduate, you can focus on highlighting your education, relevant coursework or extracurricular activities.

Include any internships, volunteer roles, or student organizations that show you have the skills necessary for the job.

You can also highlight universal skills like communication , teamwork, problem-solving, and computer skills . If you use a strategic approach, your lack of work experience won’t hold you back from writing a great resume.

#2. Can I List an Internship Instead of Work Experience?

Yes, you can list internship experience on your resume instead of work experience.

Internships provide valuable on-the-job training and give you exposure to a professional work environment, so they’re always a great thing to add to your resume.

Like work experience, internships allow you to gain important skills, learn about a particular industry or role, and build accomplishments you can use to show potential future employers. 

Internships can be a vital resume section for candidates with less experience, such as students, career changers, or stay-at-home parents re-entering the workforce, since they show hiring managers you have enough relevant hands-on experience to succeed at the job.

#3. How Can I Explain an Employment Gap on My Resume?

The key to managing a gap in your work experience section is to address it briefly and positively on your resume or cover letter .

In a line or two, explain what happened and move on without dwelling on it, since employment gaps are relatively common and can happen for different reasons.

For example, if you had to take a year off to recover from a medical issue, just say so in your resume without going into details. The important thing is that you’re now better, ready to resume work, and the hiring manager knows it won’t be a problem.

If you have a short employment gap, you can probably skip the explanations. Simply list the start and end dates for each role without explaining the time in between. A couple of months between jobs is perfectly normal, and hiring managers aren’t likely to ask about it.

#4. What If My Work Experience Isn’t Relevant?

If you're applying for a job and none of your work experience is relevant, it’s a bit more complicated.

As a general rule, any work experience is better than no work experience. Most soft skills are applicable across industries, so you can focus on them in your resume.

If you’re an entry-level candidate, you might want to leverage other areas to show the hiring manager that you’re a good fit for the role.

For example, if you want to be a graphic designer but only have experience in customer service , emphasize your art education, portfolio work, and personal projects instead. If you’ve taken any more recent courses related to the field, you can list them before your work experience.

However, if you’re an experienced professional looking to change careers , things are a little different.

For a career change, you need to articulate your transferable skills and show how your previous experience can help you in this new role.

Let's say you're a sales professional interested in marketing. You could highlight skills like communication, market analysis, client relationship-building, and goal-oriented achievements that show your valuable marketing skills.

Key Takeaways

You’ve made it to the end!

Now, you’re all set to write a flawless work experience section.

But before you go, let’s recap what we talked about:

• Always list your work experience reverse-chronologically so the hiring manager can see what your most recent achievements and experiences are.
• If possible, focus on work achievements over day-to-day tasks. This way, you can immediately show the hiring manager what you’ve done for your previous team and what the value of hiring you would be.
• Carefully format your work experience so it passes the ATS and so that the hiring manager can easily read it.
• Instead of paragraphs, use bullet points to describe your previous jobs. For newer experiences, 5-6 bullets are good, but for older ones, 2-3 bullet points are enough.
• If you don’t have work experience, use this section to list your internship, volunteer experience, personal projects, or extracurricular activities. Treat them the same way you would treat work experience, and list your responsibilities and achievements in bullet points.
• Make sure the other sections in your resume complement your work experience for a flawless job application.

To provide a safer experience, the best content and great communication, we use cookies. Learn how we use them for non-authenticated users.

• Case studies
• Expert advice

Employee experience journey map: A complete guide + example + template

Today, we are all obsessed with the experience of the customer. However, only some seem to care about employee experience. This makes no sense whatsoever.

It is common to think that customers are the drivers of our business. And while this is true, imagine what would happen if all employees from your company decided to take a couple of days off, stay home, and watch Netflix? This would be a disaster. Yet, many companies still don't see the importance of designing a better employee experience.

• 1 What is an employee journey?
• 2 Benefits of employee journey mapping
• 3 Employee experience journey mapping
• 4 What to map?
• 5 Employee journey stages
• 6.1 Start with employee experience research
• 6.2 Produce an employee persona
• 6.3 Map the employee experience journey
• 7 What’s next?
• 8 Wrapping up

What is an employee journey?

Put simply, an employee journey is the complete experience an individual has while they're employed at an organization, starting from the day they apply for the job until the day they leave. Such a journey includes every interaction they have with the organization, whether it's having a conversation with a manager, participating in a training session, or attending a team meeting. Think of it like a story that unfolds over time, each chapter representing a different part of the work life.

For example, consider Steve, who just got a job at a technology firm. His employee journey starts with applying for a job, getting an interview invitation, and having the interview. Then he has the second interview and receives the job offer, which moves Steve to the next stage — his first day of work, where he's welcomed by his colleagues and continues as he works on projects, receives feedback, and grows his skills. 

Over the years, Steve might get promoted, switch to different roles within the company, or take part in special programs. His journey captures all these experiences right up until his retirement party or the moment he leaves the company, capturing the entire arc of his career at the firm.

Benefits of employee journey mapping

Why is it essential to know the state of your employees’ journeys and improve them? Many smart companies all over the world are using a very effective idea. They treat their employees really well, just like they do with their customers. 

They've figured out that this is super important. In this paragraph, we'll explain why this is a big deal and how it can make companies much better in today's world.

Here are a few down-to-earth points as to why you should take employee experience seriously:

• Employee engagement means customer success. Did you know engaged employees are almost 90% less likely to leave their company compared to employees who have a low level of engagement? Leave alone the fact that engaged employees are a lot more productive.
• Employees come at a great cost . And it’s not just about money. Customers do not interact with CEOs. They interact with front-desk staff, customer support, sales, you name it. Mistakes of these people may seriously damage your company’s reputation. That alone is a good reason to start thinking about designing a better employee experience.
• Word of mouth. Finally, just like a great customer product, an outstanding employee experience gets spread by word of mouth. It becomes one of the ways you attract talented people to the company.
• Enhanced onboarding and retention. By understanding the employee journey, organizations can create a more structured and engaging onboarding process. This will help new hires become productive more quickly and feel a greater sense of belonging, which can reduce turnover rates.

Now that we’re on the same page regarding the importance of designing a better experience for employees at a company, it’s time to proceed to actionable to-dos.

Read also: Case study on improving the employee journey

Employee experience journey mapping

One of the proven approaches to analyzing, understanding, and enhancing the employee experience and employee journeys is a great technique called customer journey mapping.

Not familiar with this subject? Check out our complete guide on creating a customer journey map .

The idea behind this technique is fairly simple: you take the journey people take when interacting with your business and break it down into stages. The next step is to look at each stage from different angles to get a complete picture of what the experience of this particular person may look like. In other words, a map of your employee’s journey helps you see through the eyes of your customer or, in our case, through the eyes of employees. 

There’s another similar technique called employee experience mapping. These two techniques are often used interchangeably, but it should be noted that experience mapping takes a broader view. It goes beyond chronicling the stages an employee goes through, delving into the qualitative aspects of an employee's daily life within the organization, their experience with it. This encompasses, for example, the emotional experiences of employees at various touchpoints, like participating in daily team meetings, using the company’s tools and technologies, or during interactions with leadership.

What to map?

First, it’s important to decide which part of the employee experience journey you want to start with. At this point, there are a couple of routes you may take:

• High-level mapping. Obviously, it simply would take too much time to map the entire journey, as the employee lifecycle is way too long for one map. Unless you want to start with a high-level map and dive into details later as you dig more information. The downside of a high-level approach is that you won't get a lot out of it. The formula is fewer details = fewer insights.
• Focus on a specific part of the journey. It would be a whole lot easier to start with something like onboarding. The best part about onboarding is that if you are an HR, you have just enough knowledge to take the first steps.
• Identify the most problematic stage and start with it. However, it’s not that easy to tell which part is the most problematic without running research.

Employee journey stages

As we’ve touched the employee journey stages, let’s consider some of the common ones to give you an idea of what to include in your employee experience journey map.

• Attraction. This is the beginning of the journey, where potential employees first encounter the company brand or job opening. They form initial impressions about the company culture and values, and these impressions are often influenced by the company website, social media presence, and employer reviews.
• Recruitment. The potential employee actively considers the job opening and applies for a position. This stage may encompass submitting applications, attending interviews, and communicating with the company's hiring team.
• Hiring. This is when you make the job offer, and the candidate accepts it. 
• Onboarding. The new employee starts their job, they get oriented and integrated into the organization. They learn about company policies, may undergo training for their specific role, and start building relationships with the team and managers.
• Development. This stage involves the employee's growth within the organization. It includes receiving feedback, pursuing professional development opportunities, and potentially participating in mentoring or coaching programs.
• Advancement. This is when the employee moves up within the company hierarchy through promotions or transfers. 
• Exit. This is the final stage of the employee journey when the employee leaves the organization, whether for retirement, a new job, or other reasons. The exit process can include such substages as exit interviews, knowledge transfer, and the employee's transition out of the company.

Looking for more information about employee journey stages to add to your model of journey map? Check out our deck of cheat cards to look deeper into the stages and substages of employee journeys.

Three steps in designing an employee journey map

Now, we will cover the basic steps for creating a full-fledged, true-to-love employee journey map.

Start with employee experience research

Employee research, often referred to as employee surveys or employee feedback programs, is of paramount importance for organizations across various industries. 

It involves collecting, analyzing, and acting upon feedback from employees to gain insights into their experiences, attitudes, and needs within the workplace. Here are some key reasons why employee research is important:

• It enhances employee engagement. By understanding what engages or disengages employees, organizations can take targeted actions to boost engagement.
• It supports informed decision-making. Employee research provides quantifiable insights, allowing leaders to allocate resources more effectively and prioritize initiatives that matter most to employees.
• It helps measure progress. By conducting surveys periodically, organizations can track progress over time. They can see how their efforts to address employee concerns and improve the workplace have translated into tangible results.

In other words, employee research is a strategic tool that empowers organizations to create better workplaces, improve employee satisfaction, increase productivity, and drive overall success. It aligns the interests of employees and employers, contributing to a positive organizational culture and sustainable growth. 

So, you should always start with profound research. Otherwise, what exactly are we going to put on that map? And when it comes to interviewing employees, some really nice factors contribute to great research:

• Employees are easy to get in touch with, and such research is inexpensive compared to customer research. Imagine a situation where you have to bring a bunch of customers for a focus group or an interview. Each has a different time availability and level of involvement. Plus, chances are they might want to have something in return. Whereas, employees are almost always there and ready to share their thoughts over a cup of coffee.
• You have lots of data already. If you’ve been working in the company for a while, there’s probably enough information for you to start with employee journey mapping. And you can always talk to the HR department to get this information.
• Co-creation opportunities. There is nothing better than inviting coworkers for a journey mapping workshop . And again, it’s much easier within a company than when you’re trying to bring in real customers.

In addition to employee feedback and interviews, it may also be helpful to review internal audit reports to gain a better understanding of potential areas for improvement in the employee experience journey.

Surely, there will be a conflict of interests and ethics issues, so be ready to get creative!

Before doing any kind of research, make sure you come up with a list of sources. They can be:

• Employee feedback. If you are an HR, chances are you have a lot of info on hand that can be used for employee experience mapping.
• Interviews with employees. Trust me, they have so much to say, and chances are they wanted to say it years ago.
• Interviews with managers. They observe employees and are able to give you a whole different perspective on things.
• Polls and surveys. Those can give a lot of quantitative data. And the best part is that polls can be anonymous.

Produce an employee persona

To truly empathize with employees, it’s vital to create an employee persona. It is a made-up person that is based on real employees. It should have some basic description as well as some of the details you found during the research phase: goals, motivations and frustrations, some background, and maybe even skills.

Meet Michael, our example, a young finance professional in the heart of NYC. With a year's experience under his belt, he aspired to land a job in a prestigious firm. Living with his brother's family in their cozy apartment, he found solace in their company but yearned for his own space. His daily routine includes job hunting between work, and his mind is always set on reaching the top of the corporate ladder.

You can have one, two, or multiple personas depending on your needs. To create your own persona, here's our guide with examples of how to create a persona in 7 steps .

Map the employee experience journey

Now, after the research has been done and personas have been created, it’s time to put everything on a map. The way you map an employee experience journey is the following:

• Define the stages you need for your map

If we talk about the journey part that covers a new employee onboarding, there will be stages like awareness, research, first contact, phone screening, job interview, the hiring process, the first day, the list goes on. It is very likely that some stages will have multiple substages (especially the hiring process and job interview).

• Decide on map layers or sections

These are layers of data you want to have on your map. Some of the commonly used journey map layers include employee goals, employee expectations, emotional experience, process, channels, touchpoints, and problems.

For each stage you defined, fill in the map sections with data about this stage. For example, write down the goals of the employee persona as well as their expectations or describe the process the employee persona goes through at each stage.

Feel free to add anything that can benefit you in the search for employee experience insights. If you feel like adding some quotes from real employees — it's great. Want to add a photo of the workplace for a new employee? Go ahead! 

In fact, if you're mapping employee experience in our journey mapping tool , multiple sections will help you capture all the details you might want to have in your map!

• Find flaws and come up with solutions

Once you see the whole picture, you can start looking for roadblocks that prevent employees from, for example, getting the best onboarding experience.

Once you put roadblocks on the map, you can come up with ideas and solutions. In the end, you will have a map that looks somewhat like this:

What’s next?

Once the journey map has been created, it serves as a valuable foundation for a positive employee experience. To ensure that their experience continually improves and stays aligned with the evolving needs of your company, consider the following actions:

• Collect ongoing feedback. Encourage employees to provide feedback throughout their journey. This can be done through surveys, one-on-one discussions, or anonymous feedback channels. This feedback should be used to identify pain points and areas for improvement.
• Regularly update the map. As processes and procedures change within your organization, update the map accordingly. This ensures that it remains an accurate reflection of the journey and can guide improvements effectively.
• Implement quick wins. Identify low-hanging fruit or quick wins based on the map insights. These are small, immediate changes that can significantly improve the experience without requiring extensive resources or time.
• Prioritize key touchpoints. Focus on the most critical touchpoints in the journey that have the greatest impact on the employee experience. Allocate resources and efforts to improve these areas first.
• Involve cross-functional teams. Collaborate with HR, IT, training, and other departments to address issues and implement changes. A cross-functional approach ensures a holistic perspective and comprehensive solutions.
• Set clear objectives. Define specific goals and objectives for improving the employee experience. This provides a clear direction for change initiatives and helps measure their success.
• Training and development. Invest in training and development programs for managers and mentors involved in onboarding. Equip them with the skills and knowledge needed to support the company’s employees effectively.
• Leverage technology. Use technology to streamline and automate parts of the onboarding process. This can reduce administrative burdens and create a more seamless experience for new hires.
• Monitor progress. Continuously monitor the impact of changes on the employee experience. Key performance indicators (KPIs) should be tracked and analyzed to ensure that improvements are achieving the desired outcomes.
• Employee involvement. Involve new employees in the co-creation of their onboarding journey. Seek their input and preferences to tailor the process to individual needs.
• Celebrate successes. Acknowledge and celebrate successes and improvements at different stages of your employees’ journey. Positive reinforcement can motivate teams to keep making enhancements.
• Stay compliant. Ensure that the onboarding process remains compliant with all relevant laws and regulations. Regularly review and update documentation as needed.
• Communication and transparency. Maintain open and transparent communication with employees regarding changes in the onboarding process. Provide clear explanations and expectations to manage their experience effectively.

Remember, journey mapping is not a one-time activity; it should evolve alongside your company's growth and changing needs. By actively listening to employee feedback, making data-driven decisions, and continually refining the onboarding experience, your organization can create a positive and impactful journey for new employees from day one.

Wrapping up

Mapping the employee experience is undoubtedly a challenging undertaking, one that demands a significant amount of effort, time, and resources. However, the rewards that come with creating an exceptional workplace environment and a satisfied workforce are simply too compelling to ignore.

Good news: we have a library of free templates, including employee experience map templates, which you can use for high-level mapping. Either download a PDF file and print it out or create a map in our Journey Mapping Tool, tweak it as you like, and then export it to show all the insights you came up with! 

Related posts

Rate this post

Thanks for the map. It’s a great template to start with for my company’s employee journey.

You’re welcome, Chris! We also have templates for remote employee journey and an employee journey mapping whitepaper with expert advice. Be sure to check those out and happy mapping!

Thank you for these employee journey mapping examples. Our problem is not so much with onboarding but with keeping people from leaving after 6-8 months. Do you have any advice on how to improve retention in the long run?

Hi Tarik, you’re welcome! We do have some employee experience examples you could use for better retention, and a detailed breakdown of common stages people go after the probation period is over: annual performance evaluation, office events, paternity leave, skill upgrading, etc.

You can find them all in our filled-out template called “End-to-end employee journey map” right here: https://uxpressia.com/templates/education-and-career

• Business Essentials
• Leadership & Management
• Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB)
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• Digital Transformation
• Finance & Accounting
• Business in Society
• For Organizations
• Support Portal
• Media Coverage
• Founding Donors
• Leadership Team

• Harvard Business School →
• HBS Online →
• Business Insights →

Business Insights

Harvard Business School Online's Business Insights Blog provides the career insights you need to achieve your goals and gain confidence in your business skills.

• Career Development
• Communication
• Decision-Making
• Earning Your MBA
• Negotiation
• News & Events
• Productivity
• Staff Spotlight
• Student Profiles
• Work-Life Balance
• AI Essentials for Business
• Alternative Investments
• Business Analytics
• Business Strategy
• Business and Climate Change
• Creating Brand Value
• Design Thinking and Innovation
• Digital Marketing Strategy
• Disruptive Strategy
• Economics for Managers
• Entrepreneurship Essentials
• Financial Accounting
• Global Business
• Launching Tech Ventures
• Leadership Principles
• Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability
• Leading Change and Organizational Renewal
• Leading with Finance
• Management Essentials
• Negotiation Mastery
• Organizational Leadership
• Power and Influence for Positive Impact
• Strategy Execution
• Sustainable Business Strategy
• Sustainable Investing
• Winning with Digital Platforms

A Guide to Employee Journey Mapping

• 08 Dec 2022

A business is only as strong as its employees—a sentiment that’s top of mind for human resources professionals and people managers amid mass resignations.

As the so-called “Great Resignation” has employees leaving jobs at chart-topping rates , you not only need to retain existing employees but compete with other organizations for top talent.

One way to proactively identify areas for improvement and create value for existing and prospective staff members is through employee journey mapping. Here’s a primer on what it is and how to leverage it to create value.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Employee Journey Mapping?

Employee journey mapping is the process of visualizing the employee experience from hire to exit. Its goal is to determine areas for improvement and opportunities for value creation so you can retain and attract stellar employees and motivate them to do their best work.

Benefits of the employee journey mapping process include:

• Visualizing each employee’s experience at your company
• Illuminating holes or areas for improvement in your current employee experience
• Enabling more accurate job descriptions
• Informing budget allocation for initiatives that boost retention and engagement

Each of these helps increase employee satisfaction—thus increasing their motivation and quality of work —and your company’s competitive edge in the talent search.

To understand how to use the employee journey map to create value for employees, first explore the basics of value creation.

The Basics of Value Creation

In the online course Business Strategy , Harvard Business School Professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee explains how to create value using a tool called the value stick.

The value stick has four components:

• Willingness to pay (WTP) : The maximum amount a customer is willing to pay for a company's goods or services
• Price : The actual price of the goods or services
• Cost : The cost of the raw materials required to produce the goods or services, or employee compensation
• Willingness to sell (WTS) : The lowest amount suppliers are willing to receive for raw materials, or the minimum employees are willing to earn for their work

There are two ways to gain a competitive edge and attract the best talent: Offer higher compensation (raise the employee’s cost) or make the job more attractive (lower the employee’s WTS).

Lowering an employee’s WTS means they’re willing to accept less compensation. To do this, you need to make the job more attractive and create value.

Value creation not only pays off in terms of employee retention; it can impact the customer experience, too.

“In many services businesses, there’s a strong link between WTS and WTP,” Oberholzer-Gee says in Business Strategy . “By lowering WTS—by making work more attractive—we increase employee engagement, and this then leads to better customer experiences.”

Here are five steps to leverage employee journey mapping to create value.

Related: A Beginner’s Guide to Value-Based Strategy

How to Leverage Employee Journey Mapping to Create Value: 5 Steps

1. define and select employee type.

The first step in the employee journey mapping process is defining employee types, or personas, and selecting which to map first.

If your organization has many roles, you should map a journey for each persona; for example, an “entry-level data analyst” or a “new-hire mid-level marketing manager.”

Some parts of the process will be the same for all employees; others will vary based on job function and level.

2. Map the Employee Journey

The next task is documenting the selected persona’s journey throughout their time at your organization. This can be done in a list format or by drawing a timeline and mapping the journey visually.

This step requires thorough brainstorming to account for as many aspects of the persona’s experience as possible.

It can be helpful to think of the persona’s experience in stages. Use the following example, and tweak it to fit your organization:

• Hiring stage: From job posting to signed offer letter
• Onboarding stage: From day one to ramped up and fully acclimated
• Development stage: Developing skills while performing daily responsibilities
• Progression stage: Opportunities to advance their career within the company
• Offboarding stage: From resignation letter to exit interview

Some organizations operate on a strict schedule for role progression. If this applies to yours, use time as map markers instead of process stages. For instance:

• Before the first day
• One year in
• Two years in
• Eventual offboarding

After defining map markers, list each persona’s planned experience for each stage. This may seem daunting, given the number of factors that influence the employee experience. To make it easier, start by listing processes already in place.

For instance, under the “onboarding stage,” you could list:

• Receive a laptop and a company ID card
• Gain access to email, the project management system, and necessary accounts
• Go on an office tour
• Attend mandatory training

Next, list any added social or culture-building aspects of the experience, such as:

• Receive a company-branded T-shirt and a water bottle on the first day
• Get treated to lunch by the manager and team during the first week
• Attend meet-and-greets with senior leadership and members of each team

More in-depth journey maps include a list of resources needed to make each line item possible—for instance, the platform to conduct onboarding training or a budget for lunches with new hires.

While not every interaction can be documented, each step of the employee journey is important to their overall experience at your company and, ultimately, whether you retain them.

During this process, you may realize there are holes in the journey maps for some roles; for instance, if you don’t currently have practices in place for the development or progression stages. Note these so you can use them in step four when identifying value-creation opportunities.

3. Factor in Employee Feedback

Gathering employee feedback is a general best practice, but it can also play a useful role in assessing current employee journey maps.

There are many options for gathering feedback, including anonymous surveys, private interviews, and physical or virtual suggestion boxes. Other valuable sources of insight include exit interviews with people who leave your company and online reviews from current or former employees on sites like Indeed and Glassdoor .

Map employee feedback to the specific stage or time frame it applies to and notice patterns that emerge. Which stages have the most positive or negative feedback? Are there any general sentiments that could be addressed in a specific stage?

For example, perhaps you observe that employees commonly note in their exit interviews that their job description didn’t match up with their day-to-day tasks. In such cases, you can map that feedback to the hiring stage and use it to create job listings that more accurately reflect roles’ responsibilities.

4. Identify Value Creation Opportunities

Once you’ve mapped the persona’s journey and tracked feedback to each stage, identify areas for value creation. Remember that the two ways to create value for employees are increasing compensation (raising their cost) or making the job more attractive (decreasing their WTS).

Opportunities for value creation can include:

• Holes in the employee journey: Are you providing enough support during the onboarding process? Are professional development opportunities available? Is there a pathway for career advancement within your company for each role?
• Feedback about specific benefits: Benefits can include typical perks (such as vacation time and wellness budgets) or intangibles (like an increased sense of control or flexibility of work location or schedule).

5. Revise the Journey Map

Once you’ve identified opportunities to create value, prioritize and apply them. This can be a long process requiring budget allocation and organization-wide shifts.

Once changes have been implemented, revise the journey maps to include new elements. After you’ve gone through the process once, you can periodically reassess and update the journey maps to adapt to employees’ changing needs and values.

Creating Value for Employees

Creating a competitive employee experience is vital to any business strategy . Without strong, satisfied employees, no organization can reach its goals.

Armed with knowledge of the value stick and the employee journey mapping framework, you can create meaningful value for your employees and attract new ones.

If you’re interested in diving deeper into value creation, consider taking Oberholzer-Gee’s course, Business Strategy . It’ll equip you with a broader picture of how to factor the employee experience into your overall business strategy to create value for your customers, firm, employees, and suppliers to achieve success.

Want to learn more about how to create value for employees? Explore Business Strategy , one of our online strategy courses , to gain the skills to create organizational value. Not sure which course is the right fit? Download our free flowchart .

About the Author

Prefer a self-guided tour?

In just 5 minutes (no strings attached!), learn how market leaders use Leapsome to build high-performing teams, enable managers and retain their best talent.

The employee journey map: A guide to creating great EX for a multigenerational workforce

The world of work has never been more exciting — and unpredictable — than it is now. Not only have remote and hybrid setups become the new normal, but the workforce has changed, with five generations coming together to collaborate daily. As critical as diverse perspectives are to business success, this intergenerational convergence has introduced complications; only 6% of organizational leaders feel ready to manage multiple generations. (1)  

Thankfully, frameworks like the employee experience (EX) journey map can help businesses through this transition. Overall, companies that design a great EX report lower stress and burnout, and their team members are 1.4 times more likely to find purpose in their roles. (2) 

But how does mapping the EX journey work? Employee journey maps help chart and visualize the end-to-end experience of working at a company from the perspectives of its team members. The primary purpose of these maps is to highlight the employee’s point of view and uncover inefficiencies and areas for improvement. They can also provide an overview of the internal processes, as well as the roles that recruiters, hiring managers, human resources leaders, and team leads play in shaping the experience.

We’ve created a downloadable employee journey map template that HR and people leaders can use as a starting point for their own journey maps. This article also provides a step-by-step process for making the most of this free resource.

• Deloitte , 2021 ‍
• McLean & Co. , 2023 ‍

Our free employee journey map template

Our customizable template is a great place to start if you’ve never explored employee experience journey mapping. It allows you to document your company’s processes across key EX touchpoints (from recruiting and onboarding to offboarding). Then, use the notes and next steps section to start brainstorming and drafting how you’ll make improvements.

Check out the employee journey map example below to see how this can look for your organization. ‍

🤔 Get inside employees’ heads ‍ Use our template to gather team member insights at every stage and understand how their needs change throughout their tenure. 👉 Download the template

What is the employee journey?

The employee journey encompasses all the milestones, events, interactions, and impressions an individual experiences throughout their tenure with an organization. Some people leaders refer to the EX journey as key touchpoints, or “moments that matter.” Still, this perspective might be somewhat limiting, as it overlooks the fact that a positive EX journey is also about building a strong, trusting relationship between employees and organizations. 

Essentially, every moment counts , influencing how team members feel about your organization — from pre- to post-employment.

“If you’re familiar with customer journey mapping, then you may know more about employee journey mapping (EJM) than you realize. Employee journey mapping uses the same concepts and best practices of customer journey mapping to help you understand your employee experience better, provide the resources, tools, and support employees need, and align employees’ daily actions and accountabilities with the customer experience.” ‍ — Jeannie Walters , Customer Experience Speaker and CEO of Experience Investigators ‍

Why map out the employee journey?

Mapping out the employee journey means creating a visual blueprint to identify current areas for improvement and customize for different roles. What’s more, it allows you to stay in touch with changing professional priorities and career paths, which no longer look like they once did. 

‍ “Traditional career paths, where employees rise up the ranks and retire at the peak of their career, are going away,” write HR experts and analysts Emily Rose McRae, Peter Aykens, Kaelyn Lowmaster, and Jonah Shepp in their collaborative article for HBR . 

“Some employees don’t retire at all or do so after a career shift or break, including performing different or less lucrative work. For example, Pew research found that 19% of Americans aged 65 and older worked in 2023, which is nearly twice as many as 35 years ago. More employees are stepping out of the workforce mid-career, shifting across industries or embracing contingent work and other nontraditional employment models at some point in their careers.”

When you consider how quickly the professional landscape is changing, mapping out the employee experience journey should stand out as a worthwhile investment of time and effort that can contribute to significant cultural and operational outcomes, such as:

• Smoother, more thorough onboarding processes — Only 43% of employees say their onboarding included more than paperwork and a one-day orientation. Implementing an EX journey map to create a more in-depth onboarding experience can set your company apart and help your new hires feel more welcome from day one.
• Relevant career development opportunities — An effective employee journey map considers your team members’ unique professional and personal career goals. This allows you to offer better training opportunities , which, according to 83% of HR professionals, impacts employees’ decision to stay with a company.
• Improved productivity — An EX journey map can help you overcome productivity gaps with better technology, resources, processes, and communication. In doing so, you could become up to 1.8 times more productive than organizations that don’t prioritize the employee experience. ‍ ‍
• ‍ Greater recruitment success — A journey map can help you better understand what candidates are looking for throughout their tenure. That way, you can tailor your messaging to better resonate with job seekers’ highest priority goals. ‍

7 steps for creating your employee journey map

Whether you utilize our customizable employee experience journey mapping template or create your own, outlining the employee journey lets you easily spot where your EX efforts fall short; then, you can make an initial action plan within the same document. 

Let’s look at our recommended step-by-step process for strategizing, researching, documenting, and improving the employee experience within your organization. ‍

1. Get clear about your goals for mapping the employee journey

The key question that HR and people professionals need to ask themselves at this stage is, “What do we want to know about the employee journey and why?” This ensures journey mapping is a more meaningful, strategic endeavor that helps you align with your overall company goals.

If this is your first time creating a journey map, your initial goal may be to identify current paint points, gaps, and challenges so you can better support your team over the next 12 months. 

If you’ve mapped your company’s employee journey before and implemented improvements, a more specific goal might be to address communication issues and improve the feedback and review processes across all touchpoints. ‍

2. Conduct employee research

To get to the core of issues, you must first dig deeper into previous survey data, manager feedback, performance scores, and EX metrics like retention, turnover, and engagement. 

You should also talk to department heads, managers, team leads, and other employees for fresh, updated insights. In your research, be sure to understand how team members describe their current journey and ideal experience; this way, you can identify existing pain points and structure a better path. 

Here are a few questions you can ask employees:

• What expectations did you have at each stage of your professional journey? ‍
• Have we succeeded or failed in living up to those expectations? ‍
• What were your biggest frustrations during the onboarding , training, and engagement stages? ‍
• What competencies were you hoping to develop at every stage? ‍
• How did you feel about communicating with your manager and leadership team at each stage of the process?

Providing anonymous employee feedback channels is crucial if you want valuable, candid input. You can help team members feel safe sharing their thoughts with methods such as:

• Anonymous surveys — Using a platform like Leapsome means your surveys will be anonymous by default. ‍
• Suggestion boxes or forums — These allow employees to confidentially share their input and ask questions without prompting. That’s why Leapsome offers an anonymous suggestion box and Q&A board where team members can ask questions and get answers from leadership. ‍
• Focus groups — Organize an in-office or virtual meeting with team members, ask meaningful questions about their current experience, and use their answers to create an anonymous report. If possible, arrange this with a third-party research company to ensure confidentiality.

🔎 Make sure you have a tentative action plan to share with employees when asking them for feedback. This will help you overcome any survey fatigue due to previous inaction while encouraging your team to provide more and better feedback.  

3. Determine the scope & roles your journey map will cover

Use the gathered data to hone in on the most urgent issues. 

For instance, you may notice positive reports during the recruitment and onboarding stages as you review your research. However, you might uncover that teams typically show decreased engagement around the development stage. That could mean it’s time to update your career progression framework or make it a more central part of your organization’s professional growth processes.  ‍

🧩 Discover what pieces are missing from your EX strategy Use our free, editable template to record employee data, map the employee experience journey, and make your organization an even better workplace. 👉 Download the template

4. Craft your EX journey map

Now, you’ll draw on the previous three steps and combine your goals, scope, and research to update processes and construct your ideal employee experience journey. To do this, you can use our template, which covers these core areas:

• Touchpoints — where employees come into contact with managers, leaders, and other stakeholders ‍
• Processes — the ideal steps managers and employees should take at each touchpoint to give team members the best experience ‍
• Metrics and monitoring — so you can record your current EX data and quickly identify areas of weakness ‍
• Notes — where you can document feedback from employees and stakeholders ‍
• Next steps — where you’ll outline solutions

Of course, every organization has specific goals, internal structure, and culture. That’s why we’ve made our entire template editable and customizable, with ready-to-use content you can use for inspiration. For example, if your company is 100% remote , you may need more processes during onboarding that promote belonging, recognition, and team integration.

🔎 Use our template to link to a fully fleshed-out process and next steps for each stage!

5. Consult your journey map to identify improvement opportunities

Use the notes section in our template to capture what you’ve learned from team member research and outline your current iteration of the employee journey. In particular, note the initial expectations and eventual frustrations team members mentioned in their feedback and prioritize specific roles or issues that should be addressed. 

In the next steps section, summarize what actions you plan to take based on the most critical concerns. Perhaps several employees mention feeling stifled in their professional development; you could then introduce a formal learning and training budget as a next step to improve on this. ‍

6. Share your plan & implement initiatives

Once you’ve finalized your action plan for improving the employee experience, communicate your strategy with leaders and team members so you can secure additional feedback on your proposed ideas and support for your initiatives moving forward. To be as transparent as possible:

• Explain your motivation for mapping the employee journey — Reiterate why you decided to map the employee journey and improve EX from the outset. For example, your organization may have gone through a recent restructuring, and you might have noticed that engagement has been declining. ‍
• Describe your approach — Share how you mapped the staff journey based on your current EX processes and employee research. ‍
• Discuss the why behind your proposed strategy — Provide the rationale behind your action plan and link it to current business goals and objectives. ‍
• Break your strategy into steps — Be sure to offer timelines and share who will lead each initiative. ‍
• Follow up — After presenting your plan, contact leadership and stakeholders to address questions and concerns. ‍

7. Refine & iterate on your journey maps over time

Like customers, the needs of your employees can change and fluctuate — often in response to industry and economic changes. That’s why you should review and update your EX journey map every six months to a year and follow the same process each time. You can even utilize an employee experience platform to support you with this.

Remember: No matter how favorable your employee experience metrics are, there’s always more to learn and understand! 

🔎 Employee experience platforms like Leapsome can help you streamline how you gather team member data, set the right EX goals, and implement strategies for better communication, reduced stress, and more employee autonomy.

Measuring the employee journey

Reviewing your employee experience metrics regularly helps you detect and mitigate issues early before they become major challenges. Doing so also means you can illustrate your progress to upper management and the executive team over time, demonstrating the value of your EX programs. Here are a few key indicators you should consistently refer to:

• Retention and turnover rates — Low retention rates may signal that team members aren’t having a positive employee experience. However, you need to compare them against employee tenures to discern when the most turnover typically happens. For instance, you may notice that team members tend to quit after their first eighteen months, which could suggest they’re dissatisfied with a lack of training, development, and career opportunities.  ‍
• Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) — The eNPS is a valuable metric because it allows you to quickly assess engagement. It only requires employees to answer one question: “On a scale of zero to ten, how likely are you to recommend us as a place to work for your family and friends?” Your final score can range from -100 to 100, and most companies have a score between 10 and 30. While it’s not a great standalone metric because it presents you with limited data, it’s a great starting point that can help you determine when it’s time to investigate the employee experience further.  ‍
• Survey results — Take note of your highest and lowest scores on previous engagement and culture surveys and read answers to open-ended questions thoroughly. If you use Leapsome’s Surveys module, you can quickly determine which factors you need to target to drive more positive outcomes. Our sentiment analysis function also uses AI to interpret open-ended answers so you can quickly scan them before exploring further.

• Performance scores — A great employee experience often corresponds with enhanced motivation, higher engagement, and, as a result, satisfactory performance. High performance scores also speak to the effectiveness of managers and stakeholders during the onboarding, training, and development stages. ‍

How Leapsome supports employee journey mapping

As the workforce's demographic makeup changes and career paths evolve, EX journey maps can help you be more strategic about the insights you gather and improve the employee experience more efficiently. If your organization is genuinely committed to putting its people first, you need team member input to create a more personalized work experience for your team members.

Still, what do you do if you lack the time, personnel, or tech to gather the requisite insights? How do you overcome resistance from leadership without the right data and tools?

Leapsome allows you to automate the operational and analytical side of the journey mapping so you can focus on finding more innovative solutions to complex EX challenges. With Leapsome Surveys and Reviews , you can track engagement and pulse scores, retention rates, your eNPS, and employee performance scores with charts and visualizations to show how those metrics have changed over time. Then, use Goals to design EX initiatives that align with current business objectives. 

With Leapsome, you’ll gain actionable insights and drive targeted improvements across every stage of the employee experience. ‍

👣 More positive impressions and connections every step of the way Use Leapsome’s AI-powered survey summaries to actively listen, gain insights, and implement changes based on employee feedback to make the entire work experience more meaningful. 👉 Book a demo

Leapsome Team

Related articles

Measuring the ROI of employee engagement [free calculator]

A dynamic approach: 8 essential metrics to track the ever-evolving employee experience

How to calculate employee turnover rate: A step-by-step guide

Ready to upgrade your people enablement strategy.

Explore our performance reviews, goals & OKRs, engagement surveys, onboarding and more.

The #1-rated HR platform for people enablement

Schedule a demo to find out why leading companies choose Leapsome — the intelligent HR platform that empowers managers to develop, align, and engage their teams.

• Get AI-powered recommendations 🪄
• Save countless hours with automations ⏱️
• Learn from industry best practices and benchmarks 📊

1,600+ forward-thinking companies choose Leapsome

Schedule a demo

Our friendly team will be in touch right away!

Mitarbeiter entwickeln mit Leapsome

Stärken Sie Mitarbeiter-Engagement und Erfolg Ihres Unternehmens - wie andere führende Marken.

Interesse an Leapsome?

Unsere Produktexperten zeigen Ihnen gerne unsere Plattform oder eröffnen einen Account.

NEW People Analytics: Achieve business objectives with your HR strategy. Learn more →

• Sales (US): +1 415 636 8011
• Sales (UK): +44 20 3744 2922
• Sales (AU): +61 3 7035 1005

Last updated August 23, 2024

A guide for mapping your employee experience

• Share article via Email Share article via Email
• Share article on LinkedIn Share article on LinkedIn
• Share article on Twitter Share article on Twitter
• Share article on Facebook Share article on Facebook

From the moment a candidate becomes attracted to your business, you have the opportunity to engage them in a unique and fulfilling experience. But the journey from interested candidate to fulfilled employee doesn't just happen – instead, it should be deeply considered and intentionally mapped.

Planning what your company’s employee experience (EX) looks like brings structure to each stage involved in an employee’s journey, leading to a consistent and equitable experience for each team member. 

By prioritizing a structured approach to creating an employee experience, you can develop a process that keeps you, your team, and other people leaders accountable for ensuring every employee has the best possible experience at your organization. Tracking the employee experience (through surveys and other touchpoints) confirms that the experience you're providing is fair across the organization.

In this article, we introduce our approach to mapping the employee experience and provide you with a guide for evaluating your existing employee experience and a step-by-step process for optimizing the experience for everyone involved. 

Why and how we created the employee journey mapping guide

The employee experience directly impacts your team’s performance, engagement , and well-being , and has a tremendous influence on your customer satisfaction and even profits. So to help your company streamline the employee journey mapping, we created a guide to optimize your existing EX and/or create a new approach that will work better.

In our experience working with over 5,000 diverse companies – with workforces ranging from 100 employees to 100,000, from bra makers to bread makers, from Melbourne to Milan – we've noticed there are a few things that are constant. All employees experience a typical set of stages in their journey, with specific key moments that make or break their experience. We created our guide for mapping the employee experience to help you make those key moments exceptional. By tapping into what makes your employees and company unique, you can supercharge engagement and retention at your organization.

Start mapping your employee experience

How an employee journey map can help you .

Mapping your employee experience offers multiple benefits to all parties involved in an employee’s journey, including:

• Helping HR teams effectively track an employee’s progress during their time at your company
• Enabling managers to better guide their direct reports through the employee journey
• Provide individual employees with a consistent and fair path toward success.

“With this guide, you’ll learn the common stages of your employee’s journey and prioritize the places where you could have the largest impact,” says Fresia Jackson, the Culture Amp People Scientist behind the design of this worksheet. “By putting yourself into your employees' shoes, you can see whether your values show through during key moments that matter and where you may be falling short. But since insight is nothing without action, we’ll also guide you through transforming what you learn into unique and impactful actions.”

Four steps for mapping the employee experience 

First of all, it's crucial to understand each individual stage of an employee’s journey. 

After you understand each stage, there are four steps you can take to map your employee experience:

• Moments that matter
• Organizational context
• Employee lens
• Prioritize.

Below, we discuss each stage briefly, but if you want to learn more about each stage in detail, check out the full guide to mapping the employee experience .

Step 1: Moments that matter

Within each stage, there are moments that will especially (and uniquely) matter to the employees at your organization. For example, within "Attract," a "Moment that matters" is "Receiving their office letter."

Although every stage is essential, there are specific stages that will drive particularly outsized results in your workforce. By identifying and focusing on the particular moments that matter to your people, you can help boost engagement, performance, and more.

Step 2: Organizational context

The employee journey map is incomplete without organizational context. Factors such as your company mission , vision, and values are crucial aspects of your employee experience. How your organization exhibits and lives these will directly impact an employee’s experience working with your team . As such, defining and prioritizing the key moments that demonstrate your values is crucial.

Step 3: Employee lens

In addition to the company’s ability to live its values, the employee’s lived experience also shapes how they will interact with their work. For example, are they new parents? Where are they in their career? It's important to consider how an employee’s unique (and intersectional ) identity or circumstances could impact their journey at your company. 

Step 4: Prioritize

The final step of the employee journey mapping process is to choose what stage and moment to focus on. It's a good idea to be narrow, as it will be hard to measure whether your actions are effective if multiple changes happen simultaneously.

Senior Content Marketing Manager, Culture Amp

Alica Forneret

Writer, Culture Amp

What’s next

HR’s complete guide to people analytics

The Great Regression: Employee engagement in 2024

How healthcare providers are fighting employee burnout & turnover

Build a world-class employee experience today

For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your web browser.

Your browser is out of date. Our website is built to provide a faster, more engaging experience. Your browser may not support all of our features. Please update to the latest version of Microsoft Edge or contact your network administrator.

Protect and Serve

Will mel fully heal from her kidnap trauma before she can safeguard the ‘equalizer’ team again liza lapira details why it won’t be easy for her character to get to work., the equalizer.

• Final ‘Blue Bloods’ Episodes, ‘NCIS’ & More CBS Fall 2024 Premiere Dates:
• Dante’s Confession to Robyn Will Be Addressed on ‘The Equalizer’

The onetime action-hungry sharpshooter Mel ( Liza Lapira ) has taken her finger off the trigger in the premiere of The Equalizer ‘s fifth installment.

The series picks up two months after she quit the equalizing team led by Robyn McCall ( Queen Latifah ) in the May finale after the trauma of being kidnapped and nearly killed by two brothers avenging the death of their father. They believed Mel had shot him without reason in a wartime raid. To get Mel back in the game, “it would have to be life or death. She would have to be backed up against the wall,” reveals Lapira. Not an unlikely scenario in this fast-moving drama.

The actress previewed the new season for us during a break from filming the action drama on a Brooklyn pier.

In the premiere, McCall, the “defender of the defenseless” races to rescue two siblings who run into trouble after stealing a grocery truck carrying firearms. Does Mel get involved?

Liza Lapira: In the first episode, Mel’s still in healing mode [doing meditation, yoga, attending her veterans’ support group, and tending her successful New York bar] and is very separate and apart from the case. She’s working on herself. So, it’s not a quick thing where it’s solved in one or two episodes. It’s all kinds of unsafe for her to come back. It’s emotionally unsafe. It’s physically unsafe because she’s not emotionally ready. She’s not on her game as a sharpshooter. If her hands are trembling, she’s endangering her life. If she’s hesitant to pull the trigger while protecting her friends and her husband, that risks their life.

Can Mel really keep out of the action?

Robyn has a great line pretty early on that says, “There’s no way Mel’s going to stay away for very long. Helping people is in that woman’s DNA.” I love that line because it’s true and it foreshadows what happens. It’s just her personality. It’s just a matter of how and when.

Does Mel have the full support of her husband, hacker Harry ( Adam Goldberg ) who’s still working for the equalizer?

Harry is very supportive. As much as he values the work that they all do with Robyn, his relationship with Mel has been a priority for him — for both of them. They are very good at compartmentalizing their marriage versus the work.

Michael Greenberg/CBS

The fourth installment ended with Robyn’s love interest, Det. Marcus Dante ( Tory Kittles ), leaving town, with her tearful blessing, for a new job. Is it hard for Robyn not to lean on Mel?

Robyn wants Mel to be a hundred percent emotionally healthy, but at the same time, McCall’s losing her right-hand woman quite literally. Someone that helps save her life, protect her life. It makes Robyn, physically vulnerable, emotionally vulnerable, and then there’s all that other stuff with Detective Marcus that’s going on. So yeah, I think Robin’s definitely starting in a vulnerable state as well.

How do Mel’s other relationships change? 

Mel and Dee [ Laya DeLeon Hayes ], [Robyn’s daughter] share a common way of dealing with trauma. They bond over it and hang out more.

Did you talk to the series writers about this storyline?

We talked about how people deal with trauma or post-traumatic stress. What support is available to them? We also talked about therapy and how Mel would react to that. I don’t think it’s going to go the way people imagine.

Could you draw from any personal experience?

I come from a family of helpers. My mother used to run a bereavement group. I firsthand know the power of a group of people sharing that devastating shared experience and the healing that can come just from amongst people. That translates. It’s nice for Mel to get help from the [support group] that she started. Sometimes when people are so used to helping the helpers, they don’t know how to receive the help, or it feels disjointed to them. They’re so used to being on the giving end.

Considering one of Mel’s attackers had been undercover in that group, is it hard for her to go back?

She feels safe. The greater good of it is that looms larger. He was an anomaly. There’s not a lot of fear. just her emotional vulnerability.

What was your reaction last season when you first learned about this traumatic shooting from Mel’s military past?

I loved the discovery. I had already assumed there were a lot of things in the back of her mind. I just invented the terrible circumstances, the reasons she left [the military]. When the writers told me that this was a skeleton in the closet, I was excited. I love the idea of normalizing getting help when you are not feeling right. When you’re physically not feeling right, it’s normalized to go see someone. When you’re mentally not feeling right — still in this day and age — it’s a stigma. Any story I can be a part of where it’s normalized and validated, that the pain is real and needs to be addressed, is a treat. I don’t know where this is going to go [for Mel]. Grief, trauma, stress. It’s not a linear upward line. There’s ups and downs.

You mentioned that it would take a specific “how and when” to have Mel jump back into the action. Can you hint about what would look like?

Post-traumatic stress or trauma is not solved in a day [but] we don’t have that much runway as a show to have this character — that protects the equalizer — fully heal. It has to be that Mel jumps in sooner than she’d like. And then we’d have to see the repercussions of A) when she does it, B) how she does it, C) does it go well, and D) does she do it again or is it just a one-time thing? That storyline will be really intriguing as it unfolds throughout the season.

The Equalizer , Season 5 Premiere, Sunday, October 20, 9:30/8:30c, CBS

The Equalizer (2021)

Adam goldberg, laya deleon hayes, liza lapira, queen latifah, tory kittles, benefits to registering & following.

(It's free!)

• listening party
• existing artist
• See all results

No matching results

Try a different filter or a new search keyword.

Search all Bandcamp artists, tracks, and albums

• artists PRO view site
• edit profile
• subscription subscription
• view collection
• showLinkedBands(!showLinkedBands())" data-test="linked-accounts-header">

Nine Studies of Ephemeral Resonance Volume 1

Digital Album Streaming + Download

Buy digital album   €6 eur  or more, send as gift  , limited edition cd in 99 hand numbered copies deluxe wooden box set compact disc (cd) + digital album.

Share / Embed

Shopping cart.

Urashima Milan, Italy

Psycho-Synth Maniac and Harsh Noise Abductor

• urashima.it

discography

contact / help

Contact Urashima

Streaming and Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Nine Studies of Ephemeral Resonance Volume 1, you may also like:

Door Open At 8 AM (Remastered + Bonus Tracks) by Merzbow

supported by 18 fans who also own “Nine Studies of Ephemeral Resonance Volume 1”

This album is easily one of Merzbow's most underrated releases. next to Merzbeat, I think this is probably my second favorite. Colorful, full of texture, noisy, fun, jazzy and unpredictable. Shared Systems 有限

Hatomatsuri by Merzbow

supported by 17 fans who also own “Nine Studies of Ephemeral Resonance Volume 1”

More frisky ruination to keep the noise cognoscente happy. And I'm happy! MERZILLA

Flare Blues by Merzbow

One of my fav Merzbow releases, I feel like White Blues Part II is the perfect peak for this album and it goes straight into Deathmetal which is also amazing. square55555

Avraham by Yotzeret Sheydim

Punishing industrial music that tackles, “growing up trans and Jewish,” in scalding songs that take no prisoners. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 4, 2022

No-Eyed Deer by David Helm & Jozef Dumoulin

David Helm & Jozef Dumoulin dive into the haunting abyss of improvisational electronics on this harrowing, mysterious record. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 5, 2022

I thought U thought I by St Celfer™

Always inventive, always challenging sound artist St. Celfer returns with another album of glitchy experiments to dazzle & fascinate. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 10, 2024

Amlux (20th Anniversary Edition) + Bonus Tracks by Merzbow

supported by 16 fans who also own “Nine Studies of Ephemeral Resonance Volume 1”

Percussive, tin rattling aggression that melts into overblown electro-blitzkrieg & then a delicious bass drone-thumping, adding metallic noise & a crunching assault & briefly swirling whip & a beat-droning pulse & some helicopter flailing with titanium-aquatic slushes dispersed with bursts into shrill, brash scraping that ebbs & flows in gutteral squalls & alien demon vocalizations. Bonus tracks erupt in bubbling bass/swirl/scratch improvs that crush. MERZILLA

Bandcamp Daily    your guide to the world of Bandcamp

The Plain-Spoken, Hard-Hitting Noise of Ritual Chair

Exploring The Surrealistic Hellscapes Of Industrial Noise Impresario Puce Mary

Summer Isle is an Anchor for Toronto’s Noise Scene

On Bandcamp Radio

KeiyaA joins the show to discuss her re-release of the album "Forever, Ya Girl".

• Entertainment
• Celebrities
• Ticket Sales

trending now

Donald Trump pulls ahead of Kamala Harris in major poll — a...

'Hillbilly Elegy' director Ron Howard says he's 'surprised and...

NFL star Tyreek Hill handcuffed on his way to Dolphins' opener

Grandpa of accused Georgia school shooter says teen's 'evil'...

Why Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes sat separately at Chiefs'...

Popular beach closes after erosion unearths toxic remains of...

Cowboys QB becomes highest-paid NFL player ever with jaw-dropping...

Chunky rescue cat named Crumbs weighed 38 lbs and was unable to...

Kate middleton is plotting her return to public life amid cancer battle — but still has ‘a long journey to recovery’.

Kate Middleton may return to the spotlight soon as she continues to battle cancer.

The Princess of Wales, 42, has been in hiding for most of 2024 while receiving chemotherapy treatment , but she’s hoping to make a bit of a comeback in the fall after having “a restful summer” with her husband, Prince William, and their three kids, The Sunday Times reported over the weekend.

Middleton’s comment in her June health update about having “good days and bad days” amid chemo “still rings true,” friends of hers told the British newspaper.

But The Times reported that Middleton and her advisors are planning possible public engagements on her “good days” over the next few months.

Specifically, Middleton “potentially” may join her father-in-law, King Charles III, who also has cancer , and the royal family at the Cenotaph for the National Service of Remembrance on November 10.

Royal aides are also reportedly planning for Middleton’s annual televised “Together at Christmas” carol service at Westminster Abbey in December.

However, The Times claimed that she definitely won’t join William, 42, at the Earthshot Prize awards in Cape Town, South Africa in early Nov.

Still, it was reported that Middleton has been working from home at Adelaide Cottage and meeting with her staff more to plan for her future.

With Middleton having no confirmed royal appearances set up for the rest of the year, those closest to her say there’s “no expectation for her to rush back” to public life, The Times reported.

“People know and understand it is a long journey to recovery,” a friend of Middleton’s told the paper.

The Post has reached out to Kensington Palace for comment.

Middleton was barely in the spotlight this summer as she was focusing on her health.

In July, she  attended Wimbledon  with her daughter, Princess Charlotte, and her sister, Pippa Middleton. The princess got a standing ovation from the crowd when she arrived at the tennis stadium.

At the end of August, she was spotted heading to a morning service  at Crathie Kirk church in the Scottish village of Crathie, near the family’s Balmoral Estate.

Middleton posted a video announcing that  she had been diagnosed with cancer  and was undergoing treatment in March.

“I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from surgery,” the mother of three shared  in a video message . “It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family.”

She gave a health update in another Instagram post in June.

“I am making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days,” she said. “I am learning how to be patient, especially with uncertainty. Taking each day as it comes, listening to my body, and allowing myself to take this much-needed time to heal.”

The following day, Middleton  joined the royal family  for King Charles’ birthday celebrations on the Buckingham Palace balcony at the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

Advertisement

Search form

Album Reviews

Visionary armenian composer/pianist tigran hamasyan takes us all on a progressive spiritual journey on his expansive new 2lp set, the bird of a thousand voices.

• Log in or register to post comments

• Create new account
• Request new password

Boeing's uncrewed Starliner spacecraft touches down on Earth, capping months of drama in orbit

After a summer of turmoil, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is finally home.

The capsule undocked from the International Space Station without astronauts onboard on Friday at 6:04 p.m. ET, then spent roughly six hours flying back to Earth. Starliner successfully touched down at New Mexico’s White Sands Space Harbor at 12:01 a.m. ET.

NASA footage showed the capsule streaking across the night sky before two sets of parachutes opened to slow it down. Six landing airbags were also deployed underneath the spacecraft to cushion its landing.

For Boeing, the Starliner's successful return was likely bittersweet. Its smooth journey back suggests that the two NASA astronauts it carried to the space station could probably have flown home safely on the spacecraft. But problems with Starliner's thrusters and leaking helium, both detected soon after it launched, led the agency’s top officials to decide to call on SpaceX for the return flight instead.

“It’s important to remember this was a test mission,” Joel Montalbano, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for space operations, said at a news conference early Saturday after Starliner had landed.

Starliner launched NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to space in early June on the capsule’s first crewed test flight — a mission expected to last around eight days. But the Starliner then remained parked at the space station for months as engineers on the ground assessed how to safely bring it back to Earth.

After weeks of tests and analysis, NASA determined that the capsule’s propulsion system appeared stable, but the thruster issues posed too much of a risk for Starliner to return with a crew. Wilmore and Williams will remain on the space station into the new year then fly back in February on a SpaceX capsule .

The two astronauts were on hand to help with Starliner’s departure, which took place as the space station was flying 260 miles over central China.

“We have your backs, and you’ve got this,” Williams radioed to mission controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Bring her back to Earth. Good luck.”

The return journey was closely watched, as it marked the end of a dramatic few months for Boeing and NASA. The test flight was meant to demonstrate that the spacecraft could reliably ferry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit, thereby paving the way for NASA to certify Boeing to conduct regular trips to the space station.

Instead, the thruster issues became the latest major setback for Boeing’s Starliner program, which even before the launch was more than $1.5 billion over budget and years behind schedule. An uncrewed test flight to the space station, which NASA required of Boeing before its spacecraft could carry astronauts, also went awry the first time, and the company had to repeat it in 2022.

NASA officials said earlier this week that the agency is working with Boeing on modifications to Starliner’s thrusters. Additional analysis will be carried out once the vehicle is back and engineers have had a chance to evaluate how it performed.

“We’re talking to the Boeing team already about next steps,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said at the news conference.

To account for potential thruster malfunctions as Starliner began its trip home, flight controllers modified the capsule’s normal undocking process. After detaching from the space station, Starliner autonomously flew up and away from the station to protect it in case something went wrong.

Then at 11:17 p.m. ET, Starliner’s engines fired a 59-second “de-orbit burn” to slow the spacecraft and send it plummeting through Earth’s atmosphere.

From there, it was mostly smooth sailing, though there were a few “hiccups” during reentry, according to Stich. A navigation system “kind of failed off temporarily and that system was brought back on, and it was tracking just fine,” he said.

Even so, he added, "the Starliner performance in executing the entry phase has been just about flawless."

Boeing developed its Starliner spacecraft under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, an initiative launched in 2011 to support privately built space vehicles in order to fill the gap left by NASA’s retired space shuttles. Rival company SpaceX developed its Crew Dragon spacecraft as part of the same program and has been conducting routine flights to and from the space station since 2020.

Denise Chow is a science and space reporter for NBC News.