Resume writers can be baffled about where to put the apostrophe (or not) when writing about the experience of their years. Is there an apostrophe? Is there none?
Let’s settle this once and for all. Yes. And yes. How easy is that? Wait … let’s break this down.
If you understand possessives, as in the clock’s hands or the hands of the clock, you can largely understand how to properly punctuate this phrase.
The “hands” belong to the “clock.” In the same way, the “experience” belongs to the “years.”
Therefore:
- If you have the experience of ten years in an industry, no apostrophe is needed.
- If you have ten years’ experience, an apostrophe is needed.
- If you have only one year’s experience, the apostrophe is needed, but it would appear before the “s” since it is a singular year.
Simple, right?
But it sometimes gets tricky when the possessive seems to flip-flop, because the following is also correct:
- You have ten years of experience.
Oh no, now you’re thinking about the hands of the clock and the clock of the hands, and that simply doesn’t make sense. But in this case, it actually does.
You have ten years.
Ten years of what?
Ten years of experience.
So, in this phrasing, the “of” isn’t distinguishing possession, as it was in the earlier examples. In this latter wording, the “of” is working as a preposition in a different way, a function word explaining the specific aspect of the years being discussed. It now shows what these years are relating to.
We’re discussing years, as they are related to experience.
Ten years of experience.
Is this complicated? A bit.
Will there be a test on this before you get that job? Probably not.
But it’s the little things that can make you stand out in a competitive marketplace, so you’ve got to do your best. “Of” is a tricky word of innumerable definitions, but don’t let its versatility hurt the showcase of your own on your resume.
Good luck with whatever you’re working on, folks!
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