usage of past or present tense:
...the tense of verbs in your bullet lists should be past tense for previous jobs: Ran point of sales register. Verbs should be present tense for jobs you currently hold: Run point of sales register. An exception to this is using a verb for something that happened in the past at your current job (from the example above: Won “Employee of the Month” May 2006, April 2008).avoid gerunds (a gerund is a verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun) :
Gerunds are words that you want to avoid when writing a job description on your résumé. Having quite a few gerunds on a your résumé can make it seem like a boring and long list of duties. That’s not what your résumé is supposed to be. Make your résumé come to life by LIMITING the usage of gerunds.I found several sites saying don't start off a bullet point with an "ing" verb, but they didn't explain why. If it's to describe a current project, it makes more sense to me to write "developing unix shell script to reduce data collection time" rather than "develop unix shell script to...", and i certainly can't use "developed" in this situation because it hasn't been developed yet.
I found additional information about using "ing" verbs, but it's not very conclusive:
Many people advise keeping verbs in the continuous present tense, using "ing" verbs such as "saying," "leading," "developing," "motivating," and "coordinating." Although "ing" verbs may sound more dynamic, other resume professionals argue that it is clearer to imagine an "I" in front of each verb, writing, for instance, "(I) lead," "(I) develop," "(I) motivate," or "(I) coordinate," if the job is current. If the job was held in the past, as most will have been, they suggest putting the verbs in simple past tense, as in "(I) led," "(I) developed," "(I) motivated," or "(I) coordinated." Either way, always remember to keep verb tense consistent throughout your entire resume.so in conclusion, who cares.
Use action words to describe your job skills and make each job description specific and efficient. Especially if you favor the present tense in your descriptions, you might prefer using the “-ing” form of active verbs (“performing” rather than “perform”).
sources:
-http://vppa.tumblr.com/post/7111116906/job-description-gerunds-better-resume
-http://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/index.php?category_id=34&sub_category_id=40&article_id=117
-http://www.pongoresume.com/blogPosts/425/should-i-write-my-resume-in-past-or-present-tense-.cfm?CFID=13419746&CFTOKEN=2639a1708dc7a091-DCA45F9C-5056-8D3D-6629A7D136331F7F&jsessionid=ec302552aed2429e6b8a356164d55b1735b1
-http://www.lawcrossing.com/article/2081/Words-Words-Words/#
-https://www.e-education.psu.edu/styleforstudents/c8_p2.html
