How to write a resume

Your resume represents more than just a list of jobs—it’s a strategic marketing document designed to showcase your professional value. Crafting a compelling resume requires understanding what employers seek and presenting your qualifications in ways that capture attention and generate interview opportunities.

The True Purpose of Your Resume

Think of your resume as having a single, focused objective: securing that crucial interview. This document won’t tell your complete professional story or single-handedly land you a position. Rather, it functions as a targeted marketing piece that emphasizes your strongest qualifications and motivates reviewers to meet you.

Today’s hiring landscape demands efficiency. Recruiters typically spend just 6-7 seconds scanning each resume during initial reviews. This incredibly brief evaluation period means everything matters—from word choice to formatting decisions to strategic content placement. Your document must rapidly convey your professional identity, capabilities, and fit for the role.

The most successful resumes weave a coherent narrative about your career progression. They move beyond simply cataloging responsibilities to highlighting concrete achievements, providing measurable outcomes, and illustrating the distinctive contributions you’ve made. A well-executed resume becomes your competitive advantage against numerous other applicants.

Selecting Your Resume Format

Three primary formats exist, each appropriate for different career situations. Choosing wisely based on your circumstances ensures optimal presentation of your background.

The Chronological Approach

This format presents employment history in reverse order, beginning with your current or most recent role. It’s the most widely used and generally preferred across industries, particularly when you’ve built consistent experience in your profession. Hiring managers favor this structure because it clearly illustrates career trajectory and immediately showcases your latest, most relevant positions.

Consider chronological format when you have: steady employment within your field, plans to remain in your current industry, promotions or advancement to highlight, or recent positions that strongly demonstrate your qualifications.

The Functional Approach

This format prioritizes skills and competencies over chronological work history. While potentially useful for career changers or those with employment interruptions, many employers approach this format skeptically since it obscures actual work timeline and the context where skills developed.

Reserve functional format for situations involving: substantial gaps between positions, significant career transitions, recent graduation with minimal professional experience, or work history not directly aligned with target roles. Understanding the most common resume formats helps you make informed decisions about which approach suits your situation best.

The Combination Approach

This hybrid format integrates chronological and functional elements, showcasing key competencies alongside clear employment history. Mid-career professionals often find this effective for emphasizing both capabilities and solid experience.

For most applicants, chronological format remains the optimal choice. It meets hiring manager expectations and processes most smoothly through applicant tracking systems. For professionally designed layouts, explore these ATS-friendly resume templates following current best practices.

Core Resume Components

Strong resumes consistently include certain essential sections that employers expect. Let’s examine each component and what makes them effective.

Contact Details

Place your contact information prominently at the top: full name, phone number, professional email address, and optionally your city/state or LinkedIn URL. Ensure your email sounds professional—variations of your actual name work far better than casual nicknames.

Your contact section must be immediately visible and accessible. Position it where it can’t be overlooked. Professional email addresses matter tremendously—“sarah.johnson@email.com” creates better impressions than “dancequeen456@email.com.”

Including your LinkedIn profile makes sense when it’s current and polished. Many recruiters research candidates online, so maintaining a strong presence reinforces your resume’s message.

Professional Summary or Career Objective

This brief paragraph (two to four sentences) appears below your contact information, providing a snapshot of your professional identity. Experienced professionals benefit from summaries highlighting major accomplishments and expertise areas. Entry-level candidates might use objectives expressing career aspirations and offered value.

Your summary should immediately engage readers. Consider it your elevator pitch—a compelling overview encouraging further review. Emphasize your most notable achievements, experience duration, and specific value proposition.

Rather than writing “Experienced marketing professional seeking new opportunities,” try “Results-oriented marketing manager with 7+ years driving brand awareness and revenue expansion. Documented success developing campaigns generating $2M+ in new business.”

New workforce entrants should learn how to craft effective objective statements that emphasize potential and enthusiasm.

Professional Experience Section

This section forms your resume’s foundation. List positions in reverse chronological order, including job title, employer name, location, and employment dates. Beneath each role, use bullet points describing both responsibilities and—more critically—accomplishments.

Emphasize quantifiable outcomes whenever feasible. Transform “Responsible for managing social media accounts” into “Expanded Instagram following by 150% across six months, driving 40% increase in social-referred website traffic.”

Begin each bullet with powerful action verbs demonstrating impact. Terms like “achieved,” “implemented,” “increased,” “reduced,” “developed,” “led,” “managed,” “created,” and “launched” show initiative and results.

When describing experience, consistently ask: “So what?” If you managed teams, so what? Did projects complete faster? Did productivity rise? Did customer satisfaction improve? The “so what” transforms routine duties into impressive accomplishments.

For detailed guidance on presenting your professional background effectively, review comprehensive resources on how to write an effective resume with proven strategies.

Education Details

Include degrees earned, institutions attended, graduation dates, and any honors received. Recent graduates can expand this section with relevant coursework, academic projects, or strong GPAs (typically 3.5 or higher). As professional experience grows, this section generally shrinks.

New graduates often find education among their strongest assets. Detail academic achievements, pertinent coursework, research involvement, thesis work, study abroad experiences, and student organization leadership.

Experienced professionals should keep education brief—simply list degree, institution, and graduation year. GPA and coursework details become unnecessary after several years in the workforce.

Those without work experience can still create strong resumes—explore effective strategies for writing a resume with no work experience that highlights your potential.

Skills Inventory

A dedicated skills section lets you spotlight technical proficiencies, languages, certifications, and other relevant competencies. Customize this section matching job description requirements, but never claim skills you don’t genuinely possess.

This section serves multiple functions: helping your resume pass applicant tracking systems, giving recruiters quick capability snapshots, and reinforcing skills demonstrated throughout your experience section.

Organize skills logically, perhaps grouping into categories like “Technical Skills,” “Languages,” “Software Proficiencies,” or “Certifications.” This organization aids recruiter scanning and information location.

Be strategic about inclusions. Prioritize skills most relevant to target positions. When job descriptions mention specific software, programming languages, or competencies, ensure those appear in your skills section (when you genuinely have them).

For comprehensive guidance on what to include, explore detailed information about resume skills organized by industry and experience level.

Crafting Compelling Content

Your language choices significantly impact outcomes. How you articulate accomplishments can differentiate between resumes generating interviews and those generating silence.

Powerful Action Verbs

Begin each bullet with strong action verbs like “developed,” “implemented,” “increased,” or “led.” Eliminate passive language and first-person pronouns. Write “Managed five-person development team” instead of “I was responsible for managing a team of five developers.”

Action verbs inject energy and impact into your resume, showing you take initiative and deliver results. Consider these powerful verbs by category:

Leadership: Directed, Supervised, Coordinated, Mentored, Delegated, Orchestrated

Achievement: Accomplished, Exceeded, Outperformed, Surpassed, Pioneered, Innovated

Improvement: Streamlined, Enhanced, Optimized, Revitalized, Transformed, Modernized

Communication: Presented, Negotiated, Influenced, Collaborated, Articulated, Facilitated

Creation: Designed, Developed, Launched, Established, Formulated, Authored

Using powerful action verbs for resumes can dramatically improve the impact of your accomplishments.

Quantification Power

Numbers transform good bullets into exceptional ones, providing concrete impact evidence. Did you boost sales? By what percentage? Manage budgets? What size? Lead teams? How many members? Complete projects? How many, in what timeframe? These specifics make accomplishments tangible and memorable.

Numbers catch attention and provide context words alone cannot. They address the essential question: “What measurable results did your work produce?”

1. Revenue impact: Drove an additional $800K in yearly revenue by building and expanding key client partnerships”.
2. Cost reduction: “Decreased operational expenses by 23% via vendor contract renegotiation”.

Even without exact figures, provide estimates or ranges. “Managed large team” becomes far more impactful as “Managed team of approximately 20-25 employees.”

Achievement Focus

Concentrate on accomplishments rather than merely listing duties. Anyone can describe expected responsibilities. What distinguishes you is actual achievement. Did you streamline processes, reduce costs, generate revenue, enhance customer satisfaction, or solve persistent challenges? These stories capture attention.

Consider the contrast between these approaches:

Duties-focused: “Responsible for customer service and handling complaints”

Achievement-focused: “Handled customer issues with a 95% first-contact resolution rate, resulting in the highest customer satisfaction score in the company”.

Duties-focused: “Managed social media accounts”

Achievement-focused: “Grew social media following from 5,000 to 50,000 in 18 months, generating 300+ qualified leads”

Achievement-focused approaches demonstrate impact, showcase value, and give hiring managers concrete interview reasons.

Customizing for Each Application

Using identical generic resumes for every application represents a major mistake. Hiring managers immediately recognize one-size-fits-all resumes, which rarely survive initial screening.

Customize for Specific Roles

Invest time customizing each resume by carefully analyzing job descriptions and identifying key requirements. Then adjust your professional summary, skills section, and experience bullets to emphasize relevant background matching employer needs.

Start by highlighting job description keywords. Look for required skills, preferred qualifications, mentioned software or tools, and key responsibilities. Then mirror that language appropriately and honestly throughout your resume. Learn more about using resume keywords effectively to match job requirements.

For example, when job descriptions mention needing “proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously while meeting tight deadlines,” and you possess that experience, ensure similar language appears in your resume.

Optimize for Applicant Tracking Systems

Many organizations use applicant tracking systems scanning resumes for specific keywords before human review. Incorporate job posting language naturally throughout your resume, but never sacrifice readability or honesty attempting to manipulate the system. Understanding what is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) helps you optimize your resume effectively.

ATS systems seek matches between your resume and job requirements, scanning for specific skills, job titles, certifications, software proficiencies, and industry terminology. Insufficient relevant keywords may filter your resume out before recruiter review.

However, keyword stuffing—cramming resumes with keywords solely for ATS passage—typically backfires. Your resume must remain readable and compelling for eventual human reviewers. Balance ATS optimization with human readability. For more detailed guidance, explore these resume tips to get past AI screening.

For quick ATS-optimized resume creation, try an AI resume builder that automatically formats content for applicant tracking system passage while maintaining professional appeal. You can also compare different options through reviews of the best AI resume builders available today.

Design and Formatting Principles

Visual presentation matters, though simplicity often wins. Your resume should scan easily, display professional formatting, and avoid distracting elements potentially confusing ATS software.

Professional Fonts and Layout

Maintain consistent formatting throughout—if you bold one job title, bold all titles. Utilize adequate white space preventing a cluttered appearance.

Formatting choices communicate professionalism and attention to detail. Inconsistent formatting—where some job titles are bold while others aren’t, or bullet points don’t align properly—suggests carelessness.

Create visual hierarchy through strategic font sizing, bold text, and spacing. Your name should be the page’s largest text. Section headers should clearly distinguish from body text. Job titles should stand out more than company names or dates.

Simplicity and ATS-Friendliness

Maintain standard margins (approximately one inch on all sides) and avoid graphics, photos, or unusual formatting potentially confusing ATS software. Unless you work in creative fields where design skills are job requirements, elaborate graphics and fancy designs often harm more than help.

ATS-friendly means avoiding: text boxes, tables, columns, headers and footers containing important information, images or graphics with embedded text, fancy fonts or symbols, and unusual section headings the system might not recognize.

Browse simple, ATS-friendly templates balancing professional design with system compatibility.

One-Page vs. Two-Page Decision

For most professionals, one-page resumes are ideal, especially with under ten years of experience. Senior-level candidates or academics might extend to two pages, but every line should earn its place. Be ruthless editing out less relevant information.

The one-page rule isn’t absolute, but forces selective, strategic thinking about inclusions. If struggling to fit everything on one page, ask yourself:

1. Does every bullet point demonstrate significant, relevant achievements?
2. Are you including old or irrelevant positions not supporting current career goals?
3. Could you combine similar bullets or remove less impressive accomplishments?
4. Are you using space efficiently with appropriate margins and formatting?

With genuinely extensive relevant experience deserving two pages, use them. But ensure page two equals page one’s strength—don’t merely let less impressive information spill over.

Industry-Specific Considerations

Different industries maintain different resume expectations. What works for software engineers may not work for healthcare professionals, and vice versa. Understanding industry norms helps create resumes resonating with field-specific hiring managers.

Technical and IT Resumes

For technical positions, your skills section gains heightened importance. List programming languages, frameworks, databases, operating systems, and development tools prominently. Include specific projects you’ve contributed to, especially if you can link to portfolios or GitHub repositories.

Technical hiring managers want concrete ability evidence. Consider including a “Projects” section describing significant work, personal projects, or open-source contributions. For each project, briefly explain its function, technologies used, and challenges solved.

Creative and Design Resumes

Creative professionals enjoy greater freedom showcasing design skills in the resume itself. However, readability and ATS compatibility still matter. When creating beautifully designed resumes, also prepare plain-text versions for online applications.

Consider prominently including portfolio links in your contact information. Portfolios often matter more than resumes in creative fields, but your resume still needs communicating experience and achievements.

Healthcare and Medical Resumes

Healthcare resumes should emphasize certifications, licenses, clinical experience, and patient outcomes. Include credentials (RN, MD, PA, etc.) with your name at the top. List certifications prominently and keep them current.

Use medical terminology appropriately, but ensure accomplishments remain clear and quantified.

Business and Management Resumes

Business professionals should focus on leadership, strategic thinking, and bottom-line results. Emphasize contributions to revenue growth, cost reduction, process improvement, and team development.

Management experience should highlight responsibility scope: team sizes, budget amounts, location numbers, revenue figures. Show career progression—increasing responsibility, bigger teams, larger budgets.

For examples across various industries, explore resume examples with templates for finance, healthcare, IT, marketing, and dozens of other fields.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even experienced professionals make resume mistakes costing interviews. Awareness of common pitfalls helps you avoid them.

Typos and Grammar Errors

Typos and grammatical errors kill resumes. Even single mistakes can eliminate you from consideration, suggesting carelessness. Proofread multiple times and ask someone else to review with fresh eyes.

Don’t rely solely on spell-check—it won’t catch everything. Read your resume aloud to catch awkward phrasing. Have trusted friends or mentors review it. Consider the stakes: one missed typo could cost you your dream job.

Common errors to watch for include: inconsistent tense (mixing past and present), missing punctuation, incorrect dates or company names, mixing up “their/there/they’re” or “your/you’re,” and formatting inconsistencies.

Unnecessary Personal Information

Avoid including personal information like age, marital status, photos (in most U.S. applications), or social security numbers. These details aren’t relevant and can introduce bias. Similarly, skip the “References available upon request” line—it’s assumed and wastes valuable space.

In the United States, employers legally cannot ask about age, marital status, religion, or certain other personal characteristics. Including this information voluntarily could actually work against you through conscious or unconscious bias.

Focus instead on professional qualifications, relevant experience, and measurable achievements—factors truly predicting job performance. For a comprehensive list of best practices, review the dos and don’ts of a resume.

Exaggeration and Dishonesty

Don’t exaggerate accomplishments or stretch the truth. Honesty matters, and discrepancies often surface during interviews or background checks. If you lack certain qualifications, focus on transferable skills and genuine achievements rather than inventing credentials.

It’s tempting to inflate responsibilities or accomplishments, but this nearly always backfires. Experienced interviewers can detect exaggeration. Background checks verify employment dates, job titles, and education. Reference checks reveal what you actually accomplished.

Instead of lying about skills you don’t have, be honest about your current level and express enthusiasm for learning. Many employers value teachability and honesty more than perfect qualifications. For more comprehensive guidance, explore the ultimate guide to resume writing with advanced strategies.

Technical Resume Writing Considerations

File Format and Naming

Before submitting, save your resume as a PDF unless job postings specifically request another format. Use clear, professional file names like “FirstName_LastName_Resume.pdf” rather than generic options like “Resume1.pdf.”

Why PDF? Word documents can display differently depending on Microsoft Word versions, computer font libraries, and display settings. PDFs look identical on every device, ensuring your carefully crafted formatting stays intact.

However, always read application instructions carefully. When employers specifically request Word documents or other formats, provide exactly what they request. Failing to follow instructions can immediately disqualify you. If you need help, check out this guide on how to prepare resume in Word document.

Creating Your Resume Efficiently

Modern resume-building tools can streamline the creation process significantly. They offer professionally designed layouts, ATS-optimization features, and step-by-step guidance to ensure you include all necessary components. If you’re wondering what is the best resume builder for your needs, consider features like ease of use, template variety, and ATS compatibility.

These tools help you maintain consistent formatting, suggest industry-specific content, and allow you to quickly customize versions for different applications.

Quick Resume Creation

Sometimes you need to create or update resumes quickly when unexpected opportunities arise. The key to fast resume creation is maintaining a master document with all your experience, achievements, and skills documented. Then you can quickly customize by selecting the most relevant information for each specific position.

Highlighting Specific Skills on Your Resume

Different positions require different skill sets. Understanding how to effectively highlight skills relevant to your target role makes your resume more compelling.

Entry-Level Skills

If you’re just starting your career, focus on transferable skills gained through education, internships, volunteer work, and extracurricular activities. Entry-level candidates often underestimate their experience value.

Academic projects demonstrate research and analysis skills. Part-time jobs show reliability and customer service abilities. Volunteer work reveals commitment and teamwork. Student organization leadership proves organizational and communication skills.

Frame these experiences professionally. Instead of “Worked at coffee shop,” write “Provided exceptional customer service to 100+ customers daily while managing cash transactions and maintaining organized workspace.”

Student and College Skills

College students can highlight academic achievements, relevant coursework, research projects, and campus involvement. Your education is your primary qualification when you’re still in school or recently graduated.

Highlight projects demonstrating skills relevant to your desired field. Include your GPA if it’s strong (3.5 or above). Mention honors, scholarships, and dean’s list achievements.

Don’t forget extracurricular activities. Leadership positions in clubs, sports team participation, and volunteer commitments all demonstrate valuable skills. The key is connecting these experiences to professional skills employers want.

Internship Skills

Internships provide valuable professional experience. Treat internship experience like regular work experience on your resume. Include the company name, your title (even if it was “intern”), dates, and bullet points describing responsibilities and accomplishments.

Many new graduates make the mistake of downplaying internship experience. Don’t do this. If you completed meaningful work, managed projects, contributed to team goals, or learned professional skills, that experience deserves prominent placement.

Office and Technical Skills

For administrative and office positions, proficiency in business software is essential. Be specific about proficiency levels. “Microsoft Office” is vague. “Advanced Excel skills including pivot tables, VLOOKUP, macros, and data visualization” is much more meaningful.

Don’t just list software—demonstrate how you’ve used it to achieve results.

Career Change Resumes

Changing careers requires strategic resume presentation. You need to emphasize transferable skills while addressing the career transition directly. A well-crafted objective or summary statement can bridge your past experience with your new career goals.

Emphasize core transferable abilities such as leading teams, clear communication, analytical thinking, and managing projects. These translate across industries and show you have foundational competencies despite lacking direct industry experience.

Resume Formats and Structure

Understanding different resume formats helps you choose the approach that best presents your qualifications.

The Chronological Format in Detail

The chronological format remains the gold standard for most industries. It presents work history in reverse chronological order, with your most recent position first. This format works because it’s easy to scan, shows career progression clearly, highlights recent experience first, and is compatible with ATS systems.

Use chronological format if you have: steady employment in your field, plans to stay in the same industry, most impressive positions in recent roles, or no significant employment gaps.

When to Use Functional Format

The functional resume format downplays work history in favor of highlighting skills and qualifications. It’s less common and often viewed with suspicion by recruiters, but it has its place.

Consider functional format if you’re: making a major career change, have significant employment gaps, have varied work history not in one clear career path, or entering the workforce after a long absence.

Even with a functional format, include a brief work history section. Trying to completely hide your employment timeline raises red flags.

Combination Resume Format

The combination format blends the best of both worlds—a strong skills section followed by a chronological work history. This format works well for mid-career professionals with diverse skills who want to highlight both what they can do and where they’ve done it.

Use combination format if you have: both strong skills and solid work history, movement into leadership roles, desire to emphasize capabilities while providing employment context, or work in fields where both skills and experience matter equally.

Writing Effective Resume Objectives

While professional summaries have largely replaced objectives, some situations still call for objective statements. Learn when and how to use resume objectives effectively with this comprehensive guide on how to write a resume objective.

Career Changers

If you’re changing careers, an objective statement explains your intention and connects your past experience to your future goals. Without this context, recruiters might wonder why someone with your background is applying.

Entry-Level Candidates

New graduates can use objectives to express enthusiasm and clarify goals when experience is limited.

Career Re-entry

If you’re returning to work after time away, an objective can address the gap proactively.

Writing Job Descriptions Effectively

The way you describe previous roles dramatically impacts your resume’s effectiveness. Master this critical skill with effective job description writing techniques.

Structure Each Role Consistently

Every position you list should follow the same format: job title, company name, location, and dates of employment. Below that, include 3-5 bullet points (or more for recent positions) describing responsibilities and achievements.

Consistency demonstrates attention to detail. If you bold job titles in one entry, bold them in all entries. If you spell out months (January 2020) in one place, don’t use abbreviations (Jan 2020) elsewhere.

Lead with Impact

Start each bullet point with a strong action verb and focus on achievements rather than duties. Transform basic job descriptions into compelling narratives of value delivered.

Instead of: “Responsible for monthly reports”

Write: “Produced detailed monthly performance summaries that evaluated critical metrics and supported informed decision-making by senior leadership.”

Include Context and Results

Provide context for your achievements so readers understand their significance. What was the situation? What action did you take? What were the results?

This approach, sometimes called the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result), helps you tell complete stories that demonstrate your capabilities.

Understanding ATS and Keyword Optimization

Modern job applications almost always involve applicant tracking systems. Understanding how these systems work is crucial for getting your resume past the first screening.

How ATS Systems Work

ATS software looks for specific skills, job titles, certifications, education requirements, and industry terminology. Resumes that include enough relevant keywords pass through to human reviewers. Those that don’t may be automatically rejected.

This doesn’t mean you should “keyword stuff” by cramming in terminology artificially. Instead, use relevant keywords naturally throughout your resume, especially in your skills section, job descriptions, and professional summary.

Identifying the Right Keywords

Read the job description carefully and highlight key terms. Look for: required skills, technical requirements, specific software or tools, industry-specific terminology, certifications or licenses, and repeated themes or phrases.

Then incorporate these terms naturally in your resume where truthful and appropriate. If the job requires “project management experience” and you have it, make sure those exact words appear in your resume. You can also use an ATS resume checker to verify your resume is optimized before submitting.

Maintaining and Updating Your Resume

Consider your resume a living document. Update it regularly as you gain new skills, complete projects, or take on new responsibilities. This makes it easier to apply for opportunities quickly and ensures you don’t forget important accomplishments over time.

Keep a Master Resume

Maintain a comprehensive master resume that includes everything—every job, every achievement, every skill, every project. This document might be 3-4 pages long. Then, for each application, create a customized version that pulls the most relevant information from your master document.

Your master resume serves as your professional memory bank. Whenever you complete a significant project, earn recognition, learn a new skill, or achieve a measurable result, add it immediately. If you wait, you’ll forget important details.

Regular Review Schedule

Set a reminder to review your resume quarterly, even when you’re not job searching. Update recent accomplishments, remove outdated information, refresh your skills section with newly acquired competencies, and adjust formatting as design trends evolve.

This regular maintenance means you’re always ready when unexpected opportunities arise. Nothing is more frustrating than scrambling to update a two-year-old resume when you hear about a perfect job.

Track Your Accomplishments

Keep a running document where you record achievements throughout the year. Note: project completions, awards received, metrics improved, problems solved, processes enhanced, and positive feedback received.

When review time or job searching comes, you’ll have a wealth of material to draw from. It’s much easier to select from a list than to remember everything you accomplished months or years ago.

Final Thoughts

Creating an effective resume requires careful thought, strategic presentation, and ongoing refinement. Your resume is never truly “finished”—it evolves throughout your career as you gain experience, develop skills, and pursue new opportunities.

Remember that your resume’s purpose is to open doors to interviews, not to land jobs on its own. Focus on making each word count, quantifying your achievements, and presenting yourself as the solution to an employer’s needs. If you need a companion document, learn how to write a cover letter that complements your resume effectively.

With the right approach and professional tools like a resume builder, you can create a compelling document that showcases your unique value and advances your career goals. Take the time to craft a resume that truly represents your professional brand, and you’ll see the results in increased interview invitations and career opportunities.