effective resume writing tips

How to Make a Resume in 2024 | Beginner's Guide

For most job-seekers, a good resume is what stands between a dream job and Choice D. Get your resume right, and you’ll be getting replies from every other company you apply to.

If your resume game is weak, though, you’ll end up sitting around for weeks, maybe even months, before you even get a single response.

So you’re probably wondering how you can write a resume that gets you an interview straight up.

Well, you’ve come to the right place!

In this guide, we’re going to teach you everything you need to know about how to make a resume, including:

• The 8 Essential Steps to Writing a Resume
• 11+ Exclusive Resume Tips to Up Your Resume Game
• 27+ Real-Life Resume Examples for Different Professions

….and more!

So, let’s dive right in.

How to Make a Resume (The Right Way!)

Before we go into detail about how you should make a resume, here’s a summary of the most important steps and tips to keep in mind:

• Choose a resume format carefully. In 99% of cases, we recommend the reverse-chronological format .
• Add the right contact details. Leave your headshot out and make sure to include your job title , a professional email address, and any relevant links. (E.g.: your LinkedIn profile , online portfolio, personal website, etc.).
• Write an impactful resume summary. Unless you’re an entry-level professional, always go for a resume summary. If you do it right, it’s your chance to get the hiring manager to go through the rest of your resume in detail.
• Pay attention to your work experience section. Take your work experience section from OK-ish to exceptional by tailoring it to the job ad, making your achievements quantifiable, and using action verbs and power words.
• Add the right skills for the job. Keep this section relevant by only including the hard and soft skills that are required for the position.
• Keep your education short and to the point. Your most recent and highest degree is more than enough for a strong education section. You only need to add more details here if you’re a recent graduate with barely any work experience.
• Leverage optional resume sections. Optional sections like languages, hobbies, certifications, independent projects, and others can set you apart from other candidates with similar skills and experience.
• Include a cover letter. That’s right, cover letters matter in 2024, and the best way to supplement your resume is by adding an equally well-crafted cover letter to your job application. To make the most of it, check out our detailed guide on how to write a cover letter .

To get the most out of our tips, you can head over to the resume builder and start building your resume on the go as you read this guide.

New to resume-making? Give our ‘7 Resume Tips’ video a watch before diving into the article!

#1. Pick the Right Resume Format

Before you start filling in the contents of your resume, you have to make sure it’s going to look good. 

After all, the first thing hiring managers notice is what your resume looks like, and then they start reading it. So, this is your best chance to make a great first impression.

Start by choosing the right resume format.

There are three types of resume formats out there:

• Reverse-chronological. This is by far the most popular resume format worldwide and, as such, it’s the best format for most job-seekers.
• Functional. This resume format focuses more on skills than work experience. It’s a good choice if you’re just getting started with your career and have little to no experience in the field.
• Combination. The combination resume format is a great choice for experienced job-seekers with a very diverse skill set. It’s useful if you’re applying for a role that requires expertise in several different fields and you want to show all that in your resume.

So, which one should you go for?

In 99% of cases, you want to stick to the reverse-chronological resume format . It’s the most popular format and what hiring managers expect to see. So, in the rest of this guide, we’re going to focus on teaching you how to make a reverse-chronological resume.

Fix Your Resume’s Layout

With formatting out of the way, let’s talk about your resume’s layout , which determines the overall look of your resume. 

Does it look organized or cluttered? Is it too short or too long? Is it boring and easy to ignore, or is it reader-friendly and attention-grabbing?

Here are some of the best practices you should apply:

• Stick to one page. You should only go for a two-page resume if you have decades of experience and you’re sure the extra space will add significant value. Hiring managers in big companies get hundreds of applications per job opening. They’re not going to spend their valuable time reading your life story!
• Add clear section headings. Pick a heading and use it for all the section headers so the hiring manager can easily navigate through your resume.
• Adjust the margins. Without the right amount of white space, your resume will end up looking overcrowded with information. Set your margins to one inch on all sides so your text fits just right on the page.
• Choose a professional font. We’d recommend sticking to a font that’s professional but not overused. For example, Ubuntu, Roboto, or Overpass. Avoid Times New Roman, and never use Comic Sans.
• Set the correct font size. As a rule of thumb, go for 11-12 pt for normal text and 14-16 pt for section titles.
• Use a PDF file. Always save your resume as a PDF file, unless the employer specifically requests otherwise. Word files are popular, but there’s a good chance they’ll mess up your resume’s formatting.

Another thing you need to consider in terms of your resume’s layout is whether you’re going for a traditional-looking resume template or something a bit more modern :

If you’re pursuing a career in a more traditional industry, like law , banking , or finance , you might want to stick to the first.

But if you’re applying to a tech company where imagination and innovation are valued, you can pick a more creative resume template .

Want to Save Time? Use a (Free) Resume Template

Anyone who’s ever tried creating a resume from scratch knows how boring the formatting can be.

Before you can even start filling in the contents, you need to tweak the margins, adjust font sizes, and make sure everything fits into one page while still looking good.

What if you could skip past all that and still create a compelling resume?

Try one of our free resume templates . They’re pre-formatted, so all you have to do is fill in the contents.

They’re also created in collaboration with recruiters from around the globe, ensuring that the templates are visually appealing and ATS-friendly!

See for yourself how one of our templates compares to a resume created in a standard text editor:

#2. Add Your Contact Information

Now that we’ve got all the formatting out of the way, let’s get into what your resume is all about— the information you put on it .

The first thing you want to do when filling out the contents of your resume is to add your contact information .

This section is pretty straightforward but crucial. Your contact details belong at the top of your resume in a designated resume header , so the hiring manager can easily find them.

Even if everything else about your resume is perfect, that all flops if you misspell your email address or have a typo in your phone number. If the hiring manager can’t contact you, it’s a missed opportunity.

So, double-check, and even triple-check your contact information section and make sure everything is factually correct and up-to-date.

Must-Have Information

• Full name. Your first and last name should stand out at the top of your resume.
• Email address. Stick to an address that’s professional and easy to spell, like a combination of your first and last name. (E.g.: [email protected])
• Phone number. Add a reliable number where the hiring manager can easily reach you.
• Location. Add your city and state/country. If you plan to relocate for the job or want a remote position, specify it on your resume.

Optional Information

• Job title. Add your professional title underneath. Write it down word for word, whether it’s “Digital Marketing Specialist” or “Junior Data Scientist.” Just don’t make up job titles like “Marketing Wizzard” or “Data Manipulator.” They’re not quirky; they’re just unprofessional. 
• LinkedIn profile . We recommend that you include a link to your updated LinkedIn profile since over 77% of hiring managers use the platform when evaluating a candidate. 
• Relevant links. Include links to personal websites or any social media profiles that are relevant to your field. For example, a developer could include a Github profile, while a graphic designer could link their Behance or Driblle account, and so on.
• Date of birth. Unless this is specifically required in the job ad, the hiring manager doesn’t need to know how old you are. It’s not important for their decision-making, and at worst, it might lead to age-based discrimination.
• Unprofessional email address. Your quirky, old high school email address doesn’t belong on your resume. Instead of [email protected] , go for a [email protected] type of address.
• Headshot. (USA, UK or Ireland) Depending on the country where you’re applying, it might even be illegal to include a picture of yourself on your resume . While it’s the norm to include a picture in most of Europe and Asia, always check the regulations for each specific country or industry you’re applying to.

All clear? Good! Now, let’s look at what a great example of a resume's contact information section looks like:

#3. Write a Resume Headline (Summary or Objective)

It's no secret that recruiters spend an average of less than seven seconds on a resume .

When you receive hundreds, if not thousands, of applications daily, it's physically impossible to spend too much time on each.

So, what the hiring managers do to go through resumes more effectively is to skim through each resume and read it in depth only if it piques their interest.

This is where the resume headline comes in.

Placed right next to (or underneath) your contact information, this brief paragraph is the first thing the hiring manager is going to read on your resume.

Now, depending on how far along in your career you are, your resume headline can be either a resume summary or a resume objective.

So, how do you choose between a resume summary and a resume objective? Here’s all you need to know:

Resume Summary

A resume summary, as the name suggests, is a two to three-sentence summary of your career so far. If done right, it shows that you’re a qualified candidate at a glance and gets the hiring manager to give you a chance.

Here’s what your resume summary should include:

• Your job title and years of experience.
• A couple of your greatest professional achievements or core responsibilities.
• Your most relevant skills for the job.

Here’s an example of a well-written resume summary: 

Experienced Java Developer with 5 years of experience in building scalable and efficient applications. Contributed to a major project that enhanced application performance by 25%. Strong background in Spring Framework and microservices. Aiming to apply robust coding skills to develop innovative software solutions at XYZ Tech Solutions.

Unless you’re a recent graduate or amid a career change, we recommend you stick to a resume summary. Otherwise, a resume objective might be a better option for you.

Resume Objective

A resume objective is supposed to express your professional goals and aspirations, academic background, and any relevant skills you may have for the job.

It communicates your motivation for getting into a new field, so it’s the go-to headline for recent graduates and those going through a career change. As with a resume summary, a resume objective should be brief—around two to four sentences long.

So, here’s what it would look like if you’re a student:

Hard-working recent graduate with a B.A. in Graphic Design from New York State University seeking new opportunities. 3+ years of practical experience working with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, creating illustrations and UX/UI design projects. Looking to grow as a designer and perfect my art at XYZ Design Studio.

Or, on the other hand, if you’re going through a career change, it might look more like this:

IT project manager with 5+ years of experience in software development. Managed a team of developers to create products for several industries, such as FinTech and HR tech. Looking to leverage my experience in managing outsourced products as a Product Owner at Company XYZ.

#4. Prioritize Your Work Experience

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

This is where you get to sell yourself and show off your previous accomplishments and responsibilities.

If you manage to master this section, you’ll know most of what’s there to know about how to make a resume.

There are plenty of good practices for writing your work experience . But before we dive into all the nits and grits, let's start with the basics.

The standard format for each work experience entry is as follows:

• Job title/position. Your job title goes on top of each work experience entry. When the hiring manager looks at your resume, you want them to know, at a glance, that you have relevant work experience for the job.
• Company name/location/description. Mention the name of the employer and the general location, such as the city and state/country where you worked. In some cases, you may also want to briefly describe the company, like when the organization isn’t particularly well-known.
• Dates employed. Add the approximate timeframe of your employment at each company. You don’t need to give exact dates since the standard format for this is mm/yyyy.
• Achievements and responsibilities. This is the core of each work experience entry. Depending on your field, you want to list either your achievements or responsibilities. List them in bullet points instead of paragraphs, so they’ll be easier to read.

Here’s a real-life example:

Your work experience entries should always be listed in reverse chronological order , starting with your most recent job and working your way back into the past.

Now that you know how to list your experience, we’re going to show you how to write about it in a way that makes you stand out from the competition, starting with: 

Are you a student with no work experience? We’ve got you covered. Check out our guide to writing a resume with no experience here.

Focus on Achievements Whenever Possible

One of the most common resume mistakes is only listing responsibilities in your work experience section.

Here’s the thing—in most cases, the hiring manager knows exactly what your job responsibilities are.

For example, if you’re a sales manager, your responsibilities would be:

• Reach out to potential clients over the phone or email.
• Maintain relationships with existing company clients and upsell relevant products.
• Tracking and reporting on leads in CRM.

Coincidentally, this is also the same list of responsibilities for every sales manager out there. So, 90% of all other resumes probably mention the same thing.

To stand out from the competition, you want to focus on writing achievements in your resume instead. These can be how you helped your previous company grow, reach quarterly quotas, and so on.

Let’s compare how responsibilities hold up next to achievements for the same job:

• Exceeded sales team KPIs by 30%+ for 3 months straight.
• Generated over $24,000 in sales in 1 month.
• Generated leads through cold-calling
• Managed existing company clients

Keep in mind, though, that in some fields, there just aren’t that many achievements you can mention. Let’s say you’re a warehouse worker .

Your day-to-day responsibilities probably include:

• Loading, unloading, and setting up equipment daily.
• Packaging finished products and getting them ready for shipping.
• Assisting in opening and closing the warehouse.

In fields like this, it’s pretty hard to distinguish yourself through achievements, so it’s okay to stick to responsibilities instead. You can still make them shine by following the rest of our advice about listing your work experience.

Keep in mind, though, that in some fields, there aren’t that many achievements you can mention. Let’s say you work in a warehouse. Your day-to-day responsibilities probably involve:

• Loading, unloading and setting up equipment on a daily basis.
• Package finished product and get it ready for shipping.
• Assist in opening and closing the warehouse.

In such fields, it’s pretty hard to distinguish yourself, so it’s totally OK to stick to responsibilities instead.

Tailor Your Resume to the Job

Tailoring is what sets an amazing resume apart from an okay one.

Hiring managers don’t need to know about every single job you’ve ever worked at or every single skill that you have.

They only want to know about your jobs, experiences, or skills that are relevant to the role you’re applying for.

For example, if you’re applying for a job doing Google Ads, you don’t need to talk about your SEO internship from eight years ago.

By focusing your resume on whatever is important for the specific role, you’re a lot more likely to stand out and catch the hiring manager’s attention.

Let’s take a look at an example of a job ad:

As you can see, we’ve highlighted the most important requirements.

To tailor your resume accordingly, you just need to mention how you meet each of these requirements in your resume.

You can highlight your relevant achievements and qualifications in different parts of your resume, such as:

• In your resume summary, where you should recap your years of experience.
• Throughout your work experience section, where you should list achievements and responsibilities that reflect your social media marketing experience.
• In your education section, where you can let the hiring manager know you have the degree that they’re looking for.

Include the Right Amount of Work Experience

If you’ve got over a decade’s worth of work experience, you’re probably wondering whether all of it belongs on your resume. In most cases, you’d end up writing a novel if you listed everything you’ve ever done, and that’s not how long a resume should be .

If you’re new to the job market, on the other hand, you probably don’t have any experience, and you’re wondering what you could even add to this section.

So, here’s how much information your resume should include, depending on your level of experience:

• No experience. If you’re looking for your first job , you won’t have any work experience to fill this section with. So, you can either keep it empty and focus on all the other sections or fill it up with any experience gained in student organizations, extracurricular activities, volunteering, and other projects.
• Entry-level. List all your work experience so far. While some of it won’t be relevant, it can still show the hiring manager that you do have some actual work experience.
• Mid-level. Only mention relevant work experience to the position you’re applying for. There’s no need to waste space on jobs that aren’t related to what you’re after.
• Senior-level. List up to 15 years of relevant work experience, tops. If your most recent experience is as a marketing executive , the hiring manager doesn’t care how you started your career as a junior marketing specialist 23 years ago.

Consider Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Software

Did you know that over 70% of resumes don’t even make it to the hiring manager ?

Most companies these days use ATS to evaluate hundreds of resumes instantaneously and automatically filter out the ones that don’t meet their criteria.

For example, if a resume doesn’t mention a specific skill or isn’t formatted correctly, the ATS will automatically reject it.

Fortunately, there are some easy ways to make an ATS-friendly resume .

Here are a couple of tips to help you get past those pesky robots:

• Stick to one page. Sometimes employers set a limit on how long a resume should be. This means that if your resume is longer than one page, it might get automatically disqualified.
• Incorporate keywords. Tailoring your resume to the job helps a ton with beating the ATS. Just carefully read the job description to find hints for what the ATS will be looking for. Then, whenever you find keywords related to your responsibilities and achievements, make sure to include them in your work experience section.
• Use an active voice. Passive voice is too vague and unclear, so make sure to use active voice as much as possible when describing your previous jobs. (E.g.: “Managed a team of ten people,” instead of “ A team of ten people was managed by me.” )
• Leverage powerful action words. Instead of starting each of your sentences with “was responsible for," make your work experience impactful by using words that can grab attention. Saying that you “spearheaded” or “facilitated” something sounds a lot more impressive than “helped.”

Want to make sure your resume formatting passes the ATS test? Choose one of our tried and tested ATS-friendly resume templates , and you’ll be good to go! 

#5. List Your Education

The next section on your resume is dedicated to your academic qualifications. Let’s start with the basics!

Here’s how you should format the education section on your resume :

• Program Name. Your major and degree type should be listed. (E.g.: “B.A. in Business Administration” )
• University Name. Add the name of the institution. (E.g.: “New York State University” )
• Dates Attended. Use a mm/yyyy format for the dates you attended. (E.g.: “08/2008 - 06/2012” )
• Location. If your university is less well-known, you can also add the location. (E.g.: “Stockholm, Sweden” )
• GPA. Use the appropriate grading system for the country you’re applying to work in. (E.g.: In the USA, it would be “3.9 GPA” )
• Honors. Add any honors and distinctions you’ve been given. (E.g.: Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, Summa Cum Laude )
• Achievements. You can mention interesting papers you’ve written, projects you’ve done, or relevant coursework you’ve excelled in.
• Minor. “Minor in Psychology”

Pretty simple, right? Now let’s see what an education section looks like in practice:

This example includes all the necessary information, plus an eye-catching award and relevant classes this candidate has taken.

Resume Education Tips

Now that you know how to list your education on your resume, let’s take this section to the next level.

Just follow these expert tips:

• If you’re making a resume as a student and don’t have any work experience yet, you can list your education section at the beginning of the page instead of work experience.
• You can add your expected graduation date if you’re still pursuing your degree.
• If you already have relevant work experience, just keep this section short and sweet. Recent graduates can expand on their education more and add optional information like projects, classes, academic achievements, etc.
• Always list your degrees in reverse chronological order, starting with your highest degree on top. Your highest and most recent degree is usually enough, so if you have a Master’s degree that’s relevant to the job, there’s no need to mention your earlier degrees.
• Don’t add your high school degree to your resume if you already have a university degree. It doesn’t have as much weight, and you can use the space for something else.
• Only mention your GPA if you had an impressive academic career. Anything below a 3.5 GPA doesn’t need to be on your resume.

Are you in the process of applying for college? Check out our guide to writing a college application resume to wow that admissions officer!

#6. Emphasize Your Know-How in the Skills Section

After your work experience, your skills are the first thing the hiring manager is going to look for. In fact, together, work experience and skills make up 90% of the hiring decision .

So, this is the place where you want to mention all the know-how that makes you the perfect candidate for the job.

There are two types of skills you can include when writing your resume:

• Hard Skills. These are measurable abilities. What you can list here can be anything from coding in Python to knowing how to cook Thai cuisine.
• Soft Skills. Also known as personal skills, these are a mix of communication skills , personal traits, career attributes, and more. They can include leadership, critical thinking, and time management , just to name a few.

Your resume should always cover both hard skills and soft skills . Here’s an example in action:

Now, let’s discuss how you should list your most important skills on your resume.

There are a few essential steps you need to follow:

Always List Hard and Soft Skills Separately

Your resume should be easy and neat to navigate. The hiring manager shouldn’t have to waste time looking for a specific skill because you didn’t separate it into the appropriate subsection.

So, just create separate categories for your hard and soft skills.

Depending on your field, you could customize the name of your “hard skills” subsection to something like “technical skills," “marketing skills," or something else related to your field.

Let’s look at an example of what skills look like on a project manager’s resume :

Methodologies & Tools

• Agile Methodology
• SCRUM Framework
• Waterfall Project Management
• Microsoft Project
• Critical Path Method (CPM)
• Earned Value Management (EVM)
• Risk Management

Soft Skills

• Team Management
• Conflict Resolution
• Negotiation

Tailor Your Skills to the Job

You might have some awesome skills, but the hiring manager only needs to know about the ones that are relevant to the job.

For example, if you’re applying for a job as an accountant, your gourmet chef skills shouldn’t be on your resume.

Look at the job ad and list at least two to three essential skills you have that are required for the role. Remember—there’s no need to list every skill you have here; just keep it relevant.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Graphic Design or a related field.
• Tech-savvy, with some background in CMS systems such as WordPress.
• Thrives in a stressful environment and juggles multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Self-reliant, with the ability to manage their own work.
• A can-do attitude and an outside-the-box thinker.
• Proficient in Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Keynote, and Pages.
• Basic understanding of Office software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

So, the must-have hard skills here are Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Keynote, and Pages. Other good computer skills to have are WordPress or similar CMS systems.

While you can also mention Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, it’s pretty much assumed that you know how to use them since they’re required for most office jobs.

List Hard Skills with Experience Levels

For each hard skill you list on your resume, you should also mention your proficiency level. This tells employers what they can expect from you and how much training you might need.

• Beginner. You have some experience with the skill, whether it’s from some entry-level practice or classroom education.
• Intermediate. You’ve used the skill in a work environment with good understanding.
• Advanced. You’re the go-to person for this skill in your office. You can coach other employees, and you understand the skill at a high level.
• Expert. You’ve applied this skill to more than a handful of different projects and organizations. You’re the go-to person for advice about the skill, not just in your office but even amongst some of the best professionals in your field.

Just make sure to never lie about your actual skill level. Even if you get the job, once you need those skills you exaggerated, it will be pretty awkward for both you and your employer.

Include Transferable Skills

These are the types of skills that are useful for almost any job out there.

Transferable skills can be both soft skills (e.g.: teamwork, creativity, problem-solving skills, and others) and hard skills (MS Office Suite, HTML, writing, etc.)

Whatever job you’re applying to, chances are you have transferable skills from your experience that can come in handy one way or another. So, feel free to include them, even if they’re not specifically required for the position.

Not sure which skills to mention on your resume for your specific field? Check out our list of 101+ essential skills for inspiration!

#7. Leverage Optional Resume Sections

The sections we’ve covered so far are must-haves for any resume. They’re the bread-and-butter for any job application, and if you get them right, you’ll land any job you apply to.

But if you have some leftover space, there are a few optional sections you can choose from to give your resume a boost!

Are you bi-lingual? Or even better  – multi-lingual? You should always mention that on your resume!

Even if the position doesn’t require you to know a specific language, it can still come in handy at some point. At the end of the day, it’s always better to know more languages than less.

To list languages in your resume , just write them down and assign them the appropriate level:

• Intermediate

You can also use the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) or the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency scales.

As a given, you should never lie about your language skills. You never know—your interviewer might turn out to be fluent in the language or even be a native speaker!

Hobbies and Interests

If you want to spice up your resume, hobbies and interests could be just what you need.

While this section isn’t a game-changer, it can help the hiring manager see who you are as an individual.

For example, if you listed “teamwork” as one of your skills, hobbies like team sports can back up your claim.

And who knows? Maybe you and your interviewer have some hobbies or interests in common!

Volunteering Experience

If you’re the type of person who devotes their free time to helping others while expecting nothing in return, chances are that you’re the type of employee who’s in it for more than just the money. 

Seeing volunteer experience on your resume tells hiring managers that you’re a loyal employee who’s after something meaningful.

Several studies show that listing your volunteer experience can boost your chances of getting hired, especially if you have little to no work experience.

Certifications

Hiring managers love candidates who invest in themselves, and that’s exactly what they see when you list certifications on your resume .

If you value continuous learning and strive to expand your skill set, that’s always a plus.

Certifications can also show employers how much expertise you have.

For example, if you’re a Microsoft Cloud Engineer and you specialize in Microsoft Technologies, you should definitely include all essential certifications on your resume, such as the Azure Solutions Architect Expert one.

Awards and Recognitions

There’s no harm in showing off a little on your resume. After all, you want to be a candidate that shines above the rest.

So, if you’ve received any awards or recognitions that make you stand out in your field, make sure to add them.

For example, if you’ve been recognized for your contributions to data science or received a hard-to-come-by scholarship , mention it in your resume. Just keep your entries here relevant to the field you’re applying to.

Publications

Whether you’re a freelance writer or a distinguished academic, publications are always impressive.

If you have any published works (online or in an academic journal), you can add them to your resume. Just make sure to include a link so the hiring manager knows where to check your work!

Are you looking for a career in academia? Check out our guide to writing the perfect academic CV to get started!

Working on side projects can show off your passion for your field. Whether they’re university class projects or part-time entrepreneurial endeavors, they’re relevant.

For example, if you worked on a mock software product as part of a university competition, it shows you went through every step of product creation, from ideation to creating a marketing strategy.

This project also shows off your organizational skills , and if you mention it in your resume, you stand a better chance of landing the job you had your sights set on.

But projects can also be personal, not academic. For example, you might manage an Etsy store where you sell hand-made arts and crafts to customers online. This is a great opportunity to highlight your creativity, management, and customer service skills .

Overall, hiring managers love employees who do cool work in their free time, so projects are always a great section to add to your resume.

Looking to kickstart your career? Check out our guide on how to get an internship for useful tips and real-life examples!

Extracurricular Activities

Every college freshman knows that extracurricular experience can make a difference in their application.

Especially if you don’t have a lot of experience outside of school, extracurricular activities are a great way to show potential employers your skills and give them insight into you as a person. Different clubs and after-school projects can help you gain real-life skills and considerably increase your chances of landing your first job after college.

For example, joining a student government organization can hone your leadership skills and teach you how to work as part of a team.

For example, if you’re part of a student government or public speaking club, these activities can help you hone your leadership and presentation skills.

11+ Expert Resume Tips

You’ve got the gist of how to make a resume. Now, it’s time to make it really stand out from the crowd!

Follow these exclusive resume tips to take your resume game to the next level:

• Match the professional title underneath your name to the job title of the position you’re applying for. Hiring managers often hire for several roles at once, so giving them this cue about what role you’re after helps things go smoother.
• Mention any promotions from your previous jobs. Use the work experience entries for them to focus on the achievements that helped you earn them.
• Describe your achievements using Laszlo Bock’s formula : accomplished X as measured by Y by doing Z . This way, your work experience can go the extra mile and show the hiring manager what you can bring to the table.
• Always list your achievements and responsibilities in concise bullet points. This makes your resume more reader-friendly, and it’s more likely that the hiring manager will see your impressive achievements at a glance.
• Don’t use personal pronouns like “I” or “me,” and don’t refer to yourself by name. Stick to a slightly altered third person, like “managed data integrity at XYZ Inc.” instead of “he managed data integrity at XYZ Inc.”
• Name your resume sections correctly, or it might get rejected by the ATS. Swapping out quirky names like “career history” or “expertise” for “work experience” and "skills" makes it easier for the hiring manager to find what they’re looking for, too.
• Prioritize important keywords instead of adding all of them. Make sure the relevant skills, qualifications, and experiences you add all make sense in context, too. Your goal is to get past the ATS and impress the hiring manager.
• Focus on transferable skills if you don’t have a lot of relevant work experience. Any extracurricular activities or personal projects can help you stand out here.
• Add a strategic pop of color to headings, bullet points, or key elements you want to highlight. It can help your resume stand out, but don’t overdo it—you want the information to be more impressive than the color palette.
• Don’t include the line “references available upon request.” Hiring managers already know they can request a list of references from you, so there’s no need to waste valuable space on it.
• Make sure your resume is optimized for mobile viewing. Most hiring managers use their mobile phones as often as desktop computers, so save your resume to a PDF file and make sure your formatting stays intact across any device.
• Rename the resume file you plan to send so it includes your name and the name of the position you’re applying for. It’s a small detail that can turn into a crucial mistake if you forget it.
• Read your resume out loud when you’re done. This is a great way to catch awkward phrases or spelling mistakes you might have missed otherwise.
• Use a tool like DocSend to track your resume. You’ll get a notification any time someone opens your resume, and you can see how long they spend reading it.

FREE Resume Checklist

Are you already done with your resume? Let’s see how it holds up!

Go through our checklist for perfecting your resume and see where you stand!

If you missed some points, just go through your resume one more time and perfect it.

And if you ☑’d everything—congrats! You’ve learned all there is to know about writing a resume, and you’re good to go with your job search.

Need to write a CV instead of a resume? Check out our step-by-step guide on how to write a CV with dozens of examples!

9 Resume Templates for Different Industries

Looking to create an effective resume without dealing with the formatting hassle? Just choose one of the templates below.

#1. Traditional Resume Template

Good for traditional industries like finance, banking, law, and manufacturing.

#2. Modern Resume Template

Good for both contemporary and forward-looking industries, including entrepreneurship, medical technology, and engineering.

#3. Creative Resume Template

Good for creative industries, including entertainment, design, and architecture. 

#4. Minimalistic Resume Template

Good for experienced professionals in basically any industry who want to let their achievements do the talking. 

#5. IT Resume Template

Good for any IT-related profession like software development, cyber security, and DevOps engineering.

#6. Tech Resume Template

Good for the tech industry and everything it encompasses.

#7. College Resume Template

Good for college students and recent graduates alike.

#8. General Resume Template

Good for multiple industries, including HR, education, and customer service.

#9. Executive Resume Template

Good for senior professionals across different industries, including hospitality, marketing, and logistics.

17+ Resumes for Different Jobs

Knowing how to write a resume is one thing, but making a resume that stands out is something entirely different. Without inspiration, even top career experts might stumble on a roadblock or two.

Check out the following effective resume examples for specific jobs to get a better sense of what a good resume looks like:

#1. Nurse Practitioner Resume Example

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

#2. Data Scientist Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a data scientist resume here.

#3. Business Analyst Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a business analyst resume here.

#4. Digital Marketing Resume Example

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

#5. Software Engineer Resume Example

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

#6. Construction Project Manager Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a construction project manager resume here.

#7. Customer Service Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a customer service resume here.

#8. High School Resume Example

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

#9. Student Resume Example

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

#10. Server Resume Example

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

#11. Actor Resume Example

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

#12. Web Developer Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a web developer resume here.

#13. Engineering Resume Example

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

#14. Computer Science Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a computer science resume here.

#15. Architect Resume Example 

Check out our full guide to writing a data analyst resume here.

#17. Remote Job Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a remote job resume here.

#18. Sales Associate Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a sales associate resume here.

#19. Receptionist Resume Example

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

Want to see more examples? Check out our compilation of 80+ resume examples for different fields .

• Administrative Assistant Resume
• Bartender Resume
• DevOps Engineer Resume
• Executive Assistant Resume
• Flight Attendant Resume
• Graphic Designer Resume
• Paralegal Resume
• Pharmacist Resume
• Recruiter Resume
• Supervisor Resume

Next Steps After Your Resume

Now that we’ve covered everything you need to know about how to make a resume, it’s time to talk about the rest of your job application.

After all, your resume is only the first step in your job search. To land the job you deserve, you also need to write a captivating cover letter and ace that upcoming interview. Here’s how:

#1. How to Write a Convincing Cover Letter

The companion piece to every resume is the cover letter.

Most job-seekers flinch when they hear that they have to write a cover letter. What do you even mention in a cover letter, anyway? If you were good at writing cover letters, you’d be applying for a job as a writer !

In reality, though, writing a cover letter is very simple once you know its purpose.

Think of your cover letter as a direct message to the hiring manager. It’s your chance to briefly explain why you’re such an awesome fit for the position. And with a few cover letter tips to point you in the right direction, you’ll write the perfect cover letter for your job application.

Just follow this structure:

• Add the contact details. Include the same contact information as on your resume, plus additional contact details for the hiring manager, including their name, job title, the company’s name, and location.
• Introduce yourself. Start your cover letter by mentioning who you are, what your work experience is, and why you’re interested in the position. Mention a standout achievement or two, relevant skills, and what you’d like to do for the company you’re applying for.
• Explain why you’d excel at the job. Find the requirements in the job ad that you meet, and elaborate on how you fulfill the most important ones. Research the company so you know what you like about it, and mention it in your cover letter. Make sure to convey your enthusiasm for the job and confidence that you’ll be a great fit for their team.
• Wrap it up politely. Conclude your cover letter by recapping your key selling points and thanking the hiring manager for their time. Then add a call to action, such as “Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at the provided phone number so that we can discuss my application in greater detail.” Then, add a closing line and follow it with your full name.

Sounds easy, right? Here’s a real-life example to drive the point home:

Do you need more help perfecting your cover letter? Learn what the most common cover letter mistakes are and check out cover letter examples for all professions here.

#2. How to Ace Your Next Interview

Once you’ve perfected both your resume and cover letter, there’s only one thing left.

It’s time for the final step—the dreaded job interview.

Whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert, you probably hate the interviewing process. No matter how experienced you are, it can be nerve-wracking. Sitting there while someone’s prodding into your past experiences and judging you isn’t fun.

But did you know that most interviewers ask the same questions?

That’s right—all you have to do is learn how to answer some of the most common interview questions, and you’ll be an interview away from landing your dream job!

Just check out our complete guide to the 35+ Job Interview Questions and Answers and learn how to ace your next interview.

FAQs on How to Make a Resume

Do you still have some questions about making a resume? Check out the answers to the most frequently asked questions below!

#1. What does a good resume look like in 2024?

For your resume to look good in 2024, make sure it’s organized and clean and isn’t longer than one page.

Be sure to include information that adds value to your application—leave out the focus on your relevant work experience and skills that you can back up, and list as many achievements as possible. 

If you’re using a resume template, choose one based on your industry. Conservative industries like law, banking, and business require more traditional resume templates. But if you’re going for an industry like design, architecture, or marketing, you can go for a creative resume template . 

Remote work is also big in 2024, so if that’s what you’re after, tailor your resume to match the job you want.

#2. How do you make a resume in Word?

The best way to create a resume in Word is to use a pre-designed Microsoft Word template. To access them, you should: 

• Open MS Word
• Click “file” from the menu bar 
• Select “new”
• Type “resume templates” in the search bar 

That said, Word resume templates are generic, hard to personalize, and overall not very stylish.

Want a resume that looks good and is extremely easy to make? Check out resume templates to get started!

#3. How do I write a resume for my first job?

If you’re writing your first-ever resume for an entry-level position, the hiring manager won’t expect you to have any work experience.

However, you can make up for your lack of experience with your skills and academic achievements.

For example, you can take advantage of extracurricular activities, internships, volunteering experiences, and other non-professional experiences. You can use them to highlight the skills you’ve gained and what you’ve achieved so far.

So, your first job resume should have a resume objective, emphasize your education, and replace your work experience with any internships, volunteering, independent projects, or other experiences.

#4. How to make a resume on Google Docs?

You can make a resume on Google Docs by choosing one of their templates and filling it in on the go.

All you have to do is go to your Google Drive’s template gallery, choose your preferred template, fill in your information, and your Google Docs resume is ready to go! 

That said, Google Docs templates aren’t the most user-friendly choice. You don’t have much flexibility with the layout and formatting isn’t that easy. For example, you tweak a section to the slightest, and the whole resume becomes a mess.

If you want an easier option, check out our resume builder !

#5. What kind of resume do employers prefer?

Typically, employers prefer one-page-long resumes that follow the reverse chronological format. 

Hiring managers receive hundreds of resumes every day, so they don't have the time to read three-page resumes. Try one of our one-page resume templates so you don’t go over the recommended resume length.

Meanwhile, the reverse-chronological format is the most popular because it draws attention to your most recent jobs and professional achievements, which is the #1 most important thing hiring managers look at when evaluating a resume.

#6. How many jobs should you put on your resume? 

You should only include relevant job positions on your resume.

This means that your work experience section should be tailored to the job you are applying for. If you’ve worked five different jobs and they can all add value to your current application, then you should include all five. 

If, on the other hand, you’re applying for, say, a customer service position and some of your past jobs don’t have anything to do with customer service, you should skip them.

#7. Should I put my address on my resume? 

You can put your location (city, state, or country) on your resume, but you don’t need to put your entire physical address.

Putting a physical address on a resume was the norm back when companies would contact you via mail. In today’s world, everyone communicates via email, which is why adding a correct and professional email address to your contact information section is far more important than putting your physical address. 

So, just include your location or-–if you’re a remote worker—specify you prefer to work remotely by writing “working remotely from [location].”

#8. What information should I leave out of my resume?

As a general rule, you shouldn’t include your birthday or your headshot on your resume. This norm varies from country to country but it applies to the USA, Canada, and UK.

If you have plenty of achievements to list under your work experience, then you can leave your basic work responsibilities out of your resume. 

In your education section, you should only include your highest and most recent degree. So, if you hold a Ph.D., you can list that and your Master’s degree and leave your Bachelor’s degree and high school diploma out.

Finally, leave out any skills that aren’t relevant to the job you’re applying for.

#9. Is a resume a CV?

Depending on where you are, a CV (Curriculum Vitae) and a resume might be completely different things.

In most of the world, though, including Europe and Asia, they are used interchangeably for the same document. Both CVs and resumes are one to two pages long, and list skills and experiences relevant to the position you’re applying for.

Sometimes more detailed resumes that go over one page are referred to as CVs. These are typically only used by senior professionals, executives, CEOs, etc.

In the USA, however, a CV is a completely different document. Typically, CVs are detailed and comprehensive documents that highlight your entire academic and professional history. They’re often used for academic, scientific, or research positions, which is why this type of CV can also be referred to as an academic CV.

You can create your CV using one of our CV templates !

#10. Should I write my own resume?

Yes, you should always write your own resume.

Your resume is your opportunity to show the hiring manager your communication, writing, and presentation skills . Employers also evaluate you based on how effectively you can convey information about yourself, and there’s no one that can represent you better than yourself.

Writing your own resume lets you introduce yourself authentically. You have the best understanding of your skills and experiences, and you can personalize them to make your resume stand out.

And, as a bonus, the experience of writing your resume yourself can be reflective and insightful, so it might help you understand your professional journey and career goals better.

#11. Can a resume be two pages?

Generally, we strongly recommend that your resume stick to one page.

Hiring managers go through hundreds of resumes every day, and keeping your resume to one page increases the odds that they’ll see your qualifications faster.

In some cases, like when you have a lot of relevant experience, your resume can go over two pages. But this exception is reserved for senior professionals with over a decade of relevant experience and tons of skills and achievements that simply can’t fit on one page.

#12. Is a simple resume okay?

Absolutely, a simple resume is often more than okay—it's preferable.

Before your resume even gets to the hiring manager, a complicated layout could get it rejected by the applicant tracking system (ATS). A simple resume template can help get your application straight to the hiring manager.

A clean layout can also make sure that your resume is easily readable and looks professional. This can focus the hiring manager's attention on your work experience and skills without excessive clutter or flashy colors to distract them.

Key Takeaways

And that’s a wrap!

If you’ve followed all of our advice until now, congrats! You’re probably an expert on how to make a resume.

To recap, let’s go through some of the most important lessons we’ve learned so far...

• Use the right resume builder to make the process as smooth as possible. You don’t want to mess around with formatting for hours before even starting to work on your resume!
• Focus on your achievements over responsibilities. This can help you stand out from all the other applicants, especially if you back your claims up with data.
• Include all the must-have sections, like the resume summary, work experience, education, and skills. Then leverage optional sections if you have leftover space.
• Tailor your resume for the job you’re applying for. Everything listed on your resume should be relevant to the specific job you’re applying for, and you should write a new resume for every new job application.
• Take the time to perfect your cover letter. It’s just as important as your resume, so make sure you pay as much attention to it!

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How to Write an Effective Resume

September 14, 2020

Download this guide in PDF format

In this guide, you’ll learn how to create an effective resume. You’ll learn strategies for tailoring your resume to the role you’re pursuing, and how to effectively present your skills and experience—whether you’re a new-job seeker or a mid-career professional switching to a new field. You will learn about templates and formats and understand the structure of every core section of a successful resume.

An effective resume needs to present all the important information about you as a professional in a concise and clear way. Format and content are both important. Prior to diving into the details of resume structure, you’ll first want to have a clear understanding of what you are trying to communicate. It’s also important to keep your focus on what matters to the employer and do everything you can to tailor your resume to the role.

Focus on what’s important to the employer

Before writing your resume, try to consider the employer’s point of view. What do they want to know? Answering this question will enable you to focus on the information that is going to be relevant to the employer. This, in turn, increases your chances of getting their attention.

When applying to a specific role, carefully read the job description. This will help you understand specifically what the employer is looking for. If you want to gather additional insights, review multiple job descriptions to see what shows up repeatedly. This will help you gain a broader understanding of the role. Another great way to understand the needs of your potential employer is to schedule networking conversations with industry professionals who can share their experiences and insights.

Keep in mind that focusing on what’s relevant to the employer might mean omitting details about your skills and experiences that are significant to you but are not directly relevant to the role. Deciding what to not include on your resume can be as important as deciding what to include. Irrelevant information might distract or confuse a reader, potentially making them more likely to discard your resume.

Tailor your resume to a role

It is essential that you tailor your resume to each job that you apply for. Even if your target roles have the same general set of requirements—and even if your skills and experience are broadly applicable—you should still adjust the order of your qualifications to match the order on the job description. In this way, you’re putting what’s most important to each employer at the top. 

If you can, try to match the language of the job description. For example, if you have a resume built around recruiting, and you are applying for a talent acquisition role, replace “recruiting” with “talent acquisition” on your resume. Shifting to the employer’s terminology can help them relate to you. This approach can also help prevent you from being filtered out by automated software that relies on keywords to match your resume to the job description and to determine whether it should be passed on to a recruiter or discarded.

Tip : Keep in mind that resumes are traditionally written in the third person without the use of personal pronouns. 

Different Types of Job Seekers

Your resume strategy will differ at different stages of your career journey. Someone seeking their first role will need to use a different approach than someone looking to make a mid-career switch to a new field. In both of these scenarios, you have to communicate your value despite not having experience in the field, but your strategy will differ depending on what information you have available to share.

You can use the recommendations in this section to understand how to communicate your value to an employer in a way that’s appropriate to your skills and experience.

Career changers

If you are an experienced professional but are looking to start a career in a new field, your background can provide you with a unique perspective, and can potentially help you stand out as a candidate. At the same time, you will need to be conscious about clearly establishing yourself as a qualified professional in your new field. Remember that your application will most likely be reviewed alongside applications from people with  directly relevant experience, so you need to make it clear to the employer why they should consider you for the role over those candidates. 

Here are some key things to keep in mind as you build your resume:

Focus on your transferable skills and experiences and highlight the advantages of your diverse background . 

When describing your past experiences, focus on what’s relevant to your new career, and don’t over-elaborate on less relevant details. For example, if you’ve been managing a restaurant and are now shifting into IT support, your customer service skills will be crucial, while your ability to manage staff won’t be as relevant. If, as a restaurant manager, you maintained your computer network and electronics, that will be important to discuss on your resume as well—even if it was a minor component of your role. Finally, try to point out how your background—despite being in a different field—is actually an advantage. For example, you might highlight how the commercial awareness you developed as a restaurant manager can help you understand business needs when prioritizing your work as an IT support professional. 

Adopt the terminology of your new industry. 

Get familiar with the language, terms, and jargon of your new industry and demonstrate this familiarity by using industry-specific words and phrases in your resume. This will make it easier for the reader to understand how your experience is relevant for them, and give them confidence about your engagement with your new field. For example, if you’ve run your own business in the past and are now looking for a role in marketing, use terms such as “marketing funnel” and “nurturing leads” when discussing your past marketing activities—even if you weren’t thinking in those terms at the time.

New Professionals

People who are looking for their first job, and who don’t yet have professional experience to describe, might struggle with how to fill their resumes. When this is the case, you can leverage non-professional experiences such as coursework, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and life experiences (travel, caretaking, and more) as a means to demonstrate to the employer how you overcome challenges, solve problems, and achieve results. 

It’s important to remember that the employer only knows what’s on your resume. If you think something will help you make your case to a prospective employer, you need to find a way to include that information on your resume. Use sections such as Projects, Volunteer Work, Relevant Experiences as alternatives to Professional Experience for that purpose.

Templates and Layouts

Now that you have an idea of what you want to communicate on your resume, you can start filling out the details. You can design your own resume or use an existing template. There are many templates available online, and you can access them by typing “resume templates” into your favorite search engine. You can also find Google Doc templates by going to Google Docs and clicking Template Gallery at the top right. 

Tip: Whether you actually use a Google Doc template or not, it’s a good idea to design your resume in Google Docs. It will enable you to easily share, get feedback, and download your resume in a convenient format.

You can use your personal taste and preferences when selecting a template, but it’s also important to consider the following factors:

• Ease of reading : Your resume needs to make a great impression and communicate all your most important information in a very short amount of time. Make sure sections are clearly organized and that the font is easy to read, and use margins and white space to prevent the document from feeling cramped. 
• Simple design . Your resume needs to be easily comprehended by both humans and applicant tracking systems (ATS)—the software that companies use to store and retrieve candidate information. ATS’s vary, but many cannot parse graphs and other visual elements, meaning that information contained in them will be lost. Simple designs relying on well-organized text are best. 
• Length. Your resume should be one page, unless you have at least 10-15 years of relevant (not total) experience. Two-column resume templates are appropriate for one-page resumes. Two-page resumes should use the entire width of the page.

Resume Sections

Before you start filling out your resume, you’ll need to decide which sections to include, and in what order. There are core components that should be in every resume. There are also optional components you may want to include, depending on your skills and experience, and the roles you’re applying for. Adjust your template by moving, adding, removing, and renaming sections as necessary.

Core resume sections include contact information, a professional summary, and details about your skills, experience, and education. Make sure to use section labels to help the reader easily navigate through your resume. In terms of order, this will often depend on what you want to highlight to your employer. A recent graduate might want to put their education first, whereas a working professional would lead with their experience. Optional sections could include information on projects, publications, volunteer experience, awards and honors, patents, languages, and more. Let’s take a closer look at each section of a typical resume.

Individual Resume Sections

This is the section at the top of your resume that includes your contact information. Your name is the only part of your resume that should be spelled out in a larger font than the rest of your document. Your contact information should include:

• city, state, zip (no street address for privacy purposes) 
• phone number, email address
• LinkedIn profile URL
• Optional: personal website, GitHub (for technical roles), portfolio (for creative roles)

The Summary section will always be located at the top of your resume immediately following the Header. It should be brief (3-5 lines) and clearly articulate what makes you a great candidate for the role, as well as what makes you stand out from your competition. The Summary sets the context for the rest of the document by calling out the most important things for the reader to know about you.

While there are many ways to write a summary, consider the following format, focusing on your core expertise, strengths, and what sets you apart from others.

Sentence 1: Describe yourself by role and competencies. This is where you provide your professional introduction. Examples:

• Digital Marketing Manager with expert level knowledge of SEO, Social, PPC, and GMB.
• Talent Acquisition expert with 4+ years of experience in the medical device industry.

Tip: If you are changing careers, describe yourself using your desired title. For example, if you are shifting from QA Analytics to Project Management, describe yourself as a Project Manager. You can add “with background in QA Analytics” to acknowledge that part of your career.

Sentence 2 : Connect your expertise to your value prop.  This is where you define how your unique skills will make you a valuable asset to the company. Examples:

• Proficient in creating and editing graphics, figures, and illustrations. Consistently able to create high-quality marketing assets that drive conversions.
• Able to source for full range of positions from administrative to executive level. Able to create a seamless recruiting and hiring process for managers, and consistently present top-quality candidates.

Sentence 3: Include a differentiator. You are likely competing against other people with similar skills, so it’s important to provide a clear reason why an employer should select your resume. Examples:  

• Known for the ability to eloquently present point of view to clients, prospects, and colleagues with expertise, confidence, and clarity.
• Consistently noted in performance reviews as being able to present to clients, prospects and colleagues, with expertise, confidence, and clarity.
• Received 8 awards for customer service excellence.

Tip : Instead of using the word “Summary” to label this section, use a professional headline to help to set the tone for the rest of the document. For example: “Experienced SEO Manager” or “Android Developer | Medical Devices.” 

Immediately below the Summary you should have a list of your core areas of expertise, and your specific skills.

For a non-technical role , include 4-8 short bullets detailing your core skills (also known as Areas of Expertise) organized in two or three columns. To decide what goes on this list, think of what the employer would primarily hire you for. Focus on quantifiable skills like copywriting, agile project management, Google Analytics, or sales funnel management. Keep in mind that skills like communication, time management, and collaboration—which are harder to quantify, and are claimed by most people—are not as effective on a resume. 

Tip : When tailoring your resume to a specific role, the Skills section is your first opportunity to line up with the job description.

For a technical role , it’s important to list out all of your relevant technical skills. If you find that your list is too long to list out each item in a separate bullet, then organize your skills by type—software, programming languages, hardware, data analytics, or any other categories that apply.

Professional Experience Section

The Professional Experience section is uniquely important because it tells the story of what you’ve done in your career. For employers, this is a strong indicator of what you will be able to do for them.

The Professional Experience section should list your roles (company, job title, location, employment dates) in reverse chronological order. If you have significant professional experience, limit your resume to the past 10-15 years, as that is what is most relevant to the employer. 

Ideally, you want to list three to six roles on your resume that demonstrate progress on your career journey. Under each role, you should list your responsibilities and accomplishments in bullets. Responsibilities describe what you were supposed to do, and accomplishments are the specific outcomes that demonstrate how well you performed your role. 

Your most recent role should feature the most detail, with four to six bullets of no more than two lines each. Older roles should provide less information. Begin each bullet with an action verb that puts you in control. Include numbers to show the scope of your role and impact—how many leads did you convert, how much revenue growth did you drive, how many new hires did onboard, how large was the team you managed, and more.

Tip: Avoid chronological gaps in your Professional Experience. If you spent more than six months out of the workforce at any point—whether intentionally (for caregiving purposes or travel) or unintentionally (unemployment)—explain on your resume what you did during that time. Particularly highlight any activities relevant to your professional life, such as independent study, projects, and part-time or volunteer work. 

Example 

Big Box Story, Service Associate, Middleton, CA 01/2015 – 02/2016

• Provided customer service during checkout transactions and assisted customer questions and concerns in a big-box retail 
• Earned 8 Employee of the Week awards in one year on a team of 100+ associates
• Enrolled over 200 consumers in new credit cards within a 15-month time frame (4x average rate)
• Received “Certificate of Excellence” for success at upselling to customers

Education Section

In this section, include degrees beyond high-school in reverse chronological order (include your high-school information only if you don’t have any education or training beyond it). For each entry in the Education section, list the degree, institution, location, and date of completion.

Tip :  You can include pending or incomplete degrees by marking them as “In progress” or “Incomplete”—if you do so, make sure to include information on the classes/work you did complete. 

Finalize Your Resume

Once you’ve completed your resume using the guidance in this document, try to have someone proofread it for you. Recruiters consistently say they will discard resumes with typos, even if the resume is in great shape otherwise.

Tip : Consider asking a few people you trust—especially those familiar with your work—to provide feedback on the content. Don’t feel obligated to incorporate all the feedback you receive, but be open to recommendations that can help enhance the quality of your resume.

In conclusion, please keep in mind that, while there is no such thing as a perfect resume, you can use this guide to create an effective resume that avoids common problems and pitfalls. As you progress in your job search, remember that your resume is a living document. You can make revisions based on any feedback you receive, but try to avoid losing valuable time trying to over-optimize. Focus on your skills and experience, present yourself in the best light possible, and get ready to land that next role!

Keep reading

• Data analytics tips from a University of Michigan professor
• Ace your interviews with ChatGPT using this CEO-approved process
• Curious about digital marketing? Read on

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How to Write a Résumé That Stands Out

Share accomplishments, not responsibilities.

It can be hard to know how to make your resume stand out. Start by accepting that it’s going to take some time and effort. Don’t try to sit down and knock it out in an hour – you’re carefully crafting a marketing document. Open strong with a summary of your expertise. Use an accomplishments section after the opener to link your experience to the job requirements. You don’t want to waste space upfront on irrelevant job experience. It’s okay to be selective about what employment, achievements, and skills you include; after all, you should tailor your resume for each position. Give concrete examples of your expertise, quantifying your accomplishments with numbers where you can. Seek input from a mentor or friend who can review it and give you feedback. Lastly, create a personable LinkedIn profile to complement your resume.

The resume: there are so many conflicting recommendations out there. Should you keep it to one page? Do you put a summary up top? Do you include personal interests and volunteer gigs? And how do you make it stand out, especially when you know the hiring manager is receiving tons of applications? This may be your best chance to make a good first impression, so you’ve got to get it right.

• Amy Gallo is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review, cohost of the Women at Work podcast , and the author of two books: Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) and the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict . She writes and speaks about workplace dynamics. Watch her TEDx talk on conflict and follow her on LinkedIn . amyegallo

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20 Basic Resume Writing Rules That'll Put You Ahead of the Competition

If you’re thinking about taking a new step in your career, your resume’s probably high on your mind. When’s the last time you updated it? How will you transfer the skills from your current job or industry to a new one? How will you set yourself apart from other candidates? How long and horrible will this revision process actually be?

Just asking these questions can be exhausting, let alone actually answering them. And, if you’re not fresh off the job search, the thought of thinking everything through and creating an interview-worthy resume can be exhausted.

Fear not! We’ve come up with the 20 basic rules that will get you that much closer to success.

1. Keep it to One Page

This is a biggie! If a hiring manager’s spending six seconds looking at your resume, he or she might not even get to the second page! Unless you’re applying to be an executive or a partner somewhere, one page will be sufficient and is a widely accepted “best practice.” To cut it down, remember the purpose of it—it’s not to showcase everything you’ve ever done, but rather to show that you have the background, skills, and experience for the job at hand.

2. Avoid Spelling or Grammar Errors

Another biggie. There are some recruiters who will discount your resume the second they see a spelling or grammar error. Although it can be painful, make sure you don’t just read over your resume several times, but also that you have a friend take a peek, too.

3. Watch Your Tenses

This is another common error that can really hurt you in the eyes of hiring managers. As a general rule, if something on your resume is in the past, use the past tense (managed, delivered, organized) and if you are still actively in the role, use the present tense (manage, deliver, organize).

4. Avoid the First Person Pronouns

As a general practice, don’t use words like “I” or “me” or “my.” So, instead of saying “I hit and exceeded company sales quotas 100% of the time” say “Hit and exceeded sales quotas 100% of the time.”

5. Send Your Resume as a PDF

Saving your resume as a PDF (rather than a Word and document) freezes it as an image so that you can be sure hiring managers see the same formatting as you. If you send it any other way, there’s a chance that the styling, format, font, and so on, could look different on their computer than yours.

6. Label Your Resume File Correctly

Too many people save this important document with random or generic file names like sgks123.pdf or resume.pdf. Remember that recruiters can see the name of the file that you send them and also remember that they get tons of resumes every day. Make it super clear whose resume they should click on by saving it under a logical name like FirstName_LastName_Resume.pdf.

7. Format in a Logical Structure

Even more important than naming the file in a logical manner is laying out your resume in a logical manner. How you lay it out really depends on where you are in your career path and what you’re looking to do next. While chronological the default, it’s not always the best way to make your case. Muse writer Lily Zhang lays out the other options that might work better for you.

8. Make Sure It’s Easy to Read

You might be tempted to just shrink the text to get your resume to fit on a page. (Which is funny, because remember all those times in school when you made it 12.5 to make it longer? Life!) While you can adjust the size to some degree, never go below 10-point font.

9. Keep it Organized and Visually Appealing

Remember how hiring managers usually spend just six seconds looking at your resume? Help them maximize that time by making your resume super clear and easy-to-read. You want each section bolded (maybe capitalized) and each job title bolded. Make your life easier by using a template .

10. Keep it Consistent

Just like you want your verb tenses to be consistent throughout, it’s also important that the formatting is, too. If one title’s bold, the other titles should be bold. If one bullet point has a period at the end, the other bullet points should have that as well.

11. Include Context

When you list out your experience, be sure to include context. What city, state (or country) did this job take place in. Did you travel and operate in multiple cities? What dates did you have that experience? Was it for five months or five years? Context matters!

12. Quantify as Much as Possible

Anyone can say that he or she excelled at his or her last job. So, you need to prove to the hiring manager that you truly did. Numbers, percentages, and supporting facts go a long way in showing that you have a track record of success. For example, rather than saying “successfully hit sales quotas” as a bullet point in your resume you should say “successfully hit sales quotas 100% of the time and exceeded goals by 25% in the last 5 months.” You can even do this if your position doesn’t involve using numbers.

13. Name Drop (and Title Drop) Like You’ve Never Done Before

This is your chance to brag. If you got a promotion or a raise because of your performance, you should mention it. If you worked with the CEO of the company or were a point of contact for a large, corporate customer, mention their names! This goes a long way in showing that you can run with important people. It shows that you’re confident. It shows that you’re capable. (Of course, make sure you’re presenting the facts accurately and not exaggerating.)

14. Don’t Include References

Don’t use any of your precious space to include the names and contact info for your references (or to write things like “references available upon request”). This document’s for recruiters to decide if they want to talk to you, not your references. If they get to the point in the application process where they want to speak to these people, they will reach out to you and ask for those names. Until then, no need to mention.

15. Use Your Judgement When it Comes to Creativity

Some industries are more creative than others. If you’re working in digital media or design or elementary school education, it might make sense for your resume to be creative and colored. If you’re applying for a job in finance, operations, or most corporate jobs, you probably want to keep it black and white and structured. Be thoughtful when it comes to your creativity (or lack thereof).

16. Don’t List Everything You’ve Ever Done

There should be a purpose for every word. When you’re writing and editing, ask yourself this question, “Will this sentence help me get the job I want?” If not, you should consider editing that sentence or removing it.

17. Think About the Person Reading Your Resume

It’s important to remember that there’s a real person reading this. And it’s also important to remember that it’s her job to find awesome candidates to interview and present to her boss or team. It’s also not her job to do you any favors. So you should think about her when you’re writing your resume. How can you make her job easier? How can you write your resume in such a way that she gets excited when she sees it, thinks you’re perfect for the job, and is willing to put herself out there by presenting you to her team.

18. Think About What Makes You Different

It’s important that you be yourself during the application process (obviously putting your best foot forward). This includes what you write on your application materials. Don’t hesitate to show who you really are, your likes and interests, your personality, what makes you unique, and so on. While this definitely requires some judgment calls (for example, expressing personality when applying for a traditional role in a traditional industry might not be the best move) it could ultimately be the thing that sets you apart and gets you hired.

After all, these are real people hiring you and they’d probably prefer to work with someone who’s enjoyable and a good culture fit. And if your personality isn’t a fit for the job, you probably wouldn’t have been happy there any way so it works out for everyone.

19. Think About the Specific Job You’re Applying To

One of my favorite tricks to help communicate that you are the perfect person for a job is to read the job description and list out key phrases. Then, when you’re writing or editing your resume, find ways to incorporate those words and phrases from the desired job description into your resume. This can be super useful when a machine or human recruiter skims it.

20. Think of This as a Storytelling Document

Many of the tips that I’ve mentioned all point to the general idea that your resume should clearly and concisely tell the story of “you”—helping hiring managers understand why you’re the right person for the job. This is, in fact, the entire purpose. Ultimately, when you re-read and edit it, make sure that it tells the story of your background, the skills you gained along the way, the experiences that you’ve had, and makes it crystal clear why you’ve ended up where you are today and why the role that they are hiring for is the perfect next step for you.

Yes, this is a lot. The good news is that you’re not alone in the process. The job search is hard, so make sure you’re reaching out to friends and family for support (or, even just for distractions). And, if you think you might want a more professional second set of eyes on your materials, Muse Coach Connect can set you up with an expert who offers resume writing services . Just remember, that when you’re feeling overwhelmed—and 20 rules can do that to you—that following these guidelines gives you a huge head start among all the other applicants.

• Career Blog

The Ultimate Guide to Writing an Effective Resume

A resume is a marketing tool that promotes the skills, experiences, and achievements of an individual. It is the first impression of a candidate for a potential employer. Therefore, a well-written resume is essential for career development and job search success.

In a competitive job market, a poorly written resume can lead to missed job opportunities or even rejection. Employers may receive hundreds of resumes for a single position, and they typically have a limited amount of time to review each one. Therefore, it is crucial to grab the employer’s attention from the start.

A well-written resume is a document that highlights the candidate’s strengths, shows accomplishments, and is tailored to the position. It should provide a quick snapshot of the candidate’s background, education, and experience. It should be easy to read and visually attractive, with bullet points and white space, to make it more scannable.

A good resume also demonstrates the candidate’s ability to communicate clearly and concisely. It should be free from errors, including spelling, grammar, and punctuation, as these can create a negative impression and reduce credibility.

The importance of a well-written resume cannot be overstated. It is an essential component of any job search strategy. A good resume can open doors, increase the chances of success in the interview process, and lead to job offers.

Throughout this ultimate guide, we will cover all aspects of writing an effective resume, including the various sections of a resume, dos and don’ts, formatting, and more. We will provide tips and examples to help you create a resume that stands out from the rest and gets you noticed by potential employers.

Researching Your Target Job

Before you start writing your resume, it’s important to understand the job requirements of the position you are applying for. This section will guide you on how to research and analyze your target job to create a tailored resume that aligns with the employer’s expectations.

Analyzing Job Postings

One of the most important aspects of researching your target job is analyzing the job postings to understand the responsibilities, requirements, and qualifications specified. Look for keywords and phrases that are frequently used, such as technical skills, education, and experience. This will give you a clear understanding of the expectations and specific qualifications the employer is looking for.

Identifying Key Skills and Qualifications

Once you have analyzed the job postings, make a list of the key skills and qualifications mentioned in the job description. These could include technical skills, soft skills, educational qualifications or industry-specific certifications. Identify the skills you possess and those that you need to improve or acquire.

Understanding Industry-Specific Resume Requirements

Different job industries and professions have different resume requirements. For instance, some industries require candidates to list their technical skills, while others require candidates to highlight their soft skills or experience. It’s important to understand the requirements of the specific job industry to create an effective resume. Research the industry to determine the common practices and requirements of resumes. Use this knowledge to tailor your resume that mirrors the job industry standards and expectations.

Researching and understanding the job requirements will help you create a tailored and effective resume that matches the employer’s requirements. By analyzing job postings, identifying key skills and qualifications, and understanding industry-specific resume requirements, you can create a tailored resume that resonates with your target job.

Formatting Your Resume

The way you format your resume can make a big difference in how successful it is at getting you noticed by potential employers. Here are three key areas to focus on when it comes to formatting your resume effectively.

Choosing the Appropriate Resume Format

There are many different types of resume formats, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The most common formats include chronological, functional, and combination formats.

The best format for you will depend on your work history, skills, and the job you’re applying for. For example, if you have a solid work history with no employment gaps, a chronological format may work best. If you’re changing careers or have gaps in your work history, a functional format may be more effective.

Structuring Your Resume for Visual Appeal

When it comes to creating a visually appealing resume, there are some basic design principles to keep in mind. Use a professional, clean font and make sure your layout is consistent throughout.

Use headings and bullet points to break up long sections of text and make your content easy to scan. You may also want to use color sparingly to highlight key sections of your resume.

Utilizing Strategic White Space

White space is the empty space on your resume between sections of content. When used effectively, it can help to create a more visually appealing layout and make your resume easier to read.

To use white space strategically, consider using wider margins and increasing the spacing between lines of text. This will help to give your resume a more open and modern feel, while also making it easier to scan quickly.

Choosing the right format, structuring your resume for visual appeal, and utilizing strategic white space are key to creating a professional and effective resume. By focusing on these areas, you’ll be well on your way to landing your dream job.

Crafting an Effective Summary or Objective Statement

Your summary or objective statement is the first thing the hiring manager will read on your resume, so make sure it grabs their attention. To ensure your statement is attention-grabbing, start by writing an introduction that captivates the reader and entices them to continue reading.

Next, highlight your strongest professional attributes, such as your skills, experience, and accomplishments, to showcase why you are the best fit for the job. Be specific and use examples to demonstrate how you’ve excelled in your previous roles.

Finally, tailor your statement to the job you are applying for by using keywords from the job description and industry-specific jargon. This shows the hiring manager that you’ve carefully read the job posting and have the necessary skills and experience to excel in the role.

A well-written summary or objective statement can set you apart from other applicants and make a strong impression on the hiring manager.

Showcasing Your Work History

When it comes to showcasing your work history in your resume, there are two formats you can choose: chronological and functional.

The chronological format is the most common, presenting your work history in reverse chronological order. This format is ideal if you have a consistent work history, with no gaps or frequent job changes. However, if you are changing fields or have gaps in your work history, a functional format might be more appropriate.

A functional format focuses on your skills and experience, rather than your employment history. It can be a good option if you have taken a break from work, switched careers, or have limited experience in the field.

Once you have decided on a format, the next step is to identify and accentuate your career highlights. This means highlighting your most impressive achievements, contributions, and skills. You can do this by focusing on your most relevant experience and using strong action verbs to describe your accomplishments.

It’s also important to use metrics to demonstrate your impact. This means quantifying your achievements using numbers and data. For example, instead of simply saying that you increased sales, you could say that you increased sales by 20% in the first quarter. This makes your achievements more tangible and impressive to potential employers.

Showcasing your work history effectively is key to creating an effective resume. Whether you choose a chronological or functional format, identifying your career highlights and using metrics to demonstrate your impact can help you stand out from the crowd and land your dream job.

Detailing Your Skills and Qualifications

When crafting your resume, it’s important to include a section detailing your skills and qualifications. This section should highlight your transferable skills, certifications and continuing education, language proficiency, and technical skills.

Highlighting your transferable skills

Transferable skills are those that can be applied across different professions and industries. These skills can include communication, organization, teamwork, problem solving, and leadership. It’s important to identify your transferable skills and articulate how they could benefit the company or position you’re applying for.

For example, if you’re applying for a marketing role and have previously worked in customer service, you could highlight your strong communication and relationship-building skills.

Certifications and continuing education

Including any relevant certifications or continuing education courses is another great way to showcase your qualifications. These demonstrate that you’re committed to ongoing learning and development, and can set you apart from other candidates who haven’t invested in additional education or training.

When including certifications and education, make sure to include the title of the certification or course, the name of the institution or provider, and the date you earned the certification or completed the course.

Language proficiency and technical skills

If you have proficiency in multiple languages or technical skills, be sure to highlight those on your resume as well. In today’s global economy, being bilingual or having technical skills such as web design, data analysis, or programming can be a major asset for many companies.

When listing language proficiency, be sure to indicate your level of proficiency (for example, beginner, intermediate, or advanced). For technical skills, it can be helpful to include any software or tools you’re experienced with, as well as any notable projects you’ve worked on.

The skills and qualifications section of your resume is an opportunity to show potential employers what you bring to the table. By highlighting your transferable skills, certifications and continuing education, language proficiency, and technical skills, you’ll set yourself apart as a qualified and competent candidate.

Creating Compelling Content

In order to make your resume stand out from the competition, it’s important to create compelling content that showcases your skills and achievements. This includes developing powerful bullet points, writing action-oriented language, and utilizing active voice. Here are some tips for creating compelling content in your resume:

Developing Powerful Bullet Points

Bullet points are a great way to break up text and highlight your accomplishments. However, not all bullet points are created equal. In order to make your bullet points stand out, you should:

• Start each bullet point with an action verb, such as “developed,” “improved,” or “managed.”
• Quantify your achievements whenever possible. For example, instead of saying you “improved sales,” say you “increased sales by 25%.”
• Focus on your most impressive achievements. Instead of listing every task you performed in your previous job, highlight your biggest accomplishments and responsibilities.

Writing Action-Oriented Language

Action-oriented language is essential for creating compelling content in your resume. Instead of simply listing your responsibilities, you should focus on the actions you took and the results you achieved. Here are some tips for writing action-oriented language:

• Use strong verbs to describe your actions. For example, instead of saying you “helped with marketing,” say you “created and implemented marketing strategies.”
• Emphasize your accomplishments. Instead of simply saying you “worked on a project,” highlight the results of your work, such as “completed a project ahead of schedule and under budget.”
• Use specific details to paint a picture of your achievements. For example, instead of saying you “managed a team,” describe the size of the team and the scope of your responsibilities.

Utilizing Active Voice

Active voice is a powerful tool for creating compelling content in your resume. Active voice emphasizes the actions you took and the results you achieved, while passive voice can make your accomplishments seem less impressive. Here are some tips for utilizing active voice:

• Start each bullet point with an action verb in the present or past tense. For example, instead of saying “Responsibilities included managing a team,” say “Managed a team.”
• Focus on the actions you took, rather than the tasks you performed. For example, instead of saying “A report was written,” say “I wrote a report.”
• Use active voice to emphasize your achievements. For example, instead of saying “Sales were increased by 25%,” say “I increased sales by 25%.”

By following these tips for creating compelling content in your resume, you can showcase your skills and achievements in a way that stands out from the competition.

Including Relevant Examples and Accomplishments

Your resume is more than a list of your previous job titles and responsibilities. It’s an opportunity to showcase your quantifiable successes, awards and accolades, and relevant volunteer experience. These sections not only demonstrate your abilities and achievements but also differentiate you from other applicants. Here’s how to include them effectively:

Providing Quantifiable Successes

When listing your past work experience, you want to go beyond describing your roles and responsibilities – you want to show the results of your work. Quantifiable successes are measurable accomplishments that demonstrate your impact on previous employers. Examples could include:

• Increased sales by X%.
• Reduced expenses by X amount.
• Earned X number of new clients.
• Led a successful project that achieved X goal.
• Implemented a new process that resulted in X time or cost savings.

Be specific and provide concrete numbers and data wherever possible. This helps employers understand the value you can add to their organization.

Showcasing Awards and Accolades

If you’ve received any awards or recognition for your work, be sure to highlight them in a separate section of your resume. This can include employee of the month/year awards, performance-based bonuses, or any other type of recognition you’ve received in your career. Accompany each award with a brief description of why you were recognized and the impact it had on your team or organization.

Including Relevant Volunteer Experience

Volunteer experience can be just as valuable as paid work experience – especially if it’s tied to your field. For example, if you’re a writer, volunteer experience writing blog posts for a nonprofit organization can demonstrate your skill set and passion for the craft. When listing your volunteer experience, make sure to:

• Highlight the organization(s) you volunteered for.
• Describe the work you did.
• Emphasize how this experience is relevant to the jobs you’re applying for.

If you don’t have any volunteer experience related to your field, consider volunteering for a nonprofit or organization that interests you. This is a great way to gain experience, develop new skills, and give back to your community.

Including relevant examples and accomplishments is a key element to writing an effective resume. Quantifiable successes, awards and accolades, and relevant volunteer experience all demonstrate your abilities and set you apart from other applicants. By following these guidelines, you can create a resume that accurately reflects your experience and impresses potential employers.

Enhancing Your Resume with Visual Aids

As competition for job positions continues to intensify, job seekers are increasingly looking for ways to make their resumes stand out from the crowd. One effective way to do this is by incorporating visual aids into your resume, which can help to enhance its overall design and improve its readability, while also showcasing your skills and accomplishments more effectively. In this section, we will explore some of the ways in which you can use visual aids to take your resume to the next level.

Incorporating Design Elements

The first step towards creating a visually appealing resume is to consider its overall design. While most resumes tend to follow a standard format, there are several design elements that you can incorporate to make your resume stand out. Some examples of design elements that you can use include:

Color: Using a color palette that is consistent with your personal brand can help to make your resume more memorable, while also emphasizing key sections or information.

Typography: Choosing the right font can help to improve the readability of your resume, while also conveying a sense of professionalism or creativity.

Layout: A well-designed layout can help to guide the reader’s eye through your resume, highlighting your achievements and qualifications in a clear and organized manner.

Using Graphics, Charts, and Tables

Another effective way to enhance your resume is by using graphics, charts, and tables to visually illustrate your accomplishments and qualifications. For example, a chart or graph can be used to show your progress towards meeting sales targets, while a table can be used to summarize your technical skills or previous work experience. Some tips to keep in mind when using graphics, charts, and tables in your resume include:

Avoid using too many visuals, as this can make your resume appear cluttered or confusing.

Make sure that your visuals are relevant to the information that you’re presenting, and that they enhance rather than detract from the overall message.

Use simple and easy-to-read visuals, such as bar charts or pie charts, rather than more complex visuals like scatter plots or heat maps.

Including Links to Online References

Finally, one other way to enhance the visual aspect of your resume is by including links to online references or samples of your work. This can be especially useful if you have a portfolio of work that you’d like to showcase, or if you’ve received positive reviews or testimonials from previous employers or clients. Some tips to keep in mind when including links in your resume include:

Make sure that the links are relevant to the job that you’re applying for, and that they highlight your skills and experience in a positive light.

Test the links to make sure that they are working properly, and that they lead to high-quality content that accurately represents your abilities.

Keep the number of links to a minimum, and be sure to include a brief summary or explanation of each link so that the reader understands its relevance to your resume.

Editing and Refining Your Resume

After you have carefully crafted your resume, it’s essential to edit and refine it. An effective resume must be error-free, easy to read, and clear.

Conducting a thorough proofread

There is no excuse for spelling and grammatical mistakes in a resume. Employers may discard your resume if they notice any errors. Therefore, you must conduct a thorough proofread before sending it out. Take your time to read it multiple times, use spell-checking software, and ask a friend or colleague to review it.

Ensuring readability and clarity

Your resume must be easy to read, so it’s essential to keep your language straightforward and organized. Use bullet points and short sentences to make your information accessible. Choose an appropriate font size and style, and ensure there is plenty of space on the page. Your resume should look uncluttered and visually appealing.

Reviewing your resume from the employer’s perspective

As you review your resume, try to view it from the employer’s perspective. Ask yourself, “What would a hiring manager be looking for in my resume? What skills and experience are essential for this job?” Make sure your resume highlights your relevant experience, accomplishments, and skills. Use keywords from the job description to increase your resume’s chances of getting through an applicant tracking system (ATS).

Editing and refining your resume is crucial to ensure it stands out to potential employers. It should be error-free, easy to read, and reviewed from the employer’s perspective. By taking these steps, you’ll give yourself the best chance of landing your dream job.

Tailoring Your Resume to Specific Roles and Industries

When it comes to job hunting, one size does not fit all. Tailoring your resume to specific roles and industries can significantly increase your chances of landing the job you desire. Here are some tips to help you customize your resume to stand out from the competition.

Analyzing Job Descriptions for Keywords and Requirements

Before sending out your resume, it is essential to analyze job descriptions carefully. Hiring managers often use keywords and phrases that are specific to their industry or position. Adding these keywords to your resume can make it easier for recruiters to identify your skills and qualifications.

By analyzing job descriptions, you can also get a better understanding of what the employer is looking for in a candidate. This can help you highlight your relevant experience and achievements, making it easy for the recruiter to see why you are a good fit for the role.

Customizing Your Resume to Fit Company Culture

Another important aspect of tailoring your resume is customizing it to fit the company culture. Every company has its own unique culture, and it is essential to showcase that you would be a good cultural fit.

Start by researching the company online, looking at their website, social media pages, and other relevant online forums. Try to identify the company’s core values and the type of employees they are looking for. Highlighting relevant skills and experiences can help demonstrate how you would be a perfect fit for the company’s culture.

Writing Resumes for Different Industries and Job Types

The best way to write a resume that caters to different industries and job types is to focus on transferable skills. Transferable skills are the skills that you acquire in one job that can be applied to different roles and industries.

For example, excellent communication and analytical skills are transferable skills that can be applied to roles in any industry. By focusing on these skills, you can demonstrate how you would be valuable in a variety of roles.

However, it is important to be specific when discussing transferable skills. Use examples that illustrate how you used your skills in your previous job, and explain how they would be relevant in the job you are applying for.

Tailoring your resume to specific roles and industries can make all the difference when it comes to landing the position you desire. By analyzing job descriptions for keywords and requirements, customizing your resume to fit the company culture, and focusing on transferable skills, you can make your resume stand out from the crowd.

Submitting Your Resume for Maximum Results

When it comes to job hunting, submitting your resume is just the first step in a long process. To increase your chances of getting hired, it’s important to take additional steps to make sure your application stands out. Here are a few tips on how to submit your resume for maximum results:

Tailoring your application materials to specific job applications

One of the biggest mistakes job seekers make is using a one-size-fits-all approach when submitting their resumes. While it may seem like the easiest way to apply to multiple jobs quickly, it can harm your chances of getting hired. Instead, take the time to tailor your application materials to the specific job you are applying for. This ensures that your resume highlights the skills and experiences that are most relevant to the job position. Use keywords from the job description and showcase how you are the best candidate for the job.

Following up after submitting your resume

After submitting your resume, it’s important to follow up with the employer. This can show that you are truly interested in the position and are willing to go the extra mile. You can follow up via email or phone and express your enthusiasm for the position. Additionally, if the job posting lists a specific timeframe for when the employer will be selecting candidates, make sure to follow up around that timeframe to ensure your application is being considered.

Tracking and measuring your job application success

Submitting your resume can sometimes feel like a numbers game. To ensure that your efforts are not in vain, it’s important to track and measure your job application success. Keep a record of the jobs you have applied for, the dates you submitted your application, and any follow-up you have done. Use this information to analyze which job applications are getting the most responses and which ones are not. This will help you adjust your strategy and improve your chances of getting hired in the future.

When submitting your resume, it’s important to take additional steps to increase your chances of getting hired. Use a tailored approach when applying to jobs, follow up with employers, and track your job application success. With these tips, you will be able to submit your resume for maximum results and land your dream job.

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Tips for Making a Great Resume

Your resume is the key piece of your job application. Here's how to get it right.

Table of Contents

With the current labor shortage and low unemployment rate, job seekers are at an advantage. However, that’s not to say you don’t need a professionally written resume. Employers still want to find and hire the best employees for each open position, and resumes are the first step in that search. Use the following strategies to make your resume stand out and demonstrate that you are the best candidate for the job.

How to create a great resume

Here are some tips for creating an impressive resume.

1. Assemble your job history and skills.

The first step in creating your resume should include your relevant job history, industry experience and applicable skills. While you might feel tempted to add every place you’ve ever worked at, narrow down your history to only list relevant roles or experiences. This will keep your resume concise and direct hiring managers and recruiters to the right place. However, this also might mean creating multiple resumes and tailoring them to the specific job/company you’re applying to.

From there, format your resume so that it is easy to identify your qualifications. For instance, if you advanced in a company quickly, draw attention to that growth, said Claire Bissot, SPHR and director of Kainos Capital. If you excessively job-hopped, bullet those jobs without providing specifics and detail more applicable positions. This will play to your assets.

When structuring your resume, make sure the information is presented in a logical order, said career coach Veronica Yao. 

“A hiring manager [will] read your resume starting at the top and ending at the bottom. However, if they don’t finish reading the whole thing — and they often don’t — you still want to ensure your strongest points come across.”

2. Use an original resume template.

Employers appreciate originality. While it’s helpful to refer to a professional resume template, don’t follow it rigidly, as this might actually deter potential employers.

“I often pass over resumes that match Microsoft Office templates,” Bissot told Business News Daily. “The templates are meant to be a guide to get started, but it should be expanded on to make it your own.”

Showcase your expertise in an appealing and eye-catching manner so you stand out from other applicants, especially if you’re in a creative industry. Include hyperlinks, aesthetic formatting, colors and shading, testimonials and other unique features. Use your resume to tell your career story. For instance, you can write an interesting “about me” section to personalize and summarize your experiences.

3. Fill out the sections.

Use bullet points or short lines to outline your job responsibilities and accomplishments for each role you’ve listed on your resume. This will help recruiters and hiring managers better understand your experiences and how you’ve helped that company grow. 

Typically, it’s best to use action verbs and data-backed words rather than “fluff.” For example, if you’re outlining social media marketing experience, rather than simply stating “I managed social media platforms for my client,” write “Increased social media lead generation by X percent year-over-year.” This cuts to the point and backs up your credentials with hard data to showcase your success. 

4. Choose the file type.

Most employers prefer resumes as Microsoft Word documents (.doc) or PDF files. Microsoft Word documents are the most traditional and widely accepted file types for resumes, but PDFs ensure the formatting doesn’t become wonky after submission. 

However, when you’re dealing with applicant tracking systems (ATS), Word documents are easier for these systems to read through and pick up on important keywords. This is important if you want to stand out in modern recruiting. If you submit a PDF or other file, you might get automatically rejected if the system cannot read it. A general rule of thumb is to save both versions of your resume and submit a Word document to applications on job sites and a PDF when sending directly to a recruiter or hiring manager. [Read related article: Ways AI Is Changing HR Departments ]

5. Proofread the draft.

Before you submit your resume anywhere, proofread it yourself and ask a trusted friend or professional contact to do the same. One minor mistake or grammatical error could result in countless rejections. Your resume is your first — and often only — chance to impress a potential employer, and you should treat it as such.

Here are a few things to look at:

• Spelling, grammar and punctuation: A hiring manager will likely automatically dismiss your application if they spot a typo or grammatical error. “Make sure it’s error-free and easy to read,” said Diya Obeid, founder and CEO of ATS company JobDiva. “HR reps equate typos and errors with laziness. Use good English — the written word has a huge impact on the employer.”
• Formatting: “Review formatting very closely, including font, alignment and spacing,” Bissot said. “Related issues can often be perceived as a sign of lacking technical skills and/or attention to detail.”
• Headings: Yao said that candidates often submit applications addressed to the wrong employer or outline experience that’s irrelevant to the role. “Receiving a resume that’s crafted and addressed to someone else — or worse, a competitor — can be a huge turnoff and will set a negative tone even if they do choose to continue reading your application.”

Resume writing tips

It can be difficult to succinctly present all of your experiences and qualifications on one page, but there are many ways to spruce up your resume without going overboard. To help you land an interview, we rounded up some of the best resume-writing tips.

1. Keep your resume short and direct.

The No. 1 rule of writing a resume is to keep it short and to the point. The general rule is no more than one page unless you have a good reason for it to be longer, like an extensive career or a lot of highly applicable work experience.

An easy way to keep your resume concise is to include only recent, relevant experience. While that yearlong first job might have taught you a lot about the field, you don’t always need to include every detail from your entire career history.

Most experts recommend including jobs from the previous 10 or 15 years only, although this time frame may be shorter if you are new to the workforce. Including too many unrelated work experiences can make your resume appear too busy and draw attention away from your relevant qualifications. Your resume should be focused, clear and concise.

2. Highlight relevant skills and experiences.

Using the same resume for every job you apply for is not the best approach. Instead, your resume should target the specific job you are applying for. Prioritize the skills, qualifications and experiences that are directly applicable to the job you are trying to land.

Choose three or four former positions or experiences that best highlight the skills required for each position for which you apply. Employers value brevity; this is not the time to list every position you have ever held. For example, if you are applying for a marketing position, you could include your former retail experience and bullet the communication, branding and interpersonal skills you learned in that position.

If you don’t have a work history that directly relates to the job you are applying for, be creative with how you present your other experiences. Draw on the skills you used and how your contributions benefited the organization or project. [Read related article: 22 In-Demand Skills to Help You Get the Job ]

3. Demonstrate results with numbers and metrics.

When you write about your previous work experience, it is always a good idea to quantify your successes with numbers. Metrics can highlight your achievements and give the hiring manager or recruiter a clear sense of how you impacted your previous place of employment. For example, someone who previously worked as a sales representative might say that they “executed more than 50 cold calls daily, with an average 5 percent conversion rate.”

4. Craft a career snapshot.

More recently, career experts have urged job seekers to do away with the old “objective” statement and instead consider including a brief summary, called a “career snapshot,” at the top of their resume.

“With the career snapshot, you present a branding statement that briefly explains your unique value as well as your skills and qualifications,” said Tomer Sade, CEO of Book a Space. “This would then be followed by a few bullet points that highlight your experience and your accomplishments. Whatever you list here should be relevant to the position you’re applying to.”

“The top third of your resume is prime resume real estate,” added Lisa Rangel, an executive resume writer and CEO of Chameleon Resumes. “Create a robust summary to capture the hiring manager’s eye.”

Think of your career snapshot as an answer to the question “How would you describe your work experience in one sentence?” The summary is an opportunity to sum up your most relevant and important skills, experience or assets right off the bat.

5. Optimize your text.

If a company uses an ATS to collect and scan resumes, a human hiring manager may never see any application that doesn’t fit the job criteria they’ve entered. Trish O’Brien, vice president of human capital operations at Lifelong Learner Holdings, emphasized adapting your resume to the position to increase your likelihood of passing the first level.

“Make sure you’ve carefully reviewed the posting and … [used] the appropriate keywords in your resume to get past the screener,” O’Brien said. “Be truthful, but understand that the first pass on your resume is likely via an ATS.”

A helpful tip is to make sure you include keywords from the job post in your resume. Copy and paste the job description into a word-cloud generator to identify the most frequently used terms, and make sure the terms that apply to you are used in your resume. You can also create a “core competencies” or “areas of expertise” section of your resume to list all of your hard and soft skills, and then reiterate those skills when you bullet your experience.

6. Think beyond your job duties.

Hiring managers don’t want to read a list of your job duties. They want concrete examples of your accomplishments in previous positions that show how you can make a difference in this new position.

Rangel said that specific merits are more engaging to read than just your experiences. For example, “I reduced operating expenses by 23 percent in six months” is far more interesting to an employer than “I have 30 years of sales experience.”

When deciding what information to keep or cut out of your resume, focus on striking abstract traits and qualifications in favor of concrete, quantifiable results.

“The best resumes highlight a job candidate’s actions and results,” said Bob Myhal, chief marketing officer at CBC Automotive Marketing. “Employers want employees who get things done and who take great joy and pride in what they do. Rather than a laundry list of your qualifications, your resume should reflect your accomplishments and enthusiasm for your career.”

You shouldn’t ignore your skills section either. Sade reminded job seekers to list any industry-relevant apps or programs they’re familiar with and to find ways to incorporate examples of their emotional intelligence (e.g., self-awareness, empathy) and soft skills (e.g., work ethic, reliability) into their job descriptions.

7. Use the right language to stand out.

Trite, lackluster descriptions of your job duties and accomplishments won’t do you any favors. Make sure you’re using strong action words, such as “achieved,” “designed,” “improved” and “established,” to describe your roles and projects, said Sade. This will make you sound confident while imparting vital information. But be cautious about depending on action verbs — include details about how you improved a process or achieved a goal .

“Words such as ‘professional,’ ‘results-driven’ and ‘detail-oriented’ provide very little helpful information,” Sade said. “It’s better to use actual job titles than these words.”

Obeid said that you should remove words like “go-getter,” “team player” and “go-to person” from your resume. These come off as fluff and take up precious space on your resume.

8. List your social media profiles.

Many hiring managers today screen candidates on social networks . Save them a step by providing your profile links on your resume. Seasoned applicants with a professional social presence would do well to include URLs for their LinkedIn profile, Twitter account and blog, if applicable.

“If, and only if, your social media accounts are filled with professional posts pertaining to your industry, listing them on your resume can be advantageous,” said Richie Frieman, author of REPLY ALL … and Other Ways to Tank Your Career . “They can show you have a strong network and are up to speed with modern-day marketing and communications practices. The hiring manager will see that you like to keep up with what’s happening and that you care about learning more.”

Your social profiles can be a powerful recruitment tool to supplement your experience and position as an expert in your field, but only if they are leveraged correctly.

Importance of a great resume

Your resume is the most important document you’ll submit in your job search. It’s your frontline fighter, so to speak, as it’s your first opportunity to present yourself to a potential employer. A professional resume will help you achieve the following:

• Increase your earning potential. According to the Zippia research, professionally written resumes are not only good for landing an interview, but they can also boost your earning potential by 7 percent to 32 percent. 
• Increase your chances of securing a new role. Zippia also found that 68 percent of job seekers who have worked with a professional resume writer landed a new job in under 90 days. If your resume lacks professionalism or relevance to the positions you’re applying to, you likely won’t receive as many opportunities.
• Quickly impress recruiters and hiring managers . Hiring managers and recruiters look at resumes for an average of only six to seven seconds each, so make every second count. A strong resume can help you stand out from the crowd, but a weak resume can remove you from the running.
• Decrease your number of rejections. According to Zippia, you need to send an average of 50 to 100 resumes before you get hired. However, the more impressive and professional your resume is, the lower this number will be — and the less you will have to wait to start a new job.

Make a great first impression

Your resume is a great way to showcase your experience and make a solid first impression. It doesn’t matter how talented, passionate or experienced you are — if a recruiter or hiring manager is unimpressed by your resume, you won’t get the chance to sell yourself. If you follow the tips above, you’ll increase your chances of moving on to the interview stage of the hiring process and landing the job of your dreams.

Ki ely Kuligowski and Skye Schooley contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

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20 Best Resume Writing Tips and Tricks 2024 (with Free Checklist)

Knowing the best ways to write a resume with efficiency and legibility goes a long way. These simple tips and tricks can be the driving factor towards successfully landing a job interview.

Competition in the job market is tougher than ever.

Having the proper skills and know-how for crafting the ideal resume will give you a leg up on the competition.

In this article, we’ve listed 20 resume tips with helpful insights, tricks, and advice for putting together an effective resume that stands out to employers.

Here they are at a glance.

• Keep your resume specific
• Use bullet points
• Have a professional email address
• Include both hard and soft skills
• Tailor your resume to the job description
• Choose a simple and readable font
• Make sure it's always relevant
• Include achievements when appropriate
• Use an active voice
• Use a two-column layout
• Provide quantifiable descriptions
• Always tailor your resume to the job
• Double-check contact information
• Make sure you’re using the right resume format
• Know when to provide references
• Use strong action verbs
• Showcase your job promotions
• List relevant education and certifications
• Create your resume with a template
• Review professional resume examples

Keep reading to see recommended examples and usage for each one of these resume tips.

Beautiful resume templates to land your dream job

Free resume writing checklist

Writing a resume has a lot of different elements that you always need to keep in mind.

However, it might be hard to keep track of it all.

That's why we made this handy checklist that will help you write a more perfect resume .

Feel free to download the resume checklist by right-clicking on the image and clicking Save.

Now you can always have this to refer back to — but let's keep reading to see how start incorporating some of these resume tips.

1. Keep your resume specific

Flowy and intricate writing has a proper time and place…and on your resume is not it. Save it for your memoirs.

When writing out the sections and headings on your resume, it's crucial to keep your wording simple and concise.

Most hiring managers won't read through every single resume they receive. That means, you'll want to keep your resume pretty concise, which makes it easier for recruiters to skim through and find the most important details quickly. 

While you don’t want the language you choose to make your resume sound too boring, the key is to stick to simple sentences with clear explanations. 

For example, when writing job descriptions, be as specific as possible without writing complex sentences. 

☹️ Incorrect: 

• In this position I was responsible for a multitude of important tasks, from training new staff and completing onboarding paperwork to assisting with administrative work and bookkeeping.

The issue with this description is that the sentence is too long and complex, plus it covers too many responsibilities.

To correct this, focus in one particular action or achievement and include the additional achievements in later sentences or bullet points. 

☺️ Correct:

• Trained and on-boarded over 30+ employees on company policy and conduct-code. • Assisted with handling administrative work and bookkeeping every quarter.

See? That's much easier to parse now.

2. Use bullet points

Bullet points go hand-in-hand with being specific.

Plus, they give your resume a clean and organized appearance that is much easier to read through quickly.

Remember, the goal is to get the recruiters attention.

You want to make it easy as possible for someone to read your resume.

Using bullet points is mostly recommended when listing out your work experience history.

To do that, summarize your main responsibilities and achievements at the job in a bulleted list. 

For example, rather than writing a job description as one long paragraph, break it up into specific bullet points that focus on your biggest or most relevant accomplishments.

Shift Lead, Mellow Mushroom January 01, 2018 – June 30, 2020 As the shift lead at this restaurant, I was responsible for opening and closing the restaurant, end-of-the-night bookkeeping, and customer complaint resolutions. 

Shift Lead, Mellow Mushroom January 01, 2018 – June 30, 2020 • Led the opening and closing crews through essential morning and nighttime tasks • Completed end-of-shift bookkeeping and created daily sales reports • Resolved customer complaints with efficiency and professionalism 

Notice how this is much easier to read.

3. Have a professional email address

All of us at one time or another have had a funky email address with some random combination of words, nicknames, and numbers.

But we're no longer teenagers. It's time for a more professional approach.

If your email falls into the category of silliness, it could be off-putting to potential employers.

When including contact information on your resume, ditch the childhood or university email address in exchange for a more professional one.

We'd also recommend using Gmail if you can. It's the most widely used email address .

How to create a professional email address?

When creating a professional email address, generally you will want to avoid numbers. This makes it harder to distinguish and remember.

Instead, try including your name if possible (or initials). Another option is to include keywords having to do with your work, which is great if your name is unavailable.

For instance, let’s say a man named Patrick Smith is applying for a writing position. Here are examples of good and bad email addresses he could use on his resume:

☹️ Incorrect (feels too playful):

[email protected] 

☹️ Also incorrect (not personalized):

[email protected] 

☺️ Correct (using a name):

[email protected]

☺️ Also correct (incorporating a job function):

[email protected] 

The correct examples present you with much more maturity and professionalism.

See the following resume example of a 3D animator , notice how simple and professional the email looks:

‍ 4. Include both hard and soft skills

For those unfamiliar, hard skills are skills that are teachable and quantifiable, while soft skills have more to do with personality traits and people skills. 

It is important to show both hard and soft skills on a resume . Keep in mind that because hard skills are easily quantifiable, they can be written plainly.

Comparatively for soft skills, such as communication, will need to be shown through other means, such as highlighting changes to a teamwork dynamic you initiated. 

Examples of Hard Skills:

• Computer Programming
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Microsoft Office
• Google Suite
• Math Skills
• Copywriting
• CRM Software
• Lead Generation

Examples of Soft Skills:

• Communication
• Time Management
• Detail-Oriented
• Presentation Skills
• Network Skills
• Organization
• Decision-Making
• Adaptability

If you need more help in this section, we've listed over 100+ skills for you to choose from.

5. Tailor your resume to the job description

Job descriptions actually contain a good amount of information that can be useful to you when crafting your resume.

Within a job description will be keywords that reflect the company’s values and the characteristics they are looking for in a candidate. 

Locating those keywords and finding ways to repeat them in your resume is a good way to show hiring managers that you are attentive to detail and took note of what they were specifically looking for.

This also greatly increases your chances of passing an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) screening.

Quick Tip: When searching for keywords within job descriptions, a good place to start looking is in the section that details what the employer is looking for in an ideal candidate.  For instance, if a job description states they are looking for a “natural leader,” proof of your leadership skills and experience would be smart to include.

Curious for more insights on this topic? Take a look at our article on how to tailor your resume to job descriptions .

6. Choose a simple and readable font

Nowadays, there are so many fonts to choose. It's almost too easy (and risky!) for candidates to go a little wild with their font selections.

However, choosing an inappropriate font can actually kill your chances of receiving a callback or invite to an interview. Not fun anymore is it?

The font you use on your resume should be simple and easy to read. Avoid using any intricate embellishments or unusual design elements.

Additionally, the font you select should be kept consistent throughout so don't use a variety of fonts for a single resume. 

The exception to the rule is your resume heading. You can try using a louder heading font to draw attention to your name and summary.

5 good fonts to use on a resume:

• Times New Roman

Types of fonts to avoid on a resume:

• Cursive fonts
• Large, chunky texts that fill up a lot of space
• Fonts with symbols or images

We wrote up a well-detailed guide on choosing readable fonts that you can read here .

7. Make sure it's always relevant

Whether you’re writing about your work experience, education, or any other section, you have to prioritize relevancy . 

For instance, if you are applying for a job as a paramedic , you would want to place greater emphasis on relevant experiences such as prior jobs as a "first responder" or other medically-related positions.

However, don't try to list your work experience out of chronological order too drastically — it can risk making your resume too long. See our guide on how long your resume length should be , but in summary, try to keep it to a single page with only relevant information.

How can we make your resume more relevant?

Let's say you were applying to an HR Manager job that lists in the description that it is " looking for someone with administrative and computer skills ".

You have two prior job experiences that you held simultaneously – 1)  office manager and 2) server .

You wouldn't want to write a summary about your serving experience.

Those skills are not really transferable nor directly relevant to the job being applied to.

Instead, focusing your resume summary and skills as an office manager is much more effective, since those skills are more relevant to the position. 

However, if you have other experiences that are somewhat more relevant, then it would be best to list those instead and leave your server position out entirely.

8. Include achievements when appropriate 

When submitting a resume to a hiring manager, remember that they'll potentially be receiving hundreds of resumes that may all look and sound similar. 

How are you going to stand out from the crowd?

One effective way is to show achievements in your work history.

Including achievements or accomplishments on your resume is a great way to show not only that you have relevant work experience, but that you also have the talent and potential for growth in that specific field. 

Quick tip: When including achievements on your resume, try to first include them under the specific job descriptions within your work experience before making a dedicated accomplishments section. This will make your work experience section more compelling and attention-grabbing. 

To learn more about how to show accomplishments on your resume, check out our guide on listing achievements.

9. Use an active voice

An "active voice" and "passive voice" are the two main types of perspectives you can write in that affect the tone of your work.

When you write a resume, you should use the active voice. It's more commanding and ultimately ends up helping you focus on your talents and accomplishments.

Here is an example of the same statement on a resume written in passive voice vs. active voice:

• Passive Voice: The company’s revenue grew by 40 percent over time through my efforts.
• Active Active: Increased company revenue by 40 percent.

You can pair your active voice with strong action verbs to make for a more impactful statement.

10. Use a two-column layout

Making your resume eye-catching is crucial.

But not only should it be attention-grabbing, it should also contain elements that make it appear more visually organized and easy to read through quickly.

A hiring manager should be able to effortlessly find the information they are looking for without spending too much time on it.

Two column-layouts are great for this because you get to see more at a glance.

Take a look at this two-column resume example for a security guard , you're able to see work experience, resume summary, skill, education and hobbies effectively at a glance.

‍ 11. Provide quantifiable descriptions

When listing out objectives that you accomplished in previous jobs, being specific is highly important as mentioned earlier.

Most hiring managers don’t want to be told what you are capable of doing. They want to be shown examples of that through numbers or statistics. 

Whenever possible, use exact numbers (25,00,000), percents (24%), monetary values ($5,214) and other quantities to describe your achievements within a previous job. 

How can you quantify your experience?

First, you'll want to know how much you've helped improve certain initiatives. But, what are some ways you can find that out?

Let's say you helped to reduce operational costs at a company.

You can ask questions like:

• How much we did we decrease _______ from [x%]?
• How much we did we increase _______ from [x%]?
• How much time we did we save doing ______?
• How much money did we spend acquiring ______?

Once you find that out, here's what it looks like when actually quantifying those operational reductions:

‍ Decreased operational costs while serving in this position.

☺️ Correct: ‍

Decreased operational costs by 15 percent by adopting and implementing a new point-of-sales system.

That feels a lot better.

We wrote up a guide on listing your work experience to write the most effective job descriptions .

12. Always tailor your resume to the job

Like we mentioned above, a hiring manager is going to to be looking through A LOT of resumes.

This might mean they'll see many of the same, cookie-cutter formatted documents that contain basically the same information.

You can stand out by taking the extra time to edit your resume to be tailored specifically for the job your are applying to.

You can do this by using similar keywords from the job descriptions on your resume.

Hiring managers are likely to take notice of this since it'll feel way more relevant to the role.

Need to know more about how to tailor a resume for a specific job? See our 4-step guide on tailoring your resume to any job.

13. Double-check contact information

There’s nothing that will ruin your chances of landing a job or interview more than providing incorrect contact information. Like an e-mail address typo or incorrect phone-number.

Proof-reading your resume is a crucial step that can be easy to skip. But it might save the day if there's any critical errors on your resume.

Quick Tip: After double-checking your personal contact information, it's also a good idea to check the rest of your resume for any grammatical errors. Online tools like Grammarly can be very helpful for finding and correcting mistakes you may have missed!

14. Make sure you’re using the right resume format

Most job applicants use the standard resume format, also known as reverse-chronological format.

‍ It's the most common and often what recruiters expect to see.

However, there are actually additional formats that serve different purposes.

For instance, a standard resume may not be best suited for someone with large employment gaps, making a different format more preferable.

Knowing what formatting options you have is key to ensuring you are using the right one for your own needs.

Overall, are the 3 main resume formats:

1) Reverse-Chronological

This usually the most standard resume format, as it focuses primarily on your work experience. Jobs should be listed with the most recent companies first followed chronologically by other relevant past work experiences.

2) Functional

A functional resume is focused on skills rather than experience. It is a great format for people who are recently graduated with minimal work experience or for those who have large gaps in their employment history.

3) Hybrid (Combination)

For job applicants who may have some work experience but not enough to fill an entire resume, the hybrid format combines elements of both the reverse-chronological and the functional resumes for this very purpose.

There is also a fourth resume format – the Curriculum Vitae, or CV. This is specifically intended as a long-form resume for use by professionals in the fields of academia and science.

Not sure if you’re using the right resume format? Take a look at our guide on choosing the best resume format.

15. Know when to provide references

The general rule-of-thumb is to not provide references unless specially asked to do so .

Most companies have their own hiring methods, but typically reference stages come much later in the process, and way after your resume is reviewed.

So including references ultimately ends up wasting space on your resume that could've been better used for showcasing accomplishments or skills instead.

Quick Tip: If an employer does request references, be sure to know how to format them properly. We recommend creating an entirely separate page dedicated to your references to conserve space on the first page.

16. Use strong action verbs

One of the best ways to ensure you are using an active voice, as mentioned above , in your job descriptions is to utilize action verbs at the start of your sentences. 

Action verbs are also known as dynamic verbs and are used to describe physical or mental actions.

For resume purposes, this can include words like “increased”, “coordinated”, “implemented,” or an array of other verbs that describe an achievement or activity.

For example, let’s say you increased your department’s sales by 25 percent .

You would want to start that description with an action verb in order to place the emphasis on what you specifically accomplished. 

• My department’s sales were increased by 25 percent thanks to my help.

• Increased departmental sales by a 25 percent margin.

Check out our list of 350 action verbs for your resume to brainstorm more action verbs for your own resume. 

‍ 17. Showcase your job promotions

If you worked for a business or company for a long period of time and earned promotions over the course of your employment, this is essential information to provide in a resume. 

Showcasing promotions on your resume lets hiring managers know that you have a strong work ethic and ability for growth that has been previously recognized by former employers. 

When showing promotions on a resume, you should include them within your work experience section.

There are two main ways to list a promotion on a resume:

1) Stacking job promotions

‍ If you held multiple positions in the same company, but the highest position is the most relevant and important, you can stack the different positions within the same job description and describe only the highest and most recent position.

Art Director, Tiny Bee Agency New York, NY • March 2015 – Present ‍ • Promoted to current position of Art Director in 2017.

Art Director, Tiny Bee Agency • June 2017 – Present • New York, NY Associate Art Director , Tiny Bee Agency • March 2015 – 2017 • New York, NY

2) Separate Entries

If you held multiple positions that involved different responsibilities and demonstrate multiple talents, it can be beneficial to separate these positions into individual entries. 

Art Director and Marketing Manager, Tiny Bee Agency New York, NY• March 2015 – Present

Art Director, Tiny Bee Agency New York, NY • June 2017 – Present • Description • Description • Description ‍ Marketing Manager , Tiny Bee Agency New York, NY • March 2015 – 2017 • Description • Description • Description

18. List relevant education and certifications

Education and certifications shows hiring managers your academic credentials that you earned through degree programs, trade school, or other types of training. 

Your resume should always have a short and concise education section that summarizes your academic background and degrees.

Here's the information you should include within the education section of your resume :

• The name of the school — "e.g. Georgia Institute of Technology"
• The location of the school
• Your degree ( high-school diploma, GED, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, etc. )
• Graduation year ( if applicable )
• Major field or department of study (if applicable )
• Minor field or department of study (if applicable and relevant )
• GPA ( If you're a student or graduates who held lower GPAs, this bit of information may be good to omit unless specifically requested by the employer )

As for certifications, these should only be included if they are relevant to the job.

Depending on how many relevant certifications you have, you can choose whether or not you have enough for their own dedicated section on your resume. See our guide on listing certifications correctly on your resume .

19. Create your resume with a template

If you're new to creating resumes or not quite sure how to structure your existing resume to be more effective, using an online template is a great way to ensure your resume looks good and contains all the required details.

Check out our own resume templates available for editing and download here on Easy Resume.

You can choose from the following types of templates that we have available:

• CV Templates
• Downloadable Resume Templates
• Printable Resume Templates
• PDF Resume Templates
• ATS-Friendly Resume Templates
• One-Column Resume Templates
• Two-Column Resume Templates
• Fresher Resume Templates
• Executive Resume Templates
• Academic Resume Templates
• Clean Resume Templates
• Basic Resume Templates
• Photo Resume Templates
• Unique Resume Templates
• Traditional Resume Templates
• Elegant Resume Templates
• Reverse Chronological Resume Templates
• Combination Resume Templates
• Functional Resume Templates
• One Page Resume Templates
• Minimalist Resume Templates
• Simple Resume Templates
• Modern Resume Templates
• Creative Resume Templates
• Professional Resume Templates

20. Review professional resume examples

Resumes will differ depending on what field or industry the job being applied to resides in. Taking the time to review examples of resumes made by professionals within your own industry or niche is essential for figuring out how to tailor your resume and make it stand out to the hiring manager. 

Here at Easy Resume, we offer a variety of free resume samples to look through.

From 3D animators and accountants to civil engineers and content writers – we’ve got you covered.

Take a look at a few of our resume examples:

• Chef Resume Example
• Barista Resume Example
• Graphic Designer Resume Example
• Mechanical Engineer Resume Example
• Medical Assistant Resume Example
• Account Manager Resume Example
• Software Engineer Resume Example
• IT Specialist Resume Example
• Elementary School Teacher Resume Example
• Marketing Manager Resume Example
• Physician Assistant Resume Example
• Clinic Coordinator Resume Example
• Office Manager Resume Example
• Financial Advisor Resume Example
• Event Planner Resume Example

Final takeaways 

Your resume can be your golden ticket that gets your foot in the door at the job of your dreams. Using the tips discussed here will greatly help you in optimizing your document to be noticed by more hiring managers and land you a spot in the crucial interview process.

Our main takeaways for you are as follows:

• Always be mindful of the relevancy of the information you are sharing.
• Use conciseness and structural elements, such as bullet points and headings, to give your resume visual organization and an easy-to-read flow.
• Always double-check your resume to confirm you have provided the right information.
• Active voice and action verbs will make your resume read with more confidence

Get to writing your perfect resume today, and don’t be shy of checking out our free resources for a bit of help along the way!

Browse more resume templates that fit your role

Ed is a co-founder of Easy Resume. His background in scaling teams at tech startups over the last decade has given him extensive experience and knowledge around how to hire top talent and build successful teams. He enjoys mentoring, coaching, and helping others reach their career goals. When he's not writing about career-related advice, he's playing with his dog, Lilo, or going on long hikes in upstate New York.

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Professional resume templates to help land your next dream job.

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Step-by-Step Guide on How to Write a Functional Resume

Posted August 17, 2024

In today's competitive job market, presenting your skills and experience in the best possible light is crucial. One of the most effective ways to do this is by using a functional resume format. Unlike the traditional chronological resume, a functional resume emphasizes your skills and competencies over your work history. This can be particularly beneficial for career changers, recent graduates, or individuals with employment gaps. In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through the process of how to write a functional resume, ensuring you make a compelling case to potential employers.

Understanding the Functional Resume

Before diving into the step-by-step guide, it's essential to understand what a functional resume is and how it differs from other resume types. A functional resume focuses on your skills and experiences rather than the timeline of your employment history. This format is ideal for showcasing your abilities, especially if your work history is not directly related to the job you're applying for.

Why Choose a Functional Resume?

A functional resume is particularly useful if you:

• Are changing careers and want to highlight transferable skills.
• Have gaps in your employment history.
• Are a recent graduate with limited work experience.
• Have a diverse work background that doesn't fit a single career path.
• Want to emphasize skills and accomplishments over job titles and dates.

1. Start with a Strong Header

The first step in how to write a functional resume is to create a strong header. Your header should include:

• Your Full Name : Use a larger font size to make your name stand out.
• Contact Information : Include your phone number, email address, and LinkedIn profile (if applicable).
• Location : You can include your city and state, but full addresses are no longer necessary.

"Jane Doe [email protected] | (555) 123-4567 | LinkedIn.com/in/janedoe San Francisco, CA"

2. Write a Compelling Summary

The next step in how to write a functional resume is to craft a compelling summary or objective statement. This section should provide a brief overview of your skills, experiences, and career goals. It should be tailored to the job you're applying for and highlight why you're a strong candidate.

"Dynamic and results-oriented marketing professional with over five years of experience in digital marketing, content creation, and social media management. Proven ability to develop and implement innovative marketing strategies that drive brand awareness and increase sales. Seeking to leverage expertise in a new role as a Marketing Manager at XYZ Company."

3. Highlight Your Skills

In a functional resume, the skills section is the most critical part. This is where you showcase the abilities that make you a perfect fit for the job. Group your skills into categories relevant to the position you're applying for, and provide examples of how you've applied these skills in previous roles.

" Key Skills

• Digital Marketing: Developed and executed digital marketing campaigns that increased website traffic by 30%.
• Content Creation: Produced engaging content for blogs, social media, and email marketing, resulting in a 20% increase in engagement.
• Project Management: Led cross-functional teams to deliver projects on time and within budget, achieving a 95% client satisfaction rate.
• Data Analysis: Utilized data analytics tools to track campaign performance and make data-driven decisions that improved ROI by 15%."

4. Include Your Work Experience

While the functional resume focuses on skills, it's still essential to include your work experience. However, unlike a chronological resume, you don't need to list your job history in detail. Instead, provide a brief overview of your previous roles and focus on the skills and achievements relevant to the job you're applying for.

" Professional Experience Marketing Specialist | ABC Company | San Francisco, CA | June 2018 – Present

• Developed and implemented digital marketing strategies that increased brand visibility and engagement.
• Managed social media accounts, creating content that grew followers by 25%.

Content Creator | XYZ Agency | San Francisco, CA | January 2016 – May 2018

• Created compelling content for clients in various industries, leading to a 20% increase in website traffic.
• Collaborated with graphic designers and web developers to produce high-quality marketing materials."

5. Add Education and Certifications

The next step in how to write a functional resume is to include your educational background and any relevant certifications. This section should be concise and focused on qualifications that enhance your candidacy for the position.

" Education Bachelor of Arts in Marketing | University of California, Berkeley | May 2016

Certifications Google Analytics Certified | 2020 HubSpot Content Marketing Certification | 2019"

6. Additional Sections (Optional)

Depending on your background and the job you're applying for, you may want to include additional sections such as:

• Professional Affiliations : Memberships in industry-related organizations.
• Volunteer Experience : Relevant volunteer work that showcases your skills.
• Languages : Any languages you speak fluently.
• Awards and Honors : Recognitions that demonstrate your expertise and accomplishments.

" Professional Affiliations Member, American Marketing Association | 2018 – Present

Volunteer Experience Social Media Coordinator | Local Animal Shelter | San Francisco, CA | 2019 – Present

Languages Fluent in Spanish and French

Awards and Honors Recipient, Marketing Excellence Award | ABC Company | 2021"

7. Proofread and Customize

The final step in how to write a functional resume is to proofread your document thoroughly. Ensure there are no grammatical errors, typos, or formatting issues. Additionally, customize your resume for each job application by tailoring the skills and experiences to match the job description.

Tips for Creating an Effective Functional Resume

• Use Action Verbs : Start each bullet point with a strong action verb to convey your accomplishments clearly.
• Quantify Achievements : Whenever possible, use numbers to quantify your achievements (e.g., "Increased sales by 20%").
• Keep It Relevant : Focus on skills and experiences that are directly related to the job you're applying for.
• Be Honest : Avoid exaggerating your skills or experiences. Be truthful and authentic in your resume.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Being Too Vague : Provide specific examples of your skills and accomplishments.
• Overloading with Information : Keep your resume concise and relevant. Avoid including too much unrelated information.
• Neglecting Formatting : Use a clean, professional format that's easy to read.
• Ignoring Keywords : Incorporate keywords from the job description to pass through Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

Knowing how to write a functional resume can significantly enhance your job application, especially if you're looking to emphasize your skills and experiences over a linear career path. By following this step-by-step guide, you can create a functional resume that effectively showcases your qualifications and sets you apart from other candidates.

Remember, the key to a successful functional resume is to focus on your strengths and how they align with the job you're applying for. Customize your resume for each application, highlight your most relevant skills, and proofread thoroughly to ensure a polished final product. With these tips and strategies, you'll be well on your way to crafting a compelling functional resume that captures the attention of potential employers.

By understanding how to write a functional resume, you open up new opportunities for career growth and advancement. Whether you're changing careers, re-entering the workforce, or simply want to highlight your unique skills, a functional resume can be a powerful tool in your job search arsenal.

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6 Tips for Writing an Effective Resume

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Date Published:

Dec 29, 2010

Marilyn Borysek

Hiring managers and recruiters alike say they've seen more poorly written resumes cross their desks recently than ever before. Attract more interview offers and ensure your resume doesn't eliminate you from consideration by following these six key tips:

1. Format Your Resume Wisely "Do the Hiring Managers" Work for Them

No matter how well written, your resume won't get a thorough reading the first time through. Generally a resume gets scanned for 25 seconds. Scanning is more difficult if it is hard to read, poorly organized or exceeds two pages.

• Use a logical format and wide margins, clean type and clear headings
• Selectively apply bold and italic typeface that help guide the reader's eye
• Use bullets to call attention to important points (i.e. accomplishments)

2. Identify Accomplishments not Just Job Descriptions

Hiring managers, especially in technical fields like engineering, seek candidates that can help them solve a problem or satisfy a need within their company. Consequently, you can't be a solution to their problems without stating how you solved similar problems in other companies and situations.

• Focus on what you did in the job, NOT what your job was there's a difference
• Include a one or two top line job description first, then list your accomplishments
• For each point ask yourself, What was the benefit of having done what I did?
• Accomplishments should be unique to you, not just a list of what someone else did
• Avoid using the generic descriptions of the jobs you originally applied for or held

Editor's 2019 Top Pick: Young Engineer Takes Great Strides with Prosthetic Foot 3. Quantify Your Accomplishments

Q: What's the most common resume mistake? A: Making too many general claims and using too much industry jargon that does not market the candidate. A resume is a marketing document designed to sell your skills and strengths rather than just portray a bio of the candidate.

• Include and highlight specific achievements that present a comprehensive picture of your marketability
• Quantify your achievements to ensure greater confidence in the hiring manager and thereby generate interest percentages, dollars, number of employees, etc.
• Work backwards to quantify your accomplishments by asking, If I had not done X, what could have happened?

Learn About New Manufacturing and Industry 4.0: Pratt & WhitneyTakes Flight

4. Cater Your Resume for the Industry

Unlike advertising and design professionals who have greater creative license in designing their resume for those fields, the mechanical engineering industry won't be impressed and may be turned off by distinctive resume design.

• Err on the side of being conservative stylistically
• Your accomplishments, error-free writing, grammatically-correct, clean, crisp type and paper will make the impression for you

5 . Replace your Objective" with a "Career Summary"

A Career Summary is designed to give a brief overview of who you are and what you do. Most Objectives sound similar: Seeking a challenging, interesting position in X where I can use my skills of X, Y, and Z to contribute to the bottom line. Not telling at all.

• Grab a hiring manager's attention right from the beginning, remembering you have only 25 few seconds to make a good impression
• Spend time developing a summary that immediately gets their attention, and accurately and powerfully describes you as a solution to their problems

6. Network. Network. Network.

For unemployed candidates, handing out resumes should be a full-time job. The majority of mid- to senior-level positions are filled through networking, so contact absolutely everyone you know in addition to recruiters who are in a position to hire you or share insights. Networking can include

• Personal business contacts, people you've worked for or who worked for you
• Vendors and sales representatives you've dealt with in the past five years
• People listed in the alumni directory of your alma mater

With a solid resume in hand you'll greatly increase your odds of earning a closer look and getting that interview. Read More New Stories from ASME.org: Solving World Hunger with 3D-Printed Food Six Project Management Tips Every Engineer Needs Drone Deploys in Just Minutes but Flies for Hours

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