A step-by-step guide to writing a resume that gets interviews. Covers format selection, ATS optimization, metrics-driven bullet points, and proofreading essentials.
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Choose Your Format
Pick a format: reverse-chronological, functional, or combination
Reverse-chronological works best for 85% of applicants. Functional formats raise red flags with recruiters because they obscure your timeline. Use combination only if you have 10+ years of experience across different industries.
Set page length based on experience level
One page if you have under 10 years of experience, two pages for 10-20 years, and never more than two. Recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds on an initial resume scan, so density matters more than length.
Select a clean, readable font at 10-12pt size
Calibri, Cambria, Garamond, and Helvetica all parse well through ATS systems. Avoid decorative fonts and stay at 10.5-12pt for body text. Set margins between 0.5 and 1 inch on all sides.
Contact Information and Header
Add your full name as the largest text on the page
Use 14-16pt font for your name, bolded. Skip prefixes like Mr. or Ms. and do not include a photo unless applying in a country where it is standard (Germany, Japan).
Include phone number, professional email, and city/state
Use a firstname.lastname@email format. Remove your full street address for privacy — city and state are sufficient. 76% of recruiters reject resumes with unprofessional email addresses.
Add your LinkedIn URL and portfolio link if relevant
Customize your LinkedIn URL to linkedin.com/in/yourname. Only include a portfolio link if it is directly relevant to the role. Keep all links on a single line to save space.
Professional Summary
Write a 2-3 line summary highlighting your top qualifications
Open with your job title and years of experience, then name 2-3 key skills or achievements. This section replaces the outdated objective statement. Keep it under 50 words total.
Include at least one measurable achievement in the summary
Statements like 'increased revenue by 32%' or 'managed a team of 15' immediately ground your summary in results. Vague claims like 'results-oriented professional' tell a recruiter nothing specific.
Tailor the summary to match keywords from the job posting
Mirror the exact phrases the employer uses — if they say 'project management,' don't write 'managing projects.' ATS systems match on exact keyword strings. Adjust this section for every application.
Work Experience Section
List each role with job title, company, city, and dates
Put your job title first and bold it — recruiters scan titles before company names. Use month/year format (Jan 2022 – Mar 2025) to show tenure clearly. Gaps longer than 6 months will be questioned.
Write 3-5 bullet points per role using action verbs
Start every bullet with a strong verb: led, built, reduced, generated, designed. Avoid 'responsible for' — it describes the job description, not your impact. Vary your verbs across bullets.
Include specific metrics and numbers in at least half the bullets
Quantify revenue, cost savings, team size, project scope, or time saved. 'Reduced onboarding time from 3 weeks to 5 days' is 10x stronger than 'improved onboarding process.' If exact numbers are confidential, use percentages.
Trim older roles to 1-2 bullets or a brief description
Positions from more than 10 years ago get diminishing returns. Consolidate them into a single 'Earlier Experience' section with title, company, and dates only. This keeps your resume focused on recent, relevant work.
Education and Skills
List degrees with institution name, degree type, and graduation year
Drop your GPA unless it is above 3.5 and you graduated within the last 3 years. Include relevant coursework only for entry-level roles. Certifications go in a separate section below education.
Create a skills section with 8-12 relevant technical and soft skills
Split skills into 'Technical' and 'Professional' categories. Pull skill keywords directly from the job posting — ATS systems scan this section heavily. Avoid listing obvious skills like Microsoft Word or email.
Add certifications, languages, or volunteer work if relevant
List certifications with the issuing body and year earned. Foreign language proficiency is valuable even if not required — list your level (conversational, fluent, native). Volunteer work fills gaps and shows initiative.
ATS Optimization and Final Review
Remove graphics, tables, headers/footers, and text boxes
Over 75% of large employers use ATS software to filter resumes before a human sees them. Tables and multi-column layouts break ATS parsing. Stick to a single-column layout with standard section headings.
Save the file as both .docx and .pdf with your name in the filename
Name it FirstName-LastName-Resume.pdf. Some ATS systems still struggle with PDF formatting, so have a .docx version ready. Never submit as .pages, .odt, or Google Docs link unless specifically requested.
Proofread by reading the resume out loud and backwards
Reading backwards forces you to evaluate each line independently and catches errors your brain skips when reading normally. Then have one other person review it. A single typo causes 58% of hiring managers to eliminate a candidate.
Run a final check against the job posting for keyword alignment
Paste the job description into a word frequency tool and compare the top 15 terms against your resume. If key terms are missing, weave them naturally into your summary or skills section. Do not keyword-stuff.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should my resume be in 2026?
One page is standard for candidates with fewer than 10 years of experience; two pages are acceptable for senior professionals. Recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds on initial resume screening, so front-load your strongest achievements on page one. Federal resumes and academic CVs follow different length conventions entirely.
Should I include a resume objective or summary statement?
A 2-3 line professional summary outperforms objectives for experienced candidates — objectives state what you want, while summaries show what you offer. Skip it entirely if you have fewer than 3 years of experience and your work history speaks clearly to the role. Career changers benefit most from summaries that bridge their past experience to the target role.
Do applicant tracking systems actually reject resumes?
ATS software parses and ranks resumes rather than outright rejecting them — about 75% of resumes receive low ranking scores due to missing keywords from the job description. Simple formatting (no tables, columns, headers/footers, or images) ensures accurate parsing. Save your file as a .docx for ATS submission and .pdf only when emailing directly to a human.
How far back should work experience go on a resume?
Include the last 10-15 years of relevant experience. Roles older than 15 years can be listed in a brief 'Earlier Experience' section with just company name, title, and dates — no bullet points. Omitting graduation dates is acceptable to reduce age bias, and listing outdated technologies can actually hurt your candidacy for modern roles.
What action verbs should I use on my resume?
High-impact verbs like 'launched,' 'generated,' 'reduced,' 'negotiated,' and 'designed' outperform generic verbs like 'managed,' 'responsible for,' and 'helped.' Pair each verb with a quantified result — 'Launched email campaign that generated $340K in pipeline within 6 weeks' is 4x more memorable than 'Managed email marketing.' Vary your verbs and never start consecutive bullets with the same word.