To write a resume, start with the job posting, not a template. Pull out the skills and results the employer asks for, organize your experience in reverse-chronological order, and write each bullet as an action plus an outcome. Then keep the layout simple enough for a recruiter to skim and for an applicant tracking system (ATS) to read. A strong resume is a targeted argument that you can do this specific job, not a list of everything you have ever done.
Key takeaways
- Write for one job at a time. Every section should support the same target role.
- Use a reverse-chronological, single-column format with standard headings and consistent dates.
- Turn duties into results: action verb + what you did + scope or outcome.
- Match the employer's wording for skills, tools, and job titles, and never hide keywords.
- Proofread the document and check the file before you submit. Front-page errors cost interviews.
What should a resume include?
Most U.S. resumes need five sections: contact information, a short summary, work experience, skills, and education. Certifications, projects, and volunteering are optional additions that earn their space only when they support the target role.
| Section | What goes in it | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Contact header | Name, city and state, phone, email, LinkedIn or portfolio URL | Old street address, unprofessional email, broken links |
| Summary | Two or three lines that name your target role, your strongest relevant skill, and one proof point | A vague objective statement that talks about what you want |
| Work experience | Each job in reverse order with three to five achievement bullets | Job descriptions copied from the employer's posting |
| Skills | Tools, platforms, languages, and methods that appear in the job posting | Long lists of generic traits with no evidence |
| Education | Degree, school, location, graduation date, relevant honors or coursework | High school details for candidates with a college degree |
Order the sections by strength. If your recent jobs are the strongest evidence, experience goes first and education goes last. If you are a recent graduate, education can sit above experience. The top third of the page matters most because that is what a reader or a screening tool sees first.
Step 1: Break down the job posting before you write
Copy the posting into a document and read it three times. On the first pass, highlight required skills, tools, and certifications. On the second pass, underline the results the role is expected to produce, such as reduced costs, faster delivery, or higher retention. On the third pass, circle the exact phrases the employer repeats; those phrases are the vocabulary your resume should use.
| What to look for | What to write down | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Required skills | Exact tool and method names | "SQL, Tableau, A/B testing" |
| Repeated phrases | Wording the employer uses more than once | "cross-functional collaboration" |
| Success measures | Outcomes the role owns | "improve conversion" or "reduce ticket volume" |
| Scope | Team size, budget, territory, volume | "manage three markets" or "support 200 users" |
| Seniority signals | Required years, leadership verbs | "lead," "own," "mentor" |
For occupations you do not know well, look up the role on O*NET OnLine, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database (updated October 2026). It lists the tasks, skills, and work context for more than 900 occupations, which helps you translate your background into the language of the industry.
Tip
Save the posting text next to your draft. When you finish the resume, reread the posting and check that every required item is answered somewhere on the page.
Step 2: Choose a format that is easy to scan
Use a reverse-chronological resume unless you have a specific reason not to. List your most recent job first and work backward. Recruiters expect this order, and ATS software generally extracts dates and titles from it. A combination format, which adds a skills summary above the job history, can work for career changers as long as the job history stays complete and dated.
| Format | Best for | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Reverse-chronological | Most job seekers in most industries | None, if bullets are achievement-focused |
| Combination (skills + chronology) | Career changers and returning workers | Weak if it hides dates or employers |
| Functional (skills only) | Rarely a good choice | Looks like it is hiding something; parsers struggle |
One page is enough for most candidates with fewer than about ten years of experience. Two pages are acceptable when your relevant history genuinely needs the room. Instead of squeezing text to fit a page, cut material: remove jobs from fifteen years ago, trim bullets that repeat the same skill, and delete interests that say nothing about your fit.
Step 3: Write the header and a short summary
The header should be plain text, not a text box or an image. Put your name in a larger font, then one line with your city and state, phone number, email, and a link to a portfolio or professional profile. Omit a full street address; employers do not need it and it invites privacy problems. Use an email address built from your name, not a nickname.
A summary is three lines at most. Use a formula: target role + years or domain + two relevant strengths + one proof point. If you are changing fields or have limited experience, lead with what transfers rather than what you lack.
CareerOneStop's Resume Writing Guide organizes its advice by section, walking through the top section, work experience, education, optional sections, and formatting in order. For summary wording that follows the formula above, see these resume summary examples.
Experienced candidate (hypothetical): "Operations manager with 8 years in food distribution. Cut weekly fulfillment errors by rebuilding the pick-and-pack checklist across two warehouses. Managed a team of 14 and a $1.2M inventory budget."
Recent graduate (hypothetical): "Marketing graduate with a focus on paid social and analytics. Ran a $4,000 campus campaign that added 1,300 email sign-ups. Certified in Google Analytics 4 and proficient in Excel and SQL."
Summary versus objective
An objective states what you want ("seeking a challenging role"). A summary states what you offer. Use a summary unless an application specifically asks for an objective, and even then keep it focused on the employer's needs.
Step 4: Write experience bullets that show results
Each bullet should contain three things: an action verb, the work you did, and a result, scope, or scale. "Responsible for inventory" describes a duty. "Audited inventory weekly for two warehouses, cutting stockouts by 22% over six months" describes an outcome. The second version tells a hiring manager what changed because you were there.
Start with a strong verb and drop the first-person pronoun. Use past tense for past jobs and present tense for your current job. Keep each bullet to one or two lines, and use three to six bullets per role, with the most relevant first. The before-and-after pairs below are hypothetical illustrations, not records from real candidates.
| Weak bullet | Stronger bullet (hypothetical) |
|---|---|
| Responsible for customer support tickets. | Resolved 40 to 60 support tickets daily in a 12-person queue, holding a first-response time under two hours. |
| Worked on social media. | Planned and published 20 posts a month on two platforms, growing organic followers by 18% in one quarter. |
| Helped with inventory. | Reorganized the stockroom for 1,200 SKUs, reducing average order-picking time from 9 to 6 minutes. |
| Assisted the manager with reports. | Built a weekly sales report in Excel that replaced four manual spreadsheets and saved the team about five hours a week. |
Quantify when you have honest numbers. If you do not track metrics, describe scale and frequency instead: team size, budget, number of accounts, volume per day, geographic area, or turnaround time. An estimate you can defend in an interview is better than a vague adjective, and a bullet with no number at all is still stronger than a bullet with no specific detail. Never invent figures; you will be asked about them.
Evidence is also what employers say they look for. NACE's 2026 Job Outlook Spring Update reports that employers reviewing entry-level resumes look for examples of teamwork, problem-solving, and communication, not just a list of skills. If you are stuck on the first word of a bullet, the resume action verbs list groups stronger options by skill.
Template 1: Led [activity] across [scope], which [result] by [amount] in [timeframe].
Template 2: Built [tool or process] for [number of users or accounts], reducing [problem] from [before] to [after].
Template 3: Trained [number] new team members on [process], and [outcome such as reduced errors or faster onboarding].
Ask yourself before keeping a bullet
"So what?" If the sentence would not make a hiring manager want to ask a follow-up question, replace the description with the result.
Step 5: Mirror the employer's vocabulary
Applicant tracking systems scan for terms that match the posting. Your job is to use the employer's vocabulary where it is accurate. If the posting says "customer relationship management," you can write "customer relationship management (CRM)" once and use "CRM" later. If it says "stakeholder management" and you would normally say "working with other teams," use the employer's phrase and then prove it with an example.
Place keywords where they carry weight: the summary, the skills section, and the bullets that describe relevant work. A term repeated ten times adds nothing and makes the page hard to read. Never paste keywords in white text, tiny fonts, or hidden metadata; recruiters can see it in the source, and it reads as manipulation.
Warning
Do not write "keyword optimization" as a skill. The term describes what you did to the document, not something you can do for an employer. If you have real experience with search engine optimization, say that instead.
For more detail on parsers, file types, and layout rules, see the guide to making an ATS-friendly resume. The basic rule is simple: if a human cannot select and copy the text, a parser may not read it either.
Step 6: Fill in education, skills, and optional sections
Education entries need the degree, the school, its location, and the graduation date. Add honors, relevant coursework, or a capstone project when they support the target role. If you have a college degree, the high school line usually comes off.
Keep the skills section short and specific. Group related tools and methods and use the names the industry uses. "Excel (pivot tables, XLOOKUP), SQL, Tableau" is more useful than "Microsoft Office." A full breakdown of what to include is in the guide to the resume skills section.
Optional sections should answer a question the employer will ask. Certifications prove you meet a requirement. Personal projects show applied skill when your job history is thin. Volunteering can show leadership or a domain connection, but only when it is relevant. Awards matter when they are selective or well known in your field.
For entry-level roles, NACE's career readiness framework names eight competencies employers look for, including communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and professionalism. Use them as a checklist when deciding which optional sections earn space on the page.
| Optional section | Add it when |
|---|---|
| Certifications and licenses | The posting lists one, or the credential is standard in your field |
| Projects | You need proof of a skill that your jobs do not show |
| Volunteer work | It shows relevant leadership, technical skill, or industry exposure |
| Languages | You can work in the language or the role requires it |
| Publications or talks | You work in research, academia, or a field that values public expertise |
If you have little or no paid experience, the structure changes: lead with education and projects. The guide to the resume with no work experience walks through that version of the page.
Step 7: Tailor the resume to each application
Tailoring is a fifteen-minute edit, not a rewrite. Change five things and the same resume will match a different role far better.
| What to change | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| The summary's target-role line | It is the first thing a reader sees and the fastest place to signal fit |
| The order of bullets in each job | The most relevant evidence should appear first |
| Two or three skills | Match the posting's tools and platforms exactly |
| The job title line in the header or summary | Mirror the employer's title when it accurately describes your work |
| Terminology | Use the employer's words for the same concepts |
Keep a master resume with every bullet you have written, then cut a targeted version for each application. Rewriting from scratch each time is slow; editing from a master is fast and consistent. For a five-step version of this edit, see how to tailor a resume to a job.
Step 8: Proofread, format, and check the file
Read the resume aloud, then read it backward line by line to catch repeated words. Check the spelling of every company name and every tool, because misspelling the employer's own name is the most avoidable mistake on the page. Run a spell-check, but do not trust it alone; spell-check will not catch "manger" when you meant "manager."
Use one font throughout, sized between 10 and 12 points, with 0.5 to 1 inch margins. Keep dates in one format, such as "Jan 2022 – Present." Align bullets consistently. Save a PDF for applications unless the employer asks for a Word file. Name the file with your first and last name, for example Jordan-Lee-Resume.pdf.
CareerOneStop's Resume Formatting Guide makes the same point from the reviewer's side: recruiters who read hundreds of resumes a day are frustrated by too many fonts, punctuation errors, and inconsistent spacing (CareerOneStop, U.S. Department of Labor).
Before you submit, open the PDF and select all of the text. If a block of your resume cannot be selected, it is likely an image, a text box, or a table cell that some parsers will drop. Fix the layout, then try again.
What are the most common resume mistakes?
Most rejected resumes are not rejected for lack of talent. They fail on a handful of fixable issues that appear on page after page.
| Mistake | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| Listing duties instead of results | Rewrite each bullet around a change, a number, or a scale |
| Using one generic resume for every job | Tailor the summary, bullet order, and skills for each posting |
| Hiding behind dense paragraphs | Use three to six bullets per role and keep each to two lines |
| Inconsistent dates or formatting | Pick one date style, one font, and one bullet style and apply it everywhere |
| Including a photo or graphics | Remove images unless the field expects them; they add parsing risk |
| Typos in names or contact details | Verify every proper noun and test every link and phone number |
How do you handle gaps, career changes, or no experience?
Gaps and transitions are common, so address them without apology. If you were out of the workforce for caregiving, study, or health, you can add a short line such as "Career break: full-time caregiver, 2023–2024" and then move on to what you bring. For a career change, lead with transferable skills and let the summary do the framing work: name the new target role and connect it to evidence from your old one.
If you are entering the job market for the first time, do not pad the page with unrelated material. Shift the structure instead, putting education and projects first. The patterns for that version are covered in the no-experience guide linked above.
Should a resume include a photo, references, or personal details?
In the United States, most resumes should not include a photo, age, marital status, or a full street address. Those details are not relevant to most hiring decisions, and some can create legal or privacy concerns for the employer. A professional profile photo is standard only in fields where appearance is part of the work, such as acting or modeling, or when a specific application asks for one.
References belong on a separate page or come on request. Write "References available on request" only if you need to fill space; most hiring teams assume it. If a posting asks for references up front, give a short list with each person's name, title, organization, and contact details, and confirm that each person has agreed to speak for you.
How do you handle a job title that does not match the role you want?
You can add a plain-language title in parentheses after the official one, as long as it is accurate. For example, "Client Services Associate (front-line account support)" or "Team Lead (shift supervisor for 12 employees)." The official title stays visible, so the record is honest, and the reader understands the work without having to decode company jargon.
Do not invent a title you did not hold. If the official title is simply vague, explain the scope in the first bullet instead: team size, customers served, revenue owned, or systems managed.
What is the difference between a resume and a CV?
In the United States, a resume is a short, targeted marketing document, usually one to two pages. A CV is a longer academic record that lists publications, teaching, grants, and conference presentations, and it can run many pages. Use a resume for business, nonprofit, government, and most industry jobs. Use a CV for academic, research, and medical positions, or when an application explicitly asks for one.
Resume vs. cover letter: do you need both?
Only when the application asks for both or when you have a specific reason to explain a transition. If you do write one, keep it to a few short paragraphs and do not repeat the resume. Use the letter to explain fit and motivation, and use the resume to prove the claims with evidence. A cover letter will not rescue a weak resume, but a clear resume often makes a letter unnecessary. If the posting asks for one, start from these cover letter examples and templates.
What should you check before you hit submit?
Run this list once on the final file. It catches the errors that cost the most and take the least time to fix.
- The target job title appears in the summary, and the resume is tailored to this posting.
- Every required skill in the posting is addressed somewhere on the page.
- Every bullet starts with a strong verb and includes a result, scope, or number.
- Dates use one format, and all jobs are listed in reverse-chronological order.
- The file opens cleanly, all text can be selected, and the file name includes your name.
- Phone, email, and links work, and the email address is professional.
- A second person has read the page and found no typos in names or contact details.
After the resume does its job and you get an interview and an offer, the next step is the conversation about pay. The guide to negotiating salary covers how to respond when the offer arrives.
One more pass
Before you send the file, read the first three lines as if you were the hiring manager. If they do not say who you are, what role you want, and why you fit, revise them first.
How we researched this guide
We build resume guides from public and official sources. This page draws on CareerOneStop's Resume Writing Guide and Resume Formatting Guide (both U.S. Department of Labor resources; the guides do not display publication dates), O*NET OnLine's occupation and skills data (updated October 2026), and two NACE resources: its Career Readiness Competencies and its 2026 report on the skills employers seek on student resumes.
Job titles, metrics, and dollar amounts in this guide are hypothetical illustrations, not market data or real candidates' records. Resume conventions change, so we review this page when the underlying guidance changes and show the last-updated date at the top. If you spot an error or a source that has moved, email us — our editorial policy explains how corrections work.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. What belongs on a resume can vary by employer, industry, and location.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a resume be?
One page is enough for most job seekers with fewer than about ten years of experience. Two pages are acceptable when you have a long, directly relevant work history and the extra space carries real evidence, not filler. When in doubt, cut the oldest or least relevant material and keep the page to one page for entry-level roles.
What is the best resume format?
A reverse-chronological resume, with your most recent job first, is the safest default. It is what recruiters expect and what applicant tracking systems parse most reliably. Use a simple single-column layout, standard section headings, and consistent dates. Functional formats that group skills outside of job history make it harder for readers to see where you used those skills.
Do I need to change my resume for every job?
Yes, at least a little. Tailoring does not mean rewriting the whole document. Adjust the summary, reorder bullets so the most relevant ones come first, swap the skills that match the posting, and mirror the employer's wording for the same tools and tasks. This takes about 15 minutes per application and is the highest-return editing you can do.
How do I write a resume with no work experience?
Lead with evidence you do have: coursework, class projects, part-time or seasonal jobs, volunteering, campus activities, and certifications. Write those entries the same way you would write a job, with an action and a result. Put education and projects above the experience section, and list skills you can demonstrate rather than skills you merely recognize.
Should I list a career gap on my resume?
You can, and usually should. A short, factual line such as "Career break: full-time caregiver, 2023–2024" keeps the timeline honest and stops the reader from guessing. You do not need to explain personal details on the resume. Spend the space on what you can do now; if the gap involved study, caregiving, or freelance work, name the transferable skill in one line and save the full story for the interview.
Can I use AI to write my resume?
Yes, as an editing tool rather than a source of facts. Use it to tighten wording, suggest bullet structures, or check whether you covered the posting's requirements. Then verify every claim, number, and job title against your own records. Never let it invent metrics or responsibilities. Recruiters may ask about anything on the page, so you need to be able to explain every line yourself.
How do I show I am not overqualified?
Do not hide your experience. Apply for roles where the level makes sense, and use the summary to explain why you want this job now. Emphasize the parts of your background that solve the employer's stated problems, and cut unrelated senior responsibilities that make the page look expensive. In a cover letter, address the fit directly. Employers worry about pay, boredom, and turnover, so make the fit credible.
How do I write a resume for a career change?
Lead with a summary that names the new target role and the transferable evidence you bring. Group skills by how they apply to that role, and rewrite bullets so the same work speaks the new industry's language. Keep a complete but shorter work history, and use projects, coursework, or volunteering to close gaps. The guide to tailoring a resume walks through the edit step by step.
Sources and further reading
We link to primary and official sources so you can verify the details yourself.
- CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor) — Resume Writing Guide
- O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) — Occupation and Skills Data
- National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) — Career Readiness Competencies
- NACE — The Key Skills Employers Seek on College Students' Resumes
- CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor) — Resume Formatting Guide
How this guide was written. This page is part of Role Handbook, an independent career publication. We research each guide against primary and official sources, use worked examples and scripts instead of vague advice, and update pages when the underlying rules or practices change. Every page lists its sources. See our editorial policy for details and corrections.