How to Write a Resume (Examples, Template, & Tips)

It’s no secret that today’s job market is full of challenges for job seekers. The rise of AI, ghost jobs, poor recruiting practices, and uncertainty about the future of work are real obstacles to navigate. But despite all these changes, one thing remains constant: A well-written resume is the key that opens doors to your future career. 

If you want to learn how to write a resume for a job that stands out in any market and is optimized for every application, this guide is for you. Learn why writing a personalized resume matters now more than ever and what key sections every resume must include. Plus, get a step-by-step guide to writing each section of your resume, with tips from a certified resume writer.

Why Writing a Professional Resume Matters

A resume remains the primary document for job applications. Whether you’re getting referred, filling out an online application form, or handing out paper copies, a resume allows employers to view your skills, experience, and contact information in one place.

Creating a resume doesn’t have to be difficult. There are many tools and services available to help you write a professional resume, such as certified resume writers, resume builders, and even artificial intelligence (AI). 

A word to the wise: While AI is easily accessible, it’s crucial to be cautious. AI may produce false, misleading, or repetitive content that recruiters can easily spot. If you want to make a strong first impression, always add your unique touch, no matter what tool or service you use.

How to Make a Resume Step-by-Step

Below, we’ll go into detail about how to write a resume and personalize each section to land the job you want. But if you want to speed up the process, use a resume builder to access custom templates and writing suggestions. You’ll have a professional resume in minutes!

Step 1: Choose Your Ideal Resume Format

Not all resumes are alike, and depending on your experience level and career scenario, you’ll want to organize and format your resume sections in different ways.

There are three recruiter-approved layouts—or resume formats—that determine the order in which your sections appear on the page. 

Chronological Resume Format

The most commonly used resume layout is the chronological format. It puts the focus on your work experience, which you organize in reverse-chronological order, hence the name. The chronological resume is ideal for highly experienced candidates with 10 or more years of experience.

Combination Resume Format

The combination resume format is similar to the chronological resume, but it emphasizes skills over work experience. In a combination resume, the skills section is either next to or above the work history and often includes a summary of qualifications—a short list of bullet points that highlight your top skills, credentials, and achievements relevant to the target job. 

This format is handy for career changers, recent graduates, or promotion seekers, as it allows you to showcase your most relevant abilities upfront while still providing a clear employment history.

Functional Resume Format

The functional resume is ideal for candidates with limited work experience, such as students or first-time job seekers. Unlike the chronological format, which highlights job history, the functional resume emphasizes skills and achievements to show why you’re a strong candidate. 

Functional resumes feature an expanded skills section divided into three or four core skills, each supported by bullet points showing how you’ve applied those skills in school projects, internships, volunteer work, or part-time jobs. 

Step 2: Add Your Contact Information

Your resume’s contact information section should be simple and straightforward. It should include:

• Your full name so employers can identify you
• Your phone number and email so employers can contact you
• Your work location (city and state), so employers can determine if you’re eligible to fill the position

Keep the following in mind when writing your contact information:

• Omit your full street address to prevent security issues.
• Include a link to your portfolio or website if relevant for the job.
• Feel free to add your LinkedIn profile to share more about yourself.

Resume contact information example:

Dorian Jefferson

555-555-5555 | example@example.com | Providence, RI

linkedin.com/dorian-jefferson 

Step 3: Share Top Qualifications in a Summary or Objective

Your resume should include a brief paragraph consisting of two to five sentences where you introduce yourself to employers and share your qualifications. 

If you’ve been steadily employed for a few years, you can create a resume summary that emphasizes what you bring to the role. Learning how to write a resume summary effectively means sharing your years of experience, highlighting two to four relevant skills and any relevant credentials you may hold, and including at least one notable career achievement that sets you apart.

Resume summary example:

Detail-oriented Accountant with 6 years of experience managing financial records, preparing accurate reports, and ensuring compliance with GAAP standards. Skilled in budgeting, forecasting, and process optimization to improve financial efficiency. Proficient in QuickBooks, Excel, and SAP, with a proven record of reducing reporting errors by 25% and streamlining month-end close processes to support data-driven business decisions.

If you’re a first-time job seeker or career changer, or you’re reentering the workforce, you might benefit more from using the resume objective approach. The resume objective still shares important details about your qualifications, but you can also briefly note your current career scenario and what you’re looking to accomplish. This strategy helps you counteract a lack of experience with a positive, goal-oriented approach.

Resume objective example:

Results-driven sales professional with 5+ years of experience in client relations, campaign coordination, and cross-functional collaboration, seeking to transition into a marketing project manager role. Eager to apply proven skills in communication, strategic planning, and data analysis to manage projects that drive brand growth and customer engagement.

Step 4: Outline Your Work Experience

Your resume’s work history section should give employers an overview of your career history. You’ll want to organize your jobs in reverse-chronological order, so employers see your most recent and relevant information first. 

When employers are analyzing your work experience, they want to get a glimpse of what you achieved in each role. For each job you list, include three to four bullet points stating unique accomplishments and—better yet—any quantifiable results. Remember that employers think in terms of profit and efficiency, so adding numbers is a great way to capture their attention.

Every work history entry should include the following details:

• Your official job title
• The company name and location (city and state)
• Employment dates (month and year)
• A few bullet points describing accomplishments, not generic job duties

Resume work experience example:

Work Experience

Software Engineer
TechNova Solutions, San Francisco, CA
June 2021 – Present

• Designed and implemented scalable RESTful APIs that improved data retrieval speed by 35%, enhancing overall app performance.
• Led a cross-functional team of 4 developers in migrating a legacy system to microservices, reducing server downtime by 40%.
• Collaborated with product managers to deploy new features using Agile methodologies, contributing to a 25% faster release cycle.

Junior Software Engineer
CodeCraft Innovations, San Jose, CA
July 2018 – May 2021

• Developed and maintained front-end components using React and TypeScript, boosting user engagement by 20%.
• Automated testing processes with Jest and Cypress, decreasing bug reports by 30% post-release.
• Partnered with UX designers to improve accessibility and usability, earning positive feedback from client satisfaction surveys.

Step 5: Curate Your Skills Section

Your resume should include a skills section listing six to eight of your most job-relevant skills in a simple bulleted list. The key to making a resume skills section that captures an employer’s eye is to carefully tailor it to the job you’re applying for.

Use your target role’s job advertisement for clues as to what the employer needs for the job. These could be a wide range of hard skills related to the role’s tasks, or soft skills that are necessary to be an effective team member, leader, or innovator, for example.

Here’s an example of a skills section for a line cook that features essential hard skills and soft skills:

Skills

Hard skills:

• Food preparation and cooking techniques (grilling, sautéing, roasting)
• Knife skills and kitchen safety
• Inventory management and ordering
• Knowledge of food sanitation (ServSafe certified)

Soft skills:

• Team collaboration and communication
• Adaptability under pressure
• Problem-solving during service
• Work ethic and reliability

Step 6: Showcase Your Education

Your education section comes last on your resume, but it gives employers crucial information about whether you’re qualified for the role. Many job ads list basic educational requirements that every candidate must have to be considered for employment. Read this information carefully to identify those must-have credentials, and share the ones you possess in your resume.

A well-written education section doesn’t have to include a lot of details. Employers just need to know the title of your degree or diploma and the name and location of the school you attended. Avoid sharing graduation dates as these can give clues to your age and put you at risk of hiring bias. If you’re in the process of completing your studies, however, you should note this by stating your expected graduation date.

If you want to optimize your education section with information you feel is relevant to the job, you can definitely do so. For instance, here are a few accomplishments you can add to your resume’s education section:

• Your GPA (if 3.4 or higher)
• Honors and awards
• Relevant coursework
• Projects
• Publications

Recent graduate resume education example:

Education

Bachelor of Science in Finance
Northeastern University, Boston, MA

• GPA: 3.8/4.0
• Honors & Awards: Dean’s List (2022–2025), Outstanding Finance Student Award 2024
• Relevant Projects: Investment Portfolio Analysis: Built and managed a simulated $100,000 equity portfolio, achieving a 12% annual return using financial modeling and risk analysis. Corporate Valuation Project: Conducted valuation of a publicly traded company using DCF and comparable company analysis, presenting actionable investment recommendations to a panel of professors.

Step 7: Consider Additional Resume Sections

Once you’ve completed the five essential resume sections—contact information, summary, work experience, skills, and education—you can consider additional resume sections to share more achievements.

Depending on your target role, you can consider a few of these optional sections:

Certifications

A certifications section is a great way to share details about required training and licensesfor jobs like nurses, project managers, healthcare professionals, and teachers. 

When formatting a resume certifications section, share it this way:

Certifications

• Project Management Professional (PMP®) – Project Management Institute
• Certified ScrumMaster (CSM®) – Scrum Alliance
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt – International Association for Six Sigma Certification
• Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®) – Project Management Institute
• Microsoft Project Specialist – Microsoft

Awards and Honors

If you’ve received any awards for your work or studies, adding a section to showcase these is a great way to legitimize your skills and experience. In marketing and sales jobs, awards are especially prestigious, but even a general prize for excellent work demonstrates your professionalism.

Here’s a way to showcase your awards and honors in your resume:

Awards and Honors

• Marketing Campaign of the Year – American Marketing Association, 2024
• Top Performer Award – Thunder Digital Agency, 2023
• Excellence in Content Marketing – Content Marketing Institute, 2022

Languages

Multilingualism is a valuable skill set for any industry. If you speak more than one language and you have leftover space in your resume, feel free to add a section for languages. Share which one is your native tongue and include your level of proficiency for others. 

Here’s an example of a languages section in your resume:

Languages

• English – Native
• Spanish – Professional Working Proficiency
• French – Conversational
• German – Basic

Volunteer Work

Volunteer experience shows employers that you share their values and can contribute to the company culture, especially at organizations that prioritize community service.

List your volunteer experience in a format similar to how you would your work experience:

Volunteer Work

Community Outreach Volunteer
Helping Hands Nonprofit, New York, NY – Jan 2023 – Present

• Organized monthly food drives, distributing meals to over 500 community members.
  Coordinated a team of 10 volunteers, improving efficiency and event turnout by 30%.

Tutoring Volunteer
Local Youth Center, New York, NY – Sep 2021 – Dec 2022

• Tutored 15+ students weekly in math and reading, improving average test scores by 20%.
• Created interactive lesson plans to foster student engagement and learning.

How to Format Your Resume

A resume’s formatting is important for a couple of reasons: You want it to be polished and professional, and you need it to be optimized for hiring algorithms that scan your resume before it reaches a recruiter’s hands. 

If you’re creating a resume from scratch, ensure it meets the following criteria:

• Resume length: Keep your resume to one to two pages long so recruiters can skim it quickly.
• Resume fonts and size: Opt for a professional resume font that’s easy to read, like Arial, Georgia, or Helvetica. A font size between 11 and 12 is best for the resume’s overall text, while a size between 14 and 16 works for section headings.
• Margins: Keep 1-inch margins for a balanced layout with ample white space.
• Line spacing: Use consistent spacing throughout your resume to ensure the text is easy to read. Line spacing of 1.15 to 1.5 is generally recommended.
• Layout: Format your resume to be compliant with applicant tracking systems (ATS) by limiting or avoiding the use of complex designs like text boxes, images, or graphics.

If you’re using a resume builder, many of these details will likely be taken care of for you, but still be sure to review your document before submitting your application. 

Resume Don’ts You Need to Know

Now that you understand the right sections to include in a resume, it’s also crucial to note which things to avoid. Here are a few pointers to help you make a perfect resume:

1. Don’t Lie or Exaggerate

Avoid lying on your resume, as false information can damage your credibility and cost you the job. Common resume lies that can cost you the job are changing employment dates to hide career gaps, mentioning skills you don’t have, and exaggerating job responsibilities.

2. Don’t Use the Same Resume for Every Application

A huge mistake many job seekers make is applying to multiple jobs with the same resume. Even though your work experience and skills don’t change, tailoring your resume to showcase the most relevant qualifications for the role can help you achieve better results in your job search. So, every time you apply, try to tweak your skills and resume summary to match the job description.

3. Don’t Submit a Resume With Errors

A simple typo or grammatical error can be the reason why a recruiter disqualifies you from the job. Before you submit your resume, give it a careful review or run it through a spell-check tool like Grammarly or your word-processing software’s built-in application. 

4. Don’t Use Empty Phrases or Buzzwords

Don’t mistake keyword optimization for an overload of resume buzzwords. Phrases like “think outside the box,” “visionary,” or “team player” can come across as emptyif you don’t support them with concrete examples. Instead, choose precise action verbs and specific skills that clearly showcase your accomplishments.

Resume Template

Here’s a free template you can use to create a personalized resume following the most traditional classic order and format.

[Your Full Name]

[City, State] | [Phone Number] | [Email Address] | [LinkedIn URL] | [Portfolio/Website URL]

Professional Summary

A concise 2–3 sentence overview of who you are, your key skills, and what you offer.

Example: Results-driven marketing specialist with 5+ years of experience developing digital campaigns that increase engagement and drive revenue. Skilled in SEO, social media strategy, and analytics. Passionate about creating data-informed marketing solutions that deliver measurable growth.

Key Skills

• [Skill 1]
• [Skill 2]
• [Skill 3]
• [Skill 4]
• [Skill 5]
• [Skill 6]

Work History

[Job Title] — [Company Name], [Location]
[Month Year] – [Month Year]

• Start each bullet with a strong action verb.
• Focus on measurable results and achievements.
• Example: Increased website traffic by 40% through targeted SEO initiatives and content strategy.

[Job Title] — [Company Name], [Location]
[Month Year] – [Month Year]

• Highlight career growth and key contributions.
• Example: Managed a cross-functional team of 6 to deliver marketing campaigns under budget and ahead of schedule.

Education

[Degree Name] — [Institution Name], [Location]

• Optional: Include GPA (if strong) or notable coursework relevant to your field.

Fill in the blanks in this template and follow the guidance in each section to customize your resume with your unique qualifications and achievements. If you want to jazz up your resume with a cool design, check out some professional and free resume templates.

Frequently Asked Questions About Writing Resumes

Explore some of the most common questions job seekers ask about writing a comprehensive and effective resume.

1. How do you tailor your resume to a job?

Tailor your resume to the job you’re applying for by using the job description to edit your resume’s content. Customize your resume to show relevant qualifications, the required education credentials, and achievements that prove what you can accomplish in the new role.

2. Can I use AI to write a resume?

Yes, you can use AI or large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini to help draft a resume. To achieve the best results, it’s essential to craft precise prompts and thoroughly review the output. Always personalize your resume by adding your unique skills, achievements, and measurable results to ensure it accurately reflects your experience.

3. What’s the difference between a resume and a CV?

A resume is a concise, targeted document, usually one to two pages, that highlights relevant experience and skills. A CV, or curriculum vitae, is a more detailed document, often used for academic, research, or international positions, and can be multiple pages long.

4. How can I write a resume with no experience?

If you lack professional experience and you’re aiming to land your first job, you can still make a resume that impresses employers by focusing on your potential and transferable skills. Highlight your education, internships, volunteer work, class projects, or extracurricular activities that demonstrate relevant abilities. Use a functional or skills-based format to emphasize what you can do rather than what you’ve done. 

For more guidance, explore our step-by-step tips on how to write a resume with no experience and start building a resume that stands out even without formal work history.

5. How can I create a resume for free?

You can create a resume using free online tools, templates, or word processors like Google Docs and Microsoft Word. Many platforms also offer customizable, ATS-friendly templates at no cost.

6. How can I write a good cover letter for a resume?

A strong job application pairs your resume with a professional cover letter that adds depth to your experience and showcases why you’re the right fit. A good cover letter doesn’t repeat your resume; it expands on your most relevant achievements, explains your interest in the company, and highlights your motivation for the role. 

Keep it concise—ideally one page—and use a professional tone. A well-written cover letter is tailored to the position by addressing the hiring manager by name and connecting your skills directly to the job requirements.

A Good Resume Can Open Doors

A well-written resume is your best tool for navigating the job search process with confidence. The right opportunities won’t come knocking at your door; you need to be prepared and seek them. Having an updated resume on hand is the best way to take advantage of those opportunities. Remember to tailor your resume with different skills and achievements for each job application to show employers you’re the best candidate for the role.