How to Write a Resume (With Examples) (2023)

Do you need to write a resume? While it's only a page or two in length, aresumeis one of the most important parts of a job application. Your resume is your most powerful tool to tell the story of yourprofessional work historyto potential employers.

Awell-written resumethat highlights your most relevant qualifications for the job will help you get selected for an interview. Often, interviewers will consult yourresumeduring the interview, too. Above all, your resume needs to be consistent, concise, and easy to read.If it's not, yourresume and cover letterwon't get a second glance from any hiring manager.

Here is information on how towrite a resumethat will get noticed and help you get invited for an interview.

What is a Resume?

Think of a resume as “self-advertisement” that sums up your experience on one page. Your resume is one of the most important pieces of your job application. It gives the hiring manager an overview of the qualifications you have for the job for which you’re applying.

You should also familiarize yourself with thedifference between a resume and a cover letter:

• A resume is typically sent with a cover letter, which is a document that provides additional information on your skills and experience in letter form.
• A resume is a concise, oftenbulleted summary, while a cover letter highlights and expands on certain traits or accomplishments that would be unique or ideal assets for the particular job.

Types of Resumes

There are severalbasic types of resumesused to apply for job openings. Depending on your personal circumstances:

• Chronological
• Functional
• Combination
• Targeted

A chronological resume (in reverse chronological order) is the simplest format to use, but there may be circumstances where you want to focus on your key accomplishments and skills rather than your employment history. For instance, this format can be helpful if you have an employment gap.

Which Resume Type is Right for You?

Which resume type should you use for your job search? That depends on what you're trying to accomplish. The goal of any resume is to show a hiring manager the applicant's strengths, skills, and experience in as short a time as possible. According to one study, recruiters spend as little as seven seconds reviewing a resume before moving on to the next, so it's in your best interests to put your finest qualities and accomplishments in a prominent position on the page.

In addition, functional or combination resumes may also be useful if you're trying to draw the reader's attention away from something—namely,large gaps in your work historyor detours into unrelated fields.

What to Include in Your Resume

An effective resume lays out a summary of qualifications that will push the hiring manager or employer to move forward and invite you to interview for the position.

For many people, it can be helpful to sit down with a pen and paper, or a blank Word or Google document, and jot down theirwork historyfrom start to finish. Of course, if you have been in the workforce for many years, this is not going to be time-efficient, so you may choose to focus on your most prominent and relevant positions.

Required and Optional Resume Sections. As well as details on skills, education, and work history, resumes can also have optional sections, such as anobjective,summary statement,skills, orcareer highlights. Those sections can be added after you’ve compiled all the factual information you need to list on your resume.

List the Details. Make sure to include the name of the company, its location, dates of employment, and several bullet points describing your role and responsibilities for each position you list. Although you may need to expand on the bullet points later on, you’ll need this information at the minimum.

Include Your Experience and Accomplishments. Although this should focus on professional work experience, you can also include awards or accolades,volunteer or community experience, post-grad coursework, andskills, as well as yourcollege education, which can move to the bottom of your resume once you get your first job after college.

Focus on Your Achievements. When writing the descriptions for the jobs you’ve held, focus onwhat you accomplished in each positionrather than what you did. Listing quantifiable achievements in anumerical manner(increased sales by 20%, reduced expenses by 10%, for example) will help your resume stand out.

Match Your Resume to the Job. Be sure tomatch those accomplishmentsto the criteria the employer is seeking in the job posting.

Review Your Job Descriptions. Review the descriptions you've written for each jobyou'veheld:

• Are they going to show the hiring manager why you're a good match?
• Do they sound impressive?

What to Leave Off Your Resume

There are some things that don’t belong on a resume for a job.What you excludeis just as important as what you include. Ideally, your resume should reflect experience that is relevant to the job you are applying to, and typically no more than ten to fifteen years in the past. Since your resume should, if possible, be no longer thanone or two pages, you may need to nix certain items.

For example, if you took a job and only stayed there for a month or so, you wouldn’t want to include that position. If you’ve been out of college for more than five years, it’s generally best to remove any internships you’ve had, assuming you have other professional work experience to fill the gap.

However, this is a case where you’ll want to use your common sense. If you went to college for marketing and had a marketing internship your senior year, then worked as a server for the next several years, you would want to include your marketing internship.

Ultimately, you want to try to strike a balance between including experience that is both timely and relevant.

How to Format Your Resume

It's important tochoose a font and font sizethat are legible andwill leave enough white space on the page.

You also want to keep style features (such as italics, underlining, bold, and the use ofbullets) to a minimum; reserve the use of boldface for section headings and for quantifiable achievements that you would like to have “pop” on the page (example: “Secured and fulfilled$1.5Mcontract”).

You should use consistent spacing throughout, and evenly sized margins on all sides if possible. It’s generally best to stick to your word processor’s default settings, but in some cases, if you shrink the margins on the left, right, top and bottom, this can help buy more space tofit your resume on one page.

Although visual or infographic resumes have become trendy in some industries, it is always a safe bet to stick with traditional formatting: white page, black text, readable font. Choose abasic fontsuch as Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, Helvetica, or Georgia. Ideally, your font size should be no larger than 12 and no smaller than 10.5.

Use Resume Keywords

Most companies use recruiting management software to screen candidates for job openings.

Spend some timematching your qualifications to the jobto ensure you're including the appropriate keywords and skills.In addition to helping your resume get selected, it will also help the hiring manager see how your skills and experiences make you an ideal candidate for the specific job.

Review Resume Examples

Read throughsamples that fit a variety of employment situations. These sample resumes will provide you with examples of resume formats that will work for almost every type of job seeker. They willalso help you seewhat kind of information to include.

Download a Resume Template

Along with resume examples, you can use aresume template as a starting pointfor creating your own resume. Add your information to the resume template, then tweak and edit it to personalize your resume so that it highlights your own unique skills and abilities.

Download the resume template (compatible with Google Docs or Word Online) or read the example below.

Proof Your Resume

Be sure tothoroughly edit your resumebefore sending it:

• Check for grammar and spelling errors as well as any style inconsistencies.
• Always print it out and proofread a hard copy. That helps to catch errors.
• Consider asking a friend or family member, or even a career counselor, to read over your cover letter.
• Review theseproofing tipsto ensure that your resume is consistent and error free.

Keep Your Resume Current

In the short term, you shouldtweak your resume based on each job you apply to. For example, if one position you’re applying to seems to weigh a certain responsibility or focus over another, you should be sure your resume conveys your expertise in this area.

At the same time, you should be updating your resume with your experience as it develops, adding any new skills you’ve learned, courses you’ve taken or awards you won.

It is much easier to update your resume periodically than all at once, so even when you’re employed, set a reminder to refresh your resume every three months, while the information is still fresh in your head. This will make your next job search much easier, should you decide to switch companies or careers in the future.

Get Resume Advice

Writing a resume is hard work, and it's often a good idea to get help before you send it to employers. You can find resumewriting adviceandresume writing tipsonline. You can also meet with acollege career counselorif you are a college student or alumnus.

You might use aprofessional resume serviceinstead or check with your state’sdepartment of laborwebsite for information on any free job services they offer. There are many great, free resume resources.