Recruiters skim each resume quickly to see if your experience matches the job. A good resume does not list everything you have ever done. It makes the most relevant information easy to find.
1. Start from the job posting
Read the posting before you write. Keep a master resume and adjust it for each application: your title, the order of your skills and the bullet points that matter most for that role.
2. Contact information
Your name, phone number, a professional email address, your city and state, and a LinkedIn URL if you have one. Leave out your full street address, a photo, your date of birth and your marital status: US employers do not expect them.
3. A short summary
Two or three lines at the top that say who you are, what you are good at and what you want next. See our resume summary examples.
4. Work experience, most recent first
For each job: title, company, city and state, dates (month and year) and 3 to 5 bullet points. Start each bullet with an action verb and add a result when you have one.
Before Responsible for customer service.
After Resolved 60+ customer calls a day with a 95% satisfaction score.
Never invent numbers. If you do not have one, describe the task precisely instead.
5. Education
Your degree, school and graduation year. Recent graduates can add a GPA if it is strong, relevant coursework and honors. With more experience, education moves below work experience.
6. Skills
List 6 to 12 skills, using the exact words from the posting when they are true for you. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) look for those keywords.
7. One page or two?
One page is best for most people, especially students and anyone with under 10 years of experience. Two pages is fine for long careers. CVLibre warns you if your resume runs long.
8. Save it as a PDF
Proofread it out loud, ask someone else to read it, then save it as a PDF with a clear name like First_Last_Resume.pdf.
The quickest way to start: fill in a ready-made template, see the result live and download the PDF. You can even describe your background in a few lines and let the AI fill in the form, then check everything. Free, no sign-up.