How to Write a Resume

A resume has one job: get you an interview. Not tell your life story, not show off every project, not impress your mother. A reviewer spends 6–8 seconds on your resume in the first pass. If it doesn’t signal “qualified, worth 30 minutes” in that window, it goes in the no pile.

This guide is a practical playbook — what to include, what to cut, and how to format so your resume survives the 8-second test.

1. One page, almost always

Unless you have 15+ years of experience or are applying to academia, one page. Two-page resumes almost never have twice as much good content — they have padding. The discipline of one page forces you to cut weak bullets.

2. Lead with the most recent, relevant role

Reverse chronological. The reviewer wants to know what you’re doing right now. Older roles get shorter treatment as they recede. If you’re making a major career pivot, add a brief summary statement at the top to frame why.

3. Bullets describe impact, not duties

“Responsible for managing the CRM” tells me nothing. “Redesigned lead scoring in the CRM, which lifted sales team close rate 12%” tells me what you actually changed. Every bullet should describe a change you caused, not a box you occupied.

4. Use numbers wherever honestly possible

Percentages, dollars, counts, time saved. “Shipped a feature” vs “Shipped a feature used by 40k MAU generating $2M ARR.” Not every bullet needs a number, but resumes without any numbers feel weak. If you have to estimate, estimate conservatively.

5. Strong verbs, no filler

“Led,” “designed,” “built,” “launched,” “reduced,” “grew.” Avoid passive openings: “Worked on,” “Helped with,” “Responsible for.” They signal low ownership. Pair with our better writing guide — the rules are the same.

6. Tailor to the job

Reorder bullets, swap in different projects, adjust keywords to match the job description. Not a full rewrite — five minutes of targeted edits. Tailored resumes get noticeably higher response rates. Many ATS systems literally keyword-match to the JD.

7. Put skills only if they’re specific

“Microsoft Word, communication, teamwork” is noise. “PostgreSQL, Rust, Kubernetes, Terraform” is signal. Skills sections work for technical, narrow, specific competencies. Soft skills belong in the body as evidence, not in a list.

8. Education stays short after your first job

After 2–3 years in industry, education shrinks to one line: school, degree, year. Keep GPA only if >3.7 and recent. Coursework, clubs, honors — drop them once you have relevant work experience. The reviewer cares about what you’ve done, not what you studied.

9. Cut irrelevant old jobs

Your 2015 retail job doesn’t belong on a 2026 senior engineer resume. Cutting outdated roles tightens the story and makes room for stronger recent work. Exception: a career gap you’d rather not highlight may need filler context — but even then, brief.

10. Clean, simple format

Single column, clear hierarchy, one readable font, consistent spacing. ATS-safe means no fancy graphics, columns, icons, or headers-in-tables. A boring resume that parses cleanly beats a beautiful one that gets rejected by automation.

11. Include a link that shows your work

GitHub, portfolio site, writing samples, Behance, a working product. The best resumes point to something outside the PDF. If all you have is the PDF, the reviewer has to trust your bullets; if you have external proof, the bullets become self-validating.

12. Proofread twice, have a friend read once

Typos kill otherwise strong resumes — they read as “doesn’t check work.” A fresh pair of eyes catches what you’ve grown blind to. 20 minutes of proofreading beats everything else you’d spend it on.

Your final checklist

One page. Most recent on top. Every bullet is an action + result. Numbers where possible. Tailored keywords. Clean format. Linked portfolio. Proofread. Pair with our interview guide — a resume gets you in the door; interviews close the deal.