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How to Write in Present Tense on a Resume

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Should you use present tense for a resume?

When to use present tense, examples of present tense resume verbs, when to use past tense, the exception to a past tense resume, examples of past tense resume verbs.

In this article, explore the best ways to evaluate your current job status so that you can write your resume in the correct tense and highlight your work experience effectively. Discover when you should write in present tense on your resume and how to use past tense to improve the descriptions of your work experience.

Present tense : A present tense resume is important if you’re talking about the current ways that you are using your skills and experience in a job.

Past tense : Use past tense to write about your work experience when conveying accomplishments.

Present tense helps you maintain consistency when describing your work experience. You’re also discussing ongoing actions that improve your skills and the results for the company you work for. Hiring managers look at a present tense resume to see if you have the right experience and aim to achieve the same results they are seeking.

Here is a list of the best situations to write in present tense on a resume.

To talk about your current job responsibilities

You should use a present tense resume to discuss your work experience with your current employer. Highlight the most important job functions for your current position using a bullet point list. Be sure to list the specific results each function has helped you obtain.

An employer should notice which experience you think is essential to work in the role you applied for. It gives them details to plan interview questions if they wish to proceed with your candidacy. It’s important to take time to find the most valuable experience, so you can underline which experience they should review first.

To describe relevant experience outside of your current job

Talk about your volunteer experience or extracurricular activities if you’re looking for an internship or an entry-level position in the workforce. Describe the achievements you’ve had when working with members of the community. You’ll give the employer a better idea of the impact you’re trying to make outside your primary role. The way you detail your experience gives the interviewer clues if you fit in with the company’s culture.

To list any trade associations or relevant memberships

A trade or industry association is a group of businesses representing a particular industry. These associations typically work in a non-profit capacity. Participants in these organizations strive to collaborate with other businesses and influential members of their community. They can publish newsletters, maintain a website that discusses their objectives, and print yearbooks to promote association members. List these types of experiences on your resume so an employer knows about your current contributions.

Here are some present tense verbs you can use when writing your resume.

Brainstorming relates to the generation of ideas. Listing that you’ve brainstormed ideas for a company exhibits how you’ve played a major role in solving an organization’s problems. Describe how the ideas from the brainstorming sessions lead to achievements for the company. For example, an art director can brainstorm design concepts for a publication’s upcoming magazine.

Spearhead is another word for managing. Spearheading is used to detail who leads a project in the workplace. List the number of people you’ve led in addition to explaining the tangible outcome of the project. A project manager may spearhead a project that drives 20% more revenue over five years if it’s a successful long-term project.

List the types of documents you’ve written, how many you’ve written, and the period in which you wrote those documents. A copywriter may write three articles a day on industry content. You can say where the content is published to increase the value of the documents you wrote.

A teacher is accountable for teaching students about topics while administering and grading assignments. Detail the number of students you taught, the subject of the class, and the average grade the class receives if you’re applying to become a teacher.

You should write in past tense on your resume if you want to showcase previous work experience. Highlighting your previous work experience presents your qualifications for a job you’re interested in. Make sure the accomplishments you’ve earned match the job description. An employer is more likely to call you in for an interview if you have applicable or transferrable work experience.

An exception to the rule of using present and past tense is when you mix the tenses on your resume. For instance, you can combine past and present tense if you’re listing previous jobs you’ve held and the experience you’ve gained while holding your current job. You can mix tenses if you’ve worked on previous projects or achieved noteworthy goals at your current company. For example, in one description, you might discuss how you increased the production of staff members by 30% while working with your current company.

Here are some past tense verbs you can use when writing your resume.

Design implies that you created something from scratch. Design can refer to multiple industries like art, engineering, or marketing. You may have designed artwork for a local museum, a car engine for the latest model, or a company’s print materials layout. Either way, note the tools you used to design the product to demonstrate your skillset and how it’s relevant to the position you’re applying for.

Streamlined

Streamlined reveals that you have experience in improving the efficiency of an organization. Project managers use this terminology to talk about the expansion of the workflow of a project. You may list this verb on a resume if you have a proven track record of improving processes that lead to beneficial results for an organization. Make sure you get exact metrics of how you streamlined a company’s operations to elevate your chances of getting an interview.

Enhanced differs from streamlining because it outlines how to increase your output at work. You can enhance the production of materials or the percentage of on-time and completed deliverables. Use percentages to quantify your accomplishments and make it easier to read about your output.

Diversified

A company wants to diversify if they’re looking to expand their products or their operations. A product marketing manager may have increased a company’s product line by five products. An operations manager might expand the company’s operations to include six new offices in four states.

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Past vs. Present Tense on Resumes: Best Practices

9 min read · Updated on March 20, 2024

Should a resume be in the past or present tense?

How sick are you of hearing that you must proofread your resume? The reason that proofreading is brought up so much is that it is of the utmost importance. If you take hours or even days crafting the perfect document and never discover grammar , punctuation, and spelling errors, your time has been wasted. 

There's more to proofreading than just using spell check, though. Your verb tense is also important for your overall resume writing style. Of course, that raises an important question: should your resume be in past tense or present tense?

The short answer is, “It depends.” 

In this post, we'll explore each of these tenses, examine the best practices for using each type, and offer some helpful tips you can use to ensure that your resume narrative is delivering the right message to employers.

What is past tense? What is present tense? 

First, let's have a review of what past and present tense means. Is your sentence describing something that's happening now, or did it already occur? 

Past tense is anything that's already happened. The verbs that describe past tense often end with -ed. Of course, there are some exceptions like “oversaw.” Reminder: every sentence of your resume should start with a verb.

Present tense is anything that's happening now. You'd use present tense in the summary paragraph at the top and in the bullets that you use to describe your current job. 

Pro tip: The gerund form of present tense verbs often adds an -ing at the end. There is some debate as to whether the use of the gerund is appropriate for a resume. With that said, you should avoid using it.

Related post : 11 Key Things to Put on Your Resume

Should I use past tense or present tense on my resume? 

You will likely use both the past and the present tense in your resume. However, it can get tricky because you don't want to mix both in the same section. If you have one-off achievements like successfully completing a project in your current role, you shouldn't talk about that in the present tense because it already happened. 

In the spirit of being consistent, here are some rules to help you recognize when to use past or present tense:

When to use past tense on your resume

Describe your education, past jobs, awards, and accomplishments using the past tense. You aren't in school anymore, and you no longer work at your previous jobs. Therefore, they belong in the past. For example:

Championed a 20% increase in sales by onboarding 30 new customers each month.

Architected complex algorithms that improved the efficiency of gathering, scrubbing, and merging data from more than 20 disparate sources.

Engaged in real-time troubleshooting with approximately 40 customers per day and achieved an 85% first-call resolution rate.

When to use present tense on your resume

While much of your resume will be in the past tense, there are certain sections that should focus on the present. These include the resume headline, resume summary, and the first entry in your work experience section if you're describing your current position. Let's look at each one of these critical sections and examine why it's important to use the present tense to describe your skills and ongoing achievements.

Related post : Seven Key Resume Sections and How to Organize Them

1. Resume headline

Your resume headline should always be written in the present tense since you want to ensure that the employer understands that you're actively engaged in your role. Remember, the headline is a brief description of your job title and key specialties, so make it as compelling as you can. For example:

Creative Marketing Manager Focused on Data-Driven Results in Branding and Client Engagement

Solutions-Oriented Project Manager with 10+ Years of Team Building and Client Management Success

Innovative Software Engineer with 5 Years of Experience Developing Industry-Leading Gaming Apps

Related post : 27 Great Resume Headline Examples to Stand Out

2. Resume summary

Your summary goes right below your resume headline and should provide employers with a brief elevator pitch to sell your qualifications. Include three or four sentences that highlight your experience, skills, and notable achievements. The goal here is to emphasize your qualifications in a way that shows you're prepared to provide real value to any employer who hires you. Here's an example:

Ambitious IT specialist with more than seven years of experience in network management and systems analysis. Expert troubleshooter and project lead with expertise in cloud platform, data migration, and client support. Proven track record of success in reducing network delays by 80+%, with 95+5 reported satisfaction rating on troubleshooting calls. Resilient problem-solver, capable of working both independently and in collaboration with colleagues and clients.

Related post : Resume Profile Explained (with Examples)

3. Work Experience

When you list your current job in your work experience section, it should always be in the present tense. The skills you list in this prominent section of your resume are skills you use all the time. This is the it-can-get-tricky part because you can also talk about your current position in the past tense – more on this in just a bit. Here are a couple of examples:

Direct full-cycle hiring processes, including telephone interviews, to ramp up department operations.

Source, interview, hire, and onboard a new team of 7 developers. 

Train 6 associates and 2 clerks to ascertain the needs of clients and improve customer satisfaction.

Of course, when you're listing achievements in your work experience section, you're primarily going to focus on things that you've already done. After all, if one of those achievements involved designing a new sales program that boosted revenues by 30% over two quarters, that's a one-time achievement, right? Obviously, that accomplishment needs to be presented using the past tense.

Confused? Don't be. We'll explain how to handle that situation in our next section.

When to use both past and present tense

Your resume is supposed to be a customized career marketing document that demonstrates you're the best candidate for a specific position. You sell yourself to new companies by highlighting career accomplishments. 

So, how do you handle talking about past and present items in the description of your current role if you shouldn't mix past and present tense within the same section of your resume? 

Take that example that we cited above. How would you include that type of achievement in the work experience listing for your current job? It's easier than you might imagine.

The best way to deal with that situation is to separate the bullet points under your current role into things you do every day first and achievements last. Write your daily responsibilities in the present tense and your achievements in the past tense. This is what that would look like:

Document, report, and present project milestones, performance KPIs, and status updates in weekly executive meetings attended by as many as 12 board members.

Implement and execute all standard operating procedures to ensure adherence to protocols, mitigate risk, and improve overall safety rating to 0 incidents per month. 

NOTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Saved more than $300K by tracking spending, identifying waste, and authoring/implementing new project metrics that reduced costs.

Nominated by leaders for the I'm-The-Greatest-Employee award, 2021. 

Another great way to manage this concern is to include a brief paragraph that highlights your ongoing achievements using the present tense while making sure that all your bullet point accomplishments are listed in the past tense. Below, we've provided an example of what that might look like:

Marketing Director, ABC Marketing, Anytown Anystate, 2014 to Present

Manage daily marketing operations, including strategic campaign development, overseeing multiple project teams, evaluating and monitoring staff, and managing client expectations. Collaborate directly with senior management, finance department, and sales team to facilitate operations and ensure that the company always remains on mission.

Designed and implemented training program credited with 42% reduction in staff onboarding times.

Developed multiple marketing and advertising campaigns that brought in $100+ million over a six-year period.

Redesigned more than 20 failing client projects, leading to results that exceeded expectations by an average of 20%.

Created company's innovative “Green Marketing” campaign that drew national exposure and led to 15% spike in new client acquisition.

Tips to get the most out of your use of past and present tense

The following tips can help you maintain your focus when you're creating achievement statements and highlighting your current qualifications.

Resumes are not like standard prose documents. You don't need to stick to just one tense since you'll likely be highlighting both present skills and past achievements. Just remember to make sure that your reader can easily follow any tense changes that occur throughout your resume narrative.

If you find yourself asking, “Should this part of my resume be in past tense or present tense” just take a moment and consider the message you're trying to deliver with that statement. If you're attempting to focus attention on specific skills and qualifications, then you'll probably want to use the present tense. If you're demonstrating value by highlighting an accomplishment from a previous job, use the past tense.

Try to avoid mixing your tenses within any given bullet point section. Again, be consistent in different areas of your resume to avoid reader confusion.

If you're struggling to decide how to use the different tenses within the same resume, try a different and simpler approach. Instead of using the present tense, simply present all your information using the past tense. Most employers are used to seeing past tense used in resumes and won't be put off by that approach.

Related post : 17 Resume Tips to Get Seen and Hired Faster

Knowing if your resume should be in past tense is easy

The next time you're wondering whether your resume should be in past tense or present tense, take a deep breath and focus on your narrative. Sometimes, reading your own resume a few times can help you gain insight into the message that you're delivering. Just keep things simple and remember what each tense is designed to convey to the reader. If you can successfully do that, you'll have a better chance of choosing the right tense and making the best possible impression on employers.

Are you still confused about which resume tense you need to use? Get a free resume review from our team of experts today!  

“This article was originally written by Marsha Hebert and has been updated by Ken Chase.”

Recommended reading:

• 5 Powerful Verbs to Pump up Your Resume
• Proofreading Tips to Improve Your Resume and Cover Letter
• How to Make Your Resume Stand Out With Action Verbs

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Frequently Asked Questions About Resumes

How do you write a good resume.

Brainstorm your positive career experiences, then choose the most relevant ones to feature on your resume. Divide your information into distinct sections (like professional experience, education, or key skills), and use each section to show you can excel in your target job. Also write a brief profile summary of your top qualifications. Tailor your resume to each job application, using keywords from the job posting. Your resume should include your contact information, profile, experience, education, and key skills.

How long should a resume be?

For most people, a resume should be between one to three pages long , but it depends on your job goals and experience. Your resume should include relevant information, but not so much that it overwhelms recruiters and hiring managers.

What is the best resume format?

A reverse chronological resume format is widely accepted as the industry standard and is the best resume format for most job seekers. With a reverse chronological format, your most recent and relevant experience is at the top.

How many jobs should you list on a resume?

List all relevant job experience on your resume. A good rule of thumb is to include your three most recent jobs and go back as far as 15 years.

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• The Best Questions to Ask in a Job Interview Learn More

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Perfect Resume (With Examples!)

Your resume is arguably the most valuable piece of paper for your career. But this document can be daunting for many. Maybe you’re not sure how to fit in all your information onto one page. Maybe you’re not sure about the right way to format and write your resume. Maybe you don’t even know what the heck a resume is!

Whatever your concern, we’ll break down everything you need to know about making the perfect resume, from scratch.

What Is a Resume?

What are employers looking for in a resume.

• Pick Your Format
• Start With Your Basic Information
• Add in Your Work Experience
• Consider Including Volunteer Work or Other Experience
• Don’t Forget Your Education
• Top It Off With Some Skills and Interests
• Write a Resume Summary Statement (if Relevant)
• Tailor It to the Job (and the ATS)
• Edit and Refine It

What Are Some Examples of a Good Resume?

A resume is a summary of your career, whether yours is just getting started or has been going on for years. Coming in at around one page in length (two only under specific circumstances), it showcases the jobs you’ve held and currently hold, the responsibilities you’ve taken on, the skills you’ve developed, and the qualities you bring to the table as an employee. Together, those things make it super easy for any hiring manager to see your qualifications and fit for a role.

For all the work you may put into writing one, hiring managers actually spend very little time—mere seconds in many cases—looking at your resume. But despite this sad fact, it’s safe to say that creating a great resume (rather than hastily throwing one together) still matters.

“If you miss the mark, your resume may never be read. Even worse, you might be removed from the applicant pool by a computer before a human even knows you exist,” says Muse career coach Heather Yurovsky , founder of Shatter & Shine. So you want to get it right because, as she explains, isn’t the goal to “spend less time looking for a job and more time in a role you love?”

You might be wondering if you can lean on your LinkedIn profile instead of writing a resume. The answer, sadly, is no. Most hiring managers still expect you to submit a resume, even if they also look at your LinkedIn. Even if you don’t need a resume for a job you’re applying for now, you’re going to need one at some point in your career—they’re not anywhere close to going out of style. So it’s best to always have one at the ready should an opportunity pop up.

And although LinkedIn has plenty of benefits, a resume has one clear advantage: While your LinkedIn is usually a broader picture of your career trajectory, your resume gives you the opportunity to tailor your career story to a specific role or company (more on that later).

Oh, and you’ve probably heard of something called a CV? It’s slightly different from a resume , and usually more common with academics and job seekers outside the U.S.

Hiring managers look for three things on your resume, “What did you do? Why did you do it? And what was the result?” says Muse career coach Martin McGovern , owner of Career Therapy. “If you can answer all three of these questions in...your resume bullet points, you’re going to be on the right track.”

Clear, easy-to-understand language is key. “The truth is that most resumes make no sense. They are stuffed with jargon, they are too technical, and they are filled with redundancies. Try to read a resume that isn’t yours and you will quickly realize that it feels like an alien wrote it,” McGovern adds. Put yourself in the shoes of a recruiter who has no idea how your role works—how can you make your resume accessible to them?

The hiring manager also cares about more than just you and you alone—they care about you in relation to them. “Hiring managers want to see if a candidate matches the requirements” of the role they’re hiring for, Yurovsky explains. “Your resume should paint this picture so the hiring manager not only knows what day-to-day responsibilities you can handle, but why you, above other[s], bring value to their organization.”

How Do You Write a Resume?

Whether you’re someone who’s never written a resume in your life, or you need a nice, thorough refresher on the process of creating one, follow these steps to go from a blank page to a complete—and dare I say beautiful—document.

Related: This Free Worksheet Makes It Easy to Create (or Update) Your Resume

1. Pick Your Format

Before you start typing one single thing, you have to decide what you want the overall resume to look like.

Resume builders can be helpful for this step—they’ll take all your basic information and organize it for you, eliminating some of the legwork. You can also use a pre-made outline, such as one of these free Google Docs templates .

But it’s often safest to start with a clean slate all on your own and eventually upgrade to a more advanced layout. (If you'd still like a place to write all the relevant information before you get started, check out our resume outline .) This allows you to course correct, edit and re-edit, and choose a resume format that best fits your particular situation (after all, not everyone has a career trajectory that’s easy to compartmentalize).

In general, you’re most likely to cover and/or include sections on the following:

• Your work experience
• Your non-work experience, including professional organizations, community involvement, or side projects
• Your education and certifications
• Your skills (specifically hard skills) and interests

So how do you format and organize all of that information?

By far the most common (and safest, if you’re not sure which route to take) option is reverse chronological order . This means you organize your experiences from most recent to least recent. So your work experiences would go above your education, and your current role would go above previous roles you’ve held. This of course has its exceptions—maybe you went back to grad school between jobs, or your most recent role is irrelevant to the job you’re applying for. So the whole page may not be exactly in reverse chronological order depending on your situation. It’s just a guideline.

There’s also something called a functional or skills-based resume . This is used pretty rarely, mainly with career changers and those with limited or complicated work histories. It gets its name because it’s primarily about listing your skills rather than experiences, and showcases them above your work history and education.

You can also opt for a combination resume , which is a mix between a reverse chronological resume and skills-based resume. It highlights your skills at the top, but allows just as much room below to cover your job and school experience.

Use caution when choosing these two formats: “Combo and skills-based [resumes] can be hard to follow, because [they force] the reader to hunt for connections between your skills and experience, and [don’t] provide the full context of your work,” says Muse Career Coach Angela Smith , founder of Loft Consulting. “I’ve also heard a lot of recruiters say that they automatically discount skill-based resumes because they feel the candidate is trying to hide something. I don’t necessarily believe that, but I think it’s important for job-seekers to know that perception is out there.”

2. Start With Your Basic Information

Your contact information should always go at the top of your resume. In this header you’ll want to include anything that could be helpful for a recruiter to get in touch with you. Usually, this means adding in:

• Your full name (preferably the name you use across the web)
• Your phone number
• Your personal email address

You might also choose to include other basic information, such as your LinkedIn or personal website URL, your GitHub (for technical roles), your social media profiles (if relevant to the job), or your address. If you’re looking to move for a job, you may choose to leave out your address or write “open to relocating” to better your chances of getting an interview.

The key is to make this part as clear as possible. If a hiring manager can’t reach you, there’s no point in perfecting the rest of your resume.

3. Add in Your Work Experience

This section will most likely be the bulk of your resume. Even if you’re changing careers, employers still want to see where you’ve worked, what you’ve done, and the impact of that work to get a sense of your background and expertise.

Your “Work Experience” might be one entire category, or you might choose to break it up into “Relevant Experience” and “Additional Experience” to highlight the jobs that are most important for hiring managers to focus on. Either way, you’ll almost always want to have your most recent experience at the top and your older experience down below.

Within your work experience, you’ll want to include each official job title, the company (and possibly its location), and the years you worked there. Below that, you’ll add in two to four bullet points explaining what you did in that job, the skills you built and exercised, the tools you used, and the results of what you did. If you accomplished a lot during your time there, focus on the responsibilities that made the most impact or you’re the most proud of, as well as the ones that best align you with the job you’re applying for (more on that in the following sections). It’s key here to list, if relevant, quantitative as well as qualitative accomplishments.

For example, you might write:

Associate Accountant, Finances and Co., Ann Arbor, MI September 2017 – Present

• Manage billing and invoicing for more than 50 clients, ensuring the deadlines and needs of our enterprise partners, including Big Company and Super Star Org, are met
• Collaborate closely with sales, account management, and project management teams on project setup, maintenance, and invoice management
• Assist in the streamlining of invoicing guidelines and procedures through documentation and the implementation of new software, resulting in an average two-week decrease in total time spent per client

Your resume bullets should be in past tense if you’re referring to past jobs and present tense if you’re talking about your current roles. In addition, your bullets should always start with a strong action verb that best describes what you did. And if you have examples of your work, consider hyperlinking them here as well.

If you have a ton of experience and this category is starting to run long (read: over one page), consider kicking out your oldest jobs unless they’re super relevant to the job you’re applying for, or extra impressive for your field.

Not sure where to start? “It’s helpful to do a brain dump and create a document that has everything and anything you consider as experience or an achievement,” says Yurovsky. From there, she explains, you can start to whittle down what is and isn’t important. And you can refer to this document later if you ever decide to update your resume for a specific role.

Need more specific advice on listing your work experience on your resume? Check out these additional resources:

• When you’ve held multiple jobs at the same company: 2 Jobs, 1 Company: How to Show Multiple Positions on Your Resume
• When you’re not sure what your accomplishments are or how to explain them: Resume Revamp: How to Turn Your Duties Into Accomplishments
• When you want to spruce up a boring or insignificant job: How to Make Your Most Boring Jobs Sound More Interesting on Your Resume
• When you’re considering fudging a job title: The Answer to “Can I Change My Job Title on My Resume to Make It More Accurate?”
• When you’ve had a bunch of short-term gigs: How to List Temporary Jobs on Your Resume

4. Consider Including Volunteer Work or Other Experience

Anything you’ve done that’s not work experience—your side gig, volunteer work, special projects—can be hosted under clearly-labeled sections (“Volunteer Experience” or “Activities,” for example). Depending on how robust your work experience is, these things may be worth including, particularly if they’ve helped you level up your skill set or better align you with your dream job. Plus, they make you look that much more well-rounded, passionate, and hardworking.

If you’re a recent grad, you might also build out a section for on-campus activities, such as clubs, organizations, or leadership experience. This can be a great supplement if you’re lacking in the jobs department. You can frame these just as you would professional jobs—including your title, the organization’s name, and bullets describing what your role was and what you accomplished.

Read More: This Is Exactly How to List Volunteer Work on Your Resume

5. Don’t Forget Your Education

If you’re still in school or just graduated, your education can go at the top of your resume, but for pretty much everyone else, this goes near the bottom. Most people include their school, graduation year (for folks less up to about a decade out of school), major, and degree. Brand-new grads might also write in their GPA, honors and awards, study abroad, thesis, or other notable achievements. But keep this section super simple, as you don’t want it to take up too much space over your work experience.

It’s possible you have unique education experience, such as taking an online course or certification. If you did this specifically as a way to boost yourself within your industry, definitely include it. Again, list everything more or less reverse chronologically—so a grad school degree would go above an undergrad degree, and a more recent relevant online course would go above that.

Learn more about the ins and outs of listing your education on your resume:

• How to (and How Not to) List Education on Your Resume
• How to List Online Courses on Your Resume the Right Way (Because Yes, There Is a Wrong Way)

6. Top It Off With Some Skills and Interests

The skills section of a resume gets a bad rap, but it’s just as important as the rest of the stuff you include. It’s a quick list a recruiter can scan to see if your skill set aligns with what they’re hiring for. And it’s super ATS-friendly (ATS stands for “applicant tracking system,” the robot that in some cases reads your resume before a human does) because it allows you to add in keywords the machine is scanning for.

Usually this section goes at the bottom of your resume, but in special cases—such as a skills-based resume or when someone’s switching fields—you may place it further up.

What exactly do you throw in here? You’ll want to list any hard skills and applications you’re familiar with (Photoshop, SEO, JavaScript, to name a few examples), and, if relevant, your level of expertise. Avoid including soft skills here, like time management or public speaking—save those for your bullet points instead.

Be strategic when filling in your skills. Don’t list things you actually couldn’t do at a high competence level (I’m looking at those of you who say you’re “great” at Excel), and maybe nix skills that are completely irrelevant to the job you want. For example, you may not even need to include Excel if you’re applying for say, a design position, unless it’s listed as a job requirement.

Maybe you’re thinking, I’m a really good volleyball player, but that’s not a “skill,” right? No, it’s not, but it is a hobby. Adding in a hobby section at the bottom of your resume is underrated, and frequently a smart choice. It can be a great conversation starter with a hiring manager, and it can show that you’re a good culture fit—or a culture add—for the company. Also, it’s just a nice way to add in some of your personality. So tack on a bullet point listing out some of your interests, such as hiking, rowing, or crafting (no more than five to seven work-appropriate verbs), and you’re all set here.

7. Write a Resume Summary Statement (if Relevant)

You may have heard of a resume summary statement . They’re not super common, but they can be useful to include near the top of your resume if you’re looking to add clarity or context to your resume. If you’re a career changer, you might find a summary statement helpful in explaining your leap and tying your experience to your new path. Or if you’re a more experienced professional, you can use a summary statement to highlight a theme that brings your career trajectory together.

Overall, you probably won’t need a summary statement if your career is pretty linear and your bullet points do a great job of emphasizing what you have to offer in terms of skills and experience. But if you think it makes sense to include one, “Take the time to think about what the person reading your summary wants to know before you write it,” says McGovern. “Good summaries explain why you do what you do and how it can help. For instance: Merging a background in ABC, I help companies improve XYZ through 123. Summaries shouldn’t be any more complicated than that.”

So, taking McGovern’s example, you might say:

Merging a background in social media marketing and PR with seven years in the consumer tech space, I help companies improve their internal and external communication and brand awareness through data-driven, quality content and strategies that align with the modern trends of the space.

Yurovsky adds that “you don’t want your summary statement to be a dense paragraph with too much information. You want it to be easy to read, concise, and memorable. Almost like a tagline.”

Read More: 3 Resume Summary Examples That’ll Make Writing Your Own Easier

8. Tailor It to the Job (and the ATS)

Once you have your resume written out—you’ve broken down your work experience, tagged on some activities and additional experiences, and listed out your skills—it’s important to go back to the job description (or multiple job descriptions, if you’re applying to several similar jobs) and make sure that what your resume says matches up with the kind of candidate the employers are looking for. In other words, tailor it .

Let’s explain further. You’ll want to begin by tackling the ATS . This means combing the job description to see if individual words and phrases line up. What skills are they asking for, and have you listed them (so long as you actually have them)? What words are they using to describe their ideal hire, and do you use similar language in your resume?

Next, take a bird’s-eye view. If you were the hiring manager for the role, where on your resume would your eyes be drawn to? And what would you be looking for? Whatever you think will be most important for the recruiter, make sure it’s near the top of your resume, or otherwise emphasized.

Finally, dig into the role and responsibilities of the job. Does your resume reflect similar experience? If not, is there a way you can spin it so that it’s clear you’re capable of doing the job (and doing it well)?

These articles can help you if the word “tailoring” makes you start to sweat:

• What It Really Means to “Tailor Your Resume”
• Your Guide to Making Unrelated Experience Look Relevant on Your Resume
• A Cool Trick: How to Spin 1 Resume Bullet 5 Different Ways

9. Edit and Refine It

Please, please don’t just write your resume and shoot it out without giving it a second glance. Hiring managers may not spend hours browsing it, but if there’s one thing that sticks out more than anything else it’s a glaring typo.

The best approach? Write a rough draft, then leave and come back to it later with fresh eyes to give it an edit.

Cover the basics: Is your contact information correct and updated? Are you using the right verb tenses? Does everything look consistent and accurate in terms of spelling and grammar?

Then do some cutting if your resume’s quite long. It’s no longer a hard-and-fast rule that all resumes must be only one page—but consider it a smart guideline for most applicants, especially if you've got less than 10 years work experience. The exception is if you’re very senior or very established in your career; in this scenario, a two-page resume isn’t completely out of the question. Everyone else, read this article for advice on how to cut your resume down.

Formatting-wise, it’s key to consider a couple things. First, what font are you using , and is it legible (for a human and a robot)? When in doubt, go with one of these simple, but sleek, options: Arial, Arial Narrow, Calibri, Cambria, Garamond, or Helvetica.

Second, are you going to save it as a Word document or PDF ? Neither option is wrong, although a PDF helps ensure that your formatting is maintained, no matter what type of computer the hiring manager uses to open the document.

Third, is your resume formatted in a way that it’s skimmable? If it’s feeling crowded or overrun with words, read this: 12 Tiny Changes That Make Your Resume Easy for Recruiters to Skim .

Once you’ve given it a few good looks, it may be worth sending it to a friend or colleague (or even a career coach ) to get a second opinion. Don’t just have them edit it for spelling and grammar—they should dig into your bullets and offer feedback on whether or not your resume is showing you in the best possible light (it’s smart to also send them the job description for something to compare it to).

Here’s the thing: Your resume won’t ever look exactly like someone else’s, nor should it. How you choose to format it, organize your information, and talk about specific experiences depends not just on your career path, but on your field, the job you’re applying for, the company that job is at, and more.

So there isn’t a universal way to do a resume. But there are common themes. To give you some context as to how yours might turn out, here are three examples of different kinds of resumes.

The Most Popular: A Reverse Chronological Resume

As previously mentioned, a reverse chronological resume is preferred by many coaches and HR experts, mainly because it’s super readable. When everything’s in a clear order, it’s easy to skim and even easier to draw lines between experiences.

Who it’s good for: Just about everyone—from students applying to internships all the way up to senior-level executives (with an optional resume summary statement)

Download an Example Chronological Resume for a Software Engineer

The Unorthodox Route: A Functional or Skills-Based Resume

Rather than listing out your experience in reverse chronological order, a functional or skills-based resume has bullet points that reflect how each of your skills is demonstrated by the work you’ve done over the course of your career. At the bottom, you’ll include everything else, such as your education, job history, professional achievements, community involvement, and other technical skills. This is a good option if you have a somewhat all-over-the-place work history and want to tie everything together neatly.

Who it’s good for: Career changers whose work experiences may not appear to be relevant and people with an abundance of temporary jobs or gaps in their work histories.

Download an Example Functional Resume for a Project Manager

The Creative Angle: An Infographic Resume or Resume Website

This resume type is characterized by how it’s formatted visually. You may choose a reverse chronological order or skills-based style to organize your information, but also use graphics, colors, unique fonts, and even multimedia elements to help that information pop. Keep in mind that any creative resume is still likely subject to an ATS—and certain elements may be unreadable by a robot. So consider going this route only if you know a human will be reading your resume (and that said human might enjoy it).

Who it’s good for: People applying to creative roles (designers, editors, writers, marketers, video producers, for example), startups, or fun companies, or to jobs where a creative resume is encouraged, if not required.

Download an Example Infographic Resume for a Designer

Not a designer but want your resume to look just as pretty as this example? Check out these articles:

• 5 Sites to Create an Awesome Infographic Resume (Even if You’re the Least Creative Person Ever)
• How to Build a Resume Website That Will Impress Every Hiring Manager Who Sees It
• 5 Digital Tools That Will Make Your Resume Infinitely More Beautiful

Your resume is a living, breathing document. So while you won’t go through this whole process every time you apply for a job, you should be thinking about all these things as you go to update your resume for your next career step. You might decide later on to switch up the order, or remove or add things, or even get creative and try out a whole new format. If you’re not getting the calls back you expect, you may decide to scrap it and start over —and that’s totally OK.

Regardless of where this piece of paper goes and how it grows, when you give it the care and attention it deserves, you set yourself up for success. And you’ll make it that much more likely that you’ll land an interview and get the chance to prove to the hiring manager—over the phone or in person—what you’ve got to offer.

Resume Examples by Industry and Experience

Level up your resume with these professional resume examples. These 1800+ resume samples will help you unleash the full potential of your career.

Most popular

Project Manager

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Data Scientist

Product Manager

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Engineering

Accounting & finance resume examples

Creating an accounting or finance resume is all about showing that you’re organized, focused, and diligent while being an expert with numbers. Explore the resume samples below to craft your standout application.

Accounting Analyst

Chief Financial Officer

Director of Finance

Financial Analyst

Finance Manager

Business and management resume examples

Our business analyst resume examples focus on skills and achievements to ensure you stand out. Crafted with time-proven design, you don’t have to worry about formatting – just focus on your experience.

Business Development

Business Intelligence

Director of Business Development

VP Business Development

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Creative and cultural fields resume examples

Focus on your proof of excellence and present your professional experience in a detailed and professional manner. Choose a cultural resume sample and build yours right now.

Videographer

Data science resume examples

Build a resume that shows business impact. Choose from the best data scientist resume samples and create a resume that beats luck and gets callbacks. Focus on previous experience and past publications of your work.

Data Engineer

Data Analyst Entry Level

Big Data Engineer

Data Mining

Design resume examples

We’re pretty sure that you know a thing or two about creating a great-looking resume. Use our design resume samples to make one that stands out. You just need to focus on communicating your experience and how you’ve made an impact through design.

UX Designer

Video Editor

Interior Designer

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Engineering resume examples

Each engineering field is different, so you can’t have a one-size-fits-all approach here. Browse through the powerful resume samples below. You'll find specific ways to describe your experience, skills, and qualifications, depending on your job title.

Chemical Engineer

Civil Engineer

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Entry Level Engineering

Biomedical Engineer

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Executive and management resume examples

Make a resume that highlights every important detail. Follow our executive and management resume examples to build a resume people remember. Match the company’s tone of voice and job description without worrying about the design and layout.

General Manager

Assistant Manager

IT Director

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Chief Marketing Officer

Famous people resume examples

Learn from the world’s most successful people and build a resume that’s just as good as theirs. Check out our famous resume examples and create a resume that beats luck and results in callbacks.

Sheryl Sandberg

Marissa Mayer

Mark Zuckerberg

Jeffree Star

Hillary Clinton

Colin Kaepernick

Angela Merkel

Travis Kalanick

Casey Neistat

Maisie Williams

Barack Obama

Food service resume examples

Choose from a list of profession-specific food service resume samples and grab the attention of the hiring manager in seconds. Focus on the things that truly matter – your professional skills – and leave the design and formatting to us.

Food Service

Restaurant Manager

Food and Beverage Manager

Freelance resume examples

Supercharge your portfolio with a powerful resume. Choose from our freelance resume examples and show potential clients your experience in a beautiful, yet professional and easily scannable way.

Freelance Writer

Freelance Translator

Freelance Photographer

Government and federal resume examples

Government and federal jobs require you to show a proven experience and track record. Choose one of our government and federal resume samples and build a resume that gets you your dream job.

Grant Writer

Human resources resume examples

A successful HR resume is one that shows to employers that you put people first. Choose from a variety of human resources resume samples and build a resume that portraits your attitude, personality, and professional expertise authentically.

Chief Of Staff

Change Management

HR Director

Information technology resume examples

Focus on creating a resume that communicates your achievements and experience clearly. Browse our IT resume examples and focus on building a resume free of jargon. We’ll handle design and readability for you.

Front-End Developer

Python Developer

Full-Stack Developer

System Administrator

IT Project Manager

Web Developer

Network Engineer

Devops Engineer

Computer Science

Intern and entry-level resume examples

Scoring your first job is hard. Put time crafting a resume that shows your willingness to put in the work and that you’re consistent. Show that you have so much to offer, despite little work experience by following our entry-level resume samples.

Entry Level

Marketing Intern

Entry Level Sales

Data Science Intern

Law enforcement & emergency service resume examples

Emphasize on your necessary mental and physical capabilities that are a must. Explore our law enforcement and emergency services resume examples and get the recruiter’s attention with a professional-looking resume.

Incident Manager

Police Officer

Law Enforcement

Security Guard

Case Manager

Legal resume examples

Choose from our legal resume samples and focus on showing your negotiation and communication skills. Keep the tone formal and professional. Focus on your experience, writing, and communication skills.

Legal Assistant

Maintenance and repair resume examples

A deep understanding of building upkeep is complicated enough. Focus on communicating your experience and know-how and let the design and visual to our maintenance and repair resume examples.

Maintenance Manager

Electrician

Housekeeper

Facilities Manager

Housekeeping Manager

Manufacturing and warehousing resume examples

Create a resume that makes you stand out compared to automation. Show your soft and hard skills highlighting them equally. Choose from a variety of manufacturing and warehousing resume samples and get writing.

Manual Tester

Procurement Manager

Supply Chain Manager

Manufacturing Engineer

Warehouse Manager

Marketing resume examples

Craft a resume that tells your story with confidence. Focus on the most important aspects of your experience without worrying about the design or formatting. Just choose one of our marketing resume examples below and build your resume!

Marketing Director

Social Media Manager

Digital Marketing Manager

Email Marketing

Product Marketing Manager

Brand Manager

Nursing, healthcare and well-being resume examples

Put your education, certifications, and practical knowledge at the forefront with a proven nursing, healthcare & well-being resume example. Let us do the design and layout work, you focus on writing about yourself.

Psychologist

Medical Surgical Nurse

Office and administration resume examples

Focus on your organizational and communication skills and choose an office and administration resume example that matches the company culture of the place you are applying at. We’ll handle the looks.

Administrative Assistant

Front Desk Receptionist

Administrative Manager

Office Manager

Front Office Manager

Other resume examples

Browse from hundreds of resume examples and look into our ever-growing list of resumes, tailored specifically to your industry, following tested resumes that got people hired at Tesla, Spotify, and Microsoft!

Work from Home

Career Change

Stay at Home Mom

Project management resume examples

Show your time-proven record of turning ideas into projects and then reality on time by following one of our project management resume samples. Choose from a variety of examples used by other people to get their dream PM job.

Scrum Master

Program Manager

Real estate resume examples

Put extra emphasis on your licenses, closed deals and years of experience, and your key expertise. Choose a real estate resume sample that matches the market you operate in and build a resume that represents your professional life.

Real Estate Agent

Property Manager

Facility Manager

Real Estate Developer

Sales and retail resume examples

Spend time explaining your biggest sale wins and the type of products you have experience selling while our resume builder tool takes care of the visual side. Choose a sales resume sample that fits the industry and get started!

Customer Service

Sales Representative

Key Account Manager

Sales Executive

Sales Director

Sales Manager

Sales Engineer

Salon and spa resume examples

Focus on communicating your education, courses, and experience in a straightforward matter. Soft skills play a major role for client relationships in the salon and spa industry. Choose one of our templates and get the job.

Makeup Artist

Cosmetologist

Hair Stylist

Esthetician

Science and research resume examples

Start with your most recent science endeavor and succinctly focus your main accomplishments. Choose a science resume sample from the list below and make a resume you’re proud of.

Lab Technician

Radiologic Technologist

Software engineering resume examples

Pick a software engineer resume sample and focus on your achievements, and how you made an impact throughout your employment history. Build a resume that gets you remembered in minutes.

Software Architect

Angular Developer

Android Developer

Sports and recreation resume examples

Every successful sports and recreation resume sports rich certifications and experience sections. Choose a sports resume sample that fits you and build a resume that you’re proud of!

Yoga Instructor

Personal Trainer

Event Coordinator

Teaching and education resume examples

Successful teacher resumes focusing on showing your full experience paired with a great representation of your impact on the students’ educational progress. Choose one of our teaching and education resume samples and build your resume today.

Paraprofessional

Math Teacher

Travel and transportation resume examples

Focus on communicating that you’re a reliable professional that can be trusted. Choose a travel and transportation resume sample that beats luck.

Truck Driver

Flight Attendant

Transport Manager

Quality assurance resume examples

Show how good you are at finding problems and focus on making your quality control skills shine. Use our ATS-friendly resumes templates and take advantage of resume sections exclusive to our resume builder.

Quality Control

Test Engineer

Quality Manager

Quality Assurance Engineer

Quality Assurance Analyst

Frequently asked questions about resume examples

What is a resume example, why should i use resume examples.

Using a resume example can help you with that initial writing block. You get a ready-made design and layout template to follow. The only thing that you should focus on is writing a good experience section , including your skills that best fit the job description, and ensuring that you’ve tailored your resume.

What should a resume look like in 2024?

When you’re choosing the design of your resume you have to take into consideration the fact that most resumes have to pass an ATS before a recruiter lays eyes on it.

In almost all cases, using a reverse-chronological resume format should be your first choice. Applicant tracking systems are best at reading that format. Furthermore, hiring managers love it.

How do you write a resume example?

First, we start by picking a format that’s most suitable to the industry you’re applying for. Then we choose a suitable design – this includes font , margins , and backgrounds.

Once we have the basic layout done, we start adding sections that match the company in which you’re looking to get a job – like a resume summary for more traditional industries and a “My Time” section for more creative ones.

Are these the best resume examples for 2024?

We’ve handpicked all of the best-performing resumes across different industries. This includes design, wording, and the different sections that are featured on the resume.

We’ve ensured that you get to see high-quality resume examples that will help you create a quality resume yourself.

How do I adjust these resume examples to my needs?

You can start with an example and go into the Enhancv resume builder . From there you can use the design and layout of the resume of your choosing and re-write it to have your information.

Or, you can explore a few different examples related to your industry and build your resume from scratch using one of our resume templates .

Your dream career awaits, make your move.

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How to Make a Resume in 2024 | Beginner's Guide

For most job-seekers, a good resume is what stands between a dream job and Choice D. Get your resume right, and you’ll be getting replies from every other company you apply to.

If your resume game is weak, though, you’ll end up sitting around for weeks, maybe even months, before you even get a single response.

So you’re probably wondering how you can write a resume that gets you an interview straight up.

Well, you’ve come to the right place!

In this guide, we’re going to teach you everything you need to know about how to make a resume, including:

• The 8 Essential Steps to Writing a Resume
• 11+ Exclusive Resume Tips to Up Your Resume Game
• 27+ Real-Life Resume Examples for Different Professions

….and more!

So, let’s dive right in.

How to Make a Resume (The Right Way!)

Before we go into detail about how you should make a resume, here’s a summary of the most important steps and tips to keep in mind:

• Choose a resume format carefully. In 99% of cases, we recommend the reverse-chronological format .
• Add the right contact details. Leave your headshot out and make sure to include your job title , a professional email address, and any relevant links. (E.g.: your LinkedIn profile , online portfolio, personal website, etc.).
• Write an impactful resume summary. Unless you’re an entry-level professional, always go for a resume summary. If you do it right, it’s your chance to get the hiring manager to go through the rest of your resume in detail.
• Pay attention to your work experience section. Take your work experience section from OK-ish to exceptional by tailoring it to the job ad, making your achievements quantifiable, and using action verbs and power words.
• Add the right skills for the job. Keep this section relevant by only including the hard and soft skills that are required for the position.
• Keep your education short and to the point. Your most recent and highest degree is more than enough for a strong education section. You only need to add more details here if you’re a recent graduate with barely any work experience.
• Leverage optional resume sections. Optional sections like languages, hobbies, certifications, independent projects, and others can set you apart from other candidates with similar skills and experience.
• Include a cover letter. That’s right, cover letters matter in 2024, and the best way to supplement your resume is by adding an equally well-crafted cover letter to your job application. To make the most of it, check out our detailed guide on how to write a cover letter .

To get the most out of our tips, you can head over to the resume builder and start building your resume on the go as you read this guide.

New to resume-making? Give our ‘7 Resume Tips’ video a watch before diving into the article!

#1. Pick the Right Resume Format

Before you start filling in the contents of your resume, you have to make sure it’s going to look good. 

After all, the first thing hiring managers notice is what your resume looks like, and then they start reading it. So, this is your best chance to make a great first impression.

Start by choosing the right resume format.

There are three types of resume formats out there:

• Reverse-chronological. This is by far the most popular resume format worldwide and, as such, it’s the best format for most job-seekers.
• Functional. This resume format focuses more on skills than work experience. It’s a good choice if you’re just getting started with your career and have little to no experience in the field.
• Combination. The combination resume format is a great choice for experienced job-seekers with a very diverse skill set. It’s useful if you’re applying for a role that requires expertise in several different fields and you want to show all that in your resume.

So, which one should you go for?

In 99% of cases, you want to stick to the reverse-chronological resume format . It’s the most popular format and what hiring managers expect to see. So, in the rest of this guide, we’re going to focus on teaching you how to make a reverse-chronological resume.

Fix Your Resume’s Layout

With formatting out of the way, let’s talk about your resume’s layout , which determines the overall look of your resume. 

Does it look organized or cluttered? Is it too short or too long? Is it boring and easy to ignore, or is it reader-friendly and attention-grabbing?

Here are some of the best practices you should apply:

• Stick to one page. You should only go for a two-page resume if you have decades of experience and you’re sure the extra space will add significant value. Hiring managers in big companies get hundreds of applications per job opening. They’re not going to spend their valuable time reading your life story!
• Add clear section headings. Pick a heading and use it for all the section headers so the hiring manager can easily navigate through your resume.
• Adjust the margins. Without the right amount of white space, your resume will end up looking overcrowded with information. Set your margins to one inch on all sides so your text fits just right on the page.
• Choose a professional font. We’d recommend sticking to a font that’s professional but not overused. For example, Ubuntu, Roboto, or Overpass. Avoid Times New Roman, and never use Comic Sans.
• Set the correct font size. As a rule of thumb, go for 11-12 pt for normal text and 14-16 pt for section titles.
• Use a PDF file. Always save your resume as a PDF file, unless the employer specifically requests otherwise. Word files are popular, but there’s a good chance they’ll mess up your resume’s formatting.

Another thing you need to consider in terms of your resume’s layout is whether you’re going for a traditional-looking resume template or something a bit more modern :

If you’re pursuing a career in a more traditional industry, like law , banking , or finance , you might want to stick to the first.

But if you’re applying to a tech company where imagination and innovation are valued, you can pick a more creative resume template .

Want to Save Time? Use a (Free) Resume Template

Anyone who’s ever tried creating a resume from scratch knows how boring the formatting can be.

Before you can even start filling in the contents, you need to tweak the margins, adjust font sizes, and make sure everything fits into one page while still looking good.

What if you could skip past all that and still create a compelling resume?

Try one of our free resume templates . They’re pre-formatted, so all you have to do is fill in the contents.

They’re also created in collaboration with recruiters from around the globe, ensuring that the templates are visually appealing and ATS-friendly!

See for yourself how one of our templates compares to a resume created in a standard text editor:

#2. Add Your Contact Information

Now that we’ve got all the formatting out of the way, let’s get into what your resume is all about— the information you put on it .

The first thing you want to do when filling out the contents of your resume is to add your contact information .

This section is pretty straightforward but crucial. Your contact details belong at the top of your resume in a designated resume header , so the hiring manager can easily find them.

Even if everything else about your resume is perfect, that all flops if you misspell your email address or have a typo in your phone number. If the hiring manager can’t contact you, it’s a missed opportunity.

So, double-check, and even triple-check your contact information section and make sure everything is factually correct and up-to-date.

Must-Have Information

• Full name. Your first and last name should stand out at the top of your resume.
• Email address. Stick to an address that’s professional and easy to spell, like a combination of your first and last name. (E.g.: [email protected])
• Phone number. Add a reliable number where the hiring manager can easily reach you.
• Location. Add your city and state/country. If you plan to relocate for the job or want a remote position, specify it on your resume.

Optional Information

• Job title. Add your professional title underneath. Write it down word for word, whether it’s “Digital Marketing Specialist” or “Junior Data Scientist.” Just don’t make up job titles like “Marketing Wizzard” or “Data Manipulator.” They’re not quirky; they’re just unprofessional. 
• LinkedIn profile . We recommend that you include a link to your updated LinkedIn profile since over 77% of hiring managers use the platform when evaluating a candidate. 
• Relevant links. Include links to personal websites or any social media profiles that are relevant to your field. For example, a developer could include a Github profile, while a graphic designer could link their Behance or Driblle account, and so on.
• Date of birth. Unless this is specifically required in the job ad, the hiring manager doesn’t need to know how old you are. It’s not important for their decision-making, and at worst, it might lead to age-based discrimination.
• Unprofessional email address. Your quirky, old high school email address doesn’t belong on your resume. Instead of [email protected] , go for a [email protected] type of address.
• Headshot. (USA, UK or Ireland) Depending on the country where you’re applying, it might even be illegal to include a picture of yourself on your resume . While it’s the norm to include a picture in most of Europe and Asia, always check the regulations for each specific country or industry you’re applying to.

All clear? Good! Now, let’s look at what a great example of a resume's contact information section looks like:

#3. Write a Resume Headline (Summary or Objective)

It's no secret that recruiters spend an average of less than seven seconds on a resume .

When you receive hundreds, if not thousands, of applications daily, it's physically impossible to spend too much time on each.

So, what the hiring managers do to go through resumes more effectively is to skim through each resume and read it in depth only if it piques their interest.

This is where the resume headline comes in.

Placed right next to (or underneath) your contact information, this brief paragraph is the first thing the hiring manager is going to read on your resume.

Now, depending on how far along in your career you are, your resume headline can be either a resume summary or a resume objective.

So, how do you choose between a resume summary and a resume objective? Here’s all you need to know:

Resume Summary

A resume summary, as the name suggests, is a two to three-sentence summary of your career so far. If done right, it shows that you’re a qualified candidate at a glance and gets the hiring manager to give you a chance.

Here’s what your resume summary should include:

• Your job title and years of experience.
• A couple of your greatest professional achievements or core responsibilities.
• Your most relevant skills for the job.

Here’s an example of a well-written resume summary: 

Experienced Java Developer with 5 years of experience in building scalable and efficient applications. Contributed to a major project that enhanced application performance by 25%. Strong background in Spring Framework and microservices. Aiming to apply robust coding skills to develop innovative software solutions at XYZ Tech Solutions.

Unless you’re a recent graduate or amid a career change, we recommend you stick to a resume summary. Otherwise, a resume objective might be a better option for you.

Resume Objective

A resume objective is supposed to express your professional goals and aspirations, academic background, and any relevant skills you may have for the job.

It communicates your motivation for getting into a new field, so it’s the go-to headline for recent graduates and those going through a career change. As with a resume summary, a resume objective should be brief—around two to four sentences long.

So, here’s what it would look like if you’re a student:

Hard-working recent graduate with a B.A. in Graphic Design from New York State University seeking new opportunities. 3+ years of practical experience working with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, creating illustrations and UX/UI design projects. Looking to grow as a designer and perfect my art at XYZ Design Studio.

Or, on the other hand, if you’re going through a career change, it might look more like this:

IT project manager with 5+ years of experience in software development. Managed a team of developers to create products for several industries, such as FinTech and HR tech. Looking to leverage my experience in managing outsourced products as a Product Owner at Company XYZ.

#4. Prioritize Your Work Experience

The most important part of your resume is your work experience.

This is where you get to sell yourself and show off your previous accomplishments and responsibilities.

If you manage to master this section, you’ll know most of what’s there to know about how to make a resume.

There are plenty of good practices for writing your work experience . But before we dive into all the nits and grits, let's start with the basics.

The standard format for each work experience entry is as follows:

• Job title/position. Your job title goes on top of each work experience entry. When the hiring manager looks at your resume, you want them to know, at a glance, that you have relevant work experience for the job.
• Company name/location/description. Mention the name of the employer and the general location, such as the city and state/country where you worked. In some cases, you may also want to briefly describe the company, like when the organization isn’t particularly well-known.
• Dates employed. Add the approximate timeframe of your employment at each company. You don’t need to give exact dates since the standard format for this is mm/yyyy.
• Achievements and responsibilities. This is the core of each work experience entry. Depending on your field, you want to list either your achievements or responsibilities. List them in bullet points instead of paragraphs, so they’ll be easier to read.

Here’s a real-life example:

Your work experience entries should always be listed in reverse chronological order , starting with your most recent job and working your way back into the past.

Now that you know how to list your experience, we’re going to show you how to write about it in a way that makes you stand out from the competition, starting with: 

Are you a student with no work experience? We’ve got you covered. Check out our guide to writing a resume with no experience here.

Focus on Achievements Whenever Possible

One of the most common resume mistakes is only listing responsibilities in your work experience section.

Here’s the thing—in most cases, the hiring manager knows exactly what your job responsibilities are.

For example, if you’re a sales manager, your responsibilities would be:

• Reach out to potential clients over the phone or email.
• Maintain relationships with existing company clients and upsell relevant products.
• Tracking and reporting on leads in CRM.

Coincidentally, this is also the same list of responsibilities for every sales manager out there. So, 90% of all other resumes probably mention the same thing.

To stand out from the competition, you want to focus on writing achievements in your resume instead. These can be how you helped your previous company grow, reach quarterly quotas, and so on.

Let’s compare how responsibilities hold up next to achievements for the same job:

• Exceeded sales team KPIs by 30%+ for 3 months straight.
• Generated over $24,000 in sales in 1 month.
• Generated leads through cold-calling
• Managed existing company clients

Keep in mind, though, that in some fields, there just aren’t that many achievements you can mention. Let’s say you’re a warehouse worker .

Your day-to-day responsibilities probably include:

• Loading, unloading, and setting up equipment daily.
• Packaging finished products and getting them ready for shipping.
• Assisting in opening and closing the warehouse.

In fields like this, it’s pretty hard to distinguish yourself through achievements, so it’s okay to stick to responsibilities instead. You can still make them shine by following the rest of our advice about listing your work experience.

Keep in mind, though, that in some fields, there aren’t that many achievements you can mention. Let’s say you work in a warehouse. Your day-to-day responsibilities probably involve:

• Loading, unloading and setting up equipment on a daily basis.
• Package finished product and get it ready for shipping.
• Assist in opening and closing the warehouse.

In such fields, it’s pretty hard to distinguish yourself, so it’s totally OK to stick to responsibilities instead.

Tailor Your Resume to the Job

Tailoring is what sets an amazing resume apart from an okay one.

Hiring managers don’t need to know about every single job you’ve ever worked at or every single skill that you have.

They only want to know about your jobs, experiences, or skills that are relevant to the role you’re applying for.

For example, if you’re applying for a job doing Google Ads, you don’t need to talk about your SEO internship from eight years ago.

By focusing your resume on whatever is important for the specific role, you’re a lot more likely to stand out and catch the hiring manager’s attention.

Let’s take a look at an example of a job ad:

As you can see, we’ve highlighted the most important requirements.

To tailor your resume accordingly, you just need to mention how you meet each of these requirements in your resume.

You can highlight your relevant achievements and qualifications in different parts of your resume, such as:

• In your resume summary, where you should recap your years of experience.
• Throughout your work experience section, where you should list achievements and responsibilities that reflect your social media marketing experience.
• In your education section, where you can let the hiring manager know you have the degree that they’re looking for.

Include the Right Amount of Work Experience

If you’ve got over a decade’s worth of work experience, you’re probably wondering whether all of it belongs on your resume. In most cases, you’d end up writing a novel if you listed everything you’ve ever done, and that’s not how long a resume should be .

If you’re new to the job market, on the other hand, you probably don’t have any experience, and you’re wondering what you could even add to this section.

So, here’s how much information your resume should include, depending on your level of experience:

• No experience. If you’re looking for your first job , you won’t have any work experience to fill this section with. So, you can either keep it empty and focus on all the other sections or fill it up with any experience gained in student organizations, extracurricular activities, volunteering, and other projects.
• Entry-level. List all your work experience so far. While some of it won’t be relevant, it can still show the hiring manager that you do have some actual work experience.
• Mid-level. Only mention relevant work experience to the position you’re applying for. There’s no need to waste space on jobs that aren’t related to what you’re after.
• Senior-level. List up to 15 years of relevant work experience, tops. If your most recent experience is as a marketing executive , the hiring manager doesn’t care how you started your career as a junior marketing specialist 23 years ago.

Consider Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Software

Did you know that over 70% of resumes don’t even make it to the hiring manager ?

Most companies these days use ATS to evaluate hundreds of resumes instantaneously and automatically filter out the ones that don’t meet their criteria.

For example, if a resume doesn’t mention a specific skill or isn’t formatted correctly, the ATS will automatically reject it.

Fortunately, there are some easy ways to make an ATS-friendly resume .

Here are a couple of tips to help you get past those pesky robots:

• Stick to one page. Sometimes employers set a limit on how long a resume should be. This means that if your resume is longer than one page, it might get automatically disqualified.
• Incorporate keywords. Tailoring your resume to the job helps a ton with beating the ATS. Just carefully read the job description to find hints for what the ATS will be looking for. Then, whenever you find keywords related to your responsibilities and achievements, make sure to include them in your work experience section.
• Use an active voice. Passive voice is too vague and unclear, so make sure to use active voice as much as possible when describing your previous jobs. (E.g.: “Managed a team of ten people,” instead of “ A team of ten people was managed by me.” )
• Leverage powerful action words. Instead of starting each of your sentences with “was responsible for," make your work experience impactful by using words that can grab attention. Saying that you “spearheaded” or “facilitated” something sounds a lot more impressive than “helped.”

Want to make sure your resume formatting passes the ATS test? Choose one of our tried and tested ATS-friendly resume templates , and you’ll be good to go! 

#5. List Your Education

The next section on your resume is dedicated to your academic qualifications. Let’s start with the basics!

Here’s how you should format the education section on your resume :

• Program Name. Your major and degree type should be listed. (E.g.: “B.A. in Business Administration” )
• University Name. Add the name of the institution. (E.g.: “New York State University” )
• Dates Attended. Use a mm/yyyy format for the dates you attended. (E.g.: “08/2008 - 06/2012” )
• Location. If your university is less well-known, you can also add the location. (E.g.: “Stockholm, Sweden” )
• GPA. Use the appropriate grading system for the country you’re applying to work in. (E.g.: In the USA, it would be “3.9 GPA” )
• Honors. Add any honors and distinctions you’ve been given. (E.g.: Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, Summa Cum Laude )
• Achievements. You can mention interesting papers you’ve written, projects you’ve done, or relevant coursework you’ve excelled in.
• Minor. “Minor in Psychology”

Pretty simple, right? Now let’s see what an education section looks like in practice:

This example includes all the necessary information, plus an eye-catching award and relevant classes this candidate has taken.

Resume Education Tips

Now that you know how to list your education on your resume, let’s take this section to the next level.

Just follow these expert tips:

• If you’re making a resume as a student and don’t have any work experience yet, you can list your education section at the beginning of the page instead of work experience.
• You can add your expected graduation date if you’re still pursuing your degree.
• If you already have relevant work experience, just keep this section short and sweet. Recent graduates can expand on their education more and add optional information like projects, classes, academic achievements, etc.
• Always list your degrees in reverse chronological order, starting with your highest degree on top. Your highest and most recent degree is usually enough, so if you have a Master’s degree that’s relevant to the job, there’s no need to mention your earlier degrees.
• Don’t add your high school degree to your resume if you already have a university degree. It doesn’t have as much weight, and you can use the space for something else.
• Only mention your GPA if you had an impressive academic career. Anything below a 3.5 GPA doesn’t need to be on your resume.

Are you in the process of applying for college? Check out our guide to writing a college application resume to wow that admissions officer!

#6. Emphasize Your Know-How in the Skills Section

After your work experience, your skills are the first thing the hiring manager is going to look for. In fact, together, work experience and skills make up 90% of the hiring decision .

So, this is the place where you want to mention all the know-how that makes you the perfect candidate for the job.

There are two types of skills you can include when writing your resume:

• Hard Skills. These are measurable abilities. What you can list here can be anything from coding in Python to knowing how to cook Thai cuisine.
• Soft Skills. Also known as personal skills, these are a mix of communication skills , personal traits, career attributes, and more. They can include leadership, critical thinking, and time management , just to name a few.

Your resume should always cover both hard skills and soft skills . Here’s an example in action:

Now, let’s discuss how you should list your most important skills on your resume.

There are a few essential steps you need to follow:

Always List Hard and Soft Skills Separately

Your resume should be easy and neat to navigate. The hiring manager shouldn’t have to waste time looking for a specific skill because you didn’t separate it into the appropriate subsection.

So, just create separate categories for your hard and soft skills.

Depending on your field, you could customize the name of your “hard skills” subsection to something like “technical skills," “marketing skills," or something else related to your field.

Let’s look at an example of what skills look like on a project manager’s resume :

Methodologies & Tools

• Agile Methodology
• SCRUM Framework
• Waterfall Project Management
• Microsoft Project
• Critical Path Method (CPM)
• Earned Value Management (EVM)
• Risk Management

Soft Skills

• Team Management
• Conflict Resolution
• Negotiation

Tailor Your Skills to the Job

You might have some awesome skills, but the hiring manager only needs to know about the ones that are relevant to the job.

For example, if you’re applying for a job as an accountant, your gourmet chef skills shouldn’t be on your resume.

Look at the job ad and list at least two to three essential skills you have that are required for the role. Remember—there’s no need to list every skill you have here; just keep it relevant.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Graphic Design or a related field.
• Tech-savvy, with some background in CMS systems such as WordPress.
• Thrives in a stressful environment and juggles multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Self-reliant, with the ability to manage their own work.
• A can-do attitude and an outside-the-box thinker.
• Proficient in Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Keynote, and Pages.
• Basic understanding of Office software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

So, the must-have hard skills here are Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Keynote, and Pages. Other good computer skills to have are WordPress or similar CMS systems.

While you can also mention Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, it’s pretty much assumed that you know how to use them since they’re required for most office jobs.

List Hard Skills with Experience Levels

For each hard skill you list on your resume, you should also mention your proficiency level. This tells employers what they can expect from you and how much training you might need.

• Beginner. You have some experience with the skill, whether it’s from some entry-level practice or classroom education.
• Intermediate. You’ve used the skill in a work environment with good understanding.
• Advanced. You’re the go-to person for this skill in your office. You can coach other employees, and you understand the skill at a high level.
• Expert. You’ve applied this skill to more than a handful of different projects and organizations. You’re the go-to person for advice about the skill, not just in your office but even amongst some of the best professionals in your field.

Just make sure to never lie about your actual skill level. Even if you get the job, once you need those skills you exaggerated, it will be pretty awkward for both you and your employer.

Include Transferable Skills

These are the types of skills that are useful for almost any job out there.

Transferable skills can be both soft skills (e.g.: teamwork, creativity, problem-solving skills, and others) and hard skills (MS Office Suite, HTML, writing, etc.)

Whatever job you’re applying to, chances are you have transferable skills from your experience that can come in handy one way or another. So, feel free to include them, even if they’re not specifically required for the position.

Not sure which skills to mention on your resume for your specific field? Check out our list of 101+ essential skills for inspiration!

#7. Leverage Optional Resume Sections

The sections we’ve covered so far are must-haves for any resume. They’re the bread-and-butter for any job application, and if you get them right, you’ll land any job you apply to.

But if you have some leftover space, there are a few optional sections you can choose from to give your resume a boost!

Are you bi-lingual? Or even better  – multi-lingual? You should always mention that on your resume!

Even if the position doesn’t require you to know a specific language, it can still come in handy at some point. At the end of the day, it’s always better to know more languages than less.

To list languages in your resume , just write them down and assign them the appropriate level:

• Intermediate

You can also use the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) or the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency scales.

As a given, you should never lie about your language skills. You never know—your interviewer might turn out to be fluent in the language or even be a native speaker!

Hobbies and Interests

If you want to spice up your resume, hobbies and interests could be just what you need.

While this section isn’t a game-changer, it can help the hiring manager see who you are as an individual.

For example, if you listed “teamwork” as one of your skills, hobbies like team sports can back up your claim.

And who knows? Maybe you and your interviewer have some hobbies or interests in common!

Volunteering Experience

If you’re the type of person who devotes their free time to helping others while expecting nothing in return, chances are that you’re the type of employee who’s in it for more than just the money. 

Seeing volunteer experience on your resume tells hiring managers that you’re a loyal employee who’s after something meaningful.

Several studies show that listing your volunteer experience can boost your chances of getting hired, especially if you have little to no work experience.

Certifications

Hiring managers love candidates who invest in themselves, and that’s exactly what they see when you list certifications on your resume .

If you value continuous learning and strive to expand your skill set, that’s always a plus.

Certifications can also show employers how much expertise you have.

For example, if you’re a Microsoft Cloud Engineer and you specialize in Microsoft Technologies, you should definitely include all essential certifications on your resume, such as the Azure Solutions Architect Expert one.

Awards and Recognitions

There’s no harm in showing off a little on your resume. After all, you want to be a candidate that shines above the rest.

So, if you’ve received any awards or recognitions that make you stand out in your field, make sure to add them.

For example, if you’ve been recognized for your contributions to data science or received a hard-to-come-by scholarship , mention it in your resume. Just keep your entries here relevant to the field you’re applying to.

Publications

Whether you’re a freelance writer or a distinguished academic, publications are always impressive.

If you have any published works (online or in an academic journal), you can add them to your resume. Just make sure to include a link so the hiring manager knows where to check your work!

Are you looking for a career in academia? Check out our guide to writing the perfect academic CV to get started!

Working on side projects can show off your passion for your field. Whether they’re university class projects or part-time entrepreneurial endeavors, they’re relevant.

For example, if you worked on a mock software product as part of a university competition, it shows you went through every step of product creation, from ideation to creating a marketing strategy.

This project also shows off your organizational skills , and if you mention it in your resume, you stand a better chance of landing the job you had your sights set on.

But projects can also be personal, not academic. For example, you might manage an Etsy store where you sell hand-made arts and crafts to customers online. This is a great opportunity to highlight your creativity, management, and customer service skills .

Overall, hiring managers love employees who do cool work in their free time, so projects are always a great section to add to your resume.

Looking to kickstart your career? Check out our guide on how to get an internship for useful tips and real-life examples!

Extracurricular Activities

Every college freshman knows that extracurricular experience can make a difference in their application.

Especially if you don’t have a lot of experience outside of school, extracurricular activities are a great way to show potential employers your skills and give them insight into you as a person. Different clubs and after-school projects can help you gain real-life skills and considerably increase your chances of landing your first job after college.

For example, joining a student government organization can hone your leadership skills and teach you how to work as part of a team.

For example, if you’re part of a student government or public speaking club, these activities can help you hone your leadership and presentation skills.

11+ Expert Resume Tips

You’ve got the gist of how to make a resume. Now, it’s time to make it really stand out from the crowd!

Follow these exclusive resume tips to take your resume game to the next level:

• Match the professional title underneath your name to the job title of the position you’re applying for. Hiring managers often hire for several roles at once, so giving them this cue about what role you’re after helps things go smoother.
• Mention any promotions from your previous jobs. Use the work experience entries for them to focus on the achievements that helped you earn them.
• Describe your achievements using Laszlo Bock’s formula : accomplished X as measured by Y by doing Z . This way, your work experience can go the extra mile and show the hiring manager what you can bring to the table.
• Always list your achievements and responsibilities in concise bullet points. This makes your resume more reader-friendly, and it’s more likely that the hiring manager will see your impressive achievements at a glance.
• Don’t use personal pronouns like “I” or “me,” and don’t refer to yourself by name. Stick to a slightly altered third person, like “managed data integrity at XYZ Inc.” instead of “he managed data integrity at XYZ Inc.”
• Name your resume sections correctly, or it might get rejected by the ATS. Swapping out quirky names like “career history” or “expertise” for “work experience” and "skills" makes it easier for the hiring manager to find what they’re looking for, too.
• Prioritize important keywords instead of adding all of them. Make sure the relevant skills, qualifications, and experiences you add all make sense in context, too. Your goal is to get past the ATS and impress the hiring manager.
• Focus on transferable skills if you don’t have a lot of relevant work experience. Any extracurricular activities or personal projects can help you stand out here.
• Add a strategic pop of color to headings, bullet points, or key elements you want to highlight. It can help your resume stand out, but don’t overdo it—you want the information to be more impressive than the color palette.
• Don’t include the line “references available upon request.” Hiring managers already know they can request a list of references from you, so there’s no need to waste valuable space on it.
• Make sure your resume is optimized for mobile viewing. Most hiring managers use their mobile phones as often as desktop computers, so save your resume to a PDF file and make sure your formatting stays intact across any device.
• Rename the resume file you plan to send so it includes your name and the name of the position you’re applying for. It’s a small detail that can turn into a crucial mistake if you forget it.
• Read your resume out loud when you’re done. This is a great way to catch awkward phrases or spelling mistakes you might have missed otherwise.
• Use a tool like DocSend to track your resume. You’ll get a notification any time someone opens your resume, and you can see how long they spend reading it.

FREE Resume Checklist

Are you already done with your resume? Let’s see how it holds up!

Go through our checklist for perfecting your resume and see where you stand!

If you missed some points, just go through your resume one more time and perfect it.

And if you ☑’d everything—congrats! You’ve learned all there is to know about writing a resume, and you’re good to go with your job search.

Need to write a CV instead of a resume? Check out our step-by-step guide on how to write a CV with dozens of examples!

9 Resume Templates for Different Industries

Looking to create an effective resume without dealing with the formatting hassle? Just choose one of the templates below.

#1. Traditional Resume Template

Good for traditional industries like finance, banking, law, and manufacturing.

#2. Modern Resume Template

Good for both contemporary and forward-looking industries, including entrepreneurship, medical technology, and engineering.

#3. Creative Resume Template

Good for creative industries, including entertainment, design, and architecture. 

#4. Minimalistic Resume Template

Good for experienced professionals in basically any industry who want to let their achievements do the talking. 

#5. IT Resume Template

Good for any IT-related profession like software development, cyber security, and DevOps engineering.

#6. Tech Resume Template

Good for the tech industry and everything it encompasses.

#7. College Resume Template

Good for college students and recent graduates alike.

#8. General Resume Template

Good for multiple industries, including HR, education, and customer service.

#9. Executive Resume Template

Good for senior professionals across different industries, including hospitality, marketing, and logistics.

17+ Resumes for Different Jobs

Knowing how to write a resume is one thing, but making a resume that stands out is something entirely different. Without inspiration, even top career experts might stumble on a roadblock or two.

Check out the following effective resume examples for specific jobs to get a better sense of what a good resume looks like:

#1. Nurse Practitioner Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a nurse resume here.

#2. Data Scientist Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a data scientist resume here.

#3. Business Analyst Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a business analyst resume here.

#4. Digital Marketing Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a digital marketing resume here.

#5. Software Engineer Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a software engineer resume here.

#6. Construction Project Manager Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a construction project manager resume here.

#7. Customer Service Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a customer service resume here.

#8. High School Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a high school resume here.

#9. Student Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a student resume here.

#10. Server Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a server resume here.

#11. Actor Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing an actor resume here.

#12. Web Developer Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a web developer resume here.

#13. Engineering Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing an engineering resume here.

#14. Computer Science Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a computer science resume here.

#15. Architect Resume Example 

Check out our full guide to writing a data analyst resume here.

#17. Remote Job Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a remote job resume here.

#18. Sales Associate Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a sales associate resume here.

#19. Receptionist Resume Example

Check out our full guide to writing a receptionist resume here.

Want to see more examples? Check out our compilation of 80+ resume examples for different fields .

• Administrative Assistant Resume
• Bartender Resume
• DevOps Engineer Resume
• Executive Assistant Resume
• Flight Attendant Resume
• Graphic Designer Resume
• Paralegal Resume
• Pharmacist Resume
• Recruiter Resume
• Supervisor Resume

Next Steps After Your Resume

Now that we’ve covered everything you need to know about how to make a resume, it’s time to talk about the rest of your job application.

After all, your resume is only the first step in your job search. To land the job you deserve, you also need to write a captivating cover letter and ace that upcoming interview. Here’s how:

#1. How to Write a Convincing Cover Letter

The companion piece to every resume is the cover letter.

Most job-seekers flinch when they hear that they have to write a cover letter. What do you even mention in a cover letter, anyway? If you were good at writing cover letters, you’d be applying for a job as a writer !

In reality, though, writing a cover letter is very simple once you know its purpose.

Think of your cover letter as a direct message to the hiring manager. It’s your chance to briefly explain why you’re such an awesome fit for the position. And with a few cover letter tips to point you in the right direction, you’ll write the perfect cover letter for your job application.

Just follow this structure:

• Add the contact details. Include the same contact information as on your resume, plus additional contact details for the hiring manager, including their name, job title, the company’s name, and location.
• Introduce yourself. Start your cover letter by mentioning who you are, what your work experience is, and why you’re interested in the position. Mention a standout achievement or two, relevant skills, and what you’d like to do for the company you’re applying for.
• Explain why you’d excel at the job. Find the requirements in the job ad that you meet, and elaborate on how you fulfill the most important ones. Research the company so you know what you like about it, and mention it in your cover letter. Make sure to convey your enthusiasm for the job and confidence that you’ll be a great fit for their team.
• Wrap it up politely. Conclude your cover letter by recapping your key selling points and thanking the hiring manager for their time. Then add a call to action, such as “Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at the provided phone number so that we can discuss my application in greater detail.” Then, add a closing line and follow it with your full name.

Sounds easy, right? Here’s a real-life example to drive the point home:

Do you need more help perfecting your cover letter? Learn what the most common cover letter mistakes are and check out cover letter examples for all professions here.

#2. How to Ace Your Next Interview

Once you’ve perfected both your resume and cover letter, there’s only one thing left.

It’s time for the final step—the dreaded job interview.

Whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert, you probably hate the interviewing process. No matter how experienced you are, it can be nerve-wracking. Sitting there while someone’s prodding into your past experiences and judging you isn’t fun.

But did you know that most interviewers ask the same questions?

That’s right—all you have to do is learn how to answer some of the most common interview questions, and you’ll be an interview away from landing your dream job!

Just check out our complete guide to the 35+ Job Interview Questions and Answers and learn how to ace your next interview.

FAQs on How to Make a Resume

Do you still have some questions about making a resume? Check out the answers to the most frequently asked questions below!

#1. What does a good resume look like in 2024?

For your resume to look good in 2024, make sure it’s organized and clean and isn’t longer than one page.

Be sure to include information that adds value to your application—leave out the focus on your relevant work experience and skills that you can back up, and list as many achievements as possible. 

If you’re using a resume template, choose one based on your industry. Conservative industries like law, banking, and business require more traditional resume templates. But if you’re going for an industry like design, architecture, or marketing, you can go for a creative resume template . 

Remote work is also big in 2024, so if that’s what you’re after, tailor your resume to match the job you want.

#2. How do you make a resume in Word?

The best way to create a resume in Word is to use a pre-designed Microsoft Word template. To access them, you should: 

• Open MS Word
• Click “file” from the menu bar 
• Select “new”
• Type “resume templates” in the search bar 

That said, Word resume templates are generic, hard to personalize, and overall not very stylish.

Want a resume that looks good and is extremely easy to make? Check out resume templates to get started!

#3. How do I write a resume for my first job?

If you’re writing your first-ever resume for an entry-level position, the hiring manager won’t expect you to have any work experience.

However, you can make up for your lack of experience with your skills and academic achievements.

For example, you can take advantage of extracurricular activities, internships, volunteering experiences, and other non-professional experiences. You can use them to highlight the skills you’ve gained and what you’ve achieved so far.

So, your first job resume should have a resume objective, emphasize your education, and replace your work experience with any internships, volunteering, independent projects, or other experiences.

#4. How to make a resume on Google Docs?

You can make a resume on Google Docs by choosing one of their templates and filling it in on the go.

All you have to do is go to your Google Drive’s template gallery, choose your preferred template, fill in your information, and your Google Docs resume is ready to go! 

That said, Google Docs templates aren’t the most user-friendly choice. You don’t have much flexibility with the layout and formatting isn’t that easy. For example, you tweak a section to the slightest, and the whole resume becomes a mess.

If you want an easier option, check out our resume builder !

#5. What kind of resume do employers prefer?

Typically, employers prefer one-page-long resumes that follow the reverse chronological format. 

Hiring managers receive hundreds of resumes every day, so they don't have the time to read three-page resumes. Try one of our one-page resume templates so you don’t go over the recommended resume length.

Meanwhile, the reverse-chronological format is the most popular because it draws attention to your most recent jobs and professional achievements, which is the #1 most important thing hiring managers look at when evaluating a resume.

#6. How many jobs should you put on your resume? 

You should only include relevant job positions on your resume.

This means that your work experience section should be tailored to the job you are applying for. If you’ve worked five different jobs and they can all add value to your current application, then you should include all five. 

If, on the other hand, you’re applying for, say, a customer service position and some of your past jobs don’t have anything to do with customer service, you should skip them.

#7. Should I put my address on my resume? 

You can put your location (city, state, or country) on your resume, but you don’t need to put your entire physical address.

Putting a physical address on a resume was the norm back when companies would contact you via mail. In today’s world, everyone communicates via email, which is why adding a correct and professional email address to your contact information section is far more important than putting your physical address. 

So, just include your location or-–if you’re a remote worker—specify you prefer to work remotely by writing “working remotely from [location].”

#8. What information should I leave out of my resume?

As a general rule, you shouldn’t include your birthday or your headshot on your resume. This norm varies from country to country but it applies to the USA, Canada, and UK.

If you have plenty of achievements to list under your work experience, then you can leave your basic work responsibilities out of your resume. 

In your education section, you should only include your highest and most recent degree. So, if you hold a Ph.D., you can list that and your Master’s degree and leave your Bachelor’s degree and high school diploma out.

Finally, leave out any skills that aren’t relevant to the job you’re applying for.

#9. Is a resume a CV?

Depending on where you are, a CV (Curriculum Vitae) and a resume might be completely different things.

In most of the world, though, including Europe and Asia, they are used interchangeably for the same document. Both CVs and resumes are one to two pages long, and list skills and experiences relevant to the position you’re applying for.

Sometimes more detailed resumes that go over one page are referred to as CVs. These are typically only used by senior professionals, executives, CEOs, etc.

In the USA, however, a CV is a completely different document. Typically, CVs are detailed and comprehensive documents that highlight your entire academic and professional history. They’re often used for academic, scientific, or research positions, which is why this type of CV can also be referred to as an academic CV.

You can create your CV using one of our CV templates !

#10. Should I write my own resume?

Yes, you should always write your own resume.

Your resume is your opportunity to show the hiring manager your communication, writing, and presentation skills . Employers also evaluate you based on how effectively you can convey information about yourself, and there’s no one that can represent you better than yourself.

Writing your own resume lets you introduce yourself authentically. You have the best understanding of your skills and experiences, and you can personalize them to make your resume stand out.

And, as a bonus, the experience of writing your resume yourself can be reflective and insightful, so it might help you understand your professional journey and career goals better.

#11. Can a resume be two pages?

Generally, we strongly recommend that your resume stick to one page.

Hiring managers go through hundreds of resumes every day, and keeping your resume to one page increases the odds that they’ll see your qualifications faster.

In some cases, like when you have a lot of relevant experience, your resume can go over two pages. But this exception is reserved for senior professionals with over a decade of relevant experience and tons of skills and achievements that simply can’t fit on one page.

#12. Is a simple resume okay?

Absolutely, a simple resume is often more than okay—it's preferable.

Before your resume even gets to the hiring manager, a complicated layout could get it rejected by the applicant tracking system (ATS). A simple resume template can help get your application straight to the hiring manager.

A clean layout can also make sure that your resume is easily readable and looks professional. This can focus the hiring manager's attention on your work experience and skills without excessive clutter or flashy colors to distract them.

Key Takeaways

And that’s a wrap!

If you’ve followed all of our advice until now, congrats! You’re probably an expert on how to make a resume.

To recap, let’s go through some of the most important lessons we’ve learned so far...

• Use the right resume builder to make the process as smooth as possible. You don’t want to mess around with formatting for hours before even starting to work on your resume!
• Focus on your achievements over responsibilities. This can help you stand out from all the other applicants, especially if you back your claims up with data.
• Include all the must-have sections, like the resume summary, work experience, education, and skills. Then leverage optional sections if you have leftover space.
• Tailor your resume for the job you’re applying for. Everything listed on your resume should be relevant to the specific job you’re applying for, and you should write a new resume for every new job application.
• Take the time to perfect your cover letter. It’s just as important as your resume, so make sure you pay as much attention to it!

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Multiple Positions, Same Company On Resume: Multiple Jobs, Promotions, Role Switch Formats and Examples

Whether you’ve been promoted, changed departments, or simply held more than one job at a single organization, it’s important to figure out how to list multiple positions at the same company on a resume.

Browse our gallery of resume examples here.

Your relationship with previous employers is an important part of your career story. Having held multiple jobs at one company shows that you can learn and grow with a workplace. This is impressive to hiring managers when you can show it effectively. If a company liked you well enough that they gave you a promotion or hired you more than once, your resume should make this clear.

Employers are always on the lookout for workers who are in it for the long haul. Finding and training new employees is expensive and time consuming, so hiring someone who doesn’t stick around long can cost the company money. When your resume shows long tenures and multiple roles at past companies, you can assure potential employers that you aren’t a job-hopper.

Browse our gallery of resume templates here.

Just how you should list multiple jobs at the same company, however, depends on your specific career journey. Your resume should tell a story and show how your career has progressed. You need to find the right formatting to leave the reader with a clear idea of how you got to where you are today.

With that in mind, here are 4 strategies for showing multiple positions at one company on your resume.

• 1. Stack similar job titles together

Sometimes, taking a new position doesn’t mean taking on new obligations. When the different roles you’ve held at a company are very similar, you don’t need to waste space writing the same job description twice.

If this is the case, you shouldn’t create a separate entry in your Work Experience section for each role. Instead, you can stack the job titles together and add your experience and achievements from both roles in a single entry. This single entry can then show your entire history at the company.

When to stack job titles together

Stack job titles when the jobs in question have identical or similar job descriptions. For example, you may have received a title change with no change in duties, been promoted to a job that increased your authority but didn’t change your day-to-day activities, or been transferred to a different branch office for the same role. In cases like this, describing both jobs would be repetitive.

Stacking job titles works best when you held the jobs one after the other. This way, the dates beside each role are still in order, even though they don’t have individual descriptions. If the jobs weren’t back-to-back—if you worked for a different company in between these jobs, for example—the timeline will be confusing. Only stack job titles when describing consecutive roles.

Suggested link: Cover letter examples

Further, it’s best not to stack job titles in your resume when you’re applying through an applicant tracking system (ATS). An ATS is a type of software that some employers use to read and sort resumes, and it’s important not to confuse it. When your job titles are stacked together, the ATS may have difficulty understanding which role the description applies to. If you are applying via an ATS, consider writing every job in a separate entry, even when they were at the same company.

In short, stack job titles together when:

• The jobs were consecutive
• The job descriptions were similar or the same
• You were promoted or moved for a good reason
• You aren’t submitting your resume to an ATS

How to stack multiple positions at the same company

When stacking multiple roles together, add a single heading with the company title, followed by all of the associated job titles in reverse-chronological order. Beneath that, write bullet points describing the responsibilities that apply to all roles. This allows you to efficiently show that you have held different roles without repeating yourself in different job descriptions.

To stack multiple positions at the same company together:

• At the top of the entry, write the company name
• Below that, list the relevant job titles and their dates in reverse-chronological order
• Write a job description that applies to all roles

To make sure your promotion or department change is clear, include a brief explanation in the job description. For example, the first bullet point or sentence in your job description could be:

• Promoted to Senior Manager within 2 years after successfully leading two large projects.
• Transferred to a new branch office to introduce new management methodologies.

This way, any questions an employer could have about your move will be answered right away.

Template: Stacking multiple positions at the same company

Company Name Current Job | Start Date - End Date Previous Job |Start Date - End Date

• Accomplishment 1
• Accomplishment 2
• Accomplishment 3

Sample: Stacking multiple positions at the same company

Trinity Medical | 2013 - Present Vice President of Sales, 2016 - Present Regional Sales Director, 2013 - 2015

• Promoted within 2 years for superior performance.
• Increased Q1 quarter over quarter sales by 21%.
• Designed all sales compensation programs to drive sales of key products.
• Analyzed competitive intelligence to develop new go-to market approach.
• Implemented new sales strategy to recapture lost clients and grow sales of core customers.
• Reviewed sales profile and developed new sales training program.
• Managed the sales team and implemented a new culture of winning.
• Finished at #2 in the region for the year in 2014.
• Increased Year Over Year sales by $2.8M on a base of $29M in sales (2014).
• 2. Create separate entries for dissimilar consecutive roles

If you’ve been promoted or transferred to a role that had very different responsibilities, create separate entries for each role. Every position will need its own job description.

The entries can share the same company name heading, but the jobs themselves will need their own dedicated job description. It’s important that your resume reflects the distinct achievements and responsibilities in each position. To do this, create separate entries for each role.

When to use separate entries to list multiple back-to-back positions at the same company

If you’ve been promoted or transferred and the new job is very different from the old one, you will need to write separate job descriptions for each one. A single job description can’t cover all the duties, unlike when you stack similar entries.

When you use separate entries you can choose to list the company name only once, right above the first job. Listing the company name once will save you a line, so it is a useful way to save space on your resume. Remember that if you only list the company name once, the jobs have to be sequential. If you worked for a different company in between jobs, both roles should give the company name.

Using separate entries is better than using stacked job titles when you’re applying through an ATS. Applicant tracking systems will find it easier to read your resume when each company name and job title is right above the relevant job description.

In short, use separate entries that share a single company heading when:

• The jobs you held at the one company had different duties
• The jobs you held at the same company were consecutive
• You are applying through an ATS

How to list back-to-back positions at the same company using separate entries

When you list multiple positions at the same company on a resume using separate entries, they will look similar to the roles in other companies. The only difference is when the jobs are all back-to-back you can omit the company name from the older roles.

Use a single heading for the name of the company, with a job title and bullet points for each position below it. Arrange the roles in reverse-chronological order, and in each job description focus on the distinct accomplishments you achieved in that role. This will show that you have been successful in different contexts at the company.

To list multiple positions at the same company in separate entries:

• Give the company name once
• Below that, list the previous jobs at that organization in reverse-chronological order, including dates and descriptions

If you were promoted, be sure to draw attention to the promotion in the description of the most recent position. Promotions show that the company appreciated your work and trusted you with greater responsibilities.

Template: Separate entries multiple positions same company

Company Name Current Job Title | Start Date - End Date

Previous Job Title | Start Date - End Date

Sample: Separate entries multiple positions same company

Trinity Medical Vice President of Sales, 2016 - Present

• Increased Q1 and Q2 quarter over quarter sales by 22% and 23.5% respectively.
• Analyzed data and competitive intelligence to determine and execute new go-to market approach.
• Redefined sales profile and implemented new sales training program, positively impacting performance.

Regional Sales Director, 2013 - 2015

• Upgraded the sales team and implemented a new culture of winning.
• Finished at #2 in the region for the year in 2012.
• Increased YOY sales by $4.8M on a base of $31M in sales (2012).
• Developed 3 President Award Winners.
• 3. List the same company twice

No one’s career path is a straight line. Many people, especially those who work in the same industry for most or all of their career, will one day find themselves back at a company that they had left years before. If this is the case for you, your best bet is to simply list the two roles separately in your work history as though they were any other job, giving the name of the company each time.

When to list multiple jobs at the same company in separate entries non-consecutively

The only time it will be necessary to list the same company more than once non-consecutively is, appropriately, when you have held jobs with the same company more than once non-consecutively. If you work for one company, leave it for a different company, then return to the original company, you should list the jobs in the order they occurred.

How to list multiple jobs at the same company on your resume when they weren’t back-to-back

To list multiple jobs at the same company on your resume when they weren’t back-to-back, simply list them in the order they happened. Include the company title and job title in all instances. Items in your Work Experience section should be listed in reverse-chronological order, so the jobs will fit in alongside all the others.

In the most recent role, you can write a bullet point explaining why you returned to an old company. This is a good opportunity to highlight the skills or expertise that the company wants you for. If you were so good that they wanted you back, you should make a point of saying so!

Template: listing multiple jobs at the same company that aren’t back-to-back

Current Company Current Position | Start Date - End Date

Previous Company Previous Position | Start Date - End Date

Current Company Previous Position | Start Date - End Date

Sample: listing multiple jobs at the same company that aren’t back-to-back

• Increased Q2 quarter over quarter sales by 23.5% in 2017.
• Designed all sales compensation programs to drive sales of flagship product.
• Analyzed data and competitive intelligence to determine and execute new market approaches.
• Developed plan to recapture lost clients and grow sales to returning customers.
• Implemented new sales training program, improving performance.

Samson Pharmaceutical Products Regional Sales Director, 2013 - 2015

• Implemented a new culture of winning throughout sales team.
• Finished at #3 in the region for the year in 2014.
• Improved YOY sales by $4.8M on a base of $27M in sales (2014).
• Developed 2 President Award Winners.

Trinity Medical National Sales Director, East, 2008 - 2012

• Delivered YOY sales growth of 18% vs. organic market growth at 1% annually (2008 – 2010).
• Ranked #1 position for Region of the Year in 2009 and 2010.
• Spearheaded strategies to generate growth through MD practice development initiatives.
• Facilitated hospital marketing teams in driving patient volume to trained structural heart physicians.
• 4. List older jobs in a separate section

If you worked at the same company for several years, receiving promotions and working your way up the company ladder, you can show this by creating a distinct section on your resume for that company alone. The rest of your experience in other jobs will be in its own section.

When to use a separate section for multiple positions at the same company

Using a separate section for one company with many positions is best for older professionals with decades of experience, with work experience from a company that dates back several years. There should be enough roles at the former company to justify a distinct section.

This method can also be useful for people who have changed careers. Using a separate section for past jobs that aren’t as relevant to your current vocation is a good way to save space on your resume and tell your career story.

Ideally, all of your positions at a past company can be listed in reverse-chronological order. This means that you held them all in sequence, with no roles at any other company. If not, you may want to consider writing a functional resume , which can help you list past roles out of order (although most employers prefer reverse-chronological resumes).

How to use a separate section to list multiple positions at the same company.

To list all positions at one company in a distinct resume section, create two different sections for your Work History: one with all your jobs at a particular company, and one with the rest of your experience.

To do this, create a section separate from the rest of your work history. You can title the section with the name of the company, or give it a heading like “Previous Experience.” Then, within the section, list all of your job titles at that company in reverse-chronological order.

You can add descriptions to each job if necessary, but if these roles are from years ago and you have more current roles to highlight, you can leave those out. This efficiently showcases all of your previous roles and tells a clear story of how you worked your way through the company, while leaving room on your resume for more important details when you describe more recent positions.

In short, to list multiple roles at a company in a separate section:

• Create a section for your roles at one specific company
• List all your positions at that company in reverse-chronological order
• Create a different section for other work experience
• List your other positions in this section

Template: Listing multiple positions at the same company in a separate section

Prior Professional Experience Company Name Job Title | Start Date - End Date Job Title | Start Date - End Date Job Title | Start Date - End Date

Sample: Displaying multiple positions at the same company in a separate section

Trinity Medical Vice President of Sales, 2003 - 2005 National Sales Manager, 2000 - 2002 Regional Sales Director Southwest, 1997 - 2000

• Sample resume: multiple positions, same company

The way you format your resume depends on the way your career journey unfolds. Were you promoted to a new position? Headhunted by a previous company to come back for a management role? Did you work your way up the company ladder? Were you moved to a struggling branch because of your success at a previous branch? Whichever it is, make sure you list your multiple positions at the same company in a way that shows you to be the great employee you are.

If you need some inspiration to get started, this sample resume could help:

Public relations officer resume sample

Enthusiastic public relations officer who has a passion for working in a fast-paced environment. Highly skilled in persuasive communication and relationship management. Strong understanding of organizational boundaries. My previous experience in public relations includes analysis, team coordination, planning, and operational and administrative functions. Skilled team builder with demonstrated success in improving the image of institutions.

WORK EXPERIENCE

OGILVY & MCCANN Senior Public Relations Officer, 2020 - PRESENT

• Plan publicity strategies and campaigns, including PR outreach, social media campaigns, and articles.
• Train and manage interns.
• Supervise social media output.
• Represent clients at industry events.
• Write and produce presentations and press releases.
• Create, curate, and manage published content.
• Create reports for management showing ROI.

Public Relations Officer, 2015 - 2019

• Planning publicity strategies and campaigns.
• PR campaigns/social media campaigns/writing articles and designing visual graphics.
• Managing and training interns.
• Manage social media account.
• Compile reports for management showing results.
• Create strategic messaging on social media to grow our community.
• Working together with the Independent media group social media and audience development delegate to draw up and implement strategies to tap into potential markets and possible sale opportunities.
• Designing social media strategies to achieve marketing targets.
• Managing, creating and publishing original, high quality content on social platforms.
• Administering all company social media accounts to ensure up-to-date content.

Content Marketing Specialist, 2011 - 2015

• Created and curated engaging content.
• Communicated and build relationships with current or prospect clients.
• Created and distributed press releases.
• Built and updated media lists and databases.
• Scheduled, coordinated and attended various events.
• Performed research and market analysis activities.
• Written and produced presentations and press releases.
• Tracked social media performance and content coverage for clients.

POWERTRAIN Industries, 2009 - 2011 Public Relations intern

• Processed of all types of applications and paperwork.
• Assisted in office administrative duties.
• Performed research and market analysis.
• Tracked social media performance and content coverage .

YALE UNIVERSITY BA in Economics

• COMMUNICATION
• DIGITAL STRATEGIST
• PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS

• Should you list multiple positions on your resume for the same company?

Displaying multiple positions on your resume for the same company shows a hiring manager that you are reliable and in it for the long haul. It adds weight to your job application and helps your resume stand out.

• How do you put multiple positions at the same company on a resume?

Here are 4 ways to list multiple positions at the same company on your resume:

• Stack similar job titles together
• Create separate entries for dissimilar consecutive roles
• List the same company twice
• List older jobs in a separate section

Community Success Manager & CV Writing Expert

Ben is a writer, customer success manager and CV writing expert with over 5 years of experience helping job-seekers create their best careers. He believes in the importance of a great resume summary and the power of coffee.

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Our 2023 Free Resume Writing Guide is filled with quality job search tips, resume examples and information you need to know before writing your resume or CV.

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Turn your resume into an interview magnet, write and improve your resume, struggling to write your resume don't worry. we have over 250+ sample bullet points from top resumes across all industries and skills. use our templates and sample lines to quickly write an effective resume from scratch. with score my resume, you can improve your resume one upload at a time. unlike any other tool, you get specific feedback on your resume's content, including on each bullet point., proven to land top jobs, resume worded has helped hundreds of people land jobs at top companies like pwc, google, amazon and credit suisse. our ai-powered technologies have been designed by real hiring managers and provides actionable feedback on your linkedin profile and resume., optimize your job search funnel, let's say you apply to or get contacted by a recruiter for 50 job openings. out of those, your resume might get you 5 interviews, and out of those, you may end up getting one job offer. resume worded optimizes this job search funnel. with linkedin review, you'll get contacted by more recruiters for more jobs on linkedin, thus widening the top part of the funnel. with our resume tools, you'll then be able to ensure you are maximizing the conversion of those jobs to interviews., universities, bootcamps and educational institutions, our ai-powered career platform is proven to improve student outcomes and dramatically improve your efficiency. offer career coaching services, such as resume reviews, targeting, and linkedin reviews, at scale and drive operational efficiencies. want to learn more or request a demo get in touch below., accelerate your career, the only complete resume and linkedin toolkit. start getting more opportunities and interviews today., create a free account in 30 seconds, get actionable steps to revamp your resume and land more interviews using our free ai-powered tool.,    access samples from top resumes, get inspired by real resume samples that helped people get into top companies.,    optimize your linkedin profile, get tailored feedback on how to generate 5x more jobs, leads and opportunities..

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• Resume Templates Simple Professional Modern Creative View all
• Resume Examples Nurse Student Internship Teacher Accountant View all
• Resume Builder
• Cover Letter Templates Simple Professional Modern Creative View all
• Cover Letter Examples Nursing Administrative Assistant Internship Graduate Teacher View all
• Cover Letter Builder

Free online cover letter generator

Create the best cover letter now.

Our online cover letter instruments allow you to generate a detailed, passionate and informative appeal within minutes. No more agonizing over creative sentences, doubting your writing style or worrying about emotional perceptions. Powerful web tools and recruiter expertise are here to help!

Use our tech tools to write truly next-level cover letters and resumes . In a digital world, it’s important to stay competitive. Old-school methods have their place and charm, but if you want to land that dream job – it makes sense to get an edge over the other candidates.

Want to test out more beautiful designs? Quickly adjust the formatting? Easily generate multiple cover letters for several employers? This is now possible with our builder in record time and no technical knowledge required.

Our cover letter template designs and samples have been carefully crafted to maximize their visual and textual impact. You want recruiters to fall in love with your professional story before they even meet you. That’s what we aim to help you with.

Proven cover letter templates

Why our cover letter builder helps you getting the ideal job.

Finally, you don’t have to build anything from scratch. That’s always the most difficult part. And now it’s the part you can just skip. Our free cover letter templates are ready to use and fill in with minimal effort. The attention-grabbing beautiful designs and organized structure have been tested and vetted. All our cover letter templates have been approved by recruitment experts.

Recruiters and hiring managers still emphasize poor grammar and typos as a dominant reason for rejecting applications. Don’t be a part of that statistic. We’ve taken care of combining all the tools you need in one place - including a spell-checker. No need to use multiple software or online tools - the perfect cover letter build unites them all!

Go beyond just files and documents. Actually control and analyze your application process in one powerful dashboard. Our job tracker helps you monitor every stage of the job hunt. It provides a bird’s eye view of your successful tactics, as well as possible improvements. Add jobs to your shortlist to pursue later. Keep tabs on your offers. Stay on top of scheduled interviews, follow up on completed ones and more.

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How to build a cover letter.

It used to be the case that you needed creative writing skills to build an amazing cover letter. And time. Lots of time. Now, all you need is the perfect online builder - and you’re good to go!

Go to our varied collection of beautifully designed cover letter templates and pick one that suits you! We have created templates and samples that align with jobs, industries and professional image goals. All you need to do is consider which one strikes your fancy and is appropriate for your potential employer.

Add your contact information, as well as any needed (and appropriate) personal data the employer requires. Our well-designed templates make sure your info won’t get overlooked and your documents don’t get lost due to boring visuals. After all, your cover letter is your ambassador.

Save tons of time, condensing the long journey of a convincing professional appeal to several minutes and keystrokes. You can use our free guiding samples that show mock-up cover letters, written by hiring professionals based on years of experience. With all the technical and guiding support - this won’t take long!

Tailor the design, structure and formatting of your cover letter in a couple of clicks. The template and other aspects of your document can be adjusted as you see fit. And what’s more, you can experiment as long as you want - our online and offline sync features mean you won’t lose any of your changes even if you lose your internet connection.

Whether your employer uses an Applicant Tracking System or prefers email, whether they use Mac or PC - we’ve got you covered. Make use of PDF files to perfectly preserve your beautiful cover letter formatting.

Land that dream job now!