1. Read the job requirements before you write
Identify the main responsibilities, required qualifications, and tools or methods the employer names. Match these to your real experience. This helps you choose which roles, projects, and achievements deserve space.
Tailoring does not mean copying the job description into your resume. Use relevant terminology when it accurately describes your work, and make the supporting evidence easy to find. Avoid hidden text and keyword stuffing.
2. Make contact details easy to find
Use the name you work under, a professional email address, a phone number, and your city or region. Add useful LinkedIn, portfolio, or project links. Keep essential contact details as ordinary text in the document body.
Check the spelling of your email and test your links yourself. A full street address is usually unnecessary. Do not add sensitive identity or family information merely because a template has room for it.
3. Describe experience in a consistent way
For each role, include the job title, employer, dates, and relevant contribution. Start with your most recent relevant work. Use a consistent date style, such as Apr 2024 – Present, and make ongoing roles clear.
Write bullets that explain actions and outcomes. A useful starting point is action + what you did + result. For example, “Automated weekly reporting in Excel, reducing preparation time from four hours to one” is specific when those figures are accurate. Without a reliable metric, explain the problem solved, scope, or practical outcome.
4. Add education, skills, and relevant supporting sections
List your qualification, institution, and graduation or expected date. Keep skills specific and demonstrable, using familiar tool or capability names. Explain important skills in your experience or project evidence as well as the skill list.
Projects, certifications, publications, awards, volunteering, and languages can help when they support the application. Leave unrelated or empty sections out. If you are starting your career, see the fresher resume guide for a useful order.
5. Choose a clear layout and inspect the export
Use standard section headings, consistent typography, and one main reading column. Avoid turning the resume into a screenshot. A selectable-text PDF or a genuine editable DOCX gives software access to the words, though individual systems can still interpret a file differently.
Choose a simple resume template, review page breaks, and read the plain-text version. Follow the employer’s file instructions, then check any information the application portal fills automatically. If you already have a final file, check its extracted text and common issues.
6. Proofread for accuracy before submitting
Verify names, dates, figures, job titles, contact details, and links. Replace all sample content. Ask whether each detail is relevant and whether you could discuss every claim in an interview.
CareerLift’s local checks can help you spot common gaps. They do not assess job eligibility or guarantee interviews. For more writing guidance, Harvard’s resume guide encourages specific, fact-based descriptions of your work.