How to Write a Resume: A Step-by-Step Guide
Short answer: Write a resume in seven steps: pick a clean, ATS-friendly template; add your name and contact details; write a 2–4 sentence summary; list your experience in reverse order with 3–5 results-focused bullets per role; add education; list the skills the job asks for; then cut it to one or two pages and tailor it to each job.
1. Choose a template that both people and software can read
Most large employers screen applications with an applicant tracking system (ATS) before a person sees them. A one-column layout with standard headings is the safest choice for online applications. Two-column designs work in modern systems and look good, but avoid layouts built from tables, text boxes or images of text.
You can change your mind later. In Ovelit Resume your content is stored separately from the design, so switching templates is one click.
2. Put your contact details at the top
- Full name, large and first
- A headline: the job title you want or hold (for example Registered Nurse or Senior Data Analyst)
- Email and phone number
- City and region, never your full street address
- LinkedIn and a portfolio link, if they help
Keep these in the body of the page, not in a header or footer: many applicant tracking systems ignore those areas.
3. Write a short summary
Two to four sentences that answer: who are you, what is your strongest proof, and what do you want next? Lead with your years of experience and specialty, include one concrete result, and leave out clichés like "hard-working team player".
Operations manager with 10 years in e-commerce fulfilment. Run a 180-person operation shipping 22,000 orders a day and cut cost per order by 19% in two years. Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
See resume summary examples for more.
4. Describe your experience as results, not duties
List roles in reverse chronological order, most recent first, with job title, employer, location and dates (month and year). Under each, write 3–5 bullets. The pattern that works:
Action verb + what you did + the result, with a number.
- Weak: Responsible for managing the social media accounts.
- Strong: Grew Instagram following from 40K to 610K in three years, driving 18% of online sales.
Numbers make claims believable: how many, how much, how fast, what percentage. If you cannot measure the result, describe its scale (team size, budget, number of customers). The action verbs list helps with strong openings.
5. Add your education
Degree or qualification, institution, and graduation year. Students and recent graduates can add GPA (if 3.0 or higher), honours and relevant coursework, and should put Education above Experience. Experienced professionals can keep it to one line.
6. List the skills the job asks for
Read the job posting and list the tools, methods and qualifications it mentions that you genuinely have, using the same wording. Six to fifteen specific skills is about right. Prove the important ones in your experience bullets too ("built dashboards in Power BI"), because a bullet shows the skill while a list only claims it.
7. Add sections that strengthen your case
Certifications, projects, volunteering, languages, awards and publications are all worth adding when they are relevant. Leave out hobbies unless they are specific and say something useful about you.
8. Cut it to length
One page for most people with under about ten years of experience; two pages for senior roles. Cut older roles to a line, remove duties that every candidate in your field would have, and drop anything you would not want to talk about in an interview. See how long a resume should be.
9. Tailor it for each job
Duplicate your resume for each application and adjust the headline, summary, skills and the order of bullets so the most relevant evidence comes first. The free ATS resume checker shows which terms from the posting are missing.
10. Proofread and export as PDF
Read it out loud, check dates and contact details, and export to PDF, unless the employer asks for Word. Make sure the PDF has selectable text (try highlighting a line); a scanned image cannot be read by an ATS.
Questions
What should a resume include?
Contact details, a short summary, work experience with results-focused bullets, education and skills. Add certifications, projects, volunteering or languages when they are relevant to the job.
Should I include a photo on my resume?
Not in the US, UK, Canada or Ireland, where many employers reject resumes with photos to avoid bias claims. In much of Europe, the Middle East and Asia a professional photo is common.
What file format should I send?
PDF with selectable text, unless the employer asks for Word (.docx). Name the file with your name, e.g. Jane_Smith_Resume.pdf.
Put it into practice
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