How to write a resume in 2025
A resume has one job: get you to the interview. It does that by being easy for ATS software to parse, easy for a recruiter to scan in 10 seconds, and specific enough to prove you're qualified for the exact role. This guide covers every section, with examples.
In this guide
- 1Contact information
- 2Professional summary
- 3Work experience
- 4Skills
- 5Education
- 6Formatting rules
- 7Common mistakes
- 8ATS tips
1. Contact information
Include
- Full name
- Professional email address
- LinkedIn profile URL
- GitHub or portfolio URL (if relevant)
- City and state — no street address
Skip
- ✕Photo or headshot
- ✕Date of birth
- ✕Full home address
- ✕Social media handles (unless relevant)
2. Professional summary
Include
- 2–3 sentences maximum
- Your title or area of expertise
- One standout achievement or speciality
- What you're looking for (optional)
Skip
- ✕Objectives ('I'm looking for a role where...')
- ✕Generic phrases ('hard-working team player')
- ✕Anything longer than 3 sentences
3. Work experience
Include
- Company name, your title, start–end date, city
- 3–5 bullet points per role
- Metrics: %, $, headcount, scale, time saved
- Action verbs: Built, Led, Reduced, Shipped, Grew
Skip
- ✕Duties without outcomes
- ✕Vague language ('worked on', 'helped with', 'responsible for')
- ✕Every job you've ever had — cut anything older than 10–15 years
4. Skills
Include
- Technical tools, languages, frameworks
- Domain-specific skills relevant to your field
- Keywords that appear in the job description
Skip
- ✕Self-ratings (stars, percentages, 'Expert')
- ✕Soft skills in this section — show them in bullets instead
- ✕Skills you can't discuss in an interview
5. Education
Include
- Degree, field of study, school, graduation year
- GPA if above 3.5 and within the last 5 years
- Relevant certifications
Skip
- ✕High school if you have a degree
- ✕Coursework lists unless entry-level
- ✕Outdated certifications
6. Formatting rules that matter
One page for under 10 years of experience. Two pages maximum for senior roles. If you're trimming to fit one page, cut early-career jobs first.
10–11pt for body text. 16–18pt for your name. 12–13pt for section headings. Anything smaller than 10pt looks suspicious.
0.5–0.75 inches on all sides. Narrower than 0.5 looks cramped; wider than 1 inch wastes space.
Single column only if you're submitting to ATS. Two-column layouts often parse as one garbled line of text.
Export as PDF. Word documents reformat on different machines. Always PDF unless a posting explicitly asks for .docx.
Stick to clean, readable fonts: Calibri, Georgia, Helvetica, or similar. Avoid decorative fonts entirely.
7. Bullet point examples — weak vs. strong
Vague bullets are the most common reason good candidates don't get callbacks. Compare:
✕ Weak
Was responsible for the company website
✓ Strong
Rebuilt the company website in Next.js, reducing load time from 6.2s to 1.4s and increasing organic traffic by 34%
✕ Weak
Managed a team of engineers
✓ Strong
Led a team of 6 backend engineers, delivering 3 major features per quarter with a 96% on-time shipping rate
✕ Weak
Helped grow the sales pipeline
✓ Strong
Generated $1.2M in qualified pipeline through outbound campaigns, contributing to a 28% increase in quarterly ARR
8. ATS checklist before you submit
- Single-column layout — no tables, no text boxes
- Standard section headings (Work Experience, Education, Skills)
- Keywords from the job description appear naturally in your bullets
- Contact info in the main body, not in the page header/footer
- Exported as PDF with selectable text (not a scanned image)
- No emojis, logos, or graphics in the content area
- Dates in a consistent format (Jan 2022 – Mar 2024)
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