How to Write a Resume That Gets Noticed

During your job search, you will find different jobs that might interest you. The best way to land a job interview is to make a resume that summarizes your work experience, skills and abilities — and we’re here to help!

Keep reading our page to see:

• What makes a good resume
• Perfect resume examples and templates you can use
• Tips on how to write a resume that’s professional and impresses employers

A resume is a written record of your job history, skills and other information to help potential employers decide whether you are qualified for the job you are applying to. A resume is typically one to two pages long and does the following:

• A resume introduces employers to who you are as a job candidate. Highlight what makes you stand out from other applicants.
• A resume explains your most relevant skills and experiences. Be sure to match your skills and experiences to the requirements in the job description.
• A resume gives evidence that shows you’re the right person for the job. Make a good impression to show that you can perform the role’s tasks and contribute to the company’s success.

These are the key elements of a professional resume. The order in which these sections appear in your resume will be determined by your resume format (more on that below), but for the most part, the header will always be at the top of your resume, followed by your summary or objective, with the education section coming after your work history and skills sections.

1. Header:

The header has your contact information, which typically consists of your phone number, your location (usually your city and state of residence is all you need to include) and a professional email address where you can be reached. You can also include a link to a professional portfolio or profile site, such as your page on LinkedIn, or a social media account (if you use it for work).

Key Tip: Don’t waste space on details such as your date of birth or a photo of yourself, unless you’re applying for a job such as acting or modeling where your face is important.

2. Resume summary or objective:

Right below the header, you’ll find the resume summary or resume objective. They’re both short two- to three-sentence introductions that highlight your top skills and experience, but they have different aims depending on the job seeker’s years of experience. A summary is better for more experienced job seekers, as it provides an overview of your top skills and career achievements thus far. An objective focuses on important skills and includes a statement about your career and job goals (e.g., “Trained caregiver seeking opportunities to serve the senior community”).

Key Tip: Think of your summary or objective as an “elevator pitch” in which you only have a few seconds to explain who you are as a job seeker and your strengths.

3. Skills:

The resume skills section will normally feature a mixture of 8-10 hard skills and soft skills relevant to the job. Hard skills are abilities you’ve learned through experience or training, such as financial analysis, or how to operate specific equipment. Soft skills are intangible traits that define how you approach work or interact with others, such as attention to detail, problem-solving skills or flexibility.

List your skills in this section using bullet points. Depending on your resume format, you may have a single section dedicated to your skills, or several skill sections under different categories (e.g., “Organizational Skills” or “Soft Skills”).

Key Tip: To assemble your skills list for your resume, pay close attention to the job listing and pinpoint the skills required for the job. Then match them up with your own skill set. Sometimes you can figure out skills based on the nature of the job; for example, a position that involves managing a team of 20 people indicates that you need to feature important leadership skills when you write your resume.

4. Work history:

The work experience section is written in reverse-chronological order, meaning that your latest or current job is at the top. For each job title, you should provide the company name, your dates of employment and three to five bullet points that describe your job highlights.

Key Tip: Feature accomplishments instead of mundane daily tasks. The goal here is to give examples of how you’ve performed above expectations or how you contributed to a major success.

5. Education:

When writing the education section, you should only include your highest educational credentials. If you have a bachelor’s degree, don’t include your high school diploma; if you graduated more than 10 years ago, don’t include the graduation date. There’s also no need to include your GPA.

Key Tip: If you performed any special academic projects or gained recognition for specific achievements, you can feature them if they apply to the job. For example, if you majored in English and earned honors in creative writing, it’s useful to list your honors achievement for a copywriter position.

6. Additional sections:

We highly recommend creating sections for relevant certifications, awards, publications and other important achievements, as long as they apply to the job at hand. For example, if one of the job requirements is knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, listing your certification in Photoshop is a major plus in your favor. If you’re applying for a job that favors candidates with knowledge of a few languages, you could create a “Languages” section and list your understanding of each one, whether you are Fluent, Intermediate or Conversational.

Unless you’re applying for a job that requires more than 10 years of experience, you should limit your resume to a single page. Hiring managers will typically look at your resume for less than 10 seconds before deciding if you’re a good fit or not, so you need to make your document easy to scan.

Here’s a step-by-step plan to follow when writing your resume.

1. Check the Job Description

The description of the job will tell you what the recruiter is looking for. Note specific skills and experiences that the job wants. In your resume, plan to describe yourself the same way the job description talks about the ideal applicant. For example, if the description says they’re looking for a “detail-oriented, knowledgeable applicant with more than five years of experience,” highlight any skills and past achievements that show you’re detail-oriented and list any industry experience that matches what the role requires (e.g., five years of experience).

2. Look at resume examples

A resume format determines the way your information will be presented and organized. There are three formats you can choose from:

• Chronological resume: Employers are most familiar with this resume format. The chronological resume focuses on work experience and it’s ideal for candidates who have more than nine years of experience in the same field.
• Functional resume: Also known as the skills-based resume, this format emphasizes your skill set and not your work experience, with multiple sections outlining your best skills. It’s best for job seekers with little to no experience.
• Combination resume: As the name suggests, this resume format (also known as a hybrid resume) combines a focus on work history (from the chronological resume) with a substantial skills section (from the functional resume). It’s a great option for mid-level professionals with three to eight years of experience.

Visit our resume formats page for more tips on how to choose the format that’s best for you.

3. Use a professional layout

One of the best ways to impress potential employers is to use a resume layout that is professional and readable. How do you achieve this? Easy:

• Choose a professional font like Arial, Helvetica and Times New Roman.
• Make sure you have 1-inch margins throughout your resume.
• Keep the font size of your body text and section headings readable, with consistent spacing between sections.
• Ensure your resume template follows applicant tracking system (ATS) standards.

For more pointers on how to get your resume layout looking as good as it can be, visit our resume design section.

4. Personalize your resume for each job application

You should never submit exactly the same resume to more than one job application. It’s important to personalize your resume so it fits each job you apply to. Mention skills that are in the job posting and include professional experience that directly relates to the responsibilities of the new job. This way, you’ll be able to capture all the keywords and requirements for each job application. You’re presenting yourself exactly the way the company wants to see an applicant — every time.

5. Get specific

Anyone can say they’re good at something. It’s much better to show how good you are at something. Did you handle employee records at work? Don’t just state “Managed employee records,” write “Managed employee records for 500-person office.” Instead of stating “Oversaw processes that increased on-time deliveries,” write “Oversaw processes that increased on-time deliveries by 10 percent.” Numbers can set you apart from other job seekers.

6. Focus on achievements and key skills

Instead of just throwing every skill you have and listing every responsibility from past jobs, focus on the important ones. Mention work accomplishments that show off how good you are — and if you can include a number or quantifiable metric, better (e.g., “Led new process that led to 15% increased profits from previous quarter”). Your skill set should also be tailored to the job, so see if the potential employer wants an expert in Microsoft Excel or someone who’s up to speed in graphic design, include those skills, and mention work responsibilities or achievements where you used them. For more on how to make your work accomplishments shine, see our page on resume job descriptions.

7. Any relevant experience is good experience

If you’re short on professional experience, don’t worry! You can include volunteer experience, internships, relevant coursework and extracurricular activities as relevant experience so long as you learned important skills that will help you do the job well.

8. Keep it concise

Your resume should typically only be a single page. Two-page resumes are less common and run the risk of losing a hiring manager’s attention, especially if you don’t include information that targets what the job wants. That said, if you’re applying for a more senior role and have plenty of experience to back up your qualifications, it’s okay to go to two pages. If you’ve worked at more than two or three places, you don’t need to list every single responsibility you’ve ever had. Focus on your most relevant work experience to showcase that you have the right technical skills and know how to do the job.

9. Proofread your resume

Your resume might have the right “look” and impressive credentials, but all of your hard work might go to waste if the recruiter finds a typo. Reread your resume a few times before sending it in, checking for accuracy, grammar and spelling. You can also save time with our Resume Builder, which features a handy spell-checking tool that scans your resume.

10. Change things up if you’re not getting any bites

If you’re not getting any responses to your resumes and you’ve submitted to dozens of jobs, look into ways to improve your resume. This could mean brushing up some skills that employers seem to be looking for and adding them to your resume, or emphasizing certain work experiences and achievements over others. Just remember: you want to show the potential employer why you’re the best person for that specific job, so gear each resume to fit the job.

Before submitting your resume, always take the time to take a second look at your resume. Make adjustments as you see fit.

1. Confirm that your contact information is up-to-date. Is your email address professional sounding?
2. Ensure that your resume summary or resume objective highlights your best accomplishments.
3. Feature hard and soft skills that match the required skills for the job.
4. Does your work experience contain the most relevant responsibilities, achievements, internships or volunteer work?
5. Only mention your high school diploma if you lack college experience.
6. Keep your resume to a single page in length (unless you’re applying for a more senior job).
7. Be sure fonts are consistent throughout. Bold section headings.
8. Check margins and spacing between sections to allow for adequate spacing and white space.
9. Proofread your resume for typos and grammatical errors.
10. Download your resume in the file type specified in the job posting. If not specified, a PDF works well.

A professional job application isn’t complete without a cover letter. Why? Because a cover letter allows you to provide more context about your career highlights, further insight on why you’re the best candidate, along with more details about your career and personality.

Here are some tips on how to make a cover letter for a resume:

• Don’t repeat what’s already written on your resume. Your cover letter and resume are not twins, so dress them differently. Make sure they complement each other by expanding on a skill or work achievement in your cover letter.
• Get straight to the point. Your cover letter should only be a few paragraphs long. Don’t go beyond a single page, otherwise, the recruiter or hiring manager might not want to read it.
• Research the company. A huge part of writing a cover letter is telling the employer why you want to work for them and what attracts you about the job you’re applying for. Find out more about the company and use that information to tell them what inspired you to apply.
• Complement your resume’s content and look. A good cover letter expands on important points and experiences mentioned in your resume. Your cover letter should also have complementary fonts, colors, headers and footers. Using our cover letter and resume templates with our resume and cover letter builders allows you to match layouts for a cohesive application.

For more on cover letters, read our expert How to Write a Cover Letter article and Cover Letter Formats page. You can also let us do the heavy lifting by using our Cover Letter Builder.

We have dozens of expert articles with more resume-writing tips and career advice to help you put your best foot forward.

• Resume Design: Get more resume tips on design to make a professional resume.
• How to Make a Resume With No Experience: Making a resume with no prior work experience might seem daunting but follow our advice and you’ll have a great resume done in no time!
• Should You List References on a Resume?: Find the answer to that question and how to approach others to make them a professional reference.
• General Interview Tips: Prep for an interview with our expert tips and professional advice.
• Phone Interview Questions: Practice our phone interview questions and impress recruiters right off the bat.
• Questions to Ask an Interviewer: Show potential employers your interest in the job opening by asking them important questions during the job interview.

To recap, let’s go over the most important tips we’ve discussed on how to make a resume for a job:

1. Every professional resume should have the most basic resume sections, which are the contact information, professional summary or objective statement, skills section, work experience and education.
2. It’s OK to create additional sections highlighting certifications, awards and other important achievements.
3. The right resume format will be determined by your years of professional experience and career needs.
4. You should always tailor your resume to the job by reading the job posting and featuring relevant skills and experience.
5. It’s important to always write a cover letter that complements your resume to complete the job application.