Best Professional Resume Outline Examples and Template

What is a resume outline?

Figuring out how to edit or even begin writing a resume is a valuable skill that begins like most great papers, with an outline. A resume outline is a template or format that maps out the general structure of your resume. It can help you determine where certain information will be placed and decide the format, design, and content for the perfect custom resume. By mapping out your resume, you can get an idea of how much space you have to work with and which sections you should emphasize to hiring managers and recruiters that will highlight not only that you’ve read the job description, but that you have the top qualities they’re looking for.

A good resume outline can help job seekers organize their thoughts and get an idea of what their most important skills and qualifications are but if you’ve never written a resume or an outline before we can help you with the expert advice below by providing you with:

• Examples of a resume outline to work from
• Step-by-step tips on how to write your resume outline
• Tools you can use to transform your outline into a polished resume

Resources for Your Next Career Move

Explore our complete resume examples selection for tips and resources tailored to every career path.

Resume outline example

Here is a resume outline example to follow:

Heading:

John Smith
Address: 455 Sanner Road Chicago, IL 60098
Phone Number: (555) 555-5555
Professional Email: example@example.com
LinkedIn Profile (or portfolio link)

Introduction: (your resume summary or objective statement)

Example of an objective statement:

Creative [Job Title] with talent for [skills noted in job description]. Adept at [relevant soft skills]. Looking for [how Company’s position can help with career goal].

Example of a summary statement:

Deadline-driven [Job Title] focused on overseeing projects from concept through final delivery. Successful at [skills noted in job description]. Highly effective at [relevant soft skills]. Looking to help achieve [Company’s Name]’s goals and take on more responsibility.

Relevant Skills:

Hard Skill #1

Hard Skill #2

Hard Skill #3

Soft Skill #1

Soft Skill #2

Soft Skill #3

Work History:

• Company Name | Company Location (City, State)
  Most Recent Job Title | Start Date – Present (Month, Year or MM/YYYY)

  • Here you would summarize your key job duties and include metrics (dollars, numbers, or percents) that show the positive results of your actions.
• Company Name | Company Location (City, State)Earlier Job Title | Employer Name / Location / Start Date – End Date

Education:

Degree Name/Major
University, Location | Start Date – End Date

Additional Sections:

• Volunteering:
  • Start Date – End Date | Organization, Location
    • Summary of Significant duties
• Certifications/Training:
  • Full name of the certification (common abbreviation), Organization or State that issues the certificate – date you earned the certification (June 2020)

Outlining a resume: What to include:

Whether you are fresh out of school or you are looking to progress in your career, the basic outline of your resume will be the same. All of the resume samples you’ll find online during your job search have:

1. Contact information:

The header of your resume should include your full name and your contact information. You should include your phone number and your email address, as well as links to professional social media pages such as your LinkedIn profile. This section should be at the very top of your resume.

2. Resume objective/Summary:

Your resume summary or objective should generally be the shortest section of your resume. The point of the summary statement or objective is to give recruiters a brief snapshot of who you are and what you offer.

For example, someone seeking a job as a flight attendant might write:

“Experienced flight attendant with 15 years of experience seeking to utilize my skills and expertise in the position of [job title] within [company name]. An adaptable worker with excellent people skills seeking to maintain guest happiness and help [company name] maintain their outstanding reputation.”

Your resume summary or objective should be personalized to your background and skills, of course, but also to the job application you are applying to.

3. Skills and qualifications:

Depending on which resume format you choose, the skills section may be the largest section in your resume. That’s certainly the case in a functional resume format, where your skills section will be the focus. This format is best for people who have a sporadic or limited work history, such as recent graduates. Regardless of format, this section should include the soft skills, hard skills, technical skills, and qualifications that are most relevant to the job you are applying for. Use columns of bullet points to list your skills and maximize the space you have.

4. Work History:

The work experience section is exactly what it sounds like — the section that details your professional experience. Though this section is largely for job experience, you can also include relevant volunteer experience, internships and extracurricular activities in your work history if they relate to the job you want. If you have a lot of professional experience and are applying for a job that values it, you should opt for a traditional chronological resume. In general, you should stick to the last 10 years of work experience and think of three to five important responsibilities or achievements for each job you’ve had.

5. Education:

This section should contain your academic achievements as well as any professional certifications. Unless you want to point out specific awards or courses of study that connect with the job you want, this section will be relatively brief.

6. Additional sections:

In addition to the basic resume sections above it is important to solidify your network connections and experience by showcasing your certifications or relevant affiliations.

If applicable to the specific application, you may want to include:

• Design programs
• Presentations
• Languages
• Certifications
• Awards
• Affiliations

The best resume is one that takes these basic elements and tailors them to suit the skill set and qualifications of the job seeker. For example, if you have a limited or sporadic work history, write your outline as a functional resume, which stresses skills and qualifications, rather than a traditional chronological resume, which emphasizes work experience.

3 tips for creating a resume outline

The perfect resume for a job application will have the right skills and experiences to grab recruiters’ attention and are friendly to applicant tracking systems (ATS), which scan resumes for the text that fits what the job needs. Most importantly, a good resume should present your strengths. As you fill out your resume writing outline there are some things you should keep in mind in order to personalize it and give yourself the best chance of success. You can change your resume outline to suit your needs in a number of ways. These are:

1. Use your resume outline to help you choose the right format

The sections that show your skills and experience in the best possible light should take precedence in your resume. The outlining process involves putting your best skills front and center in your document, with those selected attributes determining which resume format you should choose from. There are three main types of resume formats that your resume outline can become: chronological, combination and functional. Deciding which one works best depends on the skills you need to highlight for the role, your education, work experiences and any shifts you may have had in your career.

• If you have a lot of work experience, your work history section should be at the top of the resume, just under the summary which means the chronological resume is the best choice for you.
• If you are trying to highlight both transferable skills and work experiences then a combination resume is the ideal choice.
• If you have a limited work history, however, your skills sections, education, and training can take center stage with a functional resume.

2. Tailor your outline for each job

The best thing to do when making your resume outline is to take a close look at the job description for the position you’re interested in as it will tell you the skills, years of experience, and required knowledge needed to do the job. This is also the measure to which your document will be compared. This will also help you find the right keywords and phrases to carefully work into your resume so that, even without an extensive work history, you can still make it past their ATS.

3. Choose the right length, font and margins

A professional resume should have the right look and your best bet for having your resume get into the hands of a recruiter is to present a straightforward, polished layout. The length of your document should be up to two pages maximum for experienced job seekers, with one page fitting the standard for most applicants. Choose a font that is legible, simple and professional-looking. Sans serif fonts like Arial are the best choices and should stay between 10.5 and 12 in size. Likewise, the margins should be between 0.5 to one inch all around.

If you make sure you have a good outline and you personalize your resume to suit your skills and experience, as well as the job description you are applying for, you will have a good chance of getting job interviews and opportunities. For even more inspiration to write your own resume, check out the many resume examples and samples available on ResumeHelp.

Next step: create your resume

Now that you’ve made sure you have a great resume outline you can begin personalizing your document to suit your skills and experience, as well as the job description you are applying for. ResumeHelp has a wealth of resources available so that you can choose the ideal design and format for your industry.

Check out these helpful tools, including our resume writing guide!

• Get a leg up on creating your document with our Resume Builder
• Use these examples to find the right layout for your document
• Find the best resume template for your industry

More resume outline tips and examples

If you want to make the best impression with your resume or need some inspiration for your outline then, ResumeHelp has many resources which could help you through their set of versatile and well-designed templates that can help your documents be professional and readable. That way you can create the perfect resume for your next job opportunity.

Check out these resources if you are looking for just the right way to present your resume or want to view other examples from related jobs in your industry:

• More resume examples for hundreds of jobs
• Professional Resume templates you can use
• Resume format guide
• How to write a resume
• Summary Resume Examples
• Objective Resume Examples
• Resume Skills
• Writing your work experience