How to Write a Resume: Step-by-Step Guide With a Template and Country Conventions

To write a resume, choose a format (reverse-chronological for most people), add contact details, a short summary, work experience, education and skills, and write every bullet as an action plus a result. Keep it to one or two pages, tailor it to each job advert, and proofread it twice. In the US a resume has no photo; UK and Australian norms differ slightly.

What a resume is and what it has to do

A resume is a short, targeted document that shows an employer, in under a minute of reading, that you can do the job. It is not your life story and it is not a list of duties. A recruiter or hiring manager typically skims first, so the top third of page one must already show who you are, what you do and your strongest evidence.

Three jobs, in order:

1. Get past the first skim. A clear layout, a headline and a two-to-three line summary.
2. Prove fit. Bullets that show results, in the vocabulary of the job advert.
3. Make the next step easy. Contact details that work, links that open, no typos.

If you are unsure whether you need a resume or a CV, read CV vs resume first. In the US and Canada, "resume" is the standard term for private-sector applications. In the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, "CV" is the usual word for a very similar document. The steps below work for both.

Step 1: Read the job advert and list the keywords

Before you write, copy the advert into a document and underline three things: the duties, the required skills, and the words the employer repeats. Those repeated words (for example "stakeholder reporting", "patient intake", "Python", "inventory control") are what you will mirror, truthfully, in your summary, bullets and skills section. Many employers use applicant tracking systems that search for such terms, and human readers look for them too.

Only use terms for things you have actually done. Mirroring the advert is about matching vocabulary, not claiming skills you lack.

Step 2: Choose the format

There are three standard formats. Most applicants should use the first.

If you are a student or recent graduate, a reverse-chronological resume that puts Education above Experience and adds projects, placements and volunteering is the usual choice.

Step 3: Set up the header and contact details

Include:

• Your name, large and at the top.
• A professional email address. Use a simple name-based address.
• A phone number.
• City and country or state (a full street address is not needed in the US).
• A link to a profile that supports the application, such as LinkedIn, a portfolio or a code repository. Check it opens.

Leave out date of birth, marital status, nationality, national ID numbers and a photo for applications in the US, and read the country notes below for other places.

Step 4: Write a summary that fits the job

A summary is two to three lines, placed under the header. It states who you are, how much relevant experience you have, and one or two proof points. Avoid the old-fashioned "objective" ("Seeking a challenging position where I can grow"), which is about what you want rather than what you offer. If you have almost no experience, a short objective naming the role and your relevant strength can work; see resume objective for when.

Weak: "Hard-working team player looking for a new opportunity."

Stronger: "Customer support specialist with five years in SaaS help desks. Cut average first-response time from 4 hours to 90 minutes and trained 12 new agents."

The numbers in this example are illustrative. Use only figures that you can verify from your own records, and see resume summary examples for more patterns.

Step 5: Write the experience section with action plus result bullets

This is the part that decides most applications. For each role, list the employer, job title, location and dates, then three to six bullets.

The bullet formula

Action verb + what you did + result or scale.

• "Managed the front desk" is a duty.
• "Redesigned the visitor sign-in process, reducing queue time at reception during morning peaks" is an action with a result.

If you do not have a hard number, you can still show scale or outcome: team size, number of customers, budget handled, turnaround time, or a clear before and after. Never invent a figure. Interviewers ask about everything on the page.

Before and after

These are examples of the writing pattern, not claims about real people. Replace them with your own accurate details.

Strong action verbs by area

• Leading: led, coordinated, supervised, mentored, onboarded
• Building: designed, built, launched, developed, implemented
• Improving: reduced, streamlined, increased, automated, simplified
• Communicating: presented, negotiated, drafted, trained, advised
• Analysing: audited, forecasted, evaluated, reconciled, tracked

Use past tense for finished jobs and present tense for your current role. Start each bullet with a different verb where you can.

Step 6: Education, skills and extras

Education: degree, institution, location and graduation year (or expected year). Add relevant coursework, honours or a final-year project only if it supports the application. If you have more than three years of work experience, education moves below experience and becomes short.

Skills: group them (for example Software, Languages, Certifications) and list only those that appear in the advert or are clearly relevant. Be honest about level when it matters, such as "intermediate Spanish". Avoid rating bars and skill percentages, which carry no meaning and do not read well in tracking systems.

Optional sections: certifications, volunteering, publications, awards, professional memberships. Include them when they add evidence for this particular job.

Step 7: Check length, layout and language

• Length: one page for students and early-career applicants, two pages for most experienced applicants. Do not squeeze the margins below about 1.5 cm to force it to fit.
• Layout: one column, standard fonts, consistent spacing, clear headings. Dates aligned on one side.
• File: send the format the employer requests. If they do not say, a PDF keeps the layout intact, but a Word file is sometimes required by agencies and portals. Name it sensibly, such as "Firstname-Lastname-Resume".
• Language: use one spelling variety throughout (American in the US, British in the UK, Australian in Australia) and a consistent date format. A grammar checker catches typos and agreement errors, but it cannot confirm your facts, so read the whole document aloud once as well.

A resume template you can copy

Replace each line with your own details.

FIRSTNAME LASTNAME City, Country | phone | email | profile link

Summary Two or three lines: your title, years of experience, strongest proof point.

Experience Job Title, Company, City (Month Year - Month Year)

• Action verb + what you did + result.
• Action verb + what you did + result.
• Action verb + what you did + result.

Job Title, Company, City (Month Year - Month Year)

• Action verb + what you did + result.
• Action verb + what you did + result.

Education Degree, Institution, City (Year)

Skills Software: ... | Languages: ... | Certifications: ...

US, UK and Australian conventions

Conventions are habits, not laws, and they change. Check the employer's own instructions and treat the points below as typical practice as of 2026-11-01.

Applying abroad? Read the local employer's instructions, look at the advert's own wording and spelling, and check any country-specific guidance from a government or university careers service. Rules on photos and personal data in some other countries are different, so do not assume the US pattern.

Review checklist

• Every bullet starts with a verb and shows an outcome or scale.
• No invented numbers, titles or dates.
• The summary names the target job and one proof point.
• Keywords from the advert appear where they are true.
• Contact details and links work.
• One font family, consistent dates, no spelling variety mix.
• Two full read-throughs, plus a read by a friend if possible.
• File saved with a clear name in the requested format.
• The cover letter and resume agree on facts and dates.

Common mistakes

• Listing duties instead of results.
• Using one resume for every job.
• A summary of vague adjectives such as "dynamic" and "passionate".
• Long paragraphs instead of short bullets.
• Gaps left unexplained when a one-line note would help.
• Typos in the one place where care is expected.
• Decorative templates with graphics, columns or tables that break when a system reads them.

Using AdeptWrite while you write

AdeptWrite tools help with wording, not with the facts about your career. Draft the bullets yourself, then use the paraphrasing tool in Shorten mode to tighten long lines, and the grammar checker to catch errors. Review all output, because a rewrite can change meaning or drop detail. The cover letter generator can give you a first draft of a matching letter that you then edit. For the letter itself, see how to write a cover letter and cover letter examples.

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