How to Write a Professional Resume

Choose a Clear Format and Lead with Strong Contact Info

Start with a clean, professional layout: one-inch margins, a readable font (11-12 pt for body text), and consistent spacing. Place your name and contact details at the top — phone number, professional email, city and state, and a LinkedIn URL or personal website when relevant. Use a concise professional summary or headline (2-3 lines) that highlights your role, years of experience, and top skills. Keep the resume length appropriate: one page for early-career candidates, up to two pages for experienced professionals with extensive relevant experience. Organize sections in order of relevance — typically summary, experience, education, then skills and certifications — and use clear section headings so readers can scan quickly.

Showcase Achievements with Action-Oriented, Quantified Bullets

Replace generic duties with achievement-focused bullet points that begin with strong action verbs (led, increased, launched, optimized). Quantify impact whenever possible: include metrics like percentages, dollar amounts, team size, or time saved to show concrete results. Use the STAR mindset (situation, task, action, result) to craft bullets that explain context and outcome. Tailor examples to the job you want by highlighting relevant projects, tools, and domain knowledge. For technical roles, note tools and languages alongside accomplishments; for leadership roles, emphasize outcomes like revenue growth, process improvements, or retention gains.

Optimize for ATS and Perfect Your Presentation

Many employers use applicant tracking systems, so use standard headings (Experience, Education, Skills), include keywords from the job description naturally, and avoid images, text boxes, or uncommon fonts that can confuse parsing. Save and submit in the preferred file type (often PDF or DOCX) and keep formatting simple: bulleted lists, consistent dates (e.g., Jun 2020 — Jul 2023), and full company names. Proofread multiple times and get a second pair of eyes to catch typos and clarity issues. Finally, customize each application: tweak the summary, reorder bullets by relevance, and ensure your resume mirrors the language used in the job posting while staying honest and specific.