24 resume tips: how to make a good resume, with before-and-after examples

A good resume is specific, easy to scan and clearly aimed at the job you're applying for. The fastest way to improve yours is to rewrite vague duties as concrete results, put your most relevant experience where a reader looks first, keep the layout simple enough for applicant tracking systems, and tailor it to every job ad.

Below are 24 resume tips grouped by area: content, wording, format and layout, ATS, tailoring, proofreading and sending it. Each one is small enough to do in about five minutes. Open your resume in another window and work through them in order.

Resume content tips

1. Put your best match in the top third of the page

Whoever reads your resume will form a first impression from the top: your name, title line, summary and the first job listed. Make sure that section answers "Can this person do the job?" on its own.

Action: read only the top third of your resume. If it doesn't mention the job title you're applying for or your most relevant skill, move things around until it does.

2. Write a three-line summary aimed at one job

A summary should say who you are professionally, your strongest proof, and what you're looking for. Skip adjectives you can't back up.

• Before: Motivated, results-driven professional seeking a challenging role where I can grow.
• After: Customer service supervisor with six years in high-volume retail. Cut average checkout wait times by reorganizing shift coverage across a 20-person team. Looking for an assistant store manager role.

3. Replace duties with accomplishments

Duties describe the job; accomplishments describe you in the job. For each bullet, ask "So what? What changed because I did this?"

• Before: Responsible for restocking shelves.
• After: Restocked 14 aisles per shift and flagged low-stock items to the manager, reducing empty-shelf complaints during weekend rushes.

4. Add a number to at least half your bullets

Numbers make claims believable and easy to scan: team size, customers per day, budget, percentage change, time saved, items processed. Estimates are fine if they're honest ("about 150 orders a day").

Action: go through your bullets and add one number to every second line. If you can't find one, ask yourself how many, how often, how much or how fast.

5. Cut what doesn't support the job you want

Old, unrelated roles and long-outdated skills take space from your strongest material. A common rule of thumb is to focus on the last 10 to 15 years and summarize anything older in one line, such as "Earlier roles in hospitality, 2005–2010".

Action: highlight every line that wouldn't matter to the hiring manager for this job. Delete or shorten at least half of them.

Resume wording tips

6. Start every bullet with a strong action verb

Openers like "Helped with", "Worked on" and "Responsible for" hide what you actually did. Use a specific verb in the past tense for previous jobs and the present tense for your current one.

• Before: Worked on the company newsletter.
• After: Wrote and edited a monthly newsletter sent to 3,000 customers.

Good verbs to keep handy: led, built, trained, reduced, increased, launched, negotiated, resolved, scheduled, organized, designed, streamlined.

7. Delete buzzwords and filler

Words like "dynamic", "synergy", "go-getter", "detail-oriented" and "team player" take space without proving anything. Show the quality instead.

• Before: Detail-oriented team player with excellent communication skills.
• After: Caught and corrected pricing errors in weekly supplier invoices; presented findings to the finance team every Monday.

8. Keep bullets to one or two lines

Long bullets get skimmed. If a bullet runs to three lines, split it into two, or cut the setup and keep the result. Aim for three to six bullets per role, with more for recent, relevant jobs and fewer for older ones.

9. Use the job ad's words for your skills

If the ad says "inventory management" and you wrote "stock control", a person might connect the two, but keyword-based search may not. Where it's true for you, mirror the employer's exact phrasing.

Action: copy the job ad, highlight the skills and tools it mentions, and check each one appears somewhere on your resume (if you genuinely have it).

Resume format and layout tips

10. Use reverse-chronological order

List your most recent job first and work backward. It's the format most employers expect and the one applicant tracking systems read most reliably. Skills-based formats can help with large gaps or career changes, but they can also look like you're hiding something. The guide to resume formats explains when each one makes sense.

11. Keep it to one page if you can

For students, entry-level candidates and most people with under about 10 years of experience, one page is usually enough and forces you to keep only the best material. Two pages are fine for longer careers, as long as page two is as strong as page one. See how to fit a one-page resume without cramming.

12. Pick one readable font and leave white space

Use a single clean font (Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, Georgia or Garamond) at 10 to 12 points for body text and 14 to 18 for your name. Keep margins between 0.5 and 1 inch, and leave a little space between sections.

Action: if your resume uses more than two fonts or sizes below 10 points, fix that now. If it still won't fit, cut content rather than shrinking text.

13. Make job titles and dates easy to scan

A reader should be able to run their eye down the page and see your titles, employers and dates instantly. Put titles in bold, align dates on the right, and use one date format everywhere.

• Before: Jan 2022 – present, then 03/2019–12/2021, then Summer '18
• After: Jan 2022 – Present, Mar 2019 – Dec 2021, Jun 2018 – Aug 2018

14. Remove things that don't belong on a modern resume

In the US, leave off your photo, date of birth, marital status, full street address and the line "References available upon request". City and state are enough for location. A UK CV follows similar rules on photos and personal details, though it's more common there to go to two pages.

ATS resume tips

15. Use standard section headings

Applicant tracking systems (the software many employers use to collect and search applications) look for familiar headings. Use "Summary", "Experience" or "Work Experience", "Education", "Skills" and "Certifications". Creative headings like "My Journey" or "What I Bring" can confuse them.

16. Keep key information out of headers, tables and graphics

Some systems skip text inside page headers and footers, text boxes, tables, icons and images. Put your name and contact details in the main body, write skills as plain text rather than star ratings or bars, and avoid multi-column layouts built from tables.

Action: copy all the text from your PDF and paste it into a plain text editor. If anything is missing or jumbled, an ATS may see the same problem. Our guide to an ATS-friendly resume covers the details.

17. Check your resume against the actual job ad

Before you hit send, compare your resume with the job description and look for missing skills, tools and job-title keywords. The free ATS checker on HiredResumeAI compares your resume with a job ad so you can spot gaps before an employer does.

Resume tailoring tips

18. Keep a master resume, then tailor a copy

Keep one long "master" document with every job, bullet, project and certification you might ever use. For each application, copy it and cut it down to what that employer cares about. This takes minutes instead of rewriting from scratch every time.

If you'd like help, Build for a job ad tailors your resume to a pasted job description. The AI only rewrites what you've given it and leaves placeholders like "[number]" where a figure is needed, so nothing is invented.

19. Reorder bullets so the most relevant comes first

Within each job, the first bullet gets read most. Move the one that best matches the new job ad to the top, even if it wasn't your biggest task at the time.

• Applying for a training role: lead with "Trained 12 new hires on POS and opening procedures."
• Applying for an inventory role: lead with "Ran weekly stock counts and cut order errors by reconciling deliveries against invoices."

20. Match your title line to the job you want

Under your name, add a short title line that mirrors the job you're applying for, as long as it's honest: "Warehouse Associate | Forklift Certified" or "Registered Nurse, Pediatrics". It tells the reader instantly what you are.

Need inspiration? Browse resume examples for your job title to see how others phrase their title line and summary.

Resume proofreading tips

21. Proofread in a different format

Your brain autocorrects text it has seen many times. Change something to see it fresh: print it, read it aloud, change the font temporarily or read it from the bottom up. Each trick slows you down enough to catch missing words and typos.

22. Check consistency line by line

Typos aren't the only mistakes that look careless. Check for:

• Tense: past for old jobs, present for your current one
• Punctuation: either every bullet ends with a period, or none do
• Dates and numbers: same format throughout ("10%" or "10 percent", not both)
• Capitalization of job titles and company names

23. Get one other person to read it

Ask a friend, colleague or family member to read it for two minutes and tell you what job they think you're applying for and what stood out. If their answer doesn't match your goal, the top of your resume needs work.

Sending your resume

24. Send a PDF with a clear file name, and add a short cover letter

PDF keeps your layout intact on any device. Send a Word file only if the employer asks for one. Name the file with your name and the document type, like "Maria-Lopez-Resume.pdf", not "resume_final_v3.pdf".

Where there's a place for a cover letter or a message, use it. Three short paragraphs that name the role, link one or two achievements to the job ad, and close with your availability are enough. Here's how to write a cover letter step by step.

Quick resume tips checklist

Before you send your next application, check that:

• The top third of the page shows your best match for this job
• Your summary is three lines and names the role
• Most bullets start with an action verb and many include a number
• Buzzwords and "Responsible for" are gone
• Headings are standard and nothing important sits in a header, table or image
• Skills from the job ad appear where they're true for you
• Fonts, dates, tense and punctuation are consistent
• It's one page, or two strong pages for a long career
• It's saved as a PDF with your name in the file name

If you'd like a clean starting point, the resume templates are designed to keep a simple, ATS-readable structure.

Frequently asked questions

What makes a good resume?

A good resume is easy to scan, aimed at one specific job, and full of concrete evidence rather than adjectives. It leads with your most relevant experience, uses action verbs and numbers in its bullet points, and has a simple layout that both people and applicant tracking systems can read. Tailoring it to each job ad is what turns a decent resume into a strong one.

What is the best resume format?

For most people, reverse-chronological order is the best resume format: most recent job first, with clear headings for summary, experience, education and skills. It's what most employers expect and what applicant tracking systems read most reliably. A skills-focused format can suit career changers, but it's usually best combined with a short work history.

How long should a resume be?

One page is usually right for students, entry-level candidates and people with under about 10 years of experience. Two pages are fine for longer careers when every section earns its place. If you're going over, cut older and less relevant material before shrinking the font or margins.

Should I make a different resume for every job?

Yes, but you don't need to start from scratch each time. Keep a master resume with everything on it, then copy and trim it for each application, reordering bullets and mirroring the job ad's wording where it's accurate. Once your master version is in good shape, tailoring a copy becomes a quick job.

What should I not put on a resume?

On a US resume, leave out your photo, date of birth, marital status, full street address, Social Security number and "References available upon request". Also skip unrelated jobs from many years ago, skill rating bars, and buzzwords like "results-driven" that don't prove anything. Keep every line focused on what the employer needs.