How to Write a Strong Resume

Start with the role you want

Before you edit anything, pick one target role. Read three to five real job descriptions for it and note the skills, tools and outcomes that keep appearing. Your resume should make those easy to find.

Use a simple, ATS-friendly structure

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) read plain structure best:

• Contact details — name, city, phone, professional email, LinkedIn URL
• Professional summary — three or four lines on who you are, what you do well and the role you're targeting
• Skills — grouped, relevant, and matching the language employers use
• Experience — most recent first
• Education and certifications

Avoid tables, text boxes, images and multi-column layouts for the main content. Use standard headings like "Experience" and "Education".

Write achievements, not duties

Compare:

• Responsible for customer complaints.
• Resolved an average of 40 customer tickets a day, cutting the team's response backlog from three days to one.

The second tells the employer what changed because you were there. A useful pattern is action + task + result. Only use numbers you can explain in an interview.

Tailor every application

Keep a master resume with everything, then create a focused version for each role. Move the most relevant experience and skills to the top and mirror the employer's terminology where it honestly describes your work.

Final checks

• One or two pages
• Consistent dates and formatting
• No spelling errors — read it aloud
• Saved as PDF unless the employer asks for Word
• File named clearly, e.g. Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf