How to Write a Resume: Step-by-Step Guide with Examples

2. Summary

The summary is your resume's shop window. In two to four sentences, cover who you are and how much experience you have, your area of expertise, your two or three strongest skills and the kind of role you're looking for.

Weak: "Hardworking, dynamic, eager-to-learn team player."

Strong: "Staff accountant with five years of general ledger experience at small and midsize businesses. Independently runs the month-end close and sales tax filings. Advanced in QuickBooks and Excel, with a focus on process improvement and automated reporting."

If you're stuck, Cvbuildly's AI summary writer drafts a summary from the experience and skills you've entered. Always edit the draft so it sounds like you.

3. Work experience

This is the most important section. List your jobs from newest to oldest. For each position include:

• Job title, employer, city and state
• Start and end dates (month and year); "Present" if it's your current job
• Two to five bullet points about what you did and what it achieved

Write achievements, not duties

Employers want to know what you did and what changed because of it, not what you were "responsible for". Start each bullet with an action verb and, where possible, end with a number or a concrete impact.

Weak	Strong
Responsible for handling customer requests.	Answered more than 40 customer requests a day and resolved most complaints the same day.
Prepared reports.	Automated the weekly sales report in Excel, cutting preparation time to half a day.
Managed social media accounts.	Planned the Instagram content calendar for three brands and noticeably increased engagement within six months.

Action verbs you can use: managed, developed, launched, reduced, increased, prepared, coordinated, analyzed, designed, trained, accelerated, closed. If you wrote something in everyday language, the magic wand can turn it into more professional phrasing.

How to explain employment gaps

Gaps caused by caregiving, parental leave, health, education, relocation or a long job search are more common than many people think. Rather than hiding a gap, explain it in one short, honest line and add any courses or freelance work you did during that time. Cvbuildly's career gap wizard helps you word this.

4. Education

List the school, degree (associate, bachelor's, master's), major and graduation year. Recent graduates can place education above experience and add a strong GPA, honors such as the Dean's List, a capstone project, study abroad or scholarships. The more experience you have, the shorter this section gets; once you have a college degree, you can leave out high school.

5. Skills

The skills section is the part of your resume that gets scanned fastest. Pick 6 to 12 skills that fit the job, and consider splitting them into two groups:

• Technical / job-specific skills: Excel, Salesforce, QuickBooks, AutoCAD, Python, Google Ads and similar.
• Soft skills: customer communication, team leadership, presenting, problem solving. Back these up with an example in your bullet points where possible.

Using the posting's exact terms makes it easier for both recruiters and applicant tracking systems to find your skills. If you're unsure what to include, get skill suggestions for your job title.

6. Languages

Languages are optional on a US resume, but bilingual skills are valuable in many roles. "Good Spanish" means very different things to different people, so use clear levels: native, fluent, professional working proficiency, conversational or basic. If you have a test score, you can add it. Don't overstate your level; part of the interview may be held in that language.

7. Projects

Projects are especially valuable for recent graduates, career changers and technical professions. For each project, give the name, a short description, the tools you used and a link if there is one. A project can be a class assignment, volunteer work or a personal venture; what matters is that it shows what you did and learned.

8. Certifications, courses and awards

Certifications relevant to the posting (such as a CPA license, PMP, a nursing certification, Google Analytics or a forklift certification) belong in their own section with the issuing organization and year. Rather than a long list of courses, pick the most relevant ones.

9. References

US resumes usually don't list references, and the line "references available upon request" is no longer necessary: employers assume you'll provide them. Prepare a separate reference list, ask each person for permission first and let them know they may be contacted. The strongest references are managers you worked with directly.

10. Hobbies and interests

This section is optional and often left off US resumes. Include only interests that say something about you or connect to the job: running, volunteering, chess, a musical instrument. Generic entries like "reading, music, movies" don't add much.

Resume design: simple or colorful?

Content always comes before design, but a poor layout can bury good content. Follow these principles for a readable resume:

• One accent color: color in the headings is enough; body text should stay dark gray or black.
• Generous white space: leave room between sections. A crowded page is tiring no matter how strong it is.
• Consistency: all job titles in the same weight, all dates aligned the same way.
• Fit for the industry: design, advertising and media accept more creative layouts; finance, law and government favor simple ones.

Cvbuildly's templates follow these principles: Classic is a safe choice for most industries, Modern Sidebar groups contact details and skills in a side column, Harvard Minimalist gives academic and technical applications a clean look, and Executive uses a stronger header for experienced professionals. Compare them all on the resume templates page.

Quick tips for special situations

If you're changing careers

Say clearly in your summary why you're moving into the new field and how your previous experience will help. In your bullets, highlight skills the two fields share (project management, customer communication, data analysis); show training and projects in the new field in their own section.

If you have a long career

To fit fifteen or twenty years onto two pages, describe recent roles in detail and earlier roles briefly. At this stage, the teams, budgets and strategic results you managed matter more than task details.

If you have no work experience

Education, projects, volunteering and student activities form the backbone of your resume. The student resume example and recent graduate resume example were written for exactly this situation.

Action verbs by category

Use this list to avoid repeating the same verb in your bullet points:

What you're describing	Verbs
Leadership and management	managed, coordinated, directed, trained, mentored
Improvement	accelerated, reduced, simplified, automated, standardized
Building something new	launched, founded, designed, developed, implemented
Analysis and planning	analyzed, reported, planned, forecasted, evaluated
Communication and sales	presented, negotiated, persuaded, closed, represented
Support and service	resolved, answered, guided, followed up, informed

Summary examples by experience level

Student: "Economics junior and events coordinator for the campus entrepreneurship club. Seeking a summer internship in finance or marketing."

Mid-level: "Human resources specialist with four years in retail. Runs store-level hiring, onboarding and performance review processes."

Senior: "Plant manager with twelve years in manufacturing. Led teams of up to 150 people to meet productivity and safety goals through lean manufacturing practices."

A simple formula and more examples for different situations: how to write a resume summary.

Examples for your profession

To see how the principles in this guide apply to a specific job, check our examples for software engineers, accountants, sales representatives, teachers, nurses and servers. Each one includes job-specific skills, summary examples and bullet points.

Keep your resume and LinkedIn profile consistent

After reading your resume, recruiters often look at your LinkedIn profile. If job titles, employers or dates differ between the two, it raises questions. Update your profile whenever you update your resume. LinkedIn is the place for longer descriptions, recommendations and project details; your resume is a short, job-specific selection of them.

How long should a resume be?

The general rule: one page for students and recent graduates, and no more than two pages for experienced candidates. Academic CVs and some senior executive applications are exceptions. Instead of shrinking the font to fit, remove details that aren't relevant. The last 10 to 15 years of experience is usually enough; older positions can be reduced to a single line. Wondering how much time writing one takes? See the step-by-step plan in how long it takes to write a resume.

Resume or CV?

In the US, a resume is the one-to-two-page document used for most job applications. A CV (curriculum vitae) usually means a longer academic document listing publications, presentations and research. In the UK and much of Europe, "CV" is the everyday word for a resume. If you're applying to US employers from abroad, see the US resume format example.

The 10 most common resume mistakes

1. Typos and grammar errors: they suggest carelessness. Read your resume out loud at least once.
2. Experience written as a list of duties: instead of "responsible for", write what you did and the result.
3. The same resume for every posting: tailor the summary, skills and first few bullets to each job.
4. Vague language levels: use clear levels instead of "good".
5. Unnecessary personal details: photo, date of birth, marital status, Social Security number.
6. An unprofessional email address: create one based on your name.
7. Inconsistent dates and formatting: use one date format and one heading style throughout.
8. Exaggerated or unverifiable claims: you need to be able to back up every sentence in an interview.
9. Long, dense paragraphs: break experience into short bullet points.
10. Outdated contact details: check your phone number and email before every application.

The five mistakes recruiters see most, with fixes, are covered in common resume mistakes.

Using AI to write your resume

AI tools are useful for drafting a summary, tightening sentences and spotting missing skills. But don't use their output as is: it can be generic, and it can make it sound like you did something you didn't. Use Cvbuildly's AI features (summary writer, magic wand, skill suggestions, resume critique) as assistants; you always have the final word, and every sentence must reflect the truth. For a step-by-step approach, read how to use AI for your resume the right way.

A sample resume outline

Put the sections in this guide together and an experienced candidate's resume looks roughly like this:

1. Header: name, target title, phone, email, city and state, LinkedIn
2. Summary: three or four sentences covering experience, expertise, strongest results and goal
3. Work experience: starting with the most recent role, two to five action-focused bullets each
4. Skills: 6 to 12 skills chosen for the posting
5. Education: school, degree, major, year
6. Certifications and projects: the relevant ones, with organization and year
7. Languages: if relevant, with clear levels

For students and recent graduates, education and projects come before experience; career changers can move skills and new-field training up. In Cvbuildly you can switch between these layouts by dragging sections. As you fill in each line, ask yourself: "Does this show I'm a good fit for the job?" If not, shorten it or cut it.

How often should you update your resume?

Even when you're not job hunting, review your resume every six months. Noting a new project, certification or responsibility right away is much easier than trying to remember the details months later. An up-to-date resume lets you apply quickly when an unexpected opportunity comes along.

Final check before you send it

1. Check spelling and grammar, and make sure names with special characters display correctly.
2. Confirm dates are consistent and jobs are ordered from newest to oldest.
3. Tailor it to the posting: your first three bullets should answer the posting's most important requirements.
4. Save the file as "FirstName-LastName-Resume.pdf".
5. If possible, have someone read it, or get feedback from the AI resume critique.
6. If the application asks for a letter, see our cover letter examples and create your cover letter.

Building your resume with Cvbuildly, step by step

1. Choose your starting point: a blank resume, a ready-made example or your old resume imported from PDF or Word.
2. Enter your contact details and target job title.
3. Add your experience. Turn bullets written in everyday language into professional phrasing with the magic wand.
4. Complete education, skills and other sections. Get skill suggestions for your job title.
5. Write your summary or ask the AI summary writer for a draft.
6. Pick a template and color, and reorder sections as needed.
7. Run the ATS analysis: paste the posting and see which keywords are missing.
8. Download: watermark-free PDF, Word or TXT.

After you apply

Keep a simple table of the jobs you applied to, the dates and the version of the resume you sent. If you haven't heard back within a week or two and have a contact, send a short, polite follow-up email. When you're invited to interview, reread the resume you sent: the interviewer will base many questions on it. Be ready to tell the story behind each bullet, how you arrived at any number and what you learned.

Get started

Instead of applying these steps to a blank page, start from a resume example that fits you, or open the resume builder and go step by step. No sign-up, your information stays in your browser and the PDF has no watermark.

Sources and further reading

Official and public resources you can use to go deeper:

• CareerOneStop: US Department of Labor career tools, including resume and job search guidance
• National Careers Service: CV sections: UK government advice on what to include in a CV
• Europass: European Union tools and guidance for CVs and cover letters