| Resume element | Guidance | Planning use |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Blank page, not a template | Open an empty document so applicant tracking software can read your layout. |
| Length | One page for most positions | Cut to the most relevant material instead of shrinking the text. |
| Font | Sans serif such as Calibri or Arial, in 10, 11 or 12 point | Choose one size and use it consistently. |
| Margins | No less than 0.5 inch on all sides | Treat this as the floor when trimming to fit. |
| Header | Name in bold and larger than the body text, with contact details below | Make your name the first thing a reader sees. |
| Experience order | Reverse chronological, most recent first | Lead with your latest role and work backwards. |
These figures come from the career center guidance at Georgetown University and UCLA.
To learn how to write a resume, open a blank document, build the header, education, experience and skills in turn, and keep it to one page for most positions.
This walkthrough takes you from an empty page to a finished first draft. For wider advice, see our resume tips, and use the best resume format guide when you are ready to settle layout questions.
Gather your material
Writing goes faster when the raw facts are already on one sheet. Collect everything before you open a document, and do not worry about wording yet.
- List every role. Note the organization, its location, your dates and your position title for each one.
- Note what you actually did. Jot the tasks, results and tools for each role in plain words.
- Record your education and credentials. Include certifications and professional organizations, with both the abbreviation and the full name.
- Find a target posting. Keep one job description beside you so you know which experience matters most.
Set up the blank document
Start from an empty page. UCLA’s career center advises beginning with a blank page rather than a template, because applicant tracking software can have a difficult time reading template layouts. Set the basics once so you are not reformatting later.
- Pick a plain font. UCLA encourages sans serif fonts like Calibri and Arial.
- Set the size. Georgetown’s career center says to keep font size to 10, 11 or 12 point.
- Set the margins. The same guidance calls for margins of no less than 0.5 inch on all sides.
Draft the sections in build order
Build the document from the top down: header, education, experience, then skills. Drafting in this order lets you settle the facts that never change before the parts you will edit most. Sketching the page as a set of labeled boxes first can help you see how much space each section will get.
Header and contact information
Georgetown’s guidance says your name should be bold and in a larger font than the rest of the resume. Below it, list your current mailing address, phone number and the email address you most frequently use. Choose an email address you check often, since that is where employers will reach you.
Education
The University of Kentucky’s career center says to list the college or university name, city, state, degree, major, concentration and graduation date by month and year. It also advises including GPA if it is over 3.0, whether major GPA, overall GPA or both. If your GPA is lower, leave it off.
Work experience
Start each entry with a header. Georgetown says to include the name of the organization, its location, dates and your position title. Then list entries in reverse chronological order, most recent first. This is the reverse chronological format that most career centers expect.
Georgetown suggests three or four sentences describing the work you did in each entry. Kentucky’s career center adds that you should use bullet points, avoid full sentences and leave out pronouns such as I, me and my. In practice, write three or four short bullets that begin with action words and carry the same amount of detail.
Skills
Keep the skills section short and specific to the target job. Georgetown advises using acronyms and also spelling out the names of professional organizations, certifications and position titles, so a human reader and a keyword scan both recognize them. Treat optional extras such as hobbies and interests on a resume as a separate decision once the core sections are done.
Check the length
One page is the norm. UCLA’s career center says a resume should be 1 page for most positions, and Georgetown’s guidance says plainly to keep your resume to one page. The wording “most positions” leaves room for exceptions, so follow any length instruction in a posting.
One page also suits the reader. UCLA notes that employers take an average of 7 seconds to read a resume, so a tight page lets your strongest points land during a quick scan. If you run over, cut the least relevant bullets before you shrink fonts or margins below the limits above.
Write for the applicant tracking system
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that screens applications before a person sees them. UCLA says that in almost all job application processes, ATS reads your resume and filters submissions before they are read by humans. Georgetown adds that these systems scan resumes for keywords and relevant experiences.
That is why the plain layout, standard headings and spelled-out titles matter. Pull genuine keywords from the target posting and use them where they describe work you did. Georgetown warns against trying to game the system by overusing keywords where they do not belong, and notes an application could be removed.
Tailor each application
Yes, you need to adjust your resume for each job, but not rebuild it. UCLA’s guidance says to tailor your resume for each application you submit. Georgetown says to focus on the work and extracurricular experiences most relevant to the position you are targeting.
A practical method is to keep a master version with all your material, then copy it for each application. Reorder bullets, trim unrelated items and match the posting’s wording where it truthfully fits.
Mistakes beginners make
Beginners tend to go wrong on small, fixable details rather than on the big structure.
- Address confusion. Georgetown includes a mailing address in the header, while UCLA says to omit your complete street address. If you have no instructions from an employer, the shorter header version keeps personal details to a minimum.
- Keyword stuffing. Repeating terms the job does not call for can backfire, as the ATS section above explains.
- Leaving out entry details. An experience entry without its organization, location, dates or title forces the reader to guess.
Proofread and finish
Proofread last, once the content is final. Georgetown is blunt on this point: do not rely on spell-check. Print the page, read it slowly, and then ask someone else to read it too.
First-draft checklist
- Blank document, plain font. No template, a sans serif font, readable size, margins at or above the minimum.
- Header complete. Bold name, phone number and a frequently used email address.
- Education filled in. School, degree, major and graduation date, plus GPA only if it helps.
- Experience in order. Most recent first, each entry with a full header and concise bullets.
- Skills clear. Acronyms and full names for credentials, matched to the target posting.
- Within your length limit. Trimmed for relevance, then tailored and proofread.
Frequently asked questions
Should I put a photo or birth date on my resume?
No. Georgetown’s career center says not to include personal data such as birth date, marital status or a photograph.
How do I list languages on a resume?
UCLA’s guidance gives the levels as fluent, reading, writing, conversational and basic. It also says not to include English in the languages section.
Is it acceptable to stretch the truth a little?
No. Georgetown says not to lie, exaggerate or include something you would not want to discuss in an interview. If you could not talk about an item confidently, leave it out.
