Resume Fundamentals

The Building Blocks

Before diving into writing, you need to understand resume structure and formatting. These fundamentals apply regardless of industry, level, or resume type.

Standard Resume Sections

Contact Information

Include:

  • Full name (larger font)
  • Phone number
  • Professional email address
  • LinkedIn URL (customized, not the default random string)
  • City and state (no full address needed)

Optional:

  • Portfolio or personal website
  • GitHub (for technical roles)

Don't include:

  • Photo (in the US)
  • Date of birth
  • Marital status
  • Full street address

Professional Summary (Optional)

A brief statement at the top highlighting your key qualifications. Most effective for experienced professionals; less necessary for entry-level.

Work Experience

Your job history in reverse chronological order (most recent first). For each role:

  • Job title
  • Company name
  • Location (city, state)
  • Dates (month/year to month/year)
  • Bullet points describing accomplishments

Education

Your degrees, certifications, and relevant training. For each:

  • Degree and major
  • Institution name
  • Graduation year (optional if it dates you significantly)
  • GPA (only if strong and you're early career)
  • Honors or relevant coursework (early career only)

Skills

A list of relevant technical and professional skills. Especially important for technical roles and ATS optimization.

Additional Sections (Optional)

Depending on relevance:

  • Certifications
  • Professional affiliations
  • Publications
  • Languages
  • Volunteer work
  • Projects

Formatting Essentials

Font

Safe choices:

  • Calibri
  • Arial
  • Garamond
  • Cambria
  • Georgia

Avoid:

  • Times New Roman (dated)
  • Comic Sans (unprofessional)
  • Overly decorative fonts
  • Fonts under 10pt

Standard sizes:

  • Name: 14-18pt
  • Section headers: 12-14pt
  • Body text: 10-12pt

Layout

Margins: 0.5 to 1 inch. Smaller margins give more space but can look cramped.

Columns: Single column is safest for ATS. Two columns can work but may cause parsing issues.

Section separation: Clear headers, consistent spacing, visual hierarchy.

White space: Don't cram. Let the document breathe.

Consistency

Everything should be consistent:

  • Date format (Jan 2022 or 01/2022 — pick one)
  • Bullet style
  • Capitalization
  • Spacing between sections
  • Job title formatting

Inconsistency suggests carelessness.

Length Guidelines

One Page (Recommended for Most)

  • Entry-level to ~10 years experience
  • Most individual contributor roles
  • Career changers
  • Anyone who can fit the essentials on one page

One page forces you to prioritize. If a hiring manager can see everything relevant at a glance, that's good.

Two Pages (When Necessary)

  • 15+ years of relevant experience
  • Senior/executive roles
  • Roles requiring extensive technical skills lists
  • Academic positions (which often require CVs)

If you use two pages, the first page must be strong enough to keep them reading.

When Longer Is Acceptable

  • Academic CVs (different from resumes)
  • Federal government applications
  • Some international contexts

For most business roles, keep it tight.

What to Include vs. Exclude

Include

  • All relevant work experience
  • Quantified accomplishments
  • Skills required for target roles
  • Education that matters for the role
  • Anything that strengthens your candidacy

Exclude

  • Jobs from 15+ years ago (unless highly relevant)
  • Irrelevant work experience
  • Outdated technologies or skills
  • High school (unless no college)
  • Personal information (age, marital status, etc.)
  • References ("References available upon request" is unnecessary)
  • Obvious skills ("Microsoft Word" for an office job)
  • Anything that doesn't strengthen your case

Gray Areas

Short-term jobs: Include if they're relevant or explain gaps. Exclude if they add clutter without value.

Volunteer work: Include if it demonstrates relevant skills or fills gaps. Exclude if it's unrelated filler.

Personal interests: Usually exclude. Include only if highly relevant or distinctively memorable (and you're confident it helps).

File Format

PDF (Preferred)

  • Preserves formatting exactly
  • Works on any device
  • Professional standard

Word (.docx)

  • Sometimes requested specifically
  • ATS can parse more reliably (sometimes)
  • Formatting may shift between systems

File Naming

Good: FirstName_LastName_Resume.pdf

Bad: Resume_final_v3_REALFINAL.docx

Common Formatting Mistakes

Too Dense

No white space. Walls of text. Tiny margins. Hard to read.

Too Sparse

Large areas of blank space. Looks like you have nothing to say.

Inconsistent

Different date formats. Varying bullet styles. Random bolding. Suggests sloppiness.

Fancy Design (Usually)

Unless you're a designer applying for design jobs, elaborate graphics and unusual layouts often hurt more than help — especially with ATS.

Tables and Text Boxes

Many ATS systems struggle with these. Your carefully formatted table may become scrambled text.

Building Your Master Resume

What It Is

A comprehensive document with everything you might ever include. Not for submitting — for drawing from.

What It Contains

  • Every relevant job with all bullet points
  • All skills
  • All education and certifications
  • All accomplishments, awards, projects

How to Use It

When applying to a job, pull relevant content from your master resume and tailor it for that specific application.

This saves time compared to writing from scratch while still allowing customization.

AI Prompt: Resume Format Review

Review this resume format for issues:

[Paste your resume text]

Check for:
1. Consistency (dates, formatting, style)
2. Appropriate length
3. Clear section organization
4. Readability issues
5. Common formatting mistakes

What's Next

Your resume has structure. Now let's make the content compelling.

Next chapter: Writing powerful bullets — transform job duties into accomplishments.

What Resumes Actually DoWriting Powerful Bullets