How to Write a Résumé: a Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

A résumé has one job: to get you an interview. It isn’t a biography or a list of everything you’ve done. It’s a short, focused argument that you can do this job, backed by evidence. This guide walks through how to build that argument, section by section, with examples you can adapt.

What a résumé is actually for

Most résumés are read twice. First, quickly: a recruiter skims for your current role, a few recognisable names and whether your experience roughly matches the job. Many decide in under a minute whether to read properly. Then, if you pass that skim, a hiring manager reads in detail, looking for proof that you’ve done similar work and done it well.

Your résumé needs to work for both reads. That means a clear structure for the skimmer and specific, measurable results for the detailed reader. It also needs to be readable by applicant tracking systems (ATS), the software most companies use to collect and search applications.

Before you write: gather your raw material

The hardest part of writing a résumé is remembering what you actually achieved. Before you open a template, spend 30 minutes collecting raw material for each role:

• Projects you’re proud of — what was the goal, what did you do, what changed?
• Numbers — revenue, costs, time saved, users, team size, volume handled, ratings. Check old reports, performance reviews, emails and dashboards.
• Recognition — promotions, awards, being chosen to lead something, positive client feedback.
• Tools and skills you used day to day.

Keep this list somewhere permanent. You’ll draw on it for every tailored résumé, cover letter and interview answer from now on. (That’s exactly what the Career Vault in GotOffered is for.)

The sections, in order

1. Contact details

Your name, phone number, a professional email address, your city and country, and a LinkedIn or portfolio link. You don’t need your full street address, date of birth or marital status in most countries. Put contact details in the body of the page, not only in a header or footer, because some parsers skip those.

2. Summary (optional but useful)

Two to four lines that say who you are, one result you’re proud of, and the skills most relevant to the job. It’s especially useful if you have several years of experience, are changing careers, or are applying abroad.

Need a starting point? Try the free résumé summary generator.

3. Experience

The heart of your résumé. List roles in reverse chronological order (most recent first). For each: job title, employer, location, dates (month and year), and three to five bullets for recent roles, one or two for older ones. More on bullets below.

4. Education

Degree, institution, and graduation year. Students and recent graduates can put education first and add relevant coursework, projects, honours or a strong GPA. Experienced professionals keep it short and put it after experience.

5. Skills

A short, scannable list of hard skills and tools: languages, software, methods, certifications. Group them if you have many (“Languages: Python, SQL · Tools: dbt, Looker”). Skip vague soft skills like “communication”. Show those in your bullets instead. See our guide to what skills to put on a résumé.

6. Optional sections

Projects, certifications, publications, volunteering and languages. Include them when they strengthen your case for this job, especially early in your career or when changing fields.

Writing bullets that prove impact

Weak résumés list duties. Strong résumés show results. The difference is usually one sentence of rework. A reliable pattern:

Action verb + what you did + measurable result.

Start each bullet with a strong verb (Led, Built, Reduced, Launched), not “Responsible for” or “Helped with”. Our action verb finder has 150+ by category. Then read our full guide on how to add numbers to your résumé.

Formatting that humans and software can read

• One column, top to bottom. Multi-column layouts often get scrambled by ATS parsers.
• Standard headings: Experience, Education, Skills. Not “My Journey”.
• Real text, never text inside images or graphics.
• A readable font at 10–12pt, with consistent spacing and dates.
• Export to PDF from your editor (or DOCX if the employer asks). Check you can select the text in the PDF.

All of our résumé templates follow these rules. For country-specific conventions like length, photos and paper size, see résumé format by country.

Tailor it for every application

A single generic résumé sent to 100 jobs usually performs worse than a tailored one sent to 20. Tailoring doesn’t mean rewriting from scratch. It means:

1. Reading the job post and noting the must-have skills and keywords.
2. Making sure the ones you genuinely have appear in your résumé, in the job’s own words.
3. Reordering bullets so the most relevant evidence comes first.
4. Adjusting your summary to match the role.

Our guide to tailoring your résumé to a job description covers this step by step, and the job keyword scanner pulls the keywords out for you.

Final checklist

When you’re done, run it through the free ATS résumé checker for a score and a prioritised list of fixes.

Frequently asked questions