How to Write a Resume: The Complete Guide for 2026

1. Pick the right resume format

Three formats exist. In 2026, almost everyone should use one specific one.

Reverse chronological (use this)

Lists your most recent job first and works backward. Recruiters expect it, ATS software parses it best, and it makes your career progression instantly readable. Use this unless you have a specific reason not to.

Functional / skills-based (usually avoid)

Groups your resume by skill categories instead of jobs. It signals to recruiters that you're hiding something (a gap, a job hop, a lack of experience) and ATS software often struggles to parse it. Skip.

Hybrid / combination (use in specific cases)

Leads with a skills section, then follows with reverse chronological experience. Reasonable for career changers or candidates re-entering the workforce after a long gap.

For more on this decision, see our resume format guide.

2. Write your header and contact info

The top of your resume needs six things and no more:

• Your name (larger font, bold)
• Your target role or current title (e.g., "Senior Product Manager") — optional but useful for ATS keyword match
• Email address (use a professional one, first.last@gmail.com is fine)
• Phone number with country code if applying internationally
• City and state / country — no full address needed
• LinkedIn URL (customize the URL so it's readable)

Add if relevant: Portfolio URL, GitHub, personal website.

Never include: Photo (in US/UK/Canada/Australia), date of birth, marital status, or nationality — these can trigger bias filters and add no value.

3. Write a professional summary

A professional summary sits at the top of your resume and gives a recruiter the compressed version of why they should keep reading. Aim for 2-4 sentences and 40-80 words.

What to include

• Your title and years of experience
• Your primary domain or specialty
• One or two specific accomplishments (with numbers)
• What you're seeking (optional)

4. List your work experience

This is the section recruiters spend the most time on. Format each role with:

• Job title (as written on your offer letter)
• Company name, city/state
• Dates (Month Year format, e.g., Jan 2023 - Present)
• 3-5 bullet points per role (up to 6 for your current role, 2-3 for older roles)

The bullet point formula

Every bullet has three parts:

[Action verb] + [what you did] + [measurable outcome]

Action verbs to use

Leadership: Led, Managed, Directed, Oversaw, Mentored, Spearheaded
Building: Built, Designed, Launched, Shipped, Architected, Created
Improving: Reduced, Increased, Improved, Streamlined, Cut, Accelerated
Revenue: Grew, Generated, Secured, Closed, Expanded

See the full list: resume action verbs.

How to quantify without hard numbers

If you don't have exact metrics, use scope and specificity: "team of 6," "~30 clients," "7-step onboarding flow used by all new enterprise accounts." Anything that shows scale is better than vague duty descriptions.

5. Add your education

Include for each degree:

• University name
• Degree and major (e.g., "B.S. Computer Science")
• Graduation year (or expected)
• GPA if 3.5 or higher
• Honors, awards, or relevant coursework (optional, more useful for students)

Where to put it: Recent grads (under 3 years of experience) put education above work experience. Everyone else puts it below.

Remove high school once you have a college degree, unless you're a first-semester freshman.

6. List your skills

Include 8-15 hard skills that match the job you're applying for. Hard skills are specific and searchable (Python, DCF modeling, Google Analytics, Salesforce). Soft skills like "communication" or "team player" are ignored by ATS and add nothing here — demonstrate those through your bullets instead.

How to organize

Group skills into categories if you have many. For example, a software engineer might use:

• Languages: Python, Go, JavaScript, SQL
• Frameworks: React, FastAPI, Django
• Infrastructure: AWS, Docker, Kubernetes
• Tools: Git, Jira, Datadog

For more, see our guide to listing skills on a resume.

7. Tailor your resume and score it

A generic resume rarely gets past ATS. Before you apply, do two things:

Tailor it

Read the job description and adjust your summary, top bullets, and skills section to mirror the role's language. If the posting says "cross-functional collaboration" and you led cross-functional projects, use those exact words. See the full walkthrough in how to tailor your resume to any job description.

Score it

Run your tailored resume through an ATS checker. You want a keyword match of 70%+ before you apply.

8. Common resume mistakes to avoid

• Starting bullets with "Responsible for" or "Helped with": Both signal junior-level thinking. Start with a direct action verb.
• Using first person: Never write "I" or "my." Drop the subject.
• Listing duties instead of accomplishments: Recruiters know what your job involves; they want to see your specific impact.
• Generic buzzwords: "Results-driven," "detail-oriented," "team player" carry no weight. Cut them.
• Same resume for every job: Tailoring is the single highest-ROI resume action. Even small tweaks help.
• Formatting that breaks ATS: Tables, text boxes, images in the body, unusual fonts, headers/footers — all cause parsing errors.
• Too long: One page under 10 years of experience. Two pages max otherwise.