How to Write a Resume: A Step-by-Step Guide
A resume has one job: to make a recruiter want to talk to you. That means showing, quickly and with evidence, that you can do the job in the advert. This guide walks through each section in the order you fill it in on MakeCV, with examples of what works and what doesn't.
1. Before you write: read the advert
Copy the job advert into a document and highlight three things: the job title, the must-have skills and the outcomes the role is responsible for ("grow pipeline", "reduce waiting times", "keep the books audit-ready"). Everything you write next should point at those highlights. If you apply for different kinds of roles, do this for each kind.
2. Header and contact details
- Name: the name you want to be called.
- Professional title: the job you are applying for, or the closest honest version ("Customer Service Team Lead"), not a vague label ("Hard-working professional").
- Email: a simple, professional address.
- Phone: include the country code if you apply abroad.
- Location: city and country is enough. A full street address is unnecessary.
- LinkedIn / website: only if they are up to date and help your case.
3. Professional summary
Two to four sentences at the top that tell the reader who you are, what you are best at, and what you want next. It is the most-read part of a resume, so make it specific.
Motivated, results-driven professional with excellent communication skills seeking a challenging role.
Customer service team lead with 5 years in e-commerce support. Cut average first-response time from 9 hours to 2 by redesigning the ticket triage. Looking to move into a support operations role.
See 20+ resume summary examples by career stage and field.
4. Work experience
This is where interviews are won. List jobs in reverse chronological order (most recent first). For each: job title, employer, location, start and end month and year, and two to five lines of achievements.
Write achievements, not duties
A duty says what you were supposed to do. An achievement says what happened because you did it. A reliable pattern: action verb + what you did + result, with a number wherever you honestly can.
Responsible for social media accounts.
Grew Instagram followers from 2,000 to 11,000 in a year by moving to a 3-posts-a-week video schedule.
Handled stock and deliveries.
Cut stock write-offs by about a third by introducing weekly date checks and first-in-first-out shelving.
No exact numbers? Use scale (how many customers, how large a budget, how many people), frequency (weekly, 40 calls a day) or before-and-after comparisons. Never invent figures: you will be asked about them.
Useful action verbs
Led, built, launched, reduced, increased, negotiated, redesigned, automated, trained, resolved, delivered, introduced, managed, analysed, won, coordinated. Vary them; "responsible for" is not a verb that sells.
How much to include
Give the most space to the last 10–15 years and the roles most relevant to the job. Older or unrelated jobs can be one line each. In MakeCV you can add up to five roles; if you have more, combine early ones.
5. Education
Degree or qualification, institution, and years. Recent graduates can add a grade, relevant modules or a dissertation topic in the notes field. Once you have a few years of experience, education moves below experience and gets shorter.
6. Skills
List the skills the advert asks for that you genuinely have, in the advert's wording: tools ("Excel", "Salesforce"), techniques ("financial modelling", "SEO") and certifications. Six to twelve is usually right. Soft skills ("teamwork") carry more weight when shown in an achievement than when listed. Read the full resume skills guide.
7. Projects, certifications and languages
- Projects: essential for students, career changers and technical roles. Name, tools, one-line result.
- Certifications: name, issuer and year. Only current, relevant ones.
- Languages: with a level. CEFR levels (A1–C2) or "Native / Fluent / Conversational" are both understood.
8. Choose a template
Content first, design second. If you are applying through online portals, choose a single-column template such as Harvard, Classic or Minimalist. If you are sending your resume to a person, a modern or creative design can help you stand out. Compare all 14 templates.
9. Tailor, proofread, export
- Tailor: adjust your title, summary, the order of skills and the first line of each job to the advert you highlighted in step 1.
- Check length: one page early in your career, two once you have more experience (format guide).
- Proofread: read it aloud, then read it backwards sentence by sentence. Check dates line up and every employer name is spelled correctly.
- Export: in MakeCV, use ATS PDF for online applications (text-based) and Download PDF for emailing a person. See the ATS guide.
- Name the file
Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf.
MakeCV doesn't save your data: refreshing the page clears the form. Keep your text in a notes file too so you can tailor quickly next time.