Resume Writing Guide
How to Write a Resume
The complete guide to writing a resume that passes ATS and impresses recruiters
Resume Basics
Before diving into sections, get these fundamentals right. They determine whether your resume gets read at all.
Length
1 page for under 7 years of experience. 2 pages for senior or executive roles. Never 3 pages — ruthlessly cut if needed.
Order
Reverse chronological: most recent experience at the top. This is what ATS systems expect and recruiters prefer.
Formatting
Clean, consistent, and scannable. Uniform font, consistent date formatting, and clear visual hierarchy throughout.
Contact Section
Your contact section sits at the very top. It should be easy to find and contain exactly the right information — nothing more, nothing less.
Include
- ✓ Full name (large, prominent)
- ✓ Professional email address
- ✓ Phone number
- ✓ LinkedIn profile URL
- ✓ City and Province/State (not full address)
- ✓ Portfolio or GitHub (if relevant)
Leave out
- ✗ Profile photo (in North America)
- ✗ Date of birth
- ✗ Full street address
- ✗ Marital status or nationality
- ✗ Personal social media accounts
- ✗ Fax number
Professional Summary
A professional summary is 2–3 sentences at the top of your resume that tell a recruiter exactly who you are and what you bring. It replaces the outdated "Objective" statement and gives you a chance to lead with your strongest qualifier.
Formula
[Job title] with [X years] of experience in [domain]. Proven track record of [top achievement]. Seeking to [goal] at [type of company].
Example
Product Manager with 6 years of experience in B2B SaaS. Led the 0→1 build of a data pipeline product that reached $4M ARR within 18 months. Passionate about turning complex technical capabilities into products that drive measurable business outcomes.
- → Tailor it per application — swap in the exact job title from the posting
- → Lead with your strongest credential (years of experience, notable employer, top result)
- → Keep it to 3 sentences maximum — recruiters spend ~7 seconds on first pass
Work Experience
This is the most important section of your resume. Structure each role consistently and make every bullet count.
Job Title
Company Name · City, Province · Month Year – Month Year
• [Action verb] + [what you did] + [impact / metric]
• [Action verb] + [what you did] + [impact / metric]
• [Action verb] + [what you did] + [impact / metric]
- • List 3–5 bullet points per role. More for recent senior roles, fewer for older or shorter-tenure jobs.
- • Use past tense for all past roles, present tense only for your current position.
- • Include employment dates in a consistent format: "Mar 2021 – Jan 2023" or "2021–2023."
- • Prioritize relevance: the bullets that relate most to the target job go first.
Writing Strong Bullet Points
Every bullet point should follow a simple formula: Action verb + what you did + impact or metric. This is sometimes called the STAR-lite approach (Situation is implied by context, Task is the action verb, Activity is what you did, Result is the metric).
Strong action verbs by category
Before vs. After
✗ Worked on improving the checkout process
✓ Redesigned checkout flow, reducing cart abandonment by 22% and increasing conversion rate from 2.1% to 2.9%
✗ Managed social media accounts
✓ Grew Instagram following from 4K to 31K in 9 months through a content strategy that averaged 8.4% engagement rate
Skills Section
The skills section is heavily weighted by ATS. Keep it focused on hard skills — tools, technologies, methodologies, and certifications. Soft skills like "communication" and "teamwork" belong in your bullet points, not a list.
Rules for your skills section:
- • List 8–12 skills — enough to be comprehensive, not so many it looks padded
- • Match your skills to the tools named in the job description
- • Use official product/tool names (e.g., "Salesforce CRM" not "CRM software")
- • No proficiency bars or star ratings — they're meaningless to ATS and vague to humans
- • Group by category if you have many: Technical, Tools, Languages, Certifications
Example Skills Section
Education
Education goes below work experience for anyone with more than 2–3 years of professional experience. For new graduates, it may go near the top.
Bachelor of Commerce, Marketing
University of Toronto · Toronto, ON · 2018
GPA: 3.8/4.0 (include only if above 3.5 and within last 5 years)
Include relevant certifications in a separate "Certifications" section if you have more than two. For a single certification, it can sit below education.
What to Leave Out
What you omit is as important as what you include. Remove anything that wastes space, creates bias risk, or is irrelevant to the role.
✗ Objective statements
Replaced by the professional summary. Objectives focus on what you want; summaries focus on what you offer.
✗ "References available upon request"
Assumed by every recruiter. Wastes a line.
✗ Personal information
Age, marital status, photo, religion, nationality — none are relevant and can introduce bias.
✗ Experience older than 15 years
Unless it's exceptionally relevant, cut it. Hiring managers care about recent work.
✗ Every job you've ever held
Irrelevant early-career or unrelated roles dilute the impact of your strong experience.
✗ Hobbies and interests
Unless directly relevant (e.g., photography for a content role), these take up valuable space.
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