What to put on a resume: A complete section-by-section guide.

A good resume is not a comprehensive biography of your life. It is a marketing document designed to do one thing: get you an interview. To do that, it needs to follow a predictable structure that recruiters can scan in six seconds.

The standard resume order

The order of your resume sections depends on where you are in your career.

If you are a student or recent graduate:

1. Contact Information
2. Education
3. Experience (Internships, Part-time jobs)
4. Projects or Extracurriculars
5. Skills

If you have 1+ years of professional experience:

1. Contact Information
2. Summary (Only if changing careers or senior level)
3. Work Experience
4. Education
5. Skills

1. Contact Information

This goes at the very top. It must be perfectly accurate.

• Full Name: Make it the largest text on the page.
• Phone Number: Ensure your voicemail is set up and sounds professional.
• Email Address: Use a simple, professional email (e.g., firstname.lastname@gmail.com). Do not use your current work email.
• Location: City and State are enough. Do not include your full street address.
• Links: Add your LinkedIn profile URL. If you are an engineer or designer, include your GitHub or Portfolio link.

2. Professional Summary (Optional)

Do not use an "Objective" statement ("Seeking a challenging role to utilize my skills"). Objectives are dead. Instead, use a Professional Summary.

A summary is a 3-sentence elevator pitch. It is only necessary if you are a senior professional summarizing a long career, or if you are changing careers and need to explain how your past experience translates.

3. Work Experience

This is the core of your resume. List your jobs in reverse-chronological order (newest first).

For each job, include:

• Job Title
• Company Name
• Location (City, State)
• Dates of Employment (Month/Year to Month/Year)
• 3-5 Bullet Points detailing your achievements.

The Golden Rule of Bullet Points: Focus on achievements, not duties. Use the formula: Action Verb + Task + Result.

Instead of: "Responsible for managing social media."
Write: "Managed 3 social media accounts, growing total audience by 45% over six months through targeted video campaigns."

4. Education

Keep this brief unless you are a recent grad.

• Degree: (e.g., Bachelor of Science in Computer Science)
• University Name
• Graduation Year: (If you graduated more than 10 years ago, you can leave the year off to prevent age bias).
• GPA: Only include if it is above 3.5 and you graduated in the last 3 years.

5. Skills

This section is crucial for passing Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Group your skills logically.

• Hard Skills: Software, tools, languages, methodologies (e.g., Python, Figma, Agile, SEO).
• Soft Skills: Be careful here. Anyone can write "Leadership" or "Communication." It is better to prove soft skills in your experience bullet points than to list them as naked words.

What to leave OFF your resume

To keep your resume to one page, ruthlessly cut the following:

• "References available upon request": This is assumed. It wastes a line.
• Your photo: Unless you are applying in a country where it is standard (like Germany or Japan), do not include a photo. In the US, UK, and Canada, it can cause your resume to be rejected due to anti-discrimination policies.
• High School: Once you are in college, your high school drops off the resume.
• Irrelevant hobbies: Unless your hobby is directly related to the job or shows immense dedication (e.g., running marathons), leave it off.