Who should use a chronological resume format?
- Anyone who is applying for an executive-level position.
- Job seekers who have 10+ years of experience in the same industry.
- Applicants who want to show off an impressive career progression.
Learn how to write every section of your resume so that your unique strengths shine through. Follow our tips to maximize your resume sections and customize your resume for each role.
Some of our customers have been hired by:
Every job advertisement receives around 250 applications*, so if you want to be one of the handful of people that get a callback for an interview, you’ll need to do more than just pack your resume with your best skills and most impressive career achievements.
Our detailed step-by-step resume guide will teach you how to create a resume from scratch with all the necessary sections to make your unique strengths stand out.
However, if time is of the essence and you want to apply for a job ASAP, head to our Resume Builder, which writes a personalized and professional resume for you in minutes.
The resume header should include:
The resume professional summary should include:
If you’re starting your career and have little experience, you might want to use a resume objective instead.
The work experience section should include:
The resume skills section should include:
The education section should include:
Just pick one of our professionally-designed resume templates, fill in your contact information and tell us your desired job title and years of experience. The Resume Builder takes care of the rest!
STEP 2
Employers need to know who you are.
Share your essential contact information in the header section of our resume templates.
Contact information you should include:
Optional contact information:
Contact information you should leave out:
STEP 3
Recruiters spend around 7 seconds scanning your resume, which is why you should include a brief but impactful opening statement. It should only be a few sentences long and show employers your resume matches the role.
There are two ways you can write this opener; you can opt for a resume summary or a resume objective. But what’s the difference between them, and which should you use?
What is a resume summary?
The resume summary, also called a summary statement or professional summary, is the recommended approach because it concisely summarizes characteristics that make you ideal for a specific job.
Your resume summary should include a couple of your most job-relevant skills and feature at least one career achievement. Include keywords from the job description and use action verbs; avoid phrases with “I” or “my” pronouns.
Formula to write a resume summary:
Resume summary examples
Graphic designer resume summary:
“Creative graphic designer with seven years of experience creating brand identities for over 15 clients. Experienced in logo typography and color palette creation using Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and After Effects. Created augmented reality (AR) graphics for a mobile smartphone game application which reached an audience of 2 million people.”
Accountant resume summary:
“Diligent Accountant with three years of experience working in the public and private sectors. Adept at creating detailed financial reports and establishing and maintaining budgets. Provided strategic financial planning consultations to corporate clients like Unilever and Walmart.”
In need of a stronger resume summary? Have our Resume Builder suggest a resume summary for your desired role.
What is a resume objective?
The resume objective, or career objective, communicates your goals for a job and the skills and education you have to achieve them. This statement is ideal for less experienced candidates, such as students and those relocating or changing careers.
This paragraph should consist of two or three sentences that mention job-relevant qualifications and skills that compensate for your lack of formal experience.
Formula to write a resume objective:
Strong resume objective examples
Blogger resume objective:
“Blogger with experience in fashion, beauty and lifestyle writing for personal blogs and digital publications seeking affiliate writer position at Teen Vogue to provide engaging and informative shopping advice with excellent copywriting, research and trends analysis. Possess social media management skills and basic graphic design abilities.”
Physical therapy aide resume objective:
“Physical therapy aide certified by Borough of Manhattan Community College seeking physical therapy assistant job at HD Physical Therapy Clinic to offer my PTA services in recordkeeping, equipment setup and data monetization. Self-motivated, organized and responsible PTA that works with initiative.”
STEP 4
Hiring managers will pay close attention to your work history section, so a big part of your success will lie in your work experience.
Your work history section is the bulk of your professional accomplishments.
You must organize this section in reverse-chronological order so employers see your most recent or current job and work your way down.
When you’re listing each job, include:
Highlight relevant experience
You don’t need to include every single job you’ve had in your resume, but beware of creating gaps between roles!
You should include up to 10 years of career experience in your resume. Focus on the jobs that showcase a logical progression of your career.
For instance, if you’re applying for a graphic design job and spent three years babysitting during your bachelor’s degree, you shouldn’t include this role.
However, if the skills you gained in a job help you excel in the role you’re applying for, include the job in your work experience.
For example, someone who babysat for years can include this experience in their resume if they’re applying for an elementary school job.
Focus on accomplishments, not daily tasks
Your work experience should tell employers what you’ve achieved in each role; they want to see the impact you’ve had. A boring list of responsibilities isn’t going to cut it.
Instead, focus on unique achievements that show you’ve gone above and beyond your role. For example:
Use quantifiable metrics to add credibility to your resume
Numbers speak louder than words!
When writing your work history descriptions, include numbers and metrics to highlight your success. When recruiters scan your resume, dollar amounts or percentages quickly catch their eye.
Some examples of quantifiable metrics on your work history are:
Tailor your resume to the job with keywords
Prove you’re an excellent fit for the role by using resume keywords. You can find keywords by scanning the job ad for skills and qualifications.
You must use these skills and keywords precisely as they appear on the job ad since recruiters and applicant tracking systems (ATS) will scan your resume for them.
However, don’t clutter your resume with buzzwords like “team player” or “people person,” as these will look insincere, and ATS will flag duplicate content.
Look at this fictional job advertisement for a retail sales associate and highlight the keywords. Then, let’s see how you would include these keywords in your resume’s work history section.
We are hiring a dynamic and motivated sales associate for our new location in Altamonte Mall.
You will be responsible for various tasks on the sales floor, cash registers, fitting rooms and stockroom.
Key Responsibilities:
Qualifications:
Once you’ve noted all the keywords in the job ad, pick the ones that accurately describe your professional experience and skill set. Check out how to use the keywords when describing your work history:
Sales associate work history example:
Work History
Sales Associate | Urban Outfitters – Tampa, FL
November 2021 – Current
Cashier | AVO Boutique – Tampa, FL
August 2019 – November 2021
Sales Associate | The Gap – Tampa, FL
January 2019 – August 2019
Use strong action verbs
Start sentences with strong action verbs when you begin to write your work history. For example, “Developed new social media strategy” has more impact than “Was responsible for our social accounts.”
Make sure you use different action verbs throughout your work history. If you need some inspiration, check out this list:
STEP 5
Your skills section should include six to eight skills describing your expertise for the desired role. You should have various skills that showcase you’re a well-rounded candidate; therefore, you need hard, soft and technical skills.
What are hard skills?
Hard skills refer to the specialized knowledge you need to perform a job. You gain hard skills through education or training, so they will vary depending on the job you apply for.
10 hard skills examples
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are personal abilities that help you interact professionally with your teammates and ensure you do your job as efficiently as possible. You can find these soft skills in candidates across all industries.
10 soft skills examples
What are technical skills?
Technical skills are a subcategory of hard skills, and they reference your ability to use digital tools and technology for your job’s daily tasks. These skills also vary according to role and industry.
10 technical skills examples
How you present your skills on your resume will look different depending on your resume format. You can check out the FAQ on this page to learn more about how to write skills sections or reference our functional and combination resume guides.
STEP 6
Your education section will communicate that you have the academic training to perform your job. Although some companies are dropping college-level educational requirements, the education section provides recruiters a trusted reference for your knowledge and skills. Besides, jobs in education, law, finance and health care will always require some education or licensing.
Example elements of an education section:
Examples of optional education information:
Tips to make the most of your education section
Now let’s review a few education examples:
Example of a high school student education section
Lincoln High School
Dallas, TX – June 2019
High School Diploma
GPA 4.0
Example of a GED graduate education section
General Educational Development Diploma (GED)
San Diego, CA – 08/2019
Pro Tip: If your degree is older than five years, consider removing the graduation date to avoid unfair hiring bias from employers determining your age.
Example of a BA graduate’s education section
University of California – San Diego
San Diego, CA
B.S. in Marine Biology
Relevant Coursework:
Example of a postgraduate law student education section
Columbia Law School
San Diego, CA
New York, NY – Expected graduation in June 2023
Juris Doctor
STEP 7
You don’t have to limit your resume’s content to these sections!
Once you’ve mastered these five main resume sections, you can customize your resume with additional sections.
Instead, include as many achievements as you can in designated custom sections.
Some examples of additional resume sections are:
Certifications and licenses
Some jobs like nurse, EMT or physical therapist require a license to practice legally.
You can create a separate section to list any licenses or certifications you possess.
Even if your role doesn’t require it, you may voluntarily add licenses or certifications that show you have formal training in your field.
The way to list licenses or certifications in your resume is by including:
Example of licenses on a resume:
Example of certifications on a resume:
Honors and awards
You can add an honors or awards section for any academic or professional recognition you’ve received.
“Honors” tend to relate to academic achievements, whereas “awards” refer to academic and professional accolades.
Types of honors and awards you can include on a resume
Example of an honors resume section:
Honors
Example of an awards resume section:
Awards
Projects
You can add a section in your resume to showcase any large-scale projects you’ve led or participated in your company or even personal side projects.
This “Projects” section benefits less experienced candidates who want to show employers they have experience in specific areas of expertise relevant to the role.
Example of a projects resume section:
Projects
Publications
If you’re a writer or an academic investigator, you may want to showcase any publications you’ve written during your career.
Depending on your field of study, you will use different citing methods such as APA, MLA or Chicago.
If you’re working in academia and have a long list of publications, you might be better off with a curriculum vitae (CV) instead of a resume. If that’s the case, we can also teach you how to write a CV.
Example of a publications resume section:
Publications
Now that you’ve mastered how to do a resume, it’s time to clean up your resume’s content and design.
Fact-check the details and proofread
Double-check information like dates and the spelling of company or school names and ensure your contact information is accurate and up to date.
It won’t matter if you’re the most qualified candidate in the world if your resume contains spelling and grammatical errors.
Check each of your resume sections for typos and formatting errors. Read the page from top to bottom before deeming it ready for recruiters.
Resume formatting tips
Making a resume takes a lot of steps. So, use our Resume Builder to take off running!
6 reasons why you should use our Resume Builder
Here are some features:
Key Takeaways
To wrap up, let’s review the major steps for writing a resume:
A cover letter helps you sell yourself to the employer by providing more context to the career accomplishments showcased in your resume.
We already covered how important it is to tailor your resume for every job application so you can increase your chances of getting hired.
The same goes for the cover letter, another document you should continually customize to show different employers how you can fulfill the role’s specific demands.
Do you need a quick cover letter for your next job application? Our Cover Letter Builder writes full-page letters according to your desired job, matches your working style and accounts for any gaps in your work history, all in mere minutes.
When learning how to make a resume, start with a strong summary of your qualifications and emphasize the value of your skill set and industry knowledge. If you have limited work experience, move your education section above the work history and list any academic honors. Remember, you may have internships or volunteer experiences that can make up for formal experience.
To learn how to write a resume that will pass an ATS, you’ll need a clean, easy-to-scan resume template. You’ll also need to study the ad carefully to ensure that your content mentions the most critical keywords from the job posting. Customize your resume every time you apply for a job to emphasize your most relevant skills and experience for the role.
The amount of work experience you should include in your resume will depend on your years of experience. You don’t need to include every single job you’ve ever had. Instead, list your most recent and relevant experience for your desired role.
Job seekers with no experience: Include any internships or apprenticeships you’ve completed during your education or training. Mention your participation in college associations (especially if you occupied a leadership position) or any special projects you completed during your final year. Make these accomplishments stand out in a functional resume.
Entry-level candidates: List all your work experiences up until now and emphasize quantifiable accomplishments.
Mid-level candidates: Provide a detailed description of any responsibilities that went beyond your job description that shows you’re prepared for a promotion.
Senior-level candidates: Showcase every role you’ve had up until the past 10 to 15 years.
If you’re writing a functional resume, you will choose three core skills that best reflect your best abilities (even better if they’re keywords from the job ad). For each core skill, you will include two to three bullet points describing what accomplishments prove you excel in that respective skill.
Teacher functional skills section example:
Skills
Classroom Management
Virtual Learning
Problem-Solving
Combination resumes can have just one listed skills section, or you can pair it with a “summary of qualifications” or “summary of skills.” In the summary of qualifications, you can share more job-relevant skills and achievements that demonstrate you’re prepared for the role. Junior and mid-level job seekers can use this summary of qualifications to show employers they’re ready for the job despite having little experience.
Customer service representative summary of qualifications example:
Summary of Qualifications
A resume is a document that informs employers of your professional background, career achievements and skills. It comprises five sections for your contact information, resume summary or objective, work experience, skills and education.
At LiveCareer, we’re passionate about how a good resume can impact your career and life. This is why we created an innovative Resume Builder that helps job seekers of all backgrounds achieve an impactful resume.
When making a resume for a job, you must include experiences and skills that directly correspond to what the employer is looking for. We call this tailoring a resume to a job, meaning you may have some core information in all your resumes, but there are certain parts that you change with each job application.
For instance, instead of listing generic job responsibilities in your work history, replace them with resume accomplishments demonstrating why you’re perfect for that role.
If you’re writing a resume for the first time and have no experience, you’ll need to showcase relevant skills for the position. A lack of experience doesn’t have to disqualify you from a job if you can compensate for it by featuring other professional experiences.
For instance, you might not have had your first full-time job yet, but you may have worked summers as a lifeguard or at a fast-food restaurant to save money for college. These experiences gave you valuable knowledge and skills, which you can mention in your resume to convince employers you’re a worthy candidate.
If you’re a student, a recent graduate, or any applicant with no formal experience, learn how to stand out in our no-experience resume writing guide.
If you want to impress recruiters with your resume, you need to follow these key tips:
All resumes follow one of three resume formats: chronological, functional or combination. These resume formats organize your sections to showcase your professional strengths and minimize limitations. Depending on your years of experience and career goal, you’ll benefit more from one format than another.
When writing a resume for your first job, you should do the following:
A cover letter should complement your resume, not repeat what your resume says. Your cover letter contains a pitch of yourself as the best person for the job. To write an effective cover letter, follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Organize your header with your and the recipient’s information, and address the hiring manager by name.
Step 2: Tell the hiring manager about yourself and why you want this job in the intro paragraph.
Step 3: Mention career achievements demonstrating why you’re the best fit for the role in the body paragraphs. You can format this paragraph in sentences or with bullet points.
Step 4: Prompt the hiring manager for an interview in your closing paragraph, and finish with a sign-off, your name and signature (optional).
Learn more about cover letters in our how to write a cover letter article, or go into our Cover Letter Builder for a customized cover letter in minutes.
Yes, you can update your resume in our Builder by uploading your existing resume. The Resume Builder will read through your resume’s content and organize it into your chosen resume template. It will also suggest improvements to your work experience descriptions and hundreds of skills to choose from.
If you already have a resume and just want to prime it for a new job search, check out these five tips for updating your resume.
Most applicants’ resumes go back 10 to 15 years. Because your resume should only include your most relevant experience, you don’t have to include every single job you’ve ever had, especially if it has nothing to do with the job you currently want.
To avoid employment gaps in your resume, you can opt for a functional format and use your skills section to share achievements from those less relevant jobs. If you have a lot of work experience unrelated to your desired position, you can add value to your resume by featuring transferable skills.
If you want to include a minor degree in your resume, do so in the education section along with your bachelor’s degree.
Here’s an example of how to write a minor on a resume:
Education
B.S. in Psychology with a Minor in Gender and Women’s Studies
Loyola University – Baltimore, MD
A high school student’s resume should include all the main resume sections.
You should opt for a resume objective where you can share your career goals and what skills you possess to achieve them.
You can use a combination or a functional resume format depending on how many years of experience relevant to your desired role.
Place heavy emphasis on the education section, and feel free to add additional information, such as relevant coursework and GPA.
Nervous about life after high school? Start preparing with these tips for high school seniors or consider a vocational or trade school to develop more skills for your professional life.
Suppose you’re a college student or recent graduate applying for an internship. In that case, your resume should focus on experiences and skills that have prepared you to tackle professional challenges in the real world.
Be direct and ambitious when sharing your career goals in your resume objective. Mention what skills you’ve acquired during schoolwork that enable you to perform a particular job. If your work experience is limited, you can choose a combination format to prioritize your skill set and showcase your valuable experience.
Consider applying with a cover letter as well since it’ll give you a chance to share more about your passions and career aspirations. Recruiters want to hire someone capable but also someone that is genuinely motivated to be there. Get tips on making your cover letter stand out in our 30+ examples of cover letter opening paragraphs for students and new grads.