Your resume is a critical marketing document — in any career at all levels — and is typically the first impression a recruiter or potential employer has of you and your study and/or career achievements. It can also set the tone for the rest of the recruitment process. In our digital world, there are some scenarios where a resume may diminish in importance compared with other factors.

In the IT space, demonstrating on-the-job skills may land you a job without you submitting a resume. For example, Google often uses Code Jams to hire developers. In the digital marketing space, an active Twitter profile can often lead to job offers. And in many fields, LinkedIn is a valuable business tool for recruiters, giving them faster access to relevant professionals. However, a concise and accurate resume still plays a vital role in recruiting. It allows a recruiter and prospective employer to find out more about you, your skills and your background in a “digestible” manner.

In terms of how to write a good resume strategically, it involves going beyond including short-term, “tactical” elements (designed to gain an objective) to longer-term “strategic” elements (like complex activity, operational patterns, activity and decision-making) that lead to the execution of tactics. Factors to consider include:

Length

According to Indeed, a one-page resume is a standard length for students, new graduates and professionals with up to ten years of experience. Multi-page resumes can be acceptable if you have many years of experience, achievements, projects and other relevant information.

However, it’s a delicate balance, as you don’t want to frustrate recruiters and potential employers by including pages of irrelevant information to make you appear more qualified. The key is to create the most relevant, concise and easy-to-read document possible. Length is secondary to high clarity and quality content.

Structure

In terms of how to write a good resume, most resumes are typically organised into the following sections:

Heading and contact details

The main heading should be your name and contact details, including your phone number and email address. You don’t need to include the word “resume”, as it’s safe to assume recruiters will know what they’re reading! Ensure your email address and phone voice message are professional. You may also want to include the following:

• Your current job title if it is relevant to the job you are applying for. Alternatively, you could indicate your career goals. For example, “Aspiring chartered accountant”.
• Links to your professional online profiles, including LinkedIn, Twitter and your personal website if you have one.
• Your location. A full residential address isn’t required. You only need to specify your city or region.

You don’t need to include the following:

• Your age
• Your gender
• Your date of birth

Summary

Often called a “personal profile”, “overview”, or “career objective”, a summary is used by experienced candidates to tie together their years of experience into a common theme. It should be concise, relevant to the potential employer, and include a clear value proposition in line with the position requirements. You should also avoid subjective terms (like “team player”, “detail-oriented”, and “effective communicator”), as they usually come across as bland or generic and rarely add value to a resume.

Education

A critical factor in how to write a good resume, this section can include qualifications or other relevant training, licenses or accreditations such as industry certifications. If you graduated within the last ten years, you could also include your school results if they reflect your academic success.

You should list qualifications in order of their timing, importance and relevance. The amount of information you include will depend on the role you are applying for. Generally, you should only delve into subject-level detail if it’s relevant to the job. For each qualification, you should include information on the following:

• the institution
• start and completion dates
• degree grades
• any relevant academic awards
• any subjects, dissertations, research projects etc. that are relevant.

Experience

You don’t need to list every role you have had. Instead, focus on highlighting experience relevant to the position you’re applying for.

List your employment in reverse chronological order, and include the following:

• the organisation name, including a description
• your job title
• your role and responsibilities, including what you contributed, accomplished or learned. The “STAR” framework(Situation, Task, Action, Result) is useful for clarifying these details.
• start and finish dates
• a short description of what each experience involved.

Other examples worth mentioning, if relevant, include:

• voluntary positions
• fundraising positions
• contributions to University clubs, societies or other membership bodies
• roles in sporting organisations
• freelance assignments
• part-time work
• internships
• temporary, freelance or contract work.

Try to focus on your actions and results, and back up your claims by using direct action words (like “designed” or “organised”), and include evidence you can quantify, like data or statistics that show how much, how many and how often. Don’t use industry jargon to show off your knowledge, and again, avoid vague and subjective buzzwords like “detail-oriented”, “effective communicator”, and “team player”.

For example, instead of “Detail-oriented data entry and analysis in Excel”, consider “Modelled 20 years of historical financial data in Excel to determine the relationship between commodity prices and profitability”.

Instead of “Launched internal team productivity reporting dashboard”, consider “Liaised with senior leadership and colleagues to develop a productivity reporting dashboard that cut team task allocation time by approximately 50 per cent”.

Instead of “Researched CRM options”, consider “Collaborated with a team of four to evaluate alternative software platforms to drive sales productivity, ultimately saving an estimated $500,000 per year”.

Skills and attributes

This is another important factor when it comes to how to write a good resume. This section gives you the opportunity to list all of your relevant skills, and group them into themes that will enhance your resume’s readability.

Your skills may include “hard” skills, which are technical skills that help you perform a specific task, and “soft” skills. According to LinkedIn, the top 16 in-demand soft skills for 2022 are adaptability, communication, critical thinking, digital literacy, time management, initiative, teamwork, leadership, proactivity, networking, life-long learning, negotiation, self-care, emotional intelligence, confidence, and resilience.

In terms of a specific role, evaluate the job description. Hard skills are normally listed explicitly in job ads, but you should also consider your education, qualifications, certifications, training, other languages you speak, machinery you can use, software you are familiar with, and industry or role-specific knowledge you have gained over your career.

Soft skills are also increasingly being listed on job ads. If they’re not, develop your own list of what might be required by considering the company’s culture, your past experiences in similar positions, and networking with those who are currently in similar roles. Any awards, accolades or achievements you’ve obtained in your career can also often mirror your strongest attributes. You can also include any extracurricular interests or activities, including sports, travel, volunteering and hobbies — but make sure they are relevant!

Format

Knowing how to write a good resume is only part of the process. Formatting is also essential, and although resume layout and design can vary greatly, the primary consideration should be readability for the recruiter or prospective employer. Some guidelines to consider, include:

• Keeping it simple and consistent. Consistent formatting, in particular, will help recruiters with “skimming”. They will also know where to look if they need to refer back to something.
• Considering the font you use. A safe default font is Calibre, which is clear and scales well for both content and headings. An 11 or 12-point font size will ensure readability, and you can use bold and italicised text to draw attention to headings and key points.
• Including bullet points, subheadings and white space. These can enhance clarity, readability and visual style.