In 30 years of writing resumes, I’ve seen resume basics change a lot! When I started in 1996—at the urging of a college professor who said, “You’re a good writer; can you write my resume?”—we were limited to one page, online applications were just coming onto the scene, and applicant tracking system (ATS) meant nothing.
Now, the resumes I write need to be formatted to slide easily into ATS, grab the attention of recruiters in mere seconds, leave no questions unanswered, and (for good measure) stand out among the hundreds of other applicants vying for the role. It’s a lot to consider, especially for my clients, many of whom haven’t had to apply to a job in a decade or more (and certainly don’t write resumes every day).
Sound like you? The rules have changed, and whether you choose to go full tilt on your own or hire a professional, you should know what recruiters are looking for and how you can put your best foot forward.
First Up: Your Audience
A resume in today’s environment has two goals:
- Be easily parsed by ATS.
- Excite a recruiter enough to call you for an interview.
That means you’re writing for two audiences: ATS and people. However, it’s the people who are making the decisions. Getting into ATS correctly just means that those people can type in words and find your resume. That’s easy. The hard part is standing out when recruiters are spending 3–5 seconds on an initial review of your resume.
What ATS is looking for
While there are some ATSs that incorporate AI, an ATS is not—I repeat, not—screening you out. To ensure that your resume parses into the digital filing cabinet that is an ATS, you only need to be careful with your formatting. Write your resume in Word or Google Docs and send it as a Word or PDF. As a final check, if you’re worried, you can export whatever you want to submit as a text/.txt file and see how it comes through. If it looks good, awesome; that’s how an ATS will read it. If it doesn’t, you might want to go back to the drawing board.
Some things that can alter how your resume parses into an ATS (or that they flat-out can’t parse at all) include:
- headers and footers
- tables, charts, and graphs
- any graphics
- links, which it will read as what you shared (hint: write the actual URL, not “LinkedIn” that’s hyperlinked to your profile)
- text boxes
- columns, which can work if formatted well, but many people don’t understand how to do it
If you stick to something relatively simple, ATS will parse your document just fine. Plus, remember that the actual document you upload—regardless of format—lives in the ATS, so recruiters can access it directly without having to search for keywords at all.
What recruiters are looking for
When a recruiter scans your resume in 3–5 seconds, they’re looking for just two things:
- Your fit with the role.
- How you’ve solved problems.
Recruiters want to find someone who is aligned with the requirements of the position, so you need to highlight how you meet them. Plus, since all companies are hiring someone to solve problems, recruiters want to see how you’ve solved problems in the past. That helps show them how you can do so in the future.
Next: Focus on Your Value Proposition
It used to be that a resume was a digest of all the positions and tasks you’ve had across your career. That is not the case now. In 2026, resume basics means a shift from what you did to how you added value. And that value is not offered up in the form of a laundry list of bullets.
People don’t want to read large blocks of text or an overabundance of bullets, which means you need a mix of both. Your value should be sprinkled across your resume to highlight all your experience and accomplishments.
In your summary, share how you align with the role and what you bring to the table. This is your first chance to showcase value.
In your experience section, focus on accomplishments. These should be results driven and tell a short story of your value add.
How to Build Accomplishments
Since accomplishments are what trip up most people when working on a resume, let’s pause and provide some context so you can create some good ones.
When it comes to resume basics, most resume writers use STAR as their accomplishment-writing formula. I’ve always been different, so I like CAR better:
Challenge: What were you facing?
Action: What did you do to overcome it?
Result: What was the outcome or benefit?
In my 30 years of experience, I’ve mostly seen accomplishments come out of the following five areas:
- You made someone money.
- You saved someone money.
- You made someone happy.
- You improved efficiency or productivity.
- You mitigated risk or loss.
Quantitative results (numbers) are always better and more impactful, but they’re not a necessity. If you have numbers, whether dollars or percentages, use them! However, if your accomplishments are more qualitative, that’s fine. Just use words that make sense to show that, such as increased, grew, improved, elevated, skyrocketed, mitigated, avoided, or reduced.
The Components of a Resume
While I’m averse to using templates to write resumes, my resume basics are the same across the board—as should yours be. This is what to include in your resume:
- Contact Information: full name, city and state (not the full address), phone number, email address, and custom LinkedIn URL. This MUST be in the body of the resume on the first page since, as mentioned previously, ATSs can’t often see headers and footers.
- Header/Title: This is the title of the position to which you’re applying and should change as you apply to different roles.
- Summary: In about three to six lines, tell the reader how you meet the qualifications of the role. You can do this is a paragraph, bullets, or a combination of the two. Personally, I like to sneak in some of the qualifications/keywords by bulleting them and adding context around how you do those things.
- Experience: Share these in reverse-chronological order. Each position should have a brief, two- to four-line paragraph overview of your job scope, which is followed by bulleted accomplishments. As a guide, include one accomplishment per year worked, not to exceed five accomplishments per role. Only go into detail with 10–15 years of experience, truncating the older roles into an “additional experience” section.
- Education: List degrees in reverse-chronological order: degree, major, school, city and state. Only include years if they’re within the last five. Do not include high school unless you’ve graduated recently and didn’t go to college, or you went to a prestigious school that might help you secure interviews. Note: If you are a new grad, and education is your biggest selling point, this section will go after your summary and before your experience.
- Anything Else: Certifications, licenses, memberships, publications, and patents will round out your resume.
A Word about Using AI for Resume Writing
I’m a professional resume writer, so I don’t use AI for writing resumes. But I know you’re not, so you may partner with your friend ChatGPT, and I want to provide you with some guidance.
Don’t just ask AI to “write me a resume”
AI is a large language model, so it’s learning from what people put into it—much of which is off base. It will tell you to include a skills section at the end of your resume (don’t), format the document out of whack, and make things up to better align your experience with the job description. I’ve heard stories of recruiters receiving nearly identical resumes for roles because candidates just plugged in the JD and asked for a resume. Don’t do it.
Have AI support you with components of the resume
AI can be really good with writing a resume summary, tightening up job scopes, and crafting accomplishments. But it can only do this with strong prompts. You need to tell it exactly what you want, including the length of your summary and how you want accomplishments formatted.
Don’t trust ranks that AI provides
I’m not sure where the idea of ranking resumes picked up steam, but no ATS does that. Don’t let AI fool you by saying your resume ranks or doesn’t rank. That’s just not a thing.
Always check AI-generated information
This should go without saying, but I’m saying it: Double check whatever your friend ChatGPT gives you. I’ve seen it make up numbers and add skills that you may not have. Remember that AI is a “yes man,” and it’s going to tell you what you want to hear. Be cautious.
One Size Does Not Fit All
While I’m always happy to review resumes (send yours to me at [email protected] for free feedback!), and I have to provide feedback based on today’s resume basics and best practices, the truth is that every person is different. Your resume should not read like another person’s because you’re each bringing specific things to the table.
When writing your resume, look first at your goal. That will define the strategy you take and how you share information. Without a goal, you’re stuck with a laundry list of things you’ve done, and we know that’s not effective.
Also, as you move forward in your job search, be sure to update your resume accordingly to match the job. This is vitally important to your success. A resume is not static, and it changes as you apply to different roles as well as when you add more experience and accomplishments. It’s good to review it regularly to ensure it continues to align with the brand you’re presenting.
A Resume Is Only One Tool
Remember that, even though a resume is an important component of your job-search toolbox, it’s just one thing. Absolutely apply to jobs, updating your resume to highlight your alignment. In addition to that, reach out to your network, leverage LinkedIn, and meet new people at companies you’re targeting. A cohesive strategy will lead to success much faster than a one-trick pony will.
Need help navigating the job-search process?
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