At a glance
- Paper: US Letter, not A4.
- Length: one page early in your career, two at most.
- Photo: none. Leave out your date of birth, gender, marital status and nationality as well.
- References: not on the resume. Employers ask for them later.
The order
- Your name and contact details
- Summary
- Work experience, most recent first
- Skills
- Education
- Projects, certifications and volunteer experience, if they help
If you have no work experience yet, put your education first.
Bullet points that show results
Each job has three to five bullet points. Start each with a strong verb, and give a number where you can.
“Built a no-show forecast that lets 14 clinics overbook safely, filling about 1,200 more appointments a year” says more than “responsible for forecasting”.
Spend most of the space on your last two or three roles.
US spelling
Use US spelling for jobs in the US: “analyze”, “organization”, “center”. Write dates as “April 2026” and phone numbers with the area code.
Resume or CV?
In the US, a resume is the usual thing to send. A CV there usually means a long academic record.
In the builder, put your sections in the order above and switch off the personal details section, so the CV has nothing a US employer does not expect.