How to Make a Good Resume

The practical guide to creating a CV that opens doors.

Whether you call it a resume or a CV, the job is the same: make your impact obvious in a format both humans and ATS can read. That’s the fastest way to improve your CV without rewriting your entire career.

The Essential Sections

Every resume needs these building blocks:

Contact Information

Name, email, phone, LinkedIn URL (optional: city/state, portfolio link). Skip your full address — nobody mails interview invitations anymore.

Professional Summary

2-3 sentences. Who you are, what you do, what you're looking for. This is your elevator pitch. Make it specific to the type of role you want.

Work Experience

Reverse chronological (most recent first). Company, title, dates, then 3-5 bullet points per role. Focus on achievements, not job descriptions.

Education

Degrees, institutions, graduation years. For experienced professionals, this section shrinks. For recent graduates, it expands.

Skills

Hard skills relevant to your target roles. Languages, tools, certifications. Skip soft skills like "team player" — show those through your experience bullets instead.

Writing Bullet Points That Work

Most resume bullets are boring. "Responsible for managing projects." "Worked with cross-functional teams."

Here's how to make your CV bullet points stand out:

Action verb + What you did + Result/Impact

"Responsible for social media"
"Grew Instagram following from 5K to 50K in 8 months through consistent content strategy"

Quantify whenever possible. Numbers catch the eye. "Increased," "reduced," "delivered," "launched" — these verbs show impact, not just activity.

If you don't have exact numbers, estimate reasonably. "Managed roughly 20 client accounts" is better than "Managed client accounts."

Formatting for Humans and Machines

Your resume has two audiences: the human who'll eventually read it, and the ATS that decides if they ever will.

For Humans

  • Clean, consistent formatting
  • Readable fonts (no Comic Sans, no decorative scripts)
  • White space — don't cram everything
  • One page if <10 years experience, two pages max for senior roles

For ATS

  • Simple layouts (avoid tables, columns, graphics)
  • Standard section headings (Work Experience, not "My Journey")
  • File format matters: DOCX is safest
  • No headers/footers — ATS often ignores them

This is why getting your resume as a Word document matters. You can tailor it for each job, tweak formatting, and save in whatever format the application requires.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Typos — Proofread. Then proofread again. Then have someone else proofread.
"References available upon request" — Outdated filler. Everyone knows you'll provide references.
Unprofessional email — coolpartyking420@hotmail.com isn't landing interviews.
Photo — Skip it in the US/UK. Standard in some countries (Germany, parts of Asia). Know your market.
Every job you've ever had — Your high school summer job doesn't help your senior developer application.

When to Use a Resume Builder

Making a resume from scratch is slow. Especially if you're applying to multiple jobs that each need customization.

Resume builders help when:

The best CV builders give you an editable document — not locked PDFs. Your resume should be yours.

Ready to build your resume?

VibeCV helps you go from zero to polished CV in minutes. Import your data, customize your sections, and download a Word document that's ATS-friendly and ready to tailor for any job.

Start Making Your Resume

Already have a base version? Learn how to tailor your resume to a job description to get past the ATS and into the interview pile.