How To Make a Resume

Xtensio’s FREE Resume Template and Editable Examples

Your starting point to create and share a comprehensive staff handbook, without any design experience.

Resume Template

Digital Media Manager CV Example

Marketing Manager CV Example

Graphic Designer Resume Example

A step-by-step guide on how to create a professional CV

Full name and contact info

Busy job seekers often overlook the first and most important step when it comes to creating a resume – check your name! Misspelling your name on your resume can be extremely detrimental to your end goal of landing the job. This may create doubts about your professionalism and confusion about who you are. That being said, make sure your name is spelled correctly! When writing a resume, you can also share your professional social media links to avoid possible confusions and further outline your experience. You may also want to include a recent, high-quality photo to put a face with the name.

After outlining who you are, you want to tell hiring managers how they can get in touch with you. Make sure you provide your email address and phone number so that the company can get in contact to set up an interview. It’s also useful to add your current address to your CV, as some companies will only consider people who live in a certain area.

Overview

When you make a resume, you may want to include an overview of your professional career to this point. Although it is not necessary, it can be important if you’re switching from one career to another. The overview should make it clear why you’re seeking a new position and give a brief summary of your related experience, skills and overall career goals. A good way to write your career overview is to answer these questions in paragraph format:

• What is your current title?
• What skills do you have considering your previous professional experience?
• Which position are you applying to and why?
• What are your overall career goals and how will this position help you reach them?
  
  

Skills & Personality

Knowing how to make a resume that stands out means highlighting your full skill set. The skills section of the resume should highlight your professional skills that are most related to the position you are applying for. Make sure to read the job description carefully and highlight the required skills (if you really have them of course). You can create your resume using sliders to define how experienced you are with each particular skill.

The personality section should follow the same general rules. You want to highlight the factors of your personality that align with the position. It’s important to remember that there are no right or wrong personality traits, but rather, your personality should fit with the position you’re applying for. If you are applying for a position that requires an extroverted personality and you are a true introvert, you might be applying to the wrong position. Accurately defining your personality on your CV will save everyone’s time and will eventually lead you to a job that truly fits your personality and abilities.

Bonus tip: If you’re having trouble pinpointing your skills or personality traits when writing your resume, fill out a personal SWOT analysis can help you get an overview of your abilities and interests. Defining your strengths and weaknesses will also help you better prepare yourself for interviews.

Education

The education section can help hiring managers better understand what skills you have and highlight your motivation and work ethic. When you create your resume for job-searching right out of college and don’t have much work experience, this section will be important for showcasing how your skills and experience align with the position you’re applying for. List all post-secondary institutions you’ve attended with the correct dates and highlight your educational experience:

• Highlight your achievements: Did you complete university with an outstanding GPA? Did you receive any scholarships?
• Activities: Were you a member of any student club? Were you part of an academic fraternity? Did you participate in any school events related to the position you’re applying for? Did you complete a study-abroad program?
• Leadership: Did you lead a team of students during a project? Were you part of a club committee?

Don’t underestimate your educational experience. All of these points can help you stand out from other applicants.

Volunteering

Volunteering is important for personal development and can help improve many professional skills and create a well-rounded experience. Strengthen your resume by showcasing these experiences. Indicate important volunteer projects that you were involved in, including the name of the organization/association and dates you actively participated.

Certificates & Honors

When you create your resume, think about any awards or certificates you’ve received. Professional certificates on your resume can help grab the attention of hiring managers and can help prove that you do indeed have the skills you claim to have. If you completed a course and obtained a certificate in a related field, you should mention this. Additionally, if you received any awards or honors in school or at a previous position, these should not be left out of your CV. You don’t have to go into all the details, but simply state the name of the award/honor, date, and what your accomplishment was.

Work Experience

In many scenarios, your previous career experience and work history is the best indicator of your eligibility for the position you’re applying for. If you have experience in a field similar to the one you’re applying for, this section of your resume is where you need to focus on the most. Include dates (start-end), the location of the company, job titles, and details of your skills and experience gained in that position. 

Some tips to remember:

• Don’t include unrelated work experiences
• Keep it professional
• Use numbers to add more meaning to your statements
• Use action words and mention accomplishments
• Leave out short-term positions
• Use bullet points to clearly detail your role at each position

Always double-check…

When writing a resume, typos can make an applicant look inattentive to details, and may make the hiring manager skip over your CV altogether. Even if you generally have impeccable grammar, you will want to make sure you edit, and re-edit, your resume before submitting a job application. You may even want to have a friend, colleague or relative go over it to help make sure that it is polished and professional.

Here is a quick review check-list:

• Photo is high-quality
• Dates are correct
• Company names are spelled correctly
• There are no grammatical, spelling or punctuation mistakes
• Your phone number and e-mail address are correct
• The layout is clear and easily readable

Ready to share?

Remember, your resume should be customized for each position that you apply for. With Xtensio, it’s easy to make a copy of your folio and change the information to align with each job you’re applying for. Once you’re finished creating and editing your CV, you can easily share it in multiple ways:

Update when you need

It’s important to create your CV with a tool that allows you to easily adapt it as your career evolves. The template is adaptable just like other Xtensio tools. It can and should be repurposed, revisited, and revised to suit your evolving needs. You can always add, delete, and move your modules and sections around with Xtensio’s versatile editor to adopt the template as you need it.

Resume vs CV vs Portfolio: Which Do You Need?

Before you start building your resume, make sure you are creating the right document. Resumes, CVs, and portfolios serve different purposes, and using the wrong format can cost you the opportunity before a human even reads your application.

A resume is a concise, one-to-two-page summary of your skills, experience, and education. It is the standard format in the United States, Canada, and most corporate hiring processes worldwide. Hiring managers expect a resume for business, technology, marketing, operations, and most non-academic roles. The goal is to communicate your qualifications quickly so a recruiter can decide in 6 to 7 seconds whether to keep reading.

A curriculum vitae (CV) is a longer, more detailed document. In academia, research, and medical fields, a CV is the expected format. It includes your full publication history, conference presentations, grants, teaching experience, and professional memberships. Outside of academia, the term CV is used interchangeably with resume in the UK, Australia, and much of Europe. If you are applying to a university faculty position, a postdoctoral fellowship, or a clinical role, use a CV. For everything else, a resume is the right choice.

A portfolio is a curated collection of your work samples. Designers, writers, photographers, developers, and other creative professionals use portfolios to show what they can do rather than describe it. A portfolio is rarely submitted alone. It typically accompanies a resume and serves as supporting evidence. If the job posting asks you to “include samples of your work,” that is a portfolio request.

In some cases, you need more than one. A product manager applying to a startup might send a resume and a case study deck. A UX researcher might include a resume and a link to a research portfolio. The key is to match the format to the industry expectation, which you can usually confirm by reading the job posting carefully or researching the company’s hiring process.

5 Resume Mistakes That Get You Filtered Out Before a Human Reads It

Most large companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to screen resumes before a recruiter ever sees them. According to a 2023 study by Jobscan, over 97% of Fortune 500 companies use an ATS. That means your resume has to pass a software filter before it reaches a person. Here are the five most common reasons resumes get rejected at the ATS stage.

1. Keyword mismatch with the job description. ATS software scans for specific terms that match the job posting. If the listing says “project management” and your resume says “managed projects,” some systems will not make the connection. Read the job description carefully and mirror its exact language where your experience genuinely matches. Do not fabricate skills, but do use the same terminology the employer uses.

2. A generic objective statement instead of a targeted summary. Objective statements like “Seeking a challenging role where I can grow” tell the hiring manager nothing useful. Replace it with a professional summary that names the role, your years of relevant experience, and one or two measurable accomplishments. For example: “Marketing manager with 6 years of experience driving B2B lead generation. Increased qualified pipeline by 42% in 18 months through content-led campaigns.”

3. Listing duties instead of achievements. Writing “Responsible for managing social media accounts” describes what your job was, not what you accomplished. Hiring managers want to see outcomes. Instead, write “Grew Instagram following from 3,200 to 18,500 in 12 months, resulting in a 28% increase in website referral traffic.” Quantified achievements prove your impact and make your resume stand out from candidates who only list responsibilities.

4. Submitting the wrong file format. Some ATS platforms cannot parse PDFs with complex formatting, tables, or embedded graphics. Unless the job posting specifically requests a PDF, submit your resume as a .docx file. If you do use a PDF, make sure the text is selectable (not an image scan). A beautifully designed resume is worthless if the ATS cannot read it.

5. Inconsistent formatting. Mixed font sizes, inconsistent date formats (Jan 2022 vs 01/2022 vs January 2022), and misaligned bullet points signal carelessness. ATS software can also misread inconsistently structured content, pulling the wrong text into the wrong fields. Pick one date format, one font, and one bullet style, then apply them consistently throughout the entire document.

Resume Formats by Career Stage

There is no single resume format that works for everyone. The right structure depends on where you are in your career, what story you need to tell, and what the hiring manager expects to see first. Here are the four most common formats, matched to the career stage where each works best.

Entry-level and recent graduates: Education-first format. When you have less than two years of professional experience, lead with your education. Put your degree, GPA (if above 3.5), relevant coursework, academic projects, and internships at the top. Follow with any part-time or volunteer work that demonstrates transferable skills. The goal is to show potential and eagerness to learn, since you cannot yet demonstrate a long track record of results. Keep the resume to one page.

Mid-career professionals (3 to 10 years): Achievement-led chronological format. This is the most common and most effective resume format for professionals with a solid work history. List your experience in reverse chronological order, with each role featuring two to four bullet points that describe measurable achievements. Lead each bullet with an action verb and include a number wherever possible. Your education section moves to the bottom and shrinks to institution name, degree, and graduation year. Target two pages maximum.

Career changers: Skills-first (functional) format. If you are moving from one industry to another, a chronological format can work against you because the job titles will not match the new field. A functional resume groups your experience by skill category rather than by employer. For example, a teacher transitioning to corporate training might create sections like “Curriculum Design,” “Facilitation and Presentation,” and “Performance Assessment.” Under each, include accomplishments from any role that demonstrates that skill. Add a brief chronological work history at the bottom for context, but keep it minimal.

Executives and senior leaders (10+ years): Impact summary format. At the executive level, hiring decisions are based on strategic outcomes, not task lists. Open with a four-to-six-line executive summary that names your industry, your leadership scope (team size, budget, revenue responsibility), and your most significant business outcomes. Follow with a “Key Achievements” section that highlights three to five career-defining results. Then list your work history in reverse chronological order, keeping each role to two or three high-impact bullets. Board memberships, advisory roles, and published thought leadership belong in a separate section near the end. Two pages is standard; three is acceptable for C-suite candidates with 20+ years of experience.

Whichever format you choose, the underlying principle is the same: put the most relevant and impressive information first. Recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds on an initial resume scan. Front-load the content that earns you a second look.

How to Keep Your Resume Current Between Job Searches

Most people only update their resume when they are actively job hunting, which means scrambling to remember accomplishments from two or three years ago. A better approach is to treat your resume as a living document that you update regularly, even when you are not looking for a new role.

Build a quarterly update habit. Set a recurring calendar reminder every three months to review your resume. Add any new projects, certifications, skills, or measurable results from the past quarter. This takes 15 minutes when done regularly but can take hours if you wait until you need it. A quarterly cadence also ensures you capture accomplishments while the details are still fresh.

Keep an achievement journal. When you finish a project, hit a milestone, or receive positive feedback, write it down immediately. Include the context, your specific contribution, and the measurable outcome. This raw material becomes the source for your resume bullet points. Without a journal, you will inevitably forget the numbers, the scope, and the specifics that make resume entries compelling.

Maintain a master version and create tailored copies. Your master resume should contain every role, every achievement, and every skill you have accumulated throughout your career. It can be three, four, or even five pages long. When you apply for a specific position, create a copy and trim it down to the most relevant content for that role. This way, you never lose information, and you can quickly assemble a targeted resume for any opportunity. With Xtensio, you can duplicate your resume folio in one click, adjust the content for each application, and share it as a live link that stays current if you need to make last-minute updates after sending.

Review your resume after every major career event. A promotion, a completed certification, a successful product launch, or even a layoff should trigger a resume update. These events change how you position yourself professionally. Waiting until you need a job to reflect on these changes means you will rush the most important framing decisions.

The professionals who advance fastest are the ones who always know what their resume says, because they keep it current. Treat it as a record of your career, not just a job-search tool. Organize your career documents in a dedicated workspace so your master resume, cover letter variations, and supporting materials are always in one place and ready when opportunity arrives.

Written by

Alper Cakir is the founder and CEO of Xtensio, the living deliverables workspace for teams that create, deliver, and reuse professional work, a staple tool for businesses globally. He boasts over 17 years in the tech industry with expertise in UX/UI design, product management, and innovative business strategy. His passion for design led him to work with major clients like CBS Interactive, NBC Universal, and Toyota. Before Xtensio, he co-founded Fake Crow in Los Angeles, known for its innovative UX/UI approach. Alper studied music theory and jazz composition at Istanbul Bilgi University and guitar at Musicians Institute in London. Known for his hands-on approach, his philosophy is to simplify processes, cut through bureaucratic red tape, and help teams create work that’s ready to send and stays alive as projects evolve.

• X
• LinkedIn