one column, real text, boring headings
the least glamorous part of the guide, and the highest-leverage twenty minutes in your whole search. the format is the container your work travels in — build it so nothing spills.
remember the parser from part one — the software that turns your résumé into database fields in about a second. it is not smart. it does not admire layout. it reads top to bottom, left to right, and everything it can't confidently file, it files wrong or drops silently. so the format rules are really one rule wearing different outfits: never make the parser guess.
survives the parse
- one column, top to bottom — no exceptions
- standard headings: summary, experience, education, skills
- real, selectable text (if you can't highlight it, the parser can't read it)
- .docx, or a PDF exported from a text document — never a scan or photo
- a normal font at 10.5–12pt (system fonts are fine; boring is fine)
- dates as month + year, consistently: "mar 2023 – present"
- bullets made with the actual bullet key, not symbols or emoji
gets scrambled
- two columns, tables, and text boxes — the classic pretty-template killers
- contact info in the page header or footer (many parsers skip those zones entirely)
- skill meters, star ratings, progress bars — these parse as nothing
- photos, icons, logos, headshots (in the US, a photo can hurt you with the humans too)
- "creative" headings — "my journey," "where i've been," "superpowers"
- white-text keyword stuffing — recruiters see the raw parse; this reads as exactly what it is
where your name and number go
at the very top of the document body — not in the header/footer zone your word processor offers you. name on its own line, then one line with city, email, phone, and one link if you have one worth sending (portfolio, LinkedIn, GitHub — pick what represents you, skip what doesn't). that's it. no street address, no birthdate, no photo — nobody hiring in good faith needs any of those, and each one gives a bad-faith reader something to filter you on.
the skeleton
here's the whole shape. copy it into a blank document and you're formatted — parts three and four are about what goes inside.
YOUR NAME city, ST · you@email.com · (555) 555-5555 · one-link-if-you-have-one SUMMARY Two or three lines. Who you are, the through-line of your work, and the direction you're headed. Written last, once the rest exists. EXPERIENCE Job Title — Company, City, ST Mar 2023 – Present · What changed because you were there (part three is about these) · Another change, with a real number if you have one · Two to five bullets per job — recent jobs get more, old jobs get fewer Job Title — Company, City, ST Jun 2019 – Mar 2023 · Same idea, fewer bullets SKILLS The tools, methods, and languages you'd be comfortable being asked about in an interview. Comma-separated. Nothing you'd have to bluff. EDUCATION The highest true thing, one line. (Part four, if this section makes you nervous — it shouldn't.)
the questions everyone asks
how long should it be?
one page if you're early or switching lanes; two pages is honest and normal once you have some years. the real rule: nothing on it that doesn't earn its line. length is a budget, and old bullets are where you find the money.
.docx or PDF?
either, as long as the PDF came from a text document (export, not scan). if the application form asks for one specifically, give it exactly that — that request is about their parser, and fighting it costs you everything for nothing.
can I use color?
a restrained accent on your name or headings is fine — it survives parsing because it's still text. the moment color starts carrying meaning (charts, bars, highlighted skills), you've built something the parser reads as blank space.
what about small gaps between jobs?
month + year dating already makes small gaps unremarkable, because they are. longer gaps get one honest line if they come up in conversation — not a paragraph of apology on the page. more in part four.
do I really have to give up my template?
keep the pretty one for handing across a table — interviews, networking, career fairs, anywhere a human is the only reader. everything that goes through an application portal gets the one-column version. two files, two jobs.
one column. real text. boring headings. contact info in the body.
build the container once and it's built forever. next: the part that actually gets you hired — what the bullets say.