Step 2: Build your materials · topic 1 of 5

Write resume bullets that show impact

A resume is a marketing document for one job, not the story of your whole career. That framing makes many decisions easier: if a line doesn't help this employer see you in this role, it can go.

This guide follows US and UK hiring norms. If you're applying in another country, check local conventions on photos, length and personal details. In the US and UK, leave off your photo, date of birth and marital status.

People read resumes fast. In a 2018 eye-tracking study by Ladders, a job site, recruiters spent an average of 7.4 seconds on an initial scan, and resumes with simple layouts, clear headings and bulleted accomplishments did best ^[1]. It's one study and a few years old, and it matches what I see when I review resumes with clients: the top third of the first page does most of the work.

Lead each bullet with the result

A bullet that describes your duties tells the reader what you were supposed to do. A bullet that leads with a result tells them what happened because you were there.

Use this pattern: result, number, timeframe, then how.

• Before: "Responsible for customer onboarding."

• After: "Cut onboarding time from 14 days to 6 in 9 months by rebuilding the handover checklist with sales."

• Before: "Managed social media accounts."

• After: "Grew newsletter sign-ups 60% over 18 months by moving the budget from paid ads to a weekly how-to series."

MIT's career office gives the same advice: use strong verbs and quantify results whenever possible, because a number makes an accomplishment concrete ^[2].

When you don't have a number

Not every job comes with a dashboard. You can still show scale or change:

1. Count something: people, projects, sites, customers, budgets, hours.
2. Compare before and after, even in words: "from a weekly backlog to same-day replies."
3. Name who relied on you: "the only analyst supporting 3 regional sales teams."

Be ready to explain every figure. If you estimated it, know how. An interviewer who asks "how did you measure that?" is giving you a chance to tell the story.

Aim the summary at their problem

Three or four lines at the top, written for the role you want. Say who you are professionally, the problem you're good at solving, and one or two results that prove it. If the posting stresses a soft skill like stakeholder management, you can name it here, as long as a result sits next to it. On a US or UK resume, write the summary without "I"; save the first person for LinkedIn.

Example: "Operations manager with 9 years in high-volume service businesses. Fixes the processes that slow teams down; most recently cut onboarding time 57% for a 200-person software company. Looking to bring that to a growing customer success team."

Use a hybrid format

I recommend a hybrid layout: the summary and a short skills section at the top, then your experience in reverse date order with impact bullets under each role. Recruiters get the headline first, and the dates are still easy to follow. This is my preference from coaching.

If your official job title is unusual, add the common equivalent in brackets, for example "Client Happiness Lead (Customer Success Manager)". LinkedIn Recruiter, for one, lets recruiters filter by job title ^[3], and this keeps you accurate and findable.

Put your city and state or region in your contact line, even for remote roles. Remote roles are often limited to certain countries or states, and in my experience recruiters check location early. If you're relocating, say so: "Relocating to Denver, June 2027."

Keep the file readable for software

Most large employers use an applicant tracking system (ATS). Jobscan, which makes resume software, found one in use at 97.4% of Fortune 500 companies in 2026 ^[4]. These systems can struggle with tables, columns, graphics and images ^[5].

• Use one column.
• Use standard section titles such as "Experience", "Education" and "Skills". A creative title like "My Journey" may confuse the software ^[6].
• Avoid text boxes, icons and headers or footers that hold key information.
• Save as the file type the posting asks for. If it doesn't say, a Word document or a PDF saved from Word or Google Docs both work. I'd avoid resumes built in design tools such as Canva, and scans, because the text can come out scrambled or not at all.

A quick test: open your PDF, select all the text and paste it into a plain email. If it comes out in the right order, software can most likely read it too.

Answer the application form with care

The bigger risk is usually the application form, not the file. Many systems let the employer set screening questions, such as whether you're authorized to work in the country, whether you can work from the location, or how many years of a skill you have, and a "no" to a required question can take you out before anyone reads your resume ^[7]. Employers also set rigid criteria that screen out people who could do the job: in a 2021 Harvard Business School and Accenture study, 88% of employers agreed that qualified high-skills candidates were screened out because they didn't match the exact criteria ^[8].

Read each question slowly and answer truthfully. If a question is ambiguous, for example "years of experience" with a tool you used inside a broader role, count the experience you can honestly explain in an interview. If there's an expected-salary field and the posting gives a range, answer inside it. If none is posted, research the market rate before you type a number.