What should a resume look like? (2026)

Like sample 1: one column, black text, clear headings, latest job first, and nothing a parser has to guess at.

The numbered parts, in plain words

1. 1Header. Your full name in the largest type on the page, then one line with your phone number, email, city and, if you have one, a LinkedIn or portfolio link. A job title under it says what you are applying as. Keep it in the body of the page: Greenhouse lists contact details in a page header, footer or text box as a cause of parsing problems. (Greenhouse Support)
2. 2Summary. Two or three sentences: what you do, for how long, and the job you want next. Rewrite it for each job ad rather than keeping one version for every application.
3. 3Experience. Latest job first. For each job: company, job title, dates and city, then two to five bullet points. Start each bullet with what you did, and add a number or a result where you have a real one.
4. 4Skills. A plain list grouped by type (technical, tools, soft skills), using the words the job ad uses. Skip rating bars, stars and icons: they are pictures, and a parser reads text.
5. 5Education. College or university, degree, subject and years. Freshers can add a CGPA or percentage when the employer asks for it.
6. 6Projects (optional). One to three projects: what it was, what you did, and what came of it. Most useful for freshers and career changers.

The order of skills, experience and education changes from template to template; the parts don't. Put the section that best fits the job higher up.

One page, with an internship, education and projects doing the work that job history does on an experienced resume.

• The summary names the job you want (here, a graduate data analyst role).
• An internship goes under work experience, with what you did in it.
• Education comes straight after the internship, with college, degree and years.
• Projects show skills you haven't yet used in a job.
• A private-sector resume doesn't need a photo, date of birth, father's name or marital status, and the declaration line is optional. Government job forms can ask for some of these; see our fresher format guide for the details.

These are common practice for Indian private-sector jobs, not rules. Follow the job ad or the placement cell where they differ.

The same parts, with more jobs and fewer words per job.

With four jobs over fourteen years, this resume runs onto a second page that holds only one certification. In your own resume, trim a few bullets from the oldest jobs to fit one page, or use page two for work that matters to the job.

Less than the content and the layout: a colour or a font is a choice, a second column is a risk.

Sample 4 is sample 1 in a different template. The text, order and length are the same; only the header band and heading colour change. In our parse study, all seven of our templates, Olivia included, gave back the name, contact details, headings and bullets in order.

Avoid layouts software can't read in order: columns, tables, text boxes, contact details in the page header or footer, photos and graphics, and resumes saved as an image.

That list comes from Greenhouse, an applicant tracking system, which names these as causes of a failed or partial resume parse. (Greenhouse Support) Lever, another, says image files won't be parsed and that no field is guaranteed to be extracted. (Lever)

Any of these. All seven are free, single-column and export to PDF and DOCX.

• MeridianCentred header, grey rules, no colour. The editor starts with this one.
• CatalystLeft-aligned header and teal accents. Experience comes first; no summary.
• HenriettaClassic business layout, education before skills, three-column skills grid.
• FAANGPathMinimal centred layout with skills above work experience.
• DanielSection headings in rounded grey pills; a softer look.
• LeslieCentred blue header, short blue underlines, experience before skills.
• OliviaA solid blue header band with white text; the boldest of the seven.