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Build Your Resume From Scratch

Fill in your details, pick a template, download as PDF. Takes 5 minutes.

1
Personal Info
2
Experience
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Education
4
Skills
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Template & Download

👤 Personal Information

Start with the basics — your name, contact details, and a summary.

💡 Tip: Start with your #1 achievement, not your job title.
💡 Press Enter or click Add after each skill. Add 6–10 relevant skills.
📋
Classic
Traditional & ATS-safe
✨
Modern
Two-column with sidebar
⬜
Minimal
Clean, whitespace-first
✅ Your resume is ready!
Click Download PDF to save your resume. Then click Roast It to see how an AI would score it and improve it.

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📖 Complete Guide

How to Build a Resume From Scratch

Never written a resume before — or starting fresh after years away? This step-by-step guide walks you through every section with real examples, word-for-word formulas, and the biggest mistakes to avoid. Use the builder above while reading this guide.

1
📇 Your Contact Header — Make It Easy to Reach You
The header is the top of your resume. It should contain your full name (large), professional title, email, phone, location (city + country is enough), and a LinkedIn or portfolio URL. Nothing else. No photos, no date of birth, no full home address — these are privacy risks and ATS red flags.
What to include: Name · Professional title · Email · Phone · City, Country · LinkedIn URL (or portfolio)
What NOT to include: Full address · Date of birth · Photo (unless required in your country) · Nationality
❌ Weak
John Smith
123 Main Street, Apartment 4B, Springfield, IL 62701
johnsmith1987@yahoo.com
✅ Strong
John Smith
Senior Software Engineer
john@email.com · +1 555 000 0000
Chicago, USA · linkedin.com/in/johnsmith
2
✍️ Professional Summary — Your 3-Sentence Pitch
The summary sits right below your header and is often the only part recruiters read before deciding yes or no. It's 2–4 sentences: who you are, your biggest achievement, and why you're applying. Write it last — after you've filled in the rest of your resume.
Formula: [Title] with [X years] of experience in [industry/skill]. Led/Built/Grew [specific achievement with a number]. Looking to bring [specific value] to [type of company/role].
❌ Weak
"Results-driven marketing professional with a passion for innovative solutions and a proven track record of success in dynamic environments."
✅ Strong
"Marketing manager with 6 years growing B2B SaaS brands. Grew email revenue from £0 to £1.8M in 18 months at TechCo. Seeking a senior role where I can own and scale digital acquisition."
3
💼 Work Experience — Achievements, Not Job Duties
This is the most important section. List your jobs in reverse chronological order (newest first). For each role include: job title, company name, dates (month + year), and 3–5 bullet points. The key: write about what you achieved, not what your job description said.
Bullet formula: [Action verb] + [what you did] + [result / number]
Action verbs to start with: Built, Led, Grew, Reduced, Launched, Designed, Increased, Managed, Delivered, Negotiated, Streamlined
❌ Duty-based
• Responsible for managing the sales team
• Helped with customer service
• In charge of social media
✅ Achievement-based
• Led 8-person sales team to 140% of annual target, generating $2.4M revenue
• Resolved 98% of customer tickets within 24h, reducing churn by 12%
• Grew Instagram following from 3k to 47k in 9 months (+1,467%)
Add numbers everywhere you can — percentages, dollar amounts, team sizes, timeframes
Keep each bullet to 1–2 lines max
Use past tense for previous roles, present tense for your current one
Cut the oldest roles after 10–15 years unless they're highly relevant
No job yet? Use internships, freelance work, university projects, or volunteering
4
🎓 Education — Keep It Concise
List your highest qualification first. Include: degree name, institution, graduation year. Add your GPA or honours only if it's strong (3.5+ or First Class). Recent graduates should put Education higher on the page; experienced professionals should put it after Work Experience.
If you're a recent graduate: Add relevant coursework, thesis topics, academic projects, or societies. These substitute for limited work experience.
❌ Too much
BSc Computer Science — University of Manchester
2018 – 2022 · 2.1 Honours · Modules: Introduction to Databases, Systems Programming, Software Engineering Principles, Networks, Algorithms and Data Structures, Operating Systems, Human-Computer Interaction
✅ Just right
BSc Computer Science — University of Manchester
2018 – 2022 · First Class Honours (GPA 3.9)
Final project: Built a distributed caching layer reducing DB load by 60%
5
⚙️ Skills — ATS Keywords That Get You Seen
The Skills section is your ATS (Applicant Tracking System) keyword bank. Most large companies use ATS to screen resumes — if your resume doesn't contain the exact skills keywords from the job description, it gets filtered out before a human sees it. Add 8–12 skills that match the role.
Golden rule: Copy the exact skill names from the job description — if they say "React.js", don't write "ReactJS". ATS is case-sensitive and keyword-specific. Also include soft skills like "Cross-functional collaboration" or "Stakeholder communication."
Include both technical and soft skills
Tailor the skills list for each job application
Don't list basic things like "Microsoft Word" unless required
Add languages with proficiency level (Native, Fluent, Intermediate)
List certifications here or in a separate section — they rank highly with ATS
6
🎨 Choose the Right Template for Your Industry
Design matters, but not in the way most people think. The wrong template can get your resume rejected by ATS before a human reads it. Here's which template to choose:
📋 Classic: Best for corporate, finance, law, government, and any role that specifically uses ATS screening. Clean, single-column, universally parsed.

✨ Modern: Best for tech, startups, product, and design roles where the hiring manager reviews directly. Two-column layout stands out in a pile.

⬜ Minimal: Best for creative, writing, academic, or consulting roles. Whitespace signals high-level thinking and editorial restraint.
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🔍 Final Checks Before You Download
Before downloading your PDF, run through this checklist. Small errors — a typo in your email address, a missing date, inconsistent formatting — are the most common reasons for silent rejections.
Your email address is professional (not "partyanimal99@…")
All dates are consistent in format (e.g. "Jan 2022" throughout)
No typos — read it backwards word-by-word to catch them
Every bullet starts with an action verb (not "I" or "Responsible for")
At least 3 numbers/metrics somewhere in the experience section
One page if under 10 years experience, two pages maximum
Font is readable at 10–12pt (check the PDF preview, not just the web view)
Your name is the largest text on the page
LinkedIn URL is included and works

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