Resume Format Guide: Build and Check a Readable Document

Choose the order around your strongest relevant evidence

For an experienced applicant, a short summary followed by recent experience, skills and education is a useful starting point. For a student, relevant projects or education may deserve more space. Keep chronology and job titles clear even when emphasizing transferable skills.

Use descriptive headings such as Experience, Education, Projects and Skills. A reader should not need to decode an unusual section label to find your employment history. Avoid shrinking text to fit an arbitrary page count.

Keep essential information in ordinary text

A straightforward single-column layout reduces document complexity. Put contact details in the main body and use text labels rather than relying on icons alone. Greenhouse lists headers, footers, text boxes and some complex layouts among possible parsing problems.

This is a precaution, not a claim that every two-column resume fails. Follow a specific employer template or upload instruction when one is provided. A design portfolio can be linked separately while the resume remains readable.

Check PDF and DOCX exports

Use a file type accepted by the application. Open the exported version, check line breaks and page boundaries, and confirm that links work. Copying text into a plain-text editor can reveal ordering problems, although it does not reproduce every employer parser.

Look for split job entries, headings stranded at the bottom of a page and missing characters. After uploading, review any fields the application fills automatically. Save the submitted version with the job and date in your own records.

Before you finish

• Use the employer accepted file type.
• Open and inspect the exported document.
• Check contact details and chronology.
• Review automatically filled application fields.