Writing a Resume That Gets Read

A resume – say it "REZ-oo-may" – is a short summary of who you are and what you can do for a job. It's usually one page. Its main job is to get you an interview, not to tell your whole life story. Think of it as a flyer that says "here's why I'm worth a conversation."

Most resumes have the same simple parts, top to bottom. First, your name and how to reach you – a phone number and an email address you check often. Next, your work history, newest job first: the job title, the place, the dates, and two or three short lines about what you did. Then a short list of skills (like "customer service," "forklift," or "Excel"). Last, your school or training. That's it.

Write each line about a job as an action plus a result. Instead of "responsible for the register," write "handled the register for 50+ customers a day with no shortages." Numbers help, even rough ones: how many people, how much money, how fast. If you've never had a paid job, that's fine – use volunteer work, caring for family, school projects, or church and community roles. Real effort counts, paid or not.

Match your words to the job you want. Read the job posting and notice the words it uses – "dependable," "team," "cash handling" – and use those same plain words on your resume where they're honestly true. This helps both the person reading it and the computer software many companies use to scan resumes.

Keep it clean and simple. Use one easy-to-read font, plenty of white space, and clear headings. Saving it as a PDF helps it look the same on most screens, though some job sites ask for a Word file instead, so follow the directions in the posting. Name the file with your own name, like "Maria-Lopez-Resume.pdf." Then read every word twice for spelling – or ask a friend to – because small mistakes are easy to fix and easy to notice.