How to make a résumé that gets read (and where most free builders trick you)

Updated October 21, 20262 min read

A recruiter spends seconds on a first pass. Before that, software often filters your file. A good résumé works for both: it is easy to scan for a human and easy to parse for a machine.

The structure that works

  1. Name and job title at the top, plus email, phone, city and LinkedIn. No full street address.
  2. Profile: three or four lines on who you are, what you do best and what you want next.
  3. Experience, most recent first: job title, company, dates, and 2–4 bullet points each.
  4. Education, then skills, languages and relevant courses.

The résumé builder follows exactly this order, so you only fill in the blanks.

Bullet points that sell

Start with a verb and end with a result. Compare “Responsible for customer support” with “Cut support tickets by 25% by rewriting the help center”. Numbers — money, time, percentages, people — make claims believable.

Write for the software, too

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) read the text of your PDF. They struggle with tables, columns of text boxes, icons instead of words and text baked into images. Keep real, selectable text and clear headings. Then mirror the words of the job ad: if it says “stakeholder management”, don't only write “talking to clients”.

What to leave out

  • ID numbers, social security or tax numbers, date of birth and marital status (in most countries).
  • A photo, if you apply in the US, UK or Canada.
  • Your full home address — the city is enough.
  • “References available on request” — it's assumed.

The paywall trick

Many “free” builders let you type for half an hour and only then ask for a subscription to download — sometimes one that renews monthly. Others add a watermark unless you pay. Before you start anywhere, find out whether the PDF is really free. Ours is: no account, no watermark, no fee, and your data stays in your browser.

Before you send

Read it out loud, check every date, and name the file properly: firstname-lastname-resume.pdf. If a portal limits file size, shrink it with Compress PDF.

Try the free tool

Résumé BuilderNewPretty résumé, free PDF, no sign-up.Compress PDFNewShrink scanned and image-heavy PDFs.Sign PDFNewDraw or type a signature and place it on a PDF.

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