Resume guides, without the recycled advice
How tracking systems actually read a resume, how to write the lines a recruiter reads in seconds, and which file and paper size to send. Each guide answers its question in the first paragraph, and the statistics are sourced or left out.
Getting past the ATS
How tracking systems read a resume, and what actually gets one filed wrong.
How Applicant Tracking Systems Actually Read Your Resume
What an applicant tracking system really does with your resume, where the "75% rejected by robots" claim came from, and what gets a resume missed.
7 min
How to Make an ATS-Friendly Resume: The Complete Checklist
A practical checklist for an ATS-friendly resume: layout, headings, fonts, dates, keywords and file type, with what to avoid and how to test it yourself.
5 min
PDF or Word: Which Resume File Should You Send?
Should you send your resume as a PDF or a Word file? When each is right, how applicant tracking systems handle both, and the PDF mistake most people miss.
5 min
Writing a stronger resume
Bullets, verbs, numbers and length: the parts a recruiter reads in seconds.
124 Resume Action Verbs by Skill, and How to Use Them
124 strong action verbs for your resume, grouped by what you did, with before and after examples and the mistakes that make a strong verb weak.
5 min
How Long Should a Resume Be? One Page or Two
How long a resume should be by experience level, roughly how many words that is, what to cut first, and why shrinking the font to fit one page backfires.
4 min
How to Quantify Resume Bullet Points, Even Without Obvious Numbers
How to add numbers to resume bullet points when your job did not come with metrics: seven kinds of figures, where to find them, and how to estimate honestly.
4 min
What to Write Instead of "Responsible For" on a Resume
Better alternatives to "responsible for", "worked on" and "helped" on your resume, with the replacement verb for each and before and after examples.
4 min
Formats, files and tools
Paper sizes, file types and what resume builders actually charge.
A4 or US Letter: Which Paper Size Should Your Resume Use?
A4 or US Letter for your resume? The exact sizes, which countries use each, what happens if you send the wrong one, and how to pick for jobs abroad.
4 min
The Resume Builder Trial Trap: How a Small Trial Becomes a Subscription
How cheap resume builder trials become recurring charges, why billing every four weeks means 13 payments a year, and how to avoid it.
4 min