How to Build a Resume

Want a new job? First you'll need to know how to create a resume that will help you shine. These seven simple steps can help.

By Lily Martis, Monster contributor

You’ve decided to start your job search, but you’ve already reached a roadblock: how to build a resume that will get results.

On the job hunt, “your resume is your number one ammo,” says Monster career expert Vicki Salemi, who spent more than 15 years in corporate recruiting. When done right, your resume can open the door to an awesome job, she notes.

With stakes that high, it’s no wonder that a resume refresh also commonly fills people with existential angst. We get it—condensing your entire work history into a perfectly-worded typo-free single-page document that could potentially determine your entire career future is maybe just a little stressful.

But what if we told you it doesn’t have to be as daunting as you think? Monster has all kinds of resources to help make the whole process easier. Like you-don’t-have-to-even-lift-a-finger-if-you-don’t-want-to easier. Skip ahead to step six if this sounds like you. But if you’re more of the DIY type, follow the seven steps below to learn how to build a resume perfectly. You’ll be on the interview circuit in no time.

How to Build a Resume: 7 Steps

  1. Start with the right parameters
  2. Get the basics right
  3. Use keywords to help you break through
  4. Use numbers to better your odds
  5. Have a clean format
  6. Get help reviewing your work
  7. Make yourself discoverable to recruiters

1. Start With the Right Parameters

Resumes are not “one-size-fits-all.” The format you should use and the information you should highlight depends upon your field, for starters. So you’ll want to structure your resume to fit the industry standard for the job you’re applying to. A quick way to start figuring this out? Check out Monster’s resume templates by industry.

Your experience also plays a part in structure. The answer to the age-old question of “how long should my resume be?” is that it depends upon how much time you’ve got under your belt. As a general rule of thumb, job seekers with under three years of experience should aim for one page, but those with more years in the field could go up to two.

Keep in mind that a recruiter doesn’t have time to sift through the next great American novel. Back in her recruiting days, Salemi says she usually spent no more than three seconds on a resume. “Being succinct is key,” Salemi says. “Recruiters will lose focus and attention if you name every single responsibility you’ve ever had."

Lastly, there’s the question of chronological (jobs listed in order by date) or functional (jobs listed by relevance). We answer that question in the article “Should you use a chronological or functional resume?” but the gist is that functional typically makes sense unless you’re a job changer, are just starting out or have gaps in your work history. Otherwise, go chrono.

2. Get the Basics Right

No matter the job or industry you’re in, there are a few must-haves for every resume. They are: work experience, job titles, responsibilities, and years worked in each position, Salemi says.

“It’s important to show prospective employers a timeline,” she says. “Even if you use a functional resume—as opposed to a chronological resume—you should still include years.”

Oh, and don’t forget your contact info! Believe it or not, Salemi says she has received resumes that include no way of contacting the candidate. (We think it’s safe to assume those were the people who didn’t get called in for interviews.) While you don’t need to include your home address—recruiters may start making assumptions that the commute could be too long for you—you absolutely must include your phone number and email address in your resume header.

3. Use Keywords to Help You Break Through

You can't learn how to build a resume without keywords. When recruiters post jobs, they typically don’t read every resume that comes in—they’ll often start by having their “applicant tracking system” (a fancy name for recruiting software) filter out resumes based on keywords. Those keywords are terms or phrases the hiring manager has deemed to be valuable to the job.

So you’ll want to pack your resume with keywords… but you also need to be careful not to go overboard, since a human will hopefully read your resume eventually.

Thus, sprinkle those keywords throughout and provide a little bit of context with each. For example, a social media savvy job seeker might include the names of key platforms with some explanation such as, “Leveraged Instagram to showcase happy customers, increasing followers by 10,000.”

Need help coming up with keywords? Take words and phrases directly from the job description—mirroring the ad in order of mention as the hiring manager will typically put the most coveted skill sets at the top.

4. Use Numbers to Better Your Odds

Getting past the applicant tracking system is like making it past the semifinals—but your resume for a job still has more hurdles to pass in the form of those human recruiters who are trying to pick out the best of the best to bring in for interviews. You’ll want to make sure you quantify your achievements to help them see the impact you made. If you had a choice between a candidate who “developed sales leads” and one who “developed 20 new sales leads a week,” wouldn’t you pick the latter?

Anything related to time, money, or people offers a key opportunity to quantify. “Quantifying helps recruiters put a framework around the work you do and how you do it,” Salemi says. “Do you manage a team? How many people? Did you save the company money? How much? Indicating daily, weekly, monthly meetings and deliverables attests to your ability to multitask and get the job done.”

5. Have a Clean Format

Building a resume is like putting together an outfit. Just like you wouldn’t show up to a job interview wearing jeggings or a suit with super-wide lapels, you don’t want your resume to appear inappropriate or out-of-date.

So delete that opening “objective” section—and replace with a summary, which is now preferred. Cut that “references available upon request” cliché (duh, of course they are) at the bottom. You’ll also want to switch out that crazy font you think will help your resume stand out. (See Monster’s picks for best resume fonts.)

And check out this list of other missteps that make your resume look like a dinosaur.

It’s not all about taking out the trash. You can make yourself seem a little less square if you add in some hyperlinks, your social media handles (if they're safe for work), and a splash of color.

6. Get Help Reviewing Your Work

If you’ve gotten this far building a resume, it’s time to give your eyes a break. You’ve probably spent way too much time staring at the document on your screen checking for misspelled words and other typos that it no longer even reads like English to you anymore. It’s time to bring in a second pair of eyes to give your resume a once-over.

First option: Call in a mentor or a fellow job-seeking friend for whom you can do the same solid. Second and even better option: You can get a resume critique for free (seriously!) from Monster. Within a couple of days, you'll get an evaluation on ways you can improve your resume so that it will get through the robots and stand out to hiring managers.

7. Make Yourself Discoverable to Recruiters

Now that you've got a better understanding of how to build a resume, simply make a free Monster profile and choose to have your profile be visible to recruiters. Every day, recruiters search Monster’s resume database for candidates for jobs that aren’t even posted. You can choose to be one of those people who gets found by a recruiter. Having a Monster profile will also help make your application process easier. By having your resume already in our system, applying can be as easy as hitting the “Apply” button.