Basic Resume Template

About This Resume

Whether you are applying for your first full-time job or your fifth, and whether you like writing about yourself or dread it, most employers still rely on a resume to check your experience, your dates and how clearly you put things. The key to a basic resume, then, is to keep the layout plain and make every line say something true and specific. This template does that on one page. It suits jobs in warehouses, stores, offices, kitchens and call centers, and it makes a good starting point for almost any other job.

Hiring managers who read a stack of resumes for one opening usually check the same few things first: your most recent job title, how long you stayed and whether your skills match the ad. Plain layouts make them easy to find. Use the space you save on design to put a number, a place or a piece of equipment in each bullet, because those details are what a manager remembers after reading resumes all afternoon.

What to Include

• Your name, city and state, phone number and one professional email address at the top
• A two- or three-line summary that names the job you want and your strongest reason for getting it
• Work history with the newest job first, giving the job title, employer, city and dates for each one
• Three or four bullets per job that start with a verb and show a result, such as orders filled or complaints solved
• A skills line with the tools, software and equipment from the job ad that you can actually use
• Education, starting with your highest diploma, degree or certificate and the year you earned it
• Optional extras that help your case, such as a forklift certification, a second language or volunteer work

Basic Resume Template Sample

Tips for Your Basic Resume Template

• Keep it to one page unless you have ten or more years of relevant work. When you do go to two pages, make sure the first page holds your most recent job and your best results.
• If the online form asks for a Word file, upload the Word version. Everywhere else, a PDF keeps your layout exactly as you set it.
• Use the job title from the ad when it fairly describes what you did. If your old title was unusual, add the common name in parentheses, such as Merchandise Team Member (Stock Associate).
• Turn duties into results. "Responsible for stocking shelves" tells a manager what the job was, and "Restocked 14 aisles before opening, six days a week" tells them what you did.
• When you choose a date style, use it everywhere. That is, if you write 2019 to 2022 for one job, make sure every other job follows the same pattern.
• Leave out your full street address, date of birth, marital status and photo. City and state are enough, and US employers generally do not expect the rest.
• A typo in your email address can undo an otherwise tidy resume, which is an easy loss to avoid, since sending yourself a test message takes a minute. Better yet, after you finish and before you apply, have someone you trust read the whole page out loud to you.
• Save the file under your own name, such as Ximena-Bautista-Resume.pdf, so it does not get lost among all the other files called resume.pdf.