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Guides / Resume

Format a resume software can read.

Hiring software often reads the text before a person does. These notes are ours. They are not a score, and they do not describe any named hiring system.

Use text, not a picture

Export a document so the words stay as text. A scan or a screenshot is a picture. Software can miss the whole page, including your name. PDF and Word both work when the words are real text.

Stay in one column

Sidebars, text boxes and columns are often read in the wrong order, or skipped. One column, top to bottom, is the layout that survives. Put dates on the same line as the role, as ordinary text.

Name the sections plainly

Experience, Education, Projects and Skills are enough. Decorative section names are harder to place. Use the same skill words the posting uses, where they are true of your work.

Put contact details in the body

Write your email and phone number as normal text near the top. Details that live only in a header or a footer are easy to drop.

When you have a role in mind, open it on StackHike and run the resume check. It stays in your browser. You still apply on the company's own site. Browse open roles first if you do not have one yet.