Resume Guide

Best practices for resumes. Many of these tips are drawn from the excellent r/EngineeringResumes wiki, which I'd recommend reading in full. While the source is engineering-focused, these principles apply to any profession.

Core Rules

One page only. No exceptions for anyone under 10 years of experience.
No personal pronouns (I, me, my, we).
Every bullet starts with a strong past-tense action verb.
End every bullet point with a period.
No bar charts, icons, or graphics. ATS can’t read them.
No photos or headshots.
Standard section names only (Experience, Education, Skills, Projects).
Use "Present" for current roles, not "Current".
Put GPA only if 3.0+ (some say 3.5+). Omit otherwise.
Separate skills with commas, not pipes or bullets.

Bullet Point Frameworks

STARSituation, Task, Action, Result

"When the checkout service experienced 500ms latency spikes (S), I was tasked with reducing p95 latency below 200ms (T). I implemented Redis caching for session data and optimized database queries (A), reducing p95 latency to 120ms and improving conversion rate by 8% (R)."

XYZAccomplished X, measured by Y, by doing Z

"Reduced API response time by 40%, as measured by New Relic p95 metrics, by implementing Redis caching and query optimization."

CARChallenge, Action, Result

"Facing a 3x increase in user traffic (C), redesigned the data pipeline using Apache Kafka (A), enabling real-time processing of 2M daily events with zero downtime (R)."

Strong Action Verbs

ArchitectedAutomatedBuiltConfiguredDebuggedDeployedDesignedDevelopedEngineeredImplementedIntegratedLedMigratedOptimizedReducedRefactoredResolvedScaledSpearheadedStreamlined

ATS Compatibility

Applicant Tracking Systems parse resumes as text. Image-based PDFs, fancy tables, and multi-column layouts often get mangled or ignored.

Resume Builder outputs clean, single-column, text-based PDFs where every character is selectable and parseable. No images, no tables, no surprises.

Your Data & Privacy

The resume builder is fully private. Everything you type is saved to your browser's local storage and never sent to any server. The PDF is generated entirely on your device. No account needed, no uploads, no tracking.

You can optionally create a free account to save multiple resume versions for different job applications. Saved resumes are stored securely in the database so you can access them from any device.

If you use the Interview Prep feature, you'll also need an account. Your prep materials will be stored alongside your resumes. Payment info is handled by Stripe and never stored on this site.

Without an account, your resume lives only in your browser's local storage. If you clear your browser data or switch devices, your progress will be lost. Download your PDF regularly to keep a copy.

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