Four templates, four different jobs

The template is not a skin. Each one changes the type scale, the spacing and the way the header is set, and those three things decide how much of your content fits on a page. Pick the one that matches how much you have to say, not the one that looks nicest in the preview.

  • Classic — a centred name block with a rule under each section heading. Conservative and readable, and the safe default for a role where the CV is going to be read by a person.
  • Modern — a left-aligned header with the section headings in your accent colour and no rules. Leaner and less formal, which suits design, product and studio work.
  • Compact — smaller type and tighter spacing throughout, with the accent colour on the headings. It fits roughly twenty percent more on a page, which is the difference between one page and two when you have a long history.
  • ATS safe — plain, single column, black text, no rules and no graphics. This is the one to use when the CV goes through an applicant tracking system.

The preview updates as you type, so you can change template at any point and see immediately whether the content still fits.

What the ATS-safe template leaves out, and why

Applicant tracking systems do not read a PDF the way your eyes do. A parser pulls the text out of the file and pushes it into fields, and anything that relies on position or appearance rather than on plain text can be lost or misread. The things that cause trouble are well known:

  • Tables and text boxes — the reading order the parser assumes is not always the order you see on the page.
  • Headers, footers and sidebars — some parsers ignore them entirely, so a name or a date that lives only in a header simply disappears.
  • Images and icons — a skill written as an icon and a word may arrive as the word alone, or as nothing.
  • Text that is really a shape — some PDF exporters draw text as vector outlines. The page looks perfect and the parser sees nothing at all.

The ATS-safe template is a single column with every field on its own line, the role, company and dates reading left to right as ordinary text, and nothing but the words themselves. The exported PDF is generated as text rather than as an image of a page, so the content survives the round trip.

Writing the bullets

The one part of a resume nobody can write for you is the part that decides whether it gets read, and the difference is almost always the same: a result instead of a duty. "Responsible for onboarding" describes a job. "Cut the onboarding time from six days to two" describes an achievement, and it is the second one that gets remembered.

  • Start each line with a verb in the past tense: led, cut, built, shipped, reduced, grew.
  • Finish with the outcome. A number, a percentage, a time saved, a team size, a launch — anything that can be checked.
  • One achievement per line. A bullet that carries two results will be skimmed and half of it will be missed.
  • Keep the job title you actually held. Inflating it is the fastest way to be caught in the interview.

The tool keeps your wording exactly as you type it. It does not rewrite, tidy or invent anything, so what you read in the preview is what a recruiter reads.

Turning sections off

The options column has a switch for every section, and switching one off removes it from both the preview and the PDF. This is useful more often than it sounds. A summary that repeats the first bullet of your most recent job is worth cutting, and so is a skills list where every entry appears again under a job you already described.

The opposite is worth knowing too. You can add your own sections with any title you want, which is how publications, awards, volunteer work and professional registrations get in without the tool needing a field for each one. The Custom sections list takes a heading and a body of one point per line, exactly like the built-in ones.

How to use it

  1. Fill in your details at the top, then write the professional summary. Two or three sentences about what you do and what you are good at is enough.
  2. Add your jobs with the + Add a job button. Enter the role, the company and the dates, then one achievement per line in the bullet box.
  3. Add education, skills, projects, certifications and languages. Anything you leave empty is left out.
  4. Choose a template in the options column and switch off the sections you do not need.
  5. Pick an accent colour. Set it to None for a completely black document.
  6. Press Download PDF. The file is built page by page in your browser, so a long resume simply runs onto a second page.

Good to know

  • Nothing is uploaded. Your details stay in the tab and the PDF is produced on your machine, so a draft you are not ready to send is not sent.
  • The PDF is real text, not a picture of a page. You can select and copy from it, and a parser can read it.
  • The page size is switchable between A4 and US Letter. Pick the one used where you are applying; a resume is normally expected on A4 outside the United States and Canada.
  • One page is the right length for most roles, and two is acceptable once you have more than ten years of experience or several jobs that are genuinely relevant.
  • If you want the letter that goes with the resume, the Cover Letter Generator writes one from the same details. The Word Counter will tell you how long the summary is once it is written.