Resume tips that actually help
A short, practical guide. Each section takes about two minutes to read and five to apply.
1. Write a summary that gets read
Recruiters spend seconds on the first pass. Your summary is the one paragraph they are guaranteed to see, so make it specific. A reliable formula is:
- Who you are: role + years of experience + domain. “Backend engineer with 7 years in fintech.”
- What you are known for: one or two strengths with evidence. “I build payment systems that stay up during festival-sale traffic.”
- What you want next: the role or problem you are targeting. “Looking to lead a platform team.”
Avoid adjectives nobody can verify — “hard-working”, “passionate”, “team player”. Replace them with facts.
2. Experience bullets with impact
Most resumes list duties: “Responsible for the order API.” Strong resumes list results. Use action verb + what you did + measurable result:
- Weak: “Worked on reducing cloud costs.”
- Strong: “Cut monthly AWS spend by 25% (₹4L/month) by right-sizing instances and adding a Redis cache.”
No exact number? Use scale instead: users served, requests per day, team size, time saved, number of releases. Keep each bullet to one or two lines, and put your most impressive bullet first under each role.
3. Passing ATS (applicant tracking system) filters
Many companies run resumes through software before a human sees them. To stay readable:
- Use standard section names: Experience, Education, Skills, Projects.
- Mirror the exact keywords from the job description where they are true for you — “Kubernetes”, not just “containers”.
- Avoid text inside images, tables for layout, and unusual fonts.
- Export a clean PDF (AcrossOne’s “Download PDF” produces real, selectable text).
4. A skills section that means something
Ten relevant skills beat thirty generic ones. Group them if it helps (Languages, Cloud, Tools), list the ones you would be comfortable being interviewed on, and drop anything you used once years ago.
5. Projects and certifications
Projects matter most early in your career or when switching fields. Give each one a single line on what it does and who uses it, plus a link. Certifications are worth listing when they are recent and relevant to the role.
6. Length and layout
One page for under ~8 years of experience, two pages at most after that. Use one accent colour, consistent dates, and plenty of white space. Proofread names of companies and technologies — typos there are noticed.
7. Share your resume as a link
A link like resume.acrossone.in/yourname is easy to put in your email signature, LinkedIn “Featured” section, WhatsApp messages and job applications. Because you edit the same page, anyone who saved your link always sees your latest version.