Basic resume: a format to copy and a filled example

A basic resume is a one-page resume in a single column with five sections: contact details, profile, experience, education and skills. No colors, no graphics and no required photo. It is the simplest one to make and also the one that the systems companies and job boards use to receive applications (ATS) read best, because everything is text and in order.

Already have a resume and just want it in this format? Convert it to one column for free: you upload the PDF, see which parts the software cannot read and get the same content in order, without writing it again.

What goes in a basic resume

Five sections, in this order if you have already worked:

If they apply, you can add Languages and Courses or certifications at the end. Nothing else. A basic resume works because the reader finds what they are looking for in seconds.

Basic resume format to copy

There is no file to download. Copy this structure into a blank Word or Google Docs document, in a single column, and replace each line with your details:

First and last name
City · Mobile · Email · LinkedIn

Profile
Two or three lines: the job you are applying for, years of experience and what you can do, in the words of the posting.

Work experience
Job title · Company · City · month/year to month/year
- Achievement with a number
- Achievement with a number

Education
Degree or level · Institution · year

Skills
A comma-separated list with the exact name of each tool.

Use a normal font (Arial or Calibri) at 10 to 12 points, section titles in bold and no tables or text boxes to arrange the content. If you would rather start from a finished design that follows these same rules, there are the ATS resume templates.

Basic resume example

Fictional data. A person with three years of store experience applying for a cashier job in Monterrey, Mexico.

It fits on one page and reads at a glance. Notice what is missing: photo, date of birth, marital status, CURP, RFC and social security number. Those are requested when you are hired, not on the resume.

Basic resume with no experience

If this is your first job, the sections are the same, but education moves up and experience is filled with internships, projects, volunteering or occasional jobs:

First and last name
City · Mobile · Email

Profile
What you study or studied, what you can do and the job you want.

Education
Degree or level · Institution · year (or "in progress")

Internships, projects or volunteering
What you did · Where · dates
- What you achieved or learned, with a concrete detail

Skills
Tools, software and languages with level.

The step by step, with a full example, is in resume with no experience; if you have just graduated, see recent graduate resume.

Simple is not generic: tailor it to the posting

The mistake with a basic resume is making one and sending it everywhere unchanged. The format can always be the same; the words cannot. Many companies and job boards compare the text of your resume with the text of the posting, so adjust three things before sending it:

1. The profile: name the job the way the posting names it.
2. The skills: use the same names the posting uses. Which to list and how to write them: skills for your CV.
3. The order of the achievements: first the one closest to what they ask for.

It is a ten-minute adjustment, not a rewrite. We explain it in how to tailor your resume to a job description.

By hand, in Word or in PDF?

• By hand: only if the posting asks for it. A handwritten resume cannot be uploaded to a job board or sent by email, and it is harder to read. If the employer asks you to fill in a printed job application form, that is a different document: bring your resume as well.
• In Word or Google Docs: the normal way to write it. With the format above you do not need any template.
• In PDF: the way to send it, exported from Word or Google Docs (not scanned or as a photo), unless the posting asks for Word. The details are in resume in PDF or Word.

What to leave out of a basic resume

• Extra personal data: CURP, RFC, social security number, date of birth, marital status, full address.
• Photo, unless the posting asks for one. When it helps and how to add it without breaking the reading: resume with or without a photo.
• The title "Curriculum vitae" at the top of the document. Your name is the title.
• "References available on request." If they want them, they ask.
• Columns, icons and level bars. They look good, but the software can read them out of order or not at all, as we show in does the ATS read columns and tables?.

How to check that your basic resume reads well

Run the two-minute test: open your PDF, select all the text, copy it and paste it into Notepad. If it comes out complete and in the same order you wrote it, an ATS reads it too. If it comes out scrambled, the contact details are missing or the skills disappear, the problem is the file's format.

The quick way: upload your resume to the converter. In seconds you see which parts the software cannot read and you get the same content in a single column. It is free and needs no card.

Frequently asked questions