Most resumes fail for the same small set of reasons. This is everything I wish someone had told me before I sent out my first hundred applications.

A good resume is one page, single column, saved as a text-based PDF, and every bullet carries a number or a concrete technical detail. Write a two- to three-line summary with one proof point, list projects and experience by strongest evidence first, replace personality adjectives with measurable results, and skip photos, tables, and graphics so ATS systems can parse it.

I have written resumes that got ignored and resumes that got replies within hours. The content of my career barely changed between the two. What changed was how much of it was verifiable.

A resume is not an autobiography and it is not a personality test. It is a short evidence document. Every line either gives someone a reason to talk to you or takes up space that a better line could have used.…