How to write a US or Canadian resume

In North America the document is a “resume”: short, with no photo or personal details, and focused on results. Many companies run it through an applicant tracking system (ATS) before a person reads it, so the layout must stay simple.

Countries covered: United States, Canada

At a glance

What to include

• A 2–3 sentence summary at the top.
• Bullets that start with an action verb (“Managed”, “Increased”…).
• Numbers: budgets, percentages, number of clients.
• Keywords from the job posting, used word for word.
• In Quebec, a French resume is perfectly acceptable.

What to avoid

• Photo, age, date of birth, nationality.
• The line “References available on request”: it is redundant.
• Columns, tables and icons that ATS software misreads.

Section order

1. Name and contact details
2. Summary
3. Experience
4. Education
5. Skills