Professional Resume Templates: Writing Guide and Tips

Who needs a professional resume template?

Professional resume templates can be used by anyone who wants to convey seriousness and professionalism rather than display their personality with bold designs, such as with creative and contemporary templates.

Candidates who need a professional resume template work in traditional fields like business administration, banking, human resources, law, and health care. Executive assistants, attorneys, HR managers, IT project managers, bank branch managers, hospital administrators, and medical assistants are some specific job titles that would pair well with a professional resume template.

How to write a Professional Resume

Learn how to format and write every section of your professional resume straight from the experts. Our guide will provide tips and examples to help your resume look like it was written by a certified resume writer.

1. Select the appropriate format

Choosing the right resume format helps you identify the information that should go on your resume and how to organize it. You can choose from resume formats: chronological, functional, and combination.

The chronological format highlights your work experience, making this format ideal for candidates with long and consistent careers. It’s also the most commonly used format, so applicant tracking systems (ATS) and hiring managers find it very easy to read. If you want a traditional, professional look and have the experience to back it up, this format is a great choice.

While less common, the functional format makes you seem fully able to carry out job duties, even if you don’t have any previous experience. The skills section takes center stage in functional formats and minimizes the work experience section. If you want your resume to convey that you have a lot of professional skills despite your lack of experience, the functional format is the one for you.

The combination format is best suited for candidates with some limited experience that can balance it out with a strong skill set. The work experience and skills sections are front and center with this type of resume. Applicants vying for a promotion and career changers do exceptionally well with this format.

2. Include your key sections

All professionally-made resumes must include the five basic sections: contact information, professional summary, experience, skills, and education. Let’s review some tips to help you maximize each of these sections.

Professional Summary: The professional summary is your formal introduction to your employer. It consists of two to three sentences that summarize your professional background. You should include your most impressive features, such as your years of experience, top skills, and notable professional achievements. Get an idea of which features to include by checking out your desired role’s job description and searching for the skills and requirements they are specifically looking for.

Work Experience: Your work experience section lists your previous jobs organized in reverse-chronological order. Start with your most recent role and work backward. Instead of noting generic tasks and responsibilities in your work experience, maximize this section’s content by adding three to four bullet points with quantifiable achievements and detailed accomplishments that make you stand out. For example, try writing something like “Created strategies to expand product sales to existing customers, resulting in a 40% increase in annual revenue.”

In the case of functional resumes, the work experience is minimal and would not include an outlined description of your achievements in each job

Skills: Your skills section should include six to eight skills in various categories: soft, hard, and technical.

Soft skills describe the way you perform your tasks or interact with coworkers. They demonstrate that, besides knowing how to do your job, you can do it efficiently. Some examples of soft skills are negotiation, problem-solving, leadership, and time management.

Hard skills are learned through education or practical experience. They relate more closely to your specific job’s tasks. A few examples of hard skills are computer programming, proficiency in a foreign language, sales skills, copywriting, or data analysis.

Technical skills refer to your grasp of technological and digital tools such as MS Office programs, mass mailing systems, and software programs. Some specific technical skills can be expertise in Adobe Photoshop, advanced knowledge of QuickBooks, or proficiency in Javascript.

Education: Your education section generally includes your degree, the institution you attended, and the graduation date or dates of attendance. If you graduated high school or completed a GED, we recommend keeping the name of your school and your diploma.

Custom sections: Although you can have a compelling resume with just these five sections, you can share more important information by adding custom sections. If you have any certifications like Certified Business Analyst Professional (CBAP), Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), or Project Management Professional (PMP), you can list them in a separate “Certifications” section. Professionals needing licenses to practice, like teachers, engineers, or real estate agents, should also include a “Licenses” section.

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