If there’s a job that you are serious about scoring, we have modern resume templates you can use to get an edge over competitors. Check out our free downloadable modern resume templates to input your own information and create a winning resume.
We have many excellent modern resume templates from which to choose to create your own unique resume. From clean to creative and everything in between, all of our modern resume templates are free for you to download, edit and print. Take a look at these examples, then use our advice below to fill in your chosen template with your personal information.
Light-blue sidebar and dark-blue titles with thin section lines provide a well-structured design. Great example for entertainment, health care or financial job seekers.
Blue Side
Make all your great strengths pop with this professional resume template set in blue fonts, backgrounds and borderlines. A splash of red highlights the dates. Creative, entertainment and industrial feel here.
Vibrant
Fading blue edge lines and backgrounds highlight each section down the template. One-column format with plus-sign bullets for job descriptions. Perfect for technical, engineering, programming and mechanical job candidates.
Streamlined
Oversized initial crest with forest-green background. One-column format with green coloring for section borders and key titles. Personal branding template for marketing, public relations, sales or accounting.
Personal Brand
Deep black tones, subtle oranges and icons showcase your attributes in this template for a financial, business or sales executive.
Black and Orange
Not a color that you would expect to see on a resume, but it works. Very clean, professional layout with only a few color shapes to create a fresh, contemporary look.
Professional Orange
Open, two-page format with dark and light-blue shading for section headers. Traditional bulleted lists and three-column format for key strengths area. Imparts a corporate feel.
Marketed
Steel-gray background for header with maroon and fading saffron colors give a pop to this resume template. Full-color profile picture and traditional bulleted list and paragraph descriptions. Great resume for construction managers, contractors or industrial professionals.
Grindstone
Shades of red-rose color used for fonts and backgrounds shape this example. Two-column Work Experience section offers lots of room for detailed job descriptions.
Rosy Outlook
Original use of shapes, lines and color creates a unique design that will stand out from the rest without being over-the-top.
Hire Me
Simple and elegant layout with a dash of complementary color, this resume gets straight down to business.
No Fuss - Duo
Shaded-white main section set on light-colored, diagonal-lined page background. Olive-green shading for section titles completes this sharp, polished look.
VIP
The off-center design of this resume captures attention immediately. The use of rich green color around the name focuses a reader’s eyes to the top left and gets it moving around the page. Great template for designers, copy writers and other creatives.
Call Out
Diagram your career path in this resume template with dashed lines flowing throughout the page, punctuated by blue-boxed headers. Perfect template for operations and project managers, engineers and IT programmers.
Schema
Subtle background, lines and waves add a lot of texture to this otherwise simple design. The use of bright color causes the section divisions to pop.
Corporate Lines
Executive, marketing, financial and sales professionals take note. Gray tones and white fonts with bold titles and a profile photo give this template a corporate feel.
All Business
Having no images, this resume relies on the power of typography and your words. Make sure you choose the right ones to make the most impact. Text size and styles play an important part in creating a powerful impression here.
Bold Typography
Nice one- and three-column mix with a well-organized contemporary look. Paragraph headers serve as captions for three-column sections with blue-shaded titles. Full-page grid lines define the space with lots of room for your information.
Column Mix
Fine arts feel with this resume template. Light green and gray colors and circular profile photo add an artistic touch. Section headers bordered with top and bottom grid lines. Teachers, directors and assistants template.
Overture
Thick, colored sidebars for each section in this resume template add pop to the traditional resume layout. It’s creative without overstatement.
Colorbricks
Jump right into your experience and education. Shadowed section titles offset bold fonts for organization and job titles. Complementary turquoise footer adds design zip.
Great Experience
Classic goes modern with block color and different shapes. The ribbon forms in this resume also give the impression of awards and high standards.
Block Color
Compact rectangular style. Blue shades used for fonts and divider lines. Bulleted lists highlight key areas and strengths. Excellent template for service industry applicants and recent graduates.
Tied Together
Banner footer with full-color profile photo, qualifications section and light-blue shading. Three-column design with bold headers and lines offers lots of space. Ideal for journalists, marketers and communications specialists.
Page One
Blue shades for backgrounds and section headers with a profile picture set on a light-gray backdrop. Star design element showcases the list of your key skills. Computer, engineering and scientific feel with this resume template.
Glimmer
Light-blue font for titles and arrow bullet points complement gray backgrounds and lines. Thin margins give page lots of room for your information.
Designer's Touch
Classic, artsy page border provides a design appeal to this resume template. Powerful entry-level resume design for job seekers without a lot of work experience, and recent graduates. Lots of open space for keywords, skills, and training or certifications.
Open Entry
Not an obvious frame, but the colored banner at the top of the page and the color text help focus attention on your name and opening statement.
Framed
This attention-grabbing resume makes clever use of color and shapes to help the reader navigate the document. Three steps of block color lead down to the main resume where block color clearly divides content sections.
Block Step
Contrasting colors help to separate and organize your information and headings. Experiment with different colors, but remember that many colors will not print out exactly the same as the onscreen version.
Color Contrast
If safe and conservative white is not for you, this resume design will definitely help you stand out. Colored background is not something you can pull off on your home printer, so only choose this option if you’re uploading/emailing your resume or plan on using a professional printing service.
Casual Blue
Very formal-looking resume template with a corporate feel. Steel-gray, blue shading and profile photo make it all business. Legal assistants, financial planners and hospital administrators — have a look.
Steely
Blue backgrounds offset bold, white section headers, and orange titles with plus-sign bullet points catch the eye. Perfect for engineers, IT, data and communications specialists.
Career Pitch
Organized tabular layout with vertical section headers with all-caps, white titles and blue backgrounds. Light-gray shading for description areas and blue circle meters to promote your key skills.
Organized
Two columns separated by white and gray backgrounds impart a creative yet formal feel. Icon images and blue fonts complete the resume template.
Creative Formal
Wonderful template for realtors, insurance agents, interior designers or home contractors. Full-color profile photo with blue background. Strength graphs spotlight your expertise.
Show And Tell
Showcase your key skills with the olive-green and gray block graphs that complement the gray backgrounds and olive-green section divider lines. Excellent template when applying for a next-level position.
Skillful
Deep, forest greens and light blues offer a formal feel in this resume template. Lots of bold sections with bulleted lists to include all of your qualifications and expertise.
Lists Of Expertises
Blue and gray header shading with maroon titles adds a modern creative touch to this traditional example. Skills section includes graphs to rank your strengths and thin margins to include all of your information.
Formative Traditional
This two-page, two-column sleek resume is the perfect choice for mid-career and senior-level professionals with significant work history, career achievements and skills that need to be highlighted. The dark-red section headings and the use of steel-gray titles lend authority and distinction. This template is the perfect choice for accountants, engineers and IT professionals.
Cavalier
Open black and red circles with inset numbers for bullet points, sequential section headings and light-gray backgrounds make this resume template pop. Round profile photo maintains the open look.
One Two Three
A centered resume format that places visual emphasis on key skills by means of a 10-point rating scale.
Score-Card
Put a color photo of yourself here to complement the blues and whites. Great template for realtors, insurance and advertising sales agents, and contractors.
Advertise
Light purples and greens create a spring feel here. Use a photo of yourself and the bar meters to showcase your many qualifications. Great for marketing, sales and hospitality professionals.
Springing
White and bold font types set on green-fading backgrounds catch the eye. Large summary of qualifications area and many conventional sections in this template.
Fades Of Green
Bright orange and green shading with a light-blue font color make this vivacious. Rate your expertise with the green and gray squared bar meters. Great resume template for designers, marketers and communications specialists.
Lively Step
Strong use of contrasting colors makes this resume stand out. A simple layout, using block color to highlight your strengths. Make the most of positive feedback from customers or bosses by quoting what they’ve said about you.
Bold Contrast
Orange and gray titles add flair to classic black-and-white color scheme with mix of one, two and three columns with thin divider lines in this resume template. Enlarged, italicized objective footer gives creative appeal. Great for clerical, IT, sales or engineering usage.
Foundation
Large footer section with orange color scheme, bold white fonts and a full-color profile photo. Bold headers and maroon titles complete the overall creative feel. Ideal template for public relations, graphic designer or sales.
Spirited Professional
Orange plus signs and headers with thin border line define each section. Gray and black squares with an inner dot showcase personal strengths. Plenty of space for those with a lot of experience and accomplishments.
Positive Showing
Designed for professionals seeking to highlight their key strengths, this template has a refined and professional format, with just a touch of light blue, gray shading and dotted lines that add a contemporary vibe. This two-column design provides plenty of room for mid-career professionals to highlight their skills, work history, education and objectives.
Refined
Gray-shaded squares with introductory information set next to work experience descriptions provide room for more detail and a designer’s touch. Light yellows used for titles and shading.
Prelude
Dashed yellow-green page border with section borderlines in a dashed light gray. Circle graphics set in olive green and dark blue to rank your key expertise. Perfect resume template for computer professionals.
Present Yourself
A colored background highlights the section headings, and the font colors for the titles complement the backgrounds. Use the checkboxes and lines to bullet-list all that you have to offer.
Check Box
Boxed and shaded profile area provides lots of room to present yourself. Gray vertical and horizontal lines draw focus to the section headings, and the centered descriptions and keywords keep the reader scanning the page.
Front And Center
Jump straight into what people say about you. Show off your best achievements through the words of others.
What People Say
Multi-column layout with thin, section-divider lines. Work history section and a bar graph to rate your skills. Excellent format for administrative, service industry and labor professionals.
Functional Showcase
Entrepreneurs, travel, sales and branding professionals utilize this sample to feature company logos with a shaded, bulleted key skills section.
Logos
Summarize your skill set succinctly at the start of your resume and have the people that matter endorse you.
Testimonials
Open-ended block sections with thin and thick deep-brown-shaded grid outlines. Arrows used for bulleted lists, and italic fonts for margin headings and titles.
Open
Thick, bold outlines define each block section. Limited use of shading adds a sleek design touch. Traditional information with a creative layout.
Blocks
Lots of color looks distinctive, and this color scheme will make your resume stand out. The checkmark is a very positive image to use instead of a standard bullet point.
Salmon
White fonts set on green and deep-gray background for headers. Combination of two and three columns for skills lists and qualifications. Teachers, retail employees and service job seekers stand out with this resume template.
Qualified
Busy hiring managers and recruiters won’t spend much time with your resume before deciding whether or not to discard it, so design is very important.
A modern resume should be easy to read and attractively designed. Here are some of the major design elements to consider in a modern professional resume.
Looking for something even more creative? See our infographic resume template library.
On modern resumes, fonts are important.
Historically, Times New Roman was the default choice for resumes. On a modern resume though, this old-fashioned font can be seen as outdated, even boring.
To impress a modern employer, a modern sans serif font is best. Avoid overused fonts like Arial, and choose a more interesting option, like Helvetica Neue or Georgia. Georgia is a particularly good choice as it was designed to be easily read on a screen.
Color is a good way to make your modern resume shine. Now that resumes are often sent to employers online, the expense of color printing is avoided.
When using color, keep the palette simple and professional. You might color only your section headers, or you could choose a template with a colored design from our options above.
Always use colors that are easy to see. Darker colors, like navy and burgundy, will look best for text. Light colors, like yellow, are too difficult to read, and look unprofessional.
A hiring manager probably isn’t going to read your resume from top to bottom until after you’ve made it through the initial selection process. They often make those early decisions in a matter of seconds.
Find ways to highlight your key information to help guide those who are just skimming resumes. You might use bold fonts to highlight your major achievements, or color to draw the eye to the sections you want noticed first.
White space on your resume allows for easy skimming, so don’t stuff your resume with excess information. Use bullet points if you’re making a list of achievements, for example.
If there’s a common acronym or abbreviation for a term in your industry, be sure to spell it out at least once in your resume, in case the person reading your resume is not familiar with the abbreviation.
One page resumes are great, but modern resumes are often longer.
A two-page resume could be appropriate if you have a lot of work experience. Employers would rather read a multi-page professional resume than a one-page resume that’s crammed with information in a tiny font.
What’s important is to make sure that everything on your resume is essential. Two pages of relevant information is good; two pages of filler is not. The general rule is that you should have around one page on your resume for every ten years of work experience.
Your modern resume will contain the same sections that would go on any resume, such as contact information, work experience and education. However, a modern design must feature this information in a way that’s helpful to a modern employer. Today’s employers are likely to be reading your resume online rather than on paper, and may want details that you wouldn’t see on a traditional resume like links to a digital portfolio or your LinkedIn profile. In this section, we’ll discuss what modern employers are looking for and how to write your resume accordingly.
Add hyperlinks to your relevant social media pages, and include your email address on your resume, suggests Wendy Enelow, who co-wrote “Modernize Your Resume: Get Noticed ... Get Hired.” This makes it easy for an employer or recruiter to contact you.
If you have a detailed and thorough LinkedIn account, hyperlink it in your Contact Information section. If you’re applying for a job that will involve social media use, such as corporate online reputation management, include links to your other social media accounts, too, like Twitter and Instagram.
Make sure to keep your social media accounts professional and polished. They should be actively used, have high-quality, work-appropriate profile pictures, and be filled with content that employers will want to see.
In addition to social media, the rest of your contact information should be modernized, too.
For instance, a modern resume doesn’t need your full residential address. Include just your city, state and ZIP code.
If you have a personal website, published writing samples or an online portfolio, link that in your Contact Information section, as long as it’s relevant to your desired job.
Objectives are considered outdated in a modern resume. It can be assumed that an employer or recruiter already knows what your objective is, since they have your resume in their hands.
Instead you may want to include a professional summary that states what you have to offer the employer as a candidate, instead of what you’re looking for. This is an especially good idea if you have a long work history.
Your professional summary should be a synopsis of your job history and could include your years of experience, job history highlights and major accomplishments.
Some jobs, like medical assisting, require a specific skill set that should go in a Skills section. For a job that doesn’t require such specific knowledge, don’t have a Skills section, and list your achievements instead.
Achievements don’t generally need their own separate section, unless you have a lot of measurable achievements to list. You can work them into your Experience or Work History section.
Get rid of the list of duties performed, and tell recruiters about things you accomplished or skills you mastered at each past job. If you can include specifics or numbers, that’s even better. Write the name of the new software you learned, or the percentage by which you increased sales at your last job.
Many large companies will use a software program to screen resumes. These applicant tracking systems (ATS) weed out resumes that appear to be a poor fit for the job.
There are a number of proven tactics for making your resume ATS-friendly. Check out our ATS resume templates and writing guide for more details, and get your modern resume past these automatic systems and into the hands of hiring managers.
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