Putting together your resume in 2022 is easy, thanks to AI resume builders. Here’s how to build a resume using the latest technology:
- Choose a builder and follow onscreen instructions to get started
- Answer questions to put together your resume sections
- Customize your resume
- Download your ready-to-submit resume
If you’re not quite ready to go through a resume builder, we’ll also cover:
1. Choose a builder and follow onscreen instructions to get started
The resume generator you choose will have a button that you click to get started. For example:
After you click into the builder, you’ll need to agree to the website’s Terms & Conditions, either by ticking a checkbox or clicking “Continue”:
Then, you have the option to build a new resume or upload your current one. We recommend starting fresh to ensure proper resume formatting:
2. Answer questions to put together your resume
Resume builders guide you through the building process by asking you questions that help you fill out each of your resume sections. Click the section titles below to see how to build every part of your resume:
Contact information
Fill out a simple form, and the resume builder will put your name and contact information in an eye-catching resume header:
Work experience
First, enter the job title and location of your most recent position, like this:
Then, either write your own bullet points or choose from suggestions based on your job title:
If you use the templated bullet points in your work experience section:
- edit them to match your qualifications
- target a specific job by including resume keywords from the job ad
- include hard numbers and examples to make your skills and experience stand out
The generic bullets point you toward which of your career accomplishments to put on your resume. But if you submit a resume that uses the provided examples word for word, hiring managers will know immediately that you just copied a template.
Education
To construct your resume’s education section, fill in the name and location of the college or high school you went to or currently attend:
Next, add your degree or diploma title:
Finally, edit to include your GPA and honors, if applicable. You’ll also have the option to add relevant coursework and extracurricular activities — but only add that information if you’re a recent graduate writing a resume with no experience:
Certifications
Here’s how to list relevant certifications on your resume using a resume builder:
Additional skills
Add your skills that will help you succeed at the job you want, and the resume builder will format a skills section for your resume:
But don’t just list skills. Give them some context by describing how proficient you are and including names of specific tools you know how to use, like the following example does:
- Fluent in Spanish
- Remote tool expertise: Slack, Google Drive, and Zoom
Career objective
Building your resume’s career objective takes extra time because it can make or break your application. If it doesn’t include the skills and experience the employer is looking for, the hiring manager probably won’t read the rest of your resume.
Here’s how to build a career objective that gets the employer’s attention in six steps:
Step 1
Choose your industry:
Step 2
Choose up to three hard skills that best match the job you’re applying for:
Step 3
Select up to three soft skills — again, use skills mentioned in the job description, if possible:
Step 4
Choose powerful resume adjectives to describe yourself:
Step 5
Add your desired job title:
Step 6
Review the career objective the builder puts together and make sure it has keywords from the job description:
If you have a lot of work experience, consider starting your resume with a different type of introduction — such as a resume summary — to highlight your career achievements instead of your skills.
References
A good resume builder offers you the option to include references on your resume. But only choose the reference option if the job ad requests references. You can usually list references on the job application form.
If you do need to add references, simply list their names and contact information:
3. Customize your resume
After you fill out your information, you can choose the resume template, color scheme, and text size:
Pick a template that best fits your information onto one full page. And be sure the template makes sense for your resume, based on your experience and the type of job and company you’re targeting.
For instance, if you’re building a graphic design resume, use a creative resume template with resume icons and bold colors. But if you’re aiming at a paralegal job, go with a professional resume template that features formal formatting.
When you edit your resume, you can also add extra sections for your volunteer work, language skills, awards, publications, and other job-related information.
4. Download your ready-to-submit resume
Once you’re satisfied with the resume you built, pick your payment method and download your resume:
We recommend downloading both Word and PDF resumes because you’ll need a:
- PDF file for sending a resume that’s easy to open and doesn’t have spellchecker underlines or formatting issues
- Word file for making changes to match specific job ads, and to send to employers who don’t accept PDFs
Resume building pros and cons
Here are the pros and cons of using an online resume generator to build your resume:
Pros
- Well-written, job-specific content suggestions
- Expert writing and formatting advice as you build
- Professionally designed template
- Designed to be easy for applicant tracking systems (ATS) to read
- Affordable pricing
- Subscriptions include access to expert reviews, a cover letter builder, unlimited rewrites and downloads, and expert reviews and job searching tools
Cons
- Other applicants may pick the same template you did
- Takes time to rewrite templated information to avoid submitting a generic application
- Costs money
How to build your resume for free
Even if an online resume builder lets you download the resume you built for free, it will have a branded watermark. A watermark distracts hiring managers from your relevant information, and it makes you look unprofessional.
But you can build your resume without paying by downloading a free resume template and reading about how to create your perfect resume:
- How to write a resume
- Skills for your resume
- Resume formats
- Best font for your resume
- How long your resume should be
Examples of resumes built online
Want to know what your resume will look like after you build it? The below resume examples were built using an online resume builder (click each one to get a full-size view):
