Resume checklist before you send

24 checks in five groups. Open your resume beside this page and tick each line only when you have actually looked.

Untick all

Why a checklist

By the time a resume is finished, its writer has read it so often that the eye slides over it. That is when a wrong digit in the phone number or a missing attachment slips through, and those small slips cost more interviews than weak wording ever does. A checklist makes you look at each thing separately. Pilots and surgeons use them for the same reason: not because the steps are hard, but because they are easy to skip.

The first group matters most. If the phone number or email is wrong, nothing else on the page can help you. Do those two tests, a call and a test mail, every single time you change the file.

Contact details

• My name is spelt as on my certificates.
• I dialled the mobile number on the page and it rang my phone.
• I sent a test mail to the email address on the page and received it.
• My email address is a plain one made from my name.
• City and state are given; no full postal address or identity numbers.

Top of the page

• A headline under my name says what I am and my main strength.
• The summary or objective is two to four lines of facts about me, not a copied sentence.
• The words of the job advertisement that are true of me appear near the top.

Body

• The strongest section comes first: experience if I have it, education and projects if I am a fresher.
• Every point starts with an action word.
• At least half the points carry a number.
• Jobs and qualifications are listed latest first, with dates in one consistent form.
• Skills are specific, grouped, and only ones I can show.
• Every statement is true and I can talk about each line.

Form

• It fits on one A4 page (or two, for a long career).
• One font, black text, clear headings, no tables or text boxes.
• I read it aloud and found no spelling or grammar mistakes.
• One other person has read it.
• No photo, date of birth, family details or declaration, unless this employer asked for them.

Sending

• The file is a text PDF named Firstname_Lastname_Resume.pdf.
• I opened the PDF on a phone and it reads well.
• My email has a subject naming the post and a short message of three or four lines.
• The file is attached.
• I have noted where and when I applied.

If you could not tick a line

• Headline or summary: see summary and objective.
• Points and numbers: see experience points and action words.
• Skills: see skills.
• Length: see one page resume.
• Layout and file: see ATS-friendly resume.
• Personal details: see photo, declaration and personal details.
• Message: see cover letter and email.

After you send

Keep your phone charged and reachable, and answer unknown numbers politely during working hours; recruiters often call without notice. Keep a copy of the exact resume you sent to each employer, since you may be asked about it weeks later. And keep the list of applications up to date, so that when a call comes you know at once which post it is about.

Questions people ask

Open the resume builder

Guides

General guidance. This page gives general suggestions on writing a resume, reviewed in November 2026. Employers differ: if an advertisement or application form asks for a particular format or detail, follow it. Every name, employer and college in our examples is invented. Nothing here promises an interview or a job.