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United States

Writing a resume for the US

A US resume is shorter and flatter than anything in Europe. One page is the working assumption for most of a career; two is defensible after ten or fifteen years and needs to earn itself. There is no signature, no date, no photo, and no personal-details block at all.

The other thing to plan for is the applicant tracking system. Most mid-size and large US employers parse resumes before a person reads one, which makes a plain single-column layout, real text rather than an image, and the words from the job posting matter more than the design.

Updated August 24, 2026

At a glance

What it is called
Resume
Length
One page. Two only with long experience.
Photo
No, and it can cause the application to be discarded.
Dates
Month and year.
Personal details
Name, phone, email, city and state, and a LinkedIn URL. Nothing else.
Signature
Never.
Language
English, US spelling.

What you send

  1. Resume — one page.
  2. A cover letter when the posting asks for one.
  3. Nothing attached.

What catches people out

  • Cut the photo, the date of birth, the nationality, the marital status, the street address and the signature.
  • One page. Cut roles older than about fifteen years to a single line each, or a "Prior experience" summary.
  • Lead every bullet with a verb and end it with a number wherever one exists.
  • Mirror the words in the job posting. The parser matches strings, not synonyms.
  • A degree from outside the US is worth a bracketed equivalent, but do not translate the institution’s name.
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Templates that suit it

Holloway

ATS-safeSingle column
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Linden

ATS-safeSingle column
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Aldgate

ATS-safeSingle column
Use this templatePreview

Guides for this market

Examples written for it

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