What voice should a resume be written in?

Asked by: Scottie Bahringer | Last update: May 24, 2026

Score: 4.3/5 (36 votes)

A resume should be written in the active voice using an implied first-person perspective. This means the writing is concise, direct, and focuses on your accomplishments without using pronouns like "I" or "me".

What voice do you write a resume in?

You want your resume to stand out and highlight your accomplishments. The best way to do this is to ditch the passive voice and use the active voice instead. Don't just say you “are results-driven”; show employers what actions you took to achieve results!

Should I use active or passive voice in a resume?

According to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, it is critical to, “Describe your accomplishments in simple but powerful statements in the active voice,” so you can, “emphasize the benefit to your employer.”

What tone should a resume be written in?

Use active voice

Your resume should grab your reader's attention as quickly as possible, and using active voice instead of passive voice will engage your reader faster. “Passive sentences tend to be wordier and more difficult to read, and are not as impactful as active ones,” Buxton says.

Should CVS be written in third person?

So in conclusion, it's up to you to decide whether you use the first person in your CV personal profile or the third. Whichever you choose, the important thing is to make sure that this section of your CV is engaging because it's your first chance to sell yourself to your future employer.

Tips For How To Write A Better Resume (From A Recruiter's Perspective)

38 related questions found

Should you use the 3rd person on a resume?

Refrain from using the third person – your CV should be about you and your skills, so writing about “him” or “her” or using your own name can sound quite jarring.

What are the three rules for writing a CV?

Tips for writing your CV

When you write your CV, remember to: use a clear font like Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri in size 11 or bigger. always use the same style throughout. use headings and bullet points to make it easier to read.

What are the 3 C's of a resume?

The 3 C's of a resume typically refer to Clear, Concise, and Consistent formatting and content, ensuring your skills and experience are easy to read, brief, and follow a uniform style, while other interpretations focus on Competence, Character, and Chemistry for hiring, or Clarity, Connections, and Confidence for job search strategy. The most common resume advice emphasizes making it easy for recruiters to quickly grasp your qualifications through clear, brief, and consistent presentation.

What are the top 5 resume mistakes?

The top 5 resume mistakes include typos and grammar errors, not tailoring the resume to the specific job, focusing on responsibilities instead of quantifiable achievements, using poor or complex formatting, and including irrelevant or outdated information/objective statements, all leading to a generic, hard-to-read document that fails to impress recruiters or pass Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

What are the 5 P's of a resume?

The "5 Ps of a Resume" aren't a single, universally agreed-upon list, but often refer to key principles like Positioning, Presentation, Personalization, Proofreading, and Persistence (or Purpose, Precision, Professionalism) for a strong job application, focusing on tailoring content (Positioning/Personalization), clear formatting (Presentation/Professionalism), error-free text (Proofreading/Precision), and a strategic job search (Persistence) to stand out as a solution for the employer.

What is the 7 second rule in resume?

The "7-second resume rule" means recruiters spend only about 7 seconds on their initial scan of a resume to decide if a candidate is a potential match, making it crucial to have a clear, concise, and keyword-optimized document that highlights key achievements and skills to capture attention quickly, often with the help of an ATS (Applicant Tracking System). To succeed, focus on strong formatting, quantifying accomplishments with numbers, using action verbs, and tailoring the content to the specific job description to pass both automated filters and human review.

What are red flags on resumes?

Resume red flags are warning signs that can get you rejected, including typos/grammar errors, unexplained employment gaps, job hopping, a lack of quantifiable achievements, poor formatting, not tailoring the resume to the job, and including irrelevant personal details or outdated skills, all signaling a lack of attention to detail, professionalism, or relevance for the role.

What are the 5 golden rules of resume writing?

The five core principles of resume writing are Relevance/Targeting, Quantifiable Achievements, Clarity/Conciseness, Professional Presentation, and Accuracy/Proofreading, focusing on tailoring content with numbers and keywords to be easily scannable, demonstrating value, and being error-free to impress hiring managers quickly.

What are 2025 resume buzzwords to avoid?

For 2025, avoid generic, overused resume buzzwords like "results-driven," "passionate," "synergy," "ninja," "rockstar," "think outside the box," "proven track record," "hard worker," "team player," "dynamic," and "agile," as they lack substance; instead, demonstrate these qualities with specific, quantifiable achievements and strong action verbs to show your true impact and value to employers.

What are the top 5 skills for a resume?

The top 5 skills for a resume generally focus on Communication, Problem-Solving, Teamwork/Collaboration, Adaptability, and Leadership, blending core interpersonal abilities with practical application, though hard/technical skills specific to the industry are also crucial alongside these. Employers want to see these soft skills demonstrated in your experience, not just listed, proving you can work well with others and contribute strategically.

What is the most common CV mistake?

Top 4 biggest CV mistakes (according to research!)

Bad spelling and grammar. Perhaps unsurprisingly, spelling and grammar tops the list of gripes across almost every survey of businesses we found. ...
An overly casual tone. ...
Poor formatting and font use. ...
CV is too long. ...
The best of the rest.

What are the three F's in a resume?

Having less than ten seconds to prove qualifications for a position enforces the idea that the focus point of drafting a resume, should be to stick to the Three Fs of Resume Writing: Function, Form, and e(F)fectiveness.

What makes a resume look unprofessional?

An unprofessional resume is marked by errors (typos, grammar, factual inaccuracies), poor formatting (clutter, tiny text, "funky" fonts, overly complex designs), irrelevant content (hobbies, personal info like age/marital status, photos, politics/religion), weak language, and generic, untailored information that lacks quantification or focus on the specific job, creating a careless or unfocused impression.

What is the key to a good resume?

Wherever you are in your career, following these guidelines will help as you're writing your résumé:

Give yourself credit. ...
Highlight your education. ...
Write professionally. ...
Avoid jargon. ...
Think beyond “jobs.” ...
Don't overdo it. ...
Keep things relevant. ...
Start with your story.

What to put on the top of a resume?

Top portion of resume

A strong headline (Project Coordinator) lines up under her name. ...
A strong summary communicates her talents, skills, and initiative. ...
She adds an optional testimonial that provides specific information on one of her top achievements as an administrative assistant.

What are the three most important things on a resume?

We consulted our AllSearch Team of 30+ experts about what should always be on your resume. The obvious ones being, your name and contact information, a short but concise list of relevant tools and skills you have, and your education or professional experience you have had in the past.

What mistakes should be avoided while writing a CV?

So here they are, 10 things not to do on your CV:

Providing irrelevant personal information. ...
Burying important information. ...
Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. ...
Unexplained gaps in employment. ...
Lying or misleading information. ...
A long, waffly CV. ...
Badly formatted CV. ...
Meaningless introductions.

What is the difference between a CV and a resume?

A resume is a short (1-2 page) marketing document summarizing relevant skills for specific jobs, while a CV (Curriculum Vitae) is a comprehensive, longer record of your entire academic and professional history, used mainly for academic, research, or medical roles. Resumes highlight achievements for industry jobs, focusing on what you offer the employer, while CVs list all credentials (publications, teaching, etc.) for academic positions.

What are the 10 steps you should follow to write a resume?

How to build your resume

Add your contact information. ...
Include a professional summary. ...
Add your work experience. ...
Include your education. ...
List relevant skills. ...
Showcase relevant awards, projects or involvement. ...
Use a standard format. ...
Select a template.