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Resume Template USA

Guide: Writing an American Resume that Gets Past ATS
EEOC rules, ATS systems, keyword strategy, and resume length for the US job market
Guide · not printed

What belongs on an American resume

  • Include: name, city and state (not full address), phone, email, LinkedIn URL. Do NOT include: photo, date of birth, marital status, nationality, or race. Federal anti-discrimination law (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, ADEA, ADA, enforced by the EEOC) prohibits using race, national origin, age and other protected characteristics in hiring decisions. Source: eeoc.gov.
  • A professional summary (2 to 4 lines) replaces the objective statement for experienced professionals. For new graduates, an objective stating your target role is acceptable. This is prime ATS real estate; include keywords from the job description here. Source: SHRM, shrm.org.
  • Work experience: reverse chronological, bullet points starting with strong action verbs (led, drove, built, reduced, increased). Every bullet should answer: what did you do, at what scale, with what result? Quantify with numbers, percentages, or dollar amounts wherever possible.
  • Skills section: essential for ATS. List technologies, tools, certifications, and methodologies as standalone keywords. ATS systems scan for exact keyword matches. Mirror the language of the job posting exactly.

ATS and keyword strategy

  • Jobscan's 2026 analysis found that 97.4% of Fortune 500 companies use a detectable ATS (Applicant Tracking System), and many smaller employers use one too. Source: Jobscan, jobscan.co.
  • ATS systems match keywords from your resume against the job description. A closer match increases the chance of human review. Tailor your resume for each application; at minimum, mirror the exact job title and top required skills from the posting.
  • Avoid graphics, tables, headers/footers, and text boxes in the PDF version submitted to ATS. These elements are often parsed incorrectly. Use clean, single-column layout for the ATS submission version. Source: Jobscan ATS research, 2023.
  • File format: follow the posting. If it names no format, .docx is a common choice for ATS uploads, because some older systems parse Word documents more reliably than PDFs. Keep the PDF version for email or printing.

Resume length and legal rules

  • One page is the standard for candidates with fewer than 10 years of experience. Two pages are acceptable and increasingly common for mid-career and senior professionals. Three pages are only appropriate for executives or academics.
  • Federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on age (40 or older, ADEA), disability (ADA), pregnancy (Pregnancy Discrimination Act), and religion (Title VII), and the ADA bars disability questions before a job offer. If you are concerned about age bias, you can leave older graduation years off. For legal questions, check with an employment lawyer. Source: eeoc.gov.
  • Federal job applications (USAJOBS) have different requirements: they ask for more detail per role, including hours worked per week, and since September 2025 a federal resume is limited to two pages. For federal roles, follow the specific USAJOBS resume format. Source: usajobs.gov.
  • References: do not list references on the resume. The phrase "References available upon request" is considered outdated. Prepare a separate reference sheet and provide it only when asked. Source: SHRM, shrm.org.

People also ask

Should I include a photo on a US resume?

No. Including a photo on an American resume is generally discouraged. Federal anti-discrimination laws (Title VII, ADEA, ADA, enforced by the EEOC, eeoc.gov) prohibit hiring decisions based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information, and the EEOC advises employers not to request photos before an offer. Some recruiters set aside resumes with photos for this reason. Exceptions are roles that ask for headshots, such as acting, modeling, or broadcast media.

How long should an American resume be?

One page for candidates with 0 to 10 years of experience. Two pages for mid-career (10 to 20 years) and senior professionals. Three pages only for C-suite executives or academics. Do not pad a resume to fill pages; every line should add value. For experienced candidates, a two-page resume is common and widely accepted.

What is ATS and how do I optimize for it?

ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is software used by most employers to screen resumes before a human reads them. The system scans your resume for keywords that match the job description. To optimize: (1) mirror the exact language and job title from the posting, (2) list skills and tools explicitly in a skills section, (3) use a clean, text-only format with no images, tables, or decorative elements in the ATS version, (4) use standard section headings like "Experience," "Education," and "Skills." Source: Jobscan ATS research, jobscan.co.

Should I include a cover letter with a US job application?

Yes, when a cover letter is requested. When it is listed as optional, submitting one is generally recommended for competitive roles. For high-volume applications through ATS portals where cover letters are not mentioned, a letter is optional. In a SHRM discussion, recruiters noted that high-volume employers often skip cover letters, while smaller employers often still read them. Keep it to three paragraphs and under 250 words. Source: shrm.org.

Do US employers check LinkedIn profiles?

Often. Many US recruiters and hiring managers look at a candidate's LinkedIn profile at some stage of the evaluation process. Ensure your LinkedIn profile is consistent with your resume; inconsistencies are a red flag. A complete LinkedIn profile with recommendations, skills endorsements, and recent activity can strengthen your candidacy alongside a strong resume.

Before you apply, read the Donezo Golden Rules · 10 honest rules for CVs, motivation letters and applications that get replies.

Jordan M. Chen

Senior Product Manager
San Francisco, CA +1 (415) 555-0183 jordan.chen@email.com linkedin.com/in/jordanmchen
Summary
Results-driven Senior Product Manager with 9 years of experience leading cross-functional teams at Series B through public-company scale. Track record of launching 0-to-1 products generating over $40M in first-year ARR. Deep expertise in B2B SaaS, data-driven product development, and go-to-market execution in the fintech and enterprise software space.
Experience
Senior Product Manager, PaymentsMar 2022 · Present
Stripe  ·  San Francisco, CA
  • Led roadmap for Stripe Terminal SDK, growing developer adoption from 8,000 to 34,000 active integrations in 18 months.
  • Reduced payment failure rate from 4.2% to 1.1% by redesigning retry logic, recovering approximately $12M in annual revenue for merchants.
  • Managed cross-functional team of 22 (engineering, design, data, compliance) across 3 time zones.
Product Manager, Enterprise GrowthJul 2019 · Feb 2022
Salesforce  ·  San Francisco, CA
  • Owned upsell expansion product for 500+ enterprise accounts, contributing $28M incremental ARR in FY2021.
  • Launched AI-powered pipeline forecasting feature adopted by 41% of CRM users within 60 days of release.
  • Partnered with Sales and Customer Success to reduce time-to-value from 90 days to 34 days post-onboarding.
Associate Product ManagerAug 2017 · Jun 2019
Square  ·  San Francisco, CA
  • Shipped 6 features for Square Payroll in 18 months, improving NPS from 42 to 61.
Education
MBA, Strategy and Technology
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Class of 2017
B.S. Computer Science
UC Berkeley  ·  GPA 3.8/4.0
Class of 2015
Core Skills
Product Strategy Go-to-Market A/B Testing SQL Figma JIRA OKRs API Design Amplitude Looker
Certifications
PMP  ·  2021
AWS Cloud Practitioner  ·  2022
Languages
English  ·  Native
Mandarin  ·  Fluent

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