Resume formats for 40 job roles

Each one is a complete, ATS-readable format with a full worked example, the keywords that role is screened on, and what recruiters in that field actually look for. All free to read and free to use.

Why the format matters more than it should

Most resumes are read by software before a person sees them. That software looks for plain, single-column text under headings it recognises, and it quietly mangles anything built from tables, columns, icons or text inside images. A strong candidate with a badly built resume never reaches the shortlist, and never finds out why.

Every format below is single-column and plain by design. Pick the one matching your role, copy the structure, and swap in your own details.

What all of these formats have in common

The role-specific parts differ — a data analyst leads with a tool stack, a staff nurse leads with council registration, a sales executive leads with quota attainment. The skeleton underneath does not change.

• One column, always. Two-column layouts are the most common reason a resume arrives at the recruiter scrambled or blank.
• Headings the parser knows. Work Experience, Education, Skills. A heading like "My Journey" means nothing to software looking for a standard label.
• Every role dated. A job without a start date often cannot be placed on your timeline, so you disappear from any search filtered by years of experience.
• Numbers in roughly half the bullets. A figure is what a recruiter remembers and what an interviewer asks about.
• One page under about eight years of experience. Two is acceptable after that, but the first page still has to stand alone.

Which format should you pick?

Choose by the job you are applying for, not by the job you currently hold — the reader is matching you against their vacancy. If you are switching fields, use the format of the field you are moving into and let your transferable work fill it.

If your role is not listed, pick the closest one. The structure transfers; only the skills line and the example bullets need changing. And if the employer asked for a bio-data rather than a resume, that is a different document entirely — use the biodata formats instead.