Modern Resume Templates and Examples

What is a modern resume?

A modern format gives candidates more flexibility in how they convey their professional qualifications. It’s a contrast to the simple or chronological resume, which follows a more rigid, text-based structure with conventional formatting and fonts.

These resumes might make use of creative elements like color, newer fonts, graphics, and images. Its sections may vary from one candidate to the next. In fact, the appearance of a modern resume can vary quite a bit depending on the candidate and the industry.

Who should use a modern resume?

Anyone in progressive fields like marketing or tech
Candidates applying to companies that value outside-the-box thinking, like startups
Applicants looking to set themselves apart with a creative presentation
People with design skills who can create an aesthetically pleasing layout, or who are willing to hire someone to do so

Who shouldn’t use a modern resume?

Candidates in more conventional fields like government, finance, and law.
People who are more comfortable working with a traditional, text-based format.

Modern resume format and key components

There’s no single standard for the modern format. That’s one of the things that makes it an appealing option– you can customize it to fit your needs, style, and voice. You’re able to change parts based on things like how much work experience you need to include and how many specialized skills you want to showcase.

While the resume components and their order may vary from one modern resume to the next, here are some of the key items you’ll probably want to include:

Contact information
While our example resume keeps the traditional contact details – name, address, phone number and email – a modern resume gives you some flexibility with the type of contact information you provide. If you’ve built up a following on social media or blogging about your industry, for example, you might want to include your TikTok handle or blog URL if it relates to the job. Since remote work is becoming more and more commonplace, including your physical address is less of a necessity.
Objective or summary
This is a brief statement that gives the hiring manager a quick summary of your qualifications and/or what you are looking for. You can use it to touch on your core skills, amount of work experience, or specific areas of the field you are interested in. This is a great place to work in keywords from the job description, we targeted ‘Recruiting, HRIS, HR Operations, Benefits, and HR Business Solutions‘ in our example.

Sample modern resume including contact info, summary, education, experience, and accomplishments

Education
Include the name of the institution and the degree you obtained. You can also use the education section to list any professional courses or training you’ve completed in addition to your degree.
Experience
This section will likely make up most of your resume, so you want to be sure you’re using consistent formatting. In our example, this would be italics for the dates of employment, a slightly larger point font for the job title and company, and bullet points for the accomplishments. When building out your job descriptions, don’t just list your duties. Use action words to describe your accomplishments like identified, created, organized, implemented, and developed.
Skills or accomplishments
Our sample resume splits skills and accomplishments into two distinct sections, which makes sense for this particular candidate. Depending on your own professional accomplishments, you may want to combine these two sections. This can be a strategic choice for recent grads who don’t have a long list of professional achievements to highlight.

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FAQs

Why are modern resumes used?

Modern resumes are used to convey your information in a more visual, creative format than a traditional layout allows for. It’s a good format for progressive fields like tech and roles with a heavy emphasis on creativity, like graphic design.

What are the most important parts of a modern resume?

While it affords you the flexibility to convey whatever information you see fit to support your candidacy, be sure it includes your contact information, objective or summary, education, experience, and skills.

What is the difference between a modern and traditional resume?

A traditional resume is text-based and follows a very straightforward format. A modern resume offers more flexibility with the structure and contents. It may contain more graphical elements or even images, and the order of sections may vary from one modern resume to the next.

How can I make my resume more modern?

You can make your resume more modern by:
– Using a visually appealing format with plenty of white space
– Breaking it into two columns
– Switching from a traditional font, like Times New Roman, to one that reads more modern, like Helvetica
– Using font formatting like bold, italics, and capitalization to call attention to specific points of interest
– Incorporating visual aids like charts and graphics

How far back should resume work history go?

It’s standard practice to include your last 10 to 15 years of work experience on your resume. Exceptions would be jobs in fields like the public sector or academia, which have their own norms around hiring and typically want to see your full career history.

Should I list references on a modern resume?

In most cases it’s taken as a given that qualified candidates will provide references when asked. So, there’s no need to include them – or even a line like ‘references available upon request’ – on your resume.

How many pages should a modern resume be?

A modern resume should fit on one to two pages. Recent graduates and professionals with under ten years of experience should be able to fit everything on one page. Those who’ve been in the workforce longer may add an additional page to accommodate their work history if needed.

What font should I use for a modern resume?

Regardless of what format you use for your resume, you should choose a font that’s easy to read and easy on the eyes. To give your resume a more modern feel, consider a sans-serif font (one where the letters don’t have “feet” on the ends). Helvetica, Arial, and Open Sans are good options.

Should I include an objective in a modern resume?

Many hiring professionals view the idea of an ‘objective’ section of a resume as outdated since your primary objective – to get a job – is pretty clear. If you still want to include some type of statement that summarizes you as a candidate, consider a one- to the two-line blurb at the top that sums up your main selling points.

What are some common mistakes people make when creating a modern resume?

– Trying to squeeze too much onto one page
– Not leaving enough white space between elements
– Using an unconventional font that’s tough to read
– Going overboard with design elements
– Naming job duties instead of accomplishments under your work history

Do I need to worry about keywords in my resume?

Keywords are incredibly important to include in your resume. Not only do they show the hiring manager that you meet the qualifications listed in the job description, but keywords also help you pass screening assessments conducted by automated tools.
Related: How to find keywords in a job description to use in your resume

What is the most important thing to communicate with a resume?

A great resume should do more than just summarize your work history. The best resumes communicate the candidate’s strengths in a way that’s highly relevant to the job they’re applying for. This helps hiring managers see why you’re the best fit for the job.

How do I create a modern resume?

You can create a modern resume using a template from a word processing program like Microsoft Office or a graphic design program like Photoshop. There are a wealth of free templates available online, or you can use one of our examples as a guide and build your own.

Should I list my hobbies or interests?

While it’s generally not advised to include your hobbies and interests on your resume, a modern resume leaves some wiggle room in this area. Companies that place a strong emphasis on culture may particularly appreciate learning more about you as a person from your resume. You should decide on a case by case basis depending on where you apply.