1. Structure trumps creativity
Recruiters and ATS parsers expect a predictable structure: contact, summary, experience, skills, education. Anything else and you lose the 7-second scan.
Keep it to one page if you have under 10 years of experience, two pages above that. Save the third page for executive resumes only.
2. Write bullets that lead with impact
The strongest bullets read: [Verb] + [What you did] + [Measurable outcome]. Recruiters skim the first 6 words — front-load the impact.
- WEAK: "Responsible for managing the team's sprint planning."
- STRONG: "Led sprint planning for 8-engineer squad — predictability rose 62% → 91% in 3 quarters."
3. Quantify everything you can
Numbers do three things: prove credibility, anchor scope, and stop the recruiter's scroll. If you don't have hard metrics, use approximations ("~200 customers," "roughly $1M ARR") and ranges.
4. Tailor for every application
Generic resumes get generic results. Re-rank bullets, swap keywords, and rewrite your summary for each role. LegendAI can do this in under a minute.