What a simple resume is
The minimum viable resume: one typeface, one column, no ornament, nothing between the reader and the content. Experienced candidates whose history speaks for itself, and anyone who wants zero risk of a parsing problem. The format is not decoration: section order decides what a reader sees in the six seconds they give the page, and that is the whole reason to choose one deliberately. Everything after the header is ordered by how much it helps this particular reader decide, which is why the same history belongs in a different sequence for a different job.
When a simple resume is the right choice
A format is right when it puts your strongest evidence where the reader looks first. For this one, that means:
- Your last two roles make the argument on their own.
- You are applying at volume and want one file that never breaks.
- The reader is technical and would rather scan than be guided.
When it costs you
Every format has a failure mode, and most people meet theirs without ever finding out. For this one:
- You are changing direction and the reader needs the summary to know what they are looking at.
- Your history is short, in which case simple reads as empty.
How this format handles applicant tracking systems
The most reliable format there is. Nothing here can confuse a parser.
- One column parses reliably. Two columns often do not.
- Use standard headings: Experience, Education, Skills. Invented headings get skipped.
- Keep dates in one consistent format on the same line as the job title.
- Never put contact details, or anything else you cannot lose, inside an image or a text box.
- Submit a PDF unless the form explicitly asks for a Word file.
Building one
Start from the content, not the file. Write the bullets first, in plain text, then pour them into the layout. Doing it the other way round produces a document that is designed around empty space.
- Write every role's bullets before you open a template. Verb first, number in the middle.
- Order the sections as above, then move only what the specific job makes more relevant.
- Read it once at 50% zoom. If the shape does not tell you what the person does, the layout is not working.
- Export to PDF and open it in a plain text viewer. What you can read there is roughly what a parser sees.