US CV and resume format 2026, with free template

How is a US resume different from a UK CV?

A US resume is shorter, tighter and more obviously built around evidence than most UK CVs. The good news is that the structure is close. The work is in cutting, converting and translating your UK experience for someone who has never heard of your employer.

Most of the rows below come from CareerOneStop, a career service of the US Department of Labor, and from equal employment guidance published by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Where a row is our recruiter advice, we say so.

How long should a US resume be?

One to two pages. CareerOneStop says to keep a resume to one or two pages and to use the second page only if your experience needs it. It also says to include relevant jobs from the previous 10 to 15 years.

Speed is the reason. CareerOneStop says a person typically scans a resume for 15 to 20 seconds, so the minimum qualifications for the job need to be easy to find near the top. A three-page UK CV does not get read more carefully in New York. It gets read less.

For a senior UK professional, a good two-page US resume usually means full detail for the last three or four roles, a single line for each earlier role inside the 15-year window, and nothing before that.

Do you put a photo or date of birth on a US resume?

No to both. The EEOC says employers should not ask for a photograph during hiring, and that if one is needed for identification it can be obtained after an offer has been made and accepted. It also says information about race, sex, national origin, age and religion is irrelevant to whether someone is qualified, and that questions which reveal those things should generally be avoided.

Age matters in particular. The laws the EEOC enforces protect applicants and employees aged 40 or older from age discrimination, so a careful US employer does not want to know your age at the screening stage. Leave your date of birth off, and leave off graduation years if they would date you and the job does not ask for them.

Harvard's careers service gives the same advice to its students: do not include a picture, your age or your gender.

• Leave off: photo, date of birth, age, gender, nationality, marital status and children.
• Leave off: Social Security number, passport number and National Insurance number.
• Leave off: salary history, reasons for leaving and the line 'references available on request'.

What goes at the top of a US resume?

Your name, city, phone number, email address and LinkedIn URL. Do not put them in the document's header area: CareerOneStop warns that some applicant tracking systems cannot read text in headers and footers.

From the UK, give your UK city and your plan, for example 'London, UK. Relocating to Boston, MA, from September 2027.' Use a +44 number and say in your cover letter that you will take calls at US times.

Then add one line on your right to work. This is our recruiter advice rather than a published rule, but it saves everyone time. Most UK applicants need a visa, and many US application forms ask whether you will need sponsorship. Say it plainly on the resume: 'Work authorization: L-1 transfer with current employer, start date June 2027' or 'Will require H-1B sponsorship'. Being upfront costs you some applications. Hiding it costs you more, later, after interviews you could have spent elsewhere.

Do you need American spelling and US Letter paper on a US resume?

Yes. Switch your word processor's language to English (United States) and its page size to Letter before you edit anything else. A4 margins and British spellings tell a US reader you have not adapted the document, before they have read a line.

CareerOneStop's formatting advice is specific: 1 inch margins, one or two standard fonts such as Calibri, Arial, Georgia, Garamond or Times New Roman at 10 to 12 point, plain bullets used consistently, and dates written as month and year without abbreviations. Save and send as a PDF unless the posting asks for another format, and use your full name in the file name.

Convert the numbers too. Give budgets, revenue and savings in US dollars, rounded, with the sterling figure only if it helps. A US hiring manager should never have to do a sum to see your scale.

How do you write each section of a US resume?

CareerOneStop gives a standard order: contact information, then an optional summary and skills section, then work history and education. Education goes near the top only if it is an essential requirement for the job or you are a new graduate.

• Professional summary: three or four lines. Your level, field and best result, written for the US role you want. No I or my.
• Skills: the essential keywords from the postings you are targeting. CareerOneStop suggests reading 10 to 15 postings for your target job title and listing the requirements they mention most.
• Professional experience: most recent first. Job title, employer, city and country, and month and year dates. Add one line on what each UK employer does, then bullets that open with an action verb and end with a number.
• Education: degree, university, country and year. Explain UK classifications in plain words rather than inventing a grade point average.
• Certifications and licenses: UK professional memberships, plus your US licensing status if the job is licensed in the state where you want to work.

How do you explain UK degrees and employers to a US recruiter?

Translate everything. A US recruiter will not know what a 2:1 or an HND is, or whether your employer is a household name or a ten-person firm.

For degrees, write the full title and add a plain description: 'Bachelor of Science with honours, three years full time'. Some employers, and some visa routes, ask for a credential evaluation that states the US equivalent of a foreign degree. The H-1B route, for example, needs a US bachelor's degree or a foreign degree that is its equivalent. Credential evaluation in the US is done by private services. NACES, a trade association of evaluation services, notes there is no US government agency that monitors them, so check what your employer or licensing board will accept before you pay for one.

Licensed jobs are licensed by state. CareerOneStop's License Finder shows requirements state by state, and USCIS notes that some H-1B occupations need a state or local licence before the person can practise. Put your licensing status on the resume so the recruiter does not have to ask.

For each UK employer, add one line: what it does, how big it is and where it operates. 'UK listed retailer, 9,000 staff, 300 stores' does more for you than the name alone.

Will an applicant tracking system read your US resume?

Almost certainly. CareerOneStop says applicant tracking systems have become so common in US hiring that all of its resume guidance assumes one. The software can filter out resumes that lack essential criteria, such as a software skill, a credential or years of management experience.

Write for it. Use a single column, because CareerOneStop says these systems read left to right. Use standard headings such as Work Experience, Education and Skills. Avoid tables, text boxes, columns, images and logos. Use the exact terms from the posting: CareerOneStop warns that any variation may not be recognised as a qualification. Hiding keywords in white text does not work.

Do US employers expect a cover letter?

Not always. CareerOneStop says many employers do not ask for one, but you should write one when the posting asks, and it is a good idea when the posting lists it as optional. When you apply by email, the email itself is your cover letter.

Keep it short. CareerOneStop suggests about 200 to 400 words in three or four paragraphs, addressed to a named person where possible and never to 'To Whom It May Concern'. Applying from the UK, use one sentence to deal with the move: where you are, your visa route and when you can start.