
What to Write in an Email when Sending a Resume in 2023
Learn how to email a resume the right way and start getting more job offers. See a proven resume email sample and learn how to write one yourself.
You’re not in a position to tailor your resume to a particular employer—the next best thing? Write a general resume that’ll give you the best possible chances. See how.
They say it’s better to tailor your resume—
To target it to each and every new job ad you respond to.
And you know what?
They’re absolutely right:
A tailored resume is always better than a general resume.
But—
A general resume is always better than no resume.
Read on to see how you can do a lot with very little.
In this guide:
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Ready to write a targeted resume? Changing careers or transitioning into civilian life? This is just a taste of the guides we have to offer:
[Your Name]
[Your Job Title]
Personal Info
[Phone Number]
[Email Address]
[LinkedIn]
[Optional: Personal Website, Twitter, Other Relevant Links]
Summary
Entrepreneurial [job title] with [X] years’ experience working with [character of your job]. Helped [numbered achievement], increasing [numbered achievement] by [X]%. Seeking to leverage proven [type of skills] skills and [type of expertise] knowledge.
Experience
[Your Job Title]
[Company Name]
March 2019–present
[Your Job Title]
[Company Name]
January 2016–January 2019
Education
[Degree], [major]
[Name of the college or university]
2011–2015
Certifications
Awards
Key Skills
Now here’s how to write a general resume that’s better than most:
Your general resume is doomed to sometimes miss the mark when it comes to speaking to a given job ad’s requirements—
Make sure it at least always looks the part:
Choose a resume format that’s clean and sleek. One that recruiter’s are used to seeing and actively prefer. Here’s how:
When it comes to preserving the formatting of your resume, PDF always trumps something like *.docx, but—
That’s not the whole story:
Some Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) can’t deal with PDF so well. Always check the job ad and follow any requirements listed there to make sure you submit an ATS-friendly resume. You can use our list of modern resume templates, or Google Docs resume templates
Expert Hint: Perfect resumes have one thing in common. They include a powerful resume introduction. And that’s what we’ll cover next.
No matter what job you’re going for, and even if you don’t know yet, you’ll need a quick, attention-grabbing resume profile.
Got some relevant work experience to your name?
Start with a resume summary—
It’s like your main arguments for getting an interview in a nutshell.
Use:
These general resume summary examples show how:
Big difference.
The first one is specific and concrete. It puts numbers to hard facts.
Great, but—
What if you don’t have any relevant work experience?
Write a resume objective and focus on relevant achievements from other lines of work, college, school, and volunteer work.
These general resume objective examples will give you a better idea:
Once again—
Concrete, focused on achievements, and backed by numbers.
Expert Hint: Leave writing your general resume objective or summary until last. You’ll have all the ingredients you need to write one after you’ve written your job descriptions and skills section.
Convince them you can do the job—
By describing how you’ve done something similar.
Use resume achievements to accomplish this.
Make your resume work history section a non-stop showcase of accomplishments.
How to write a job description for a general resume:
These general resume examples show how:
Real Estate Agent
KH Booker
March 2019–present
Real Estate Agent
KH Booker
2019–present
Who would you hire?
Employers know more or less what your duties were just based on your job title.
Impress them with what you achieved for prior employers.
The key here?
Specific examples and quantified achievements.
But what if you are writing a resume with no relevant work experience?
Describe achievements from jobs that are only indirectly relevant, from volunteer work you’ve done, or from your college or school days (if you recently graduated).
Expert Hint: How to show multiple positions at the same company on a resume? Stack the job titles under the company name umbrella.
One more thing—you’ll definitely need a resume skills section.
But—
More isn’t always better.
All the other applicants have access to the same internet as you, and that means the same skills lists.
Stand out by being selective with the skills you choose.
The list of sample skills to put on a resume below is a good jumping-off point:
Hard Skills
Soft Skills
When listing your skills, aim at a mix of 5-10 soft and technical skills. Don’t include those skills you don't feel confident about. You don’t want to get caught lying on a resume.
The ResumeLab builder is more than looks. Get specific content to boost your chances of getting the job. Add job descriptions, bullet points, and skills. Easy. Improve your resume in our resume builder now.
Nail it all with a splash of color, choose a clean font, and highlight your skills in just a few clicks. You're the perfect candidate, and we'll prove it. Use our resume builder now.
Some jobs have strict education requirements—
Others, not so much.
Either way:
A bad education resume section will let you down.
Keep it simple and to the point:
Degree, school, and graduation date.
Plus, for that extra edge over your competition:
Add a couple of bullet points that touch on academic achievements and relevant skills.
BA in Business Studies, University of Denver
2011–2015
Simple and effective.
Writing a resume for a first job?
Add more bullet points to detail projects, classes, and accomplishments and use this part of your resume to outline relevant coursework you’ve completed.
Expert Hint: What else can you include in this part of a resume? Scholarships, memberships, awards, school projects, and the like. In other words: anything that can prove your skills.
A general resume doesn’t have to mean a generic resume.
Customize your resume while keeping it general by adding extra sections that paint a better picture of you as an employee.
Add one or two extra resume sections:
These two general resume examples show yes vs maybe not:
Certifications
Awards
Hobbies
Awards
As you can see, this is something you can get wrong.
The first example follows the two golden rules of resume writing:
One last step, but it’s a big one—
You’ll need a cover letter to go with your general resume. It’s a great opportunity to target your application even when you’re not able to target your resume.
Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter generator and make your application documents pop out.
Want to try a different look? There's 21 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.
For a general resume that gets interviews:
Got any questions on how to write a generic resume that gets results? Leave us a message down below and we’ll be sure to get back to you.
Learn how to email a resume the right way and start getting more job offers. See a proven resume email sample and learn how to write one yourself.
When writing a resume, no detail is too small to be overlooked. That’s why it’s crucial for your resume header to look professional enough for the recruiter to want to call you.
Thought that creating a resume in Word format is passé? Not if you use one of the top resume templates for Word. The best part is that they're free. So come along!