A resume is a curated, “sifted” tool that outlines valuable experiences from your background to the employer. It’s important that we tailor our resumes to the job searching archetype and send the appropriate resumes to various roles.
When building your resume, creating an ATS-friendly version is essential. ATS (Applicant Tracking System) software is used by many companies to automatically filter and rank resumes before human reviewers see them. To ensure compatibility, create your resume using traditional word processing software like Microsoft Word or Google Docs rather than design tools like Figma. Consider maintaining two versions: a visually appealing design version for networking events and portfolio websites, and a clean, ATS-optimized version for online job applications.
When sending it to recruiters, send it as a PDF with the following title:
FirstName_LastName_Resume.pdf FirstName_LastName_UX_Designer_ Resume.pdf
A typical resume will have 3-5 lines for the description. However this depends on the level of the job.
Line 1: An umbrella of your experience at the role. Line 2-3: Storytelling moments that showcase specific, measurable case studies. Line 4-5: What we like to call “keyword stuffing” lines where we add as many relevant
| Line | What to cover | Why it matters | Quick example (UX) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 1 – The big picture | • One-sentence headline of your main mission & what the company actually does. • Include business model tags (B2B, B2C, SaaS), industry, or product type. • Mention the highest-level KPI you owned (users served, revenue influenced, time saved). | Gives readers instant context—“Oh, they led design for a global health platform; 1.3 M users.” | “Designed experiences for Patient Portal, a web-and-app platform enabling 1.3 M patients in 130 countries to manage their health data (B2C, SaaS).” |
| Lines 2-3 – Case-study snapshot | • Brief “mini-story” of one project: challenge → your action → result. • Call out the specific hard/soft skills you used. • Quantify impact (money earned/saved, % uplift, minutes shaved, NPS change). | Turns a generic duty list into proof of impact; helps interviewers ask deeper questions. | “Redesigned iPad sales app, boosting annualized revenue +3 % and enabling reps to brief 90 K doctors on a new insomnia drug.” |
| Lines 4-5 – Keyword catcher | • Write out as many relevant keywords into the last several sections. Use this section for quick scanning of | ||
| all of your main skills and responsibilities. | Ensures you pass ATS filters without cluttering the main story. | *“Designed wireframes, flow diagrams, storyboards, and prototypes using Figma, Sketch, InVision, | |
| Zeplin, AdobeXD in an Agile work environment*.” |
