The Complete Resume / CV Guide: Before You Start, While You Write, Before You Send

I've been reviewing friends' resumes / CVs for many years. Over time, I noticed a pattern: the people who get stuck aren't bad at writing. They don't know where to start, or once they've written it, they can't tell what's wrong.

This page puts my four resume posts in order by where you are right now. You don't have to read them all. Just find the step where you're stuck.

Step 1: You haven't started writing

How to Start Writing a Resume / CV: Answer These 3 Questions First

The most common way to start is to list everything you've ever done, and it gets longer and longer. Before you start writing, get clear on three things a resume needs to answer: who you are, what you can do, and what you've achieved. Anything outside those three, cut it.

Early in your career, you may need a bit more evidence to win a chance. As you move into more senior roles, being concise becomes the better strategy.

Step 2: You're writing it

3 Common Resume / CV Problems I See When Reviewing Friends' Drafts, and How to Fix Them

You only start rushing to put together a resume when someone asks you for one. You have two days to explain yourself in two pages, and even with AI helping, the quality usually isn't there. This post covers three things:

1. Update regularly. Every time you step back and reflect, you get a better sense of how to make yourself stand out.
2. Focus on achievements. Three to five points per job is enough. Start from the result and back it up with numbers. Most of us in Taiwan are modest and feel awkward writing about our own contributions. That's something you need to get past.
3. STAR. Situation, Task, Action, Result. Once you get used to this framework, you'll be able to tell your stories in a more organized way in interviews too.

Step 3: Before you send it

3 Resume / CV Mistakes That Get You Screened Out in the First Round

Finishing it doesn't mean it's ready to send. This post covers three ways a resume can get screened out in the first round: listing only what you did, not answering the question, and being too honest.

The third one is the biggest shame. I've seen someone write "I still want to go back to working inside an organization" on a resume. That tells the employer outright: the situation I'm in now wasn't my choice. Salary negotiations haven't even started, and you've already undercut yourself.

A resume isn't an autobiography. It's an exam. Work out what kind of person this company is looking for, then answer.

When you don't have the energy for a big rewrite

Job Hunting After a Career Gap? Start With These 3 Resume / CV Improvements

When you've been out of work for a while, the hardest part is finding the energy. This post's approach is not to try to do everything. Give yourself a small goal: improve three things on your resume, and change a little each day. The three: explain who you are clearly, switch to strong words (led, built, launched), and rewrite what you carried out as what you achieved.

After a week, your resume will be noticeably better.

If you only have five minutes

Three lines to take away:

1. A resume answers only three things: who you are, what you can do, and what you've achieved. Cut the rest.
2. Three to five points per job. Start from the result, with numbers.
3. Before you send it, ask whether this resume is answering this company's question or telling your own story.

Want more

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On the fifth draft of your resume and still afraid to send it? It's not that your writing isn't good enough. You just haven't worked out where you want to go yet.

If you want to talk through where you want to go first, here's my 1-on-1 career consulting: https://www.uncleric.com/p/1v1.html

This page in Chinese: https://www.uncleric.com/2026/08/cv-complete-guide.html

I'm Eric Lu ("Uncle Eric"). I write about food, travel, and careers.