A resume template you can use right now.

If you Google “how to write a resume” you will find TONS of advice. For example, TheBalance offers an in-depth guide to writing a resume. You can read it. And maybe you should. But do it later.

For now, you should just get started. Your job is to simply get your experience onto one piece of paper in an easy to scan format that makes it easy for a recruiter to see why they should advance you to the next round.

That’s it. Really. Below is a step-by-step guide for quickly drafting a resume.

Step-By-Step Instructions:

Getting that draft resume started can be anxiety-inducing. If you have an old resume, put it to the side and use it only to grab information as needed. For now, we’re starting from scratch.

1. Open a Google Drive document.
2. Change the margins of the page to .5 or .6 inches (rather than the default “1” inch).
3. At the top of the page, in 18 point font, write your first and last name.
4. Underneath it, in 12 point font, add your city and state, email address and phone number (all on one line). To separate each item, you can use a bar like this → | or a diamond like this → ◆
5. Optional: Add a horizontal line below your name (Rather than the black line you see in the screenshot above, I recommend making this a light gray color).
6. Write “EXPERIENCE” on one line. By itself.
7. On the next line, write your Company Name, Title, City and State (i.e., Google, Director of Partnerships, Mountain View, CA)
8. Tab over to the right side of the page and put the start and end dates (see image above). If this is your current position, put “present”. NOTE: At the end of creating your resume, make sure to go back and make sure all of the dates are perfectly aligned to the right.
9. On the next line, write what you did for the company and how it added value. Something like: Did XYZ for XYZ team, resulting in XX% increase in XYZ. For example, “Managed end-to-end logistics for a 3-day conference, resulting in a 50% increase in attendance and a 20% reduction in cost from the previous year.” This step often gets people caught up. Just write something. You can go back later and enhance this section.
10. For the sake of creating your first draft, write as many bullet points as possible. You will need a one-page resume, but for now it’s okay if it goes over the limit.
11. Repeat steps 7, 8, 9 and 10 until you’ve completed the “EXPERIENCE” portion of your resume.
12. On the line after your last position, write “EDUCATION”
13. On the next line, write your most recent degree. It should be formatted similar to the jobs section: Name of University, Degree, City, State (i.e., London School of Economics, Masters of Science, Management, London, UK)
14. Repeat step 13 for any other degrees you’ve earned.
15. If you are early in your career or just completed an advanced degree, you may choose to add specific courses that would be relevant for specific jobs. This would go just under the line created in step 13 and often looks like this (all on one or two lines): Relevant Coursework: Foreign Direct Investment. Corporate Finance. Game Theory.
16. After education, add your SKILLS section. This will include language skills, technical skills and unique training. Usually, you’re squeezing this into a very small space so it’s okay to use the ◆ and | mentioned before to separate each item.

GREAT! Now you have a first draft.

If you recently completed your undergraduate studies you might consider putting your education at the top of the resume. If you recently finished a Master’s degree AND it looks more impressive than your work experience, I recommend putting it at the top.

Know that your resume is meant to be your “highlight reel”. If you try to squeeze everything onto it, people will assume that’s all you have. If you instead highlight only the most relevant experience, they’ll know you have accomplished even more. This is hard because we are all attached to our experience. Have a friend who has worked in your industry help you cut things down.

Other Stuff:

1. Your resume is the last step in your job search process. I recommend about 3 months of preparation before actually applying to a job. This includes networking, research, skill acquisition, and more. You can see more about this at Marlow.
2. Have your close friends and family members review your resume for content and typos. Even if these individuals aren’t an expert in your field, they should be able to understand your professional journey by reading your resume. This is an important step because many of the recruiters who view your resume may not be experts in your field.
3. Only share PDF versions of your resume when networking or applying for a job.
4. You should A/B test your resume. This means sending out different versions and seeing what works best.
5. You should tailor your resume to every job. Keep one version of your resume and let it get as long as it needs to be (it could be 10 pages for all I care). But when you go to send your resume around, it should only be ONE PAGE. I can’t stress this enough. Even executives with 30 years of experience have a one-page resume. There’s no excuse.

If you want to learn more about how to identify and prepare for your dream job, go to getmarlow.com. Our members use a free roadmap and daily activities to navigate their job search.