A resume review checklist helps you spot problems before you send an application. Start with one real job advertisement and the resume you intend to submit. Your aim is to make it easy for an employer to find relevant, accurate evidence of what you can do.
Work through this resume review checklist, then fix the most important gaps first. If you would like a second opinion, you can request a free resume review from Resumes Done Right.
How to use this resume review checklist
Keep your resume and the job advertisement side by side. Work through each check once for accuracy, then again for relevance to the role. Record changes as you go, and keep a copy of the original so you can compare the two versions.
1. Check the application instructions first
Read the advertisement and any attached position description before changing the document. Note the requested file format, page limit, closing date and supporting documents. A polished resume still leaves an application incomplete if the employer also asks for a cover letter or separate selection criteria.
Create a short submission list and keep it beside your draft. Use the employer’s instructions wherever they differ from general resume advice.
2. Make the target role clear near the top
Read only your opening summary and first few bullet points. Would someone unfamiliar with your career understand the kind of role you are seeking and the experience you bring?
Replace broad descriptions such as “motivated professional seeking a challenging opportunity” with a specific account of your relevant background. Keep job titles and qualifications truthful; targeting a role does not mean claiming you have already held it.
3. Match the requirements to evidence
Choose three to five important requirements from the advertisement. Beside each, identify an example in your resume. If you cannot find one, decide whether you have relevant experience to add or a genuine skills gap to acknowledge.
For example, an advertisement requesting stakeholder coordination needs more than “excellent communication skills”. Your evidence might describe coordinating project updates, resolving customer enquiries or organising information across teams.
The University of Sydney’s resume guidance recommends tailoring your resume and placing relevant, recent information early. Use that principle to decide what deserves the most space.
4. Show what you contributed, not only your duties
Look for bullets that could describe anyone in the same job. Add the action you took, the context and a result you can substantiate.
Illustrative example: “Responsible for customer enquiries” could become “Introduced a shared enquiry log so the team could track open requests and follow up outstanding responses.” The second version explains a contribution without inventing a percentage improvement.
Use figures only when you can support them. Where numbers are unavailable, explain the scope, quality improvement or practical outcome. See our guide to writing resume achievements for more examples.
5. Check dates, titles and career changes
Compare your resume with your own employment records. Check month and year ranges, employer names, qualifications and role titles. Show promotions clearly so the reader can distinguish your responsibilities at each level.
If you include a career break, a short, factual description is usually more useful than a lengthy explanation. Do not alter dates to hide a gap. For a career change, make the connection between your previous experience and the target role explicit.
6. Review the document’s reading order
Scan each page from top to bottom. Are section headings easy to find? Are bullets consistent? Does the most relevant information appear before older or less relevant detail?
For an online application, favour a straightforward layout and ordinary headings such as “Employment History” and “Education”. James Cook University’s ATS guidance recommends simple formatting and warns that complex columns, tables and graphics can cause reading problems.
As a basic check, copy text from your final file into a plain-text document and inspect its order. This can reveal missing or jumbled text, but it is not a certification that every recruitment system will process the file correctly.
7. Use relevant terms naturally
Check whether you have named the tools, qualifications and skills that are both relevant to the vacancy and genuinely part of your experience. Spell out an unfamiliar abbreviation on first use where that helps the reader.
A list of repeated keywords cannot replace evidence. If the advertisement names a system you have not used, do not add it as a skill. Explain related experience accurately instead. Follow the requested file format rather than assuming one format suits every employer.
8. Remove detail that distracts from the application
Ask what each paragraph helps the employer understand. Shorten repeated duties and older experience that adds little to the target role. Keep enough context to explain your career, but give your strongest relevant examples room to stand out.
Check that you have not included private client information, confidential business figures or unnecessary personal identifiers. Describe sensitive work in terms of your responsibilities and contribution without revealing information you are not authorised to share.
9. Test contact details and proofread the final file
Check your phone number, email address and any professional-profile link. Open the exact file you will upload and inspect every page for awkward page breaks, missing bullets, leftover comments or tracked changes.
Read the wording aloud, then ask another person to look for unclear sentences and errors. A spellchecker will not reliably spot the wrong employer name or a sentence copied from an earlier application.
10. Turn your resume review checklist into an action list
Separate the changes into three groups:
- Fix before submitting: incorrect details, missing required documents, unsupported claims and unreadable formatting.
- Improve relevance: a vague summary, missing examples and useful experience buried too far down.
- Polish last: small wording and spacing changes once the content is accurate and complete.
Your completed resume review checklist should leave you with a short, prioritised list of changes. This is more useful than chasing an arbitrary resume score. Keep the job advertisement beside you for the final read-through and confirm that your application addresses its actual requirements.
When a resume review checklist is not enough
A second opinion can help when you are unsure which experience matters, are changing careers or cannot see why your document feels unfocused. A review identifies issues to consider; rewriting develops the content and structure in more depth. Neither can guarantee an interview or job offer.
Start with our free resume review service. If your document needs more substantial work, explore our professional resume writing services and discuss your target role with the team.
