Your base resume is the foundation of your job search in Huntr. This guide walks you through creating your base resume from start to finish, showing you how to use each part of the Resume Builder to create a polished, professional resume.

If you're new to the Resume Builder, we recommend reading Understanding Huntr's Resume Builder first to get familiar with the basics.

To create your first base resume, go to Resume Builder in the left menu and click Get Started. If you already have a base resume and want to create another one, click Base Resume, then Create New.

You'll need to fill out a few details before building your resume:

Enter the role you're pursuing, like "Software Engineer" or "Marketing Manager." This appears on your resume and helps with ATS optimization.

Choose Entry (0-2 years), Mid Level (2-5 years), or Senior (5+ years). This affects how your resume is scored and what content the AI generates.

Name your resume so you can find it easily in Huntr. This is just for your organization, not what appears on the actual resume.

Choose how to start:

Once you've filled in these details, click Create to open your new base resume in the Resume Builder.

The Editor tab is where you'll spend most of your time adding and refining your resume content. Your resume is organized into sections, each telling part of your professional story.
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The first section you'll see in the Editor is Target Job Title. Click on this section to edit the job title that appears at the top of your resume. This title should match the roles you're targeting or your professional title. This helps with ATS optimization and immediately tells recruiters what role you're pursuing.
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Next, fill in your Personal Info. Your name, email, phone number, and location. Click any field to edit it directly. If you imported a resume or LinkedIn profile, this information is already populated, but you can update it anytime.

Your professional summary is a brief 2-4 sentence overview that appears near the top of your resume. This section tells employers who you are professionally, what you're great at, and what you bring to the table.

You can write your summary manually by clicking on the section, or click the AI Generator to create suggestions based on your experience and target role. The AI provides a starting point, you can always personalize it to sound like you and include your actual accomplishments.

Your work experience section is typically the most important part of your resume. Each role you add should include your job title, company name, employment dates, and 3-5 achievement-focused bullet points.
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To add a new role, click Add Experience. You'll see a list of work experience from your Huntr profile. Click the + button next to any role to add it to your resume. If the role you want isn't listed, click Create new at the bottom to add a role from scratch. Fill in the job title, company, dates, and details, then save.

Hover over any achievement bullet point to see quick editing options. Click the pencil icon to edit the text directly, use the regenerate icon to rewrite it with AI, or click the trash can to delete it.
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To update job details like title, company, or dates, click the three dots next to the role and select Edit Experience. This opens the Details Editor where you can modify all the information for that role. You can also edit achievements, add new achievements, and use AI Suggestions from within the Details Editor.

You may also drag and drop each each experience to re-order them or use the Sort feature to adjust the organization of your work experience within your resume.

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Hover over any achievement bullet point to see quick editing options. Click the pencil icon to edit the text directly, use the regenerate icon to rewrite it with AI, or click the trash can to delete it.

The Undo button lets you reverse your most recent change. Click it once to undo your last action, whether that was an AI generation, a content edit, or a formatting change. You can click the Undo button multiple times to work backward through your recent changes, undoing them one by one.

This is helpful if you accidentally delete something, don't like an AI-generated suggestion you applied, or want to try a different approach to your content.
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When you click regenerate, the AI Achievement Rewriter opens. Your original achievement appears on the left, with multiple rewrite suggestions shown on the right. Below each rewrite, you'll see an AI Helper explanation that analyzes what was changed and why it's stronger.

You can also use the text box to give the AI Helper a better idea of what changes you would like to make to the achievement so you have direct influence on the new generation created. Once you've gotten a Rewrite you like, hover over it and choose Select to add it to your resume.
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Add your degrees with institution name, degree type, and field of study. Include graduation dates, GPA (if above 3.5), and relevant coursework if it strengthens your resume.

The Skills section lists your technical abilities and soft skills relevant to your target role. When you import a resume, Huntr saves your skills to your profile and automatically organizes them into categories.

Adding and removing skills: Check or uncheck skills from your profile to add or remove them from your resume. Click AI Suggestions to get skill recommendations based on your target job title.

Editing skills: Hover over any skill, click it, and edit the text directly.

Organizing skills: Create or remove categories as needed. Use AI to automatically categorize your skills, or drag and drop skills between categories to organize them yourself.

Deleting skills permanently: To remove a skill from your Huntr profile entirely (not just from this resume), delete it directly from your profile's skill library.

What to include in your base resume: Focus on your core skill sets—the foundational abilities you use across most roles. When you create tailored resumes later, you can add job-specific skills from individual postings.
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Volunteer work demonstrates skills and values beyond your paid experience. Add unpaid work with nonprofits, community organizations, or causes you support, structured the same way as work experience with a title, organization, dates, and achievement bullet points.

When to include volunteer experience:

Focus on achievements and impact, not just responsibilities. If you helped raise $150,000 for a fundraising committee, that's a notable accomplishment that shows real capability.

When to skip it: If your volunteer work happened more than five years ago or isn't relevant to the roles you're targeting, leave it off. Always prioritize relevant paid experience over volunteer work.

For more guidance, see How to List Volunteer Work on Your Resume.

Add professional credentials, licenses, and completed training programs. Each certification needs a name and issuing organization, with optional fields for dates, certification IDs, and descriptions.

Why certifications matter: They validate your skills, show professional growth, and help you stand out with both hiring managers and ATS systems. In regulated industries and technical fields, relevant certifications can be essential.

What to include: Focus on certifications that are current, relevant to your target role, and recognized in your industry. If a certification is in progress, include it with an expected completion date. If a certification has expired but the knowledge is still relevant to the role, you can include it with the expiration date clearly marked.

Formatting tip: Use Huntr's Certification Layout settings (found in Layout & Style) to choose between Inline format (compact, saves space) or Stacked format (gives certifications more visual prominence).

Projects show your skills in action and give hiring managers concrete proof of what you can deliver. Add side projects, portfolio work, open-source contributions, freelance work, academic capstone projects, or significant initiatives outside your regular job duties.

What makes a strong project entry: Include the project name, a brief description of what you built or accomplished, technologies or skills used, measurable outcomes, and links to live projects or repositories if available.
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When projects are especially valuable:

Treat projects like achievements. Use action verbs and include measurable results whenever possible. Instead of "Built a website," write "Designed and launched a responsive website that improved client site load speed by 35%."
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What to include in your base resume: Focus on projects that demonstrate your core skills and abilities. When you create tailored resumes later, you can emphasize specific projects that match individual job postings.

Add professional profiles and online portfolios where employers can see your work or professional presence. Common links include LinkedIn, GitHub (for developers), personal websites or portfolios, Dribbble or Behance (for designers), Medium or blog

Once your content is in place, use Layout & Style to control how your resume looks and flows.

Reorder sections to emphasize what matters most for your target role. For example, if you're a career changer with impressive projects, move Projects higher on your resume. If you're a recent graduate, you might place Education near the top. Simply drag and drop sections to rearrange them.

You can also rename sections if needed, but use this feature carefully. Click any section title or the pencil icon to change it. While renaming can help (like changing "Volunteer Experience" to "Community Engagement"), stick to clear, professional labels that both hiring managers and ATS systems will recognize. Avoid creative or vague section names that might confuse automated screening tools.

Adjust the font size across your entire resume. Font size affects readability and how professional your resume appears.

Best practices:

Remember that font size applies to all text on your resume, so choose a size that keeps your content readable without making your resume look cramped or too spacious. If you're struggling to fit content, focus on editing your text concisely rather than shrinking the font below 10 points.

Adjust the spacing between lines of text. Proper line spacing improves readability and prevents your resume from looking cluttered.

Best practices:

Standard line height works for most resumes, but adjust based on your content density and how much space you need.

Adjust the white space on all four sides of your resume. Margins frame your content and affect how balanced and professional your resume looks.

Best practices:

Proper margins create breathing room and prevent your resume from feeling cramped. If your resume has too much white space, add more relevant content rather than widening margins excessively.
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If you have certifications on your resume, choose between two layout options:

Inline Layout (Compact) - Places certification name, organization, and ID on one line with the description below. This saves space and works well when you have multiple certifications.

Stacked Layout (Expanded) - Each element appears on its own line, giving more visual prominence to your credentials. Best for 1-2 important certifications that are critical for your career.

Switch between layouts anytime in the Certification Settings section.

You can switch between layouts at any time.

Toggle this setting to add or remove a headshot photo from your resume.

Best practice: In most countries (including the United States, Canada, and the UK), headshots are not recommended on resumes. Recruiters prefer to focus on your skills and experience without the potential for unconscious bias based on appearance.

However, if headshots are customary in your country or industry, you can enable this option. When in doubt, research resume norms for your specific location and field before adding a photo.

The Templates tab offers seven professionally designed, ATS-friendly templates in various colors and styles. All templates work seamlessly with your content, so you won't have to worry about formatting issues when you make changes.

Click any template to preview it with your content. Select a colour option that fits your industry and personal style. Simple templates work well for traditional industries like finance or law, while modern designs suit creative or tech roles.
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The Score tab evaluates your base resume across three factors and helps you identify areas for improvement.

Checks if all relevant sections are filled with complete information. Click into this factor to see which sections need more detail.

Evaluates whether you're using varied action verbs, including metrics, and writing clear descriptions. This helps ensure your achievements are strong and impactful.

Assesses if each section has enough detail without being too verbose. Your resume should be comprehensive enough to show your qualifications but concise enough to keep recruiters engaged.

Aim for a score around 80. A perfect 100 might mean your resume is over-optimized and has lost its personal touch. Remember, a high-quality resume that authentically represents you is more important than hitting a perfect score.
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Once you've built your base resume, consider using these tools to make it even stronger:

AI Resume Review analyzes your resume and provides specific, actionable suggestions for improvement. It identifies weak achievement statements, suggests adding metrics, and recommends ways to optimize for ATS. See AI Resume Review to learn more.

Community Feedback lets you anonymize your resume and post it to the r/HuntrCo subreddit for peer review. Click the Get Feedback button in the top-right corner to get input from real people and the Huntr team. See Get Community Feedback on Your Resume for details.

Once your base resume is polished and ready, you can share it with your professional network using the LinkedIn Announce button.

The LinkedIn Announce feature helps you let your network know you're open to new opportunities. When you click the LinkedIn Announce button, you can share your resume on LinkedIn with a post announcing that you're actively job searching.

This is a great way to:

When to use LinkedIn Announce: Use this feature when you're comfortable making your job search public. If you're currently employed and conducting a confidential search, skip this option and focus on direct applications instead.