What to Put on a Resume to Stand Out? Top Things Recruiters Actually Notice

An average job posting now attracts around 250 applications, and only about 2–3 percent of candidates reach the interview stage.

In tech hubs that number is often even higher for attractive roles. So what should you actually put on a resume to stand out in this crowd? You need a focused, ATS-friendly resume that:

• Starts with a sharp resume headline and a short summary
• Highlights quantified achievements, not just duties
• Shows a clear mix of hard skills and soft skills that match the job
• Uses the keywords from the job description in natural language
• Stays clean, simple, and easy to scan on screen in under 10 seconds

If you are applying for tech and digital roles, this is even more important. Most medium and large employers in these markets use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to store and filter applications, often before a recruiter sees your CV.

At TieTalent, we see thousands of tech resumes from across Europe and Switzerland every year. The ones that stand out share the same pattern:

• Clear structure with expected sections
• Strong evidence of impact, written in simple language
• Skills that match current tools and technologies used in teams
• No clutter, no guesswork for the recruiter

In this guide, you will learn exactly what to include and what to skip. We will cover:

• The resume sections every recruiter expects
• How to turn work history into strong, metric-driven bullet points
• The skills that make your resume pop for tech and digital roles
• How to format an ATS-friendly resume with the right keywords
• Extra sections that help you stand out, especially in early-career or career change cases
• A final checklist you can use before each application

Everything is written for modern job seekers who want a resume that recruiters actually read.

If you are asking what to put on a resume to stand out, the first step is simple.

Recruiters expect to see the same core sections, in a clear order:

1. Contact information
2. Resume headline
3. Summary or objective

If one of these is missing or weak, the rest of your CV has to work much harder.

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1. Contact information that looks professional

Your contact block should make it easy to reach you in one glance. Keep it compact at the top of the page.

Include:

• Full name
• City and country
  • Example: Lausanne, Switzerland or Berlin, Germany
  • For remote roles: Zurich, Switzerland · open to remote across Europe
• Professional email address
  • Use something like firstname.lastname@gmail.com
  • Avoid nicknames or outdated domains
• Mobile number with country code
  • Example: +41 79 123 45 67
• LinkedIn profile (short, clean URL)
• Portfolio / GitHub / personal site
  • Essential for developers, designers, marketers, data roles

Leave out (in most modern hiring processes):

• Full street address
• Date of birth, marital status, number of children
• National ID or social security numbers
• Personal photo, unless clearly standard for the specific local market or the employer requests it

In many international tech companies, photos and personal details are seen as bias risks. A simple, “global style” contact block is usually the safest choice, especially for ATS-driven hiring.

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2. A resume headline that states your value in one line

Right under your name, add a resume headline.

This one line answers, “Who are you as a professional, right now, for this job?”

A simple formula you can reuse:

Role + years of experience + key focus or impact

Examples:

• Backend Developer · 4+ years · Building scalable APIs in Python and Django
• Digital Marketing Specialist · 5 years · Paid search and analytics for B2B SaaS
• IT Support Engineer · 3 years · Microsoft 365, ticket resolution, user training

For students or early-career candidates:

• Computer Science Graduate · Focus on Java, Spring Boot, and REST APIs
• Junior Data Analyst · SQL, Excel, and basic Python for business reporting

This line helps recruiters place you in the right mental “box” in two seconds.

It also guides what you highlight next in your summary, experience, and skills section.

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3. Summary vs objective: which should you use?

Under the headline, you usually add 2–3 lines.

You can use either a resume summary or a resume objective, depending on your situation.

Resume summary

Use a summary if you have at least some professional experience.

It focuses on what you bring to the employer.

Structure for your summary:

• Who you are and your role
• Years of experience and main area
• 2–3 key skills or achievement themes that match the job description

Example for a mid-level profile:

Software engineer with 5 years of experience building web applications in Java and React. Strong track record of improving performance and reliability for B2B products. Comfortable working in agile teams and collaborating with stakeholders from product and business.

This type of summary works well for most tech profiles that TieTalent sees on the platform.

It gives recruiters a fast, relevant snapshot before they scan your experience.

Resume objective

Use an objective if you are:

• A student or recent graduate
• Moving into a new field
• Re-entering the job market after a break

An objective should still show value. It is not only “what I want” but also “what I offer”.

Example for a career changer in Switzerland:

Junior web developer transitioning from accounting, with hands-on experience from HTML/CSS and JavaScript projects and a recent coding bootcamp. Looking to join a small engineering team where I can support front-end development, documentation, and testing.

Example for a student:

Final-year computer science student with coursework in data structures, databases, and machine learning. Seeking an internship where I can support data analysis, build small tools in Python, and learn from senior engineers in a European tech team.

Choose one: summary or objective.

Do not use both.

Keep it short, specific, and aligned to the role you are applying for.

Your work experience is where you actually prove you can do the job. If you are asking what to put on a resume to stand out, this section decides a lot. Recruiters scan your experience in this order:

1. Job title
2. Company and location
3. Dates
4. A few bullet points that show impact

If they cannot understand what you did and how well you did it in under 10 seconds, they move on.

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1. How recruiters scan your work history

Make each role easy to read at a glance:

Format each job like this:

Job title | Company, City, Country

Month Year – Month Year

Then add 3–6 bullet points.

Recruiters look for:

• Clear progression or scope
• Relevant technologies or tools
• Measurable results
• Signals that you worked well with others

Keep your most recent role the longest.

Use reverse chronological order so your latest job comes first.

Make sure the job titles match market language. For example:

• Use Software Engineer or Backend Developer, not just IT Specialist
• Use Product Manager, not only Project Manager, if you did product work
• Use Data Analyst, not only Business Analyst, if the focus was data

This helps both ATS and recruiters match you to the right search.

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2. Turn duties into achievements with action verbs and numbers

A resume full of “responsible for” and “tasks included” blends into every other application.

To make your resume stand out, rewrite duties as achievements using:

• Action verbs at the start of each bullet
• Clear what you did
• Measurable results where possible

Good action verbs for tech and digital roles:

• Developed, built, implemented, automated
• Improved, increased, reduced, optimized
• Led, coordinated, mentored, supported
• Analyzed, designed, tested, deployed

Try to add numbers in at least half of your bullets.

Numbers can be:

• Percent improvements
• Time saved
• Money saved or revenue influenced
• Volume handled (tickets per week, users, campaigns, data size)

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3. A simple formula for strong bullet points

Use this structure for each bullet:

Action verb + what you did + result

Think: “Did X, using Y, which led to Z.”

Examples for a developer in Zurich:

• Improved API response times by 35% by refactoring legacy endpoints in Python and optimizing database queries.
• Automated daily data exports using serverless functions, cutting manual reporting time by 5 hours per week.

Examples for a marketer in Barcelona:

• Launched and managed paid search campaigns for three SaaS products, increasing qualified leads by 28% in six months.
• Set up Google Analytics dashboards for sales and leadership, reducing time spent on manual reporting by 50%.

Examples for IT support in Geneva:

• Resolved an average of 35 support tickets per day using ITSM tools, maintaining a 95% satisfaction rating.
• Created 20+ self-service knowledge base articles that reduced repeated “how to” tickets by 18%.

Even if you do not have exact numbers, estimate based on what you know, and stay honest.

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4. Before and after bullet point examples

Here are fast examples of resume bullet points that stand out compared to weak ones.

Developer example

• Weak: Responsible for maintaining backend services.
• Strong: Maintained and improved backend services in Node.js, reducing error rates by 20% and supporting 50k+ monthly users.

Digital marketing example

• Weak: Worked on email campaigns for clients.
• Strong: Planned and executed weekly email campaigns for 5 B2B clients, improving average open rates from 18% to 26%.

IT support example

• Weak: Helped users with IT issues.
• Strong: Supported 200+ employees across two offices with hardware, software, and VPN issues, meeting SLAs for 90% of tickets.

Student / junior example

• Weak: Did group projects using Java.
• Strong: Built a Java web app in a 4 person team, implementing login and user profile features and presenting the project to 30 classmates.

Use these patterns to rewrite your own bullets.

That is one of the fastest ways to make your resume stand out to employers.

If you want to know what to put on a resume to stand out, your skills section is one of the most important parts.

Recruiters are moving fast towards skills-based hiring, especially for tech and digital roles. Robert Half+1

Your goal is simple:

• Show the right hard skills and soft skills
• Match them to the job description
• Place them where both ATS and humans can see them at a glance

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1. Hard skills to highlight (with tech-focused examples)

Hard skills are the tools, technologies, and methods you can prove. These are often the first filters recruiters use. Group them into short, clear categories. For example:

For software engineers / developers

Use a subheading like Technical skills and list:

• Languages: Java, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript
• Frameworks: Spring Boot, React, Node.js
• Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB
• Tools: Git, Docker, Kubernetes, Jira
• Cloud: AWS, Azure, GCP

For data analysts / data scientists

• Tools: Excel, SQL, Power BI, Tableau
• Languages: Python, R
• Libraries: pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn
• Topics: data cleaning, dashboards, A/B testing, basic statistics

For digital marketing / growth roles

• Platforms: Google Analytics, Google Ads, Meta Ads
• Skills: SEO, SEM, email marketing, CRO
• Tools: CRM platforms, marketing automation tools, A/B testing tools

For IT support / sysadmin

• Systems: Windows, macOS, Linux basics
• Tools: Active Directory, Microsoft 365, ticketing systems
• Topics: network basics, endpoint security, VPN

Make sure every tool or technology you list actually appears somewhere in your experience or projects. If it is only “heard of it,” leave it out.

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2. Soft skills employers care about (and how to show them)

Soft skills help you work well with others and adapt to change.

Across European markets, surveys keep repeating the same themes: communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, adaptability, and collaboration.

Common soft skills to highlight:

• Communication skills
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Problem-solving
• Leadership or ownership
• Adaptability and learning mindset
• Time management and organization
• Work ethic and reliability

Do not just list these in a block.

Show them through achievements in your bullet points:

• Worked with a cross-functional team of 6 (engineering, product, marketing) to launch a new feature used by 3k+ monthly users.
• Explained technical issues to non-technical stakeholders, helping reduce ticket escalations by 15%.
• Led a small squad of 3 developers to deliver a release on time, despite scope changes and new requirements.

If you still want a short “Soft skills” line in the skills section, keep it concise.

Use it to support what your experience already shows.

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3. Emerging skills: AI tools, data literacy, and automation

For tech and digital roles in 2025, one fast way to make your resume stand out is to show you can work with AI tools and data, even at a basic level.

Employers are looking more for:

• Familiarity with AI tools for productivity, coding, or content
• Comfort with data analysis in Excel, SQL, or Python
• Experience with automation (scripts, no-code tools, workflow tools)

Practical examples you can list:

• AI tools: GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT for drafting and code review
• Automation: Zapier, Make, or scripting simple Python automations
• Data: building dashboards, writing SQL queries, using spreadsheet formulas

For many roles on TieTalent, candidates who show real use of AI tools and data in their day-to-day work get more interest, because they look ready for the current way teams work.

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4. How many skills to list and where to put them

If you put too many skills, the list loses value. If you put too few, you miss keywords that ATS and recruiters search for.

Simple rules:

• Aim for 8–15 skills total, grouped by category
• Use short phrases, not long sentences
• Place the skills section high on the first page, usually:
  • Under your summary, or
  • In a side column if your layout allows it

For example:

Skills

• Programming: Python, Java, JavaScript
• Web: React, Node.js, REST APIs
• Data: SQL, basic data analysis in Python
• Tools: Git, Docker, Jira
• Soft skills: communication, teamwork, problem-solving

Remember the primary question: what to put on a resume to stand out.

Your skills section should answer that by showing, in one quick view:

• You match the job description
• You have a mix of hard skills and soft skills that fit how teams work today
• You can handle modern tools, including AI and data-related skills

If you want your resume to stand out, it first needs to be seen at all. That means it has to work with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that many companies use to store and filter applications.

1. What ATS is and why it matters

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software that:

• Collects applications from job boards and career pages
• Scans your resume text
• Stores your profile in a database
• Lets recruiters search and filter by keywords, skills, job titles, education, and experience

Large and mid-sized employers use these tools to manage hundreds of applications per role.

If your resume is hard to read by ATS, it can be skipped before a human sees it.

The good news. You do not need a special file or unusual layout to create an ATS-friendly resume. You just need clean formatting and the right use of text.

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2. How to find the right keywords in the job description

To make your resume stand out to employers, you need to match the language in the job ad.

This is what “tailor your resume to the job description” actually means in practice.

Here is a simple process:

1. Print or copy the job ad text into a document.
2. Highlight:
   • Required skills and tools
   • Job title and key responsibilities
   • Nice-to-have skills
3. Make a short list of keywords. These can be:
   • Tools: Python, Salesforce, Google Analytics
   • Methods: test automation, SEO, scrum
   • Job-specific phrases: customer onboarding, incident management, B2B marketing

Then, use the same language in your:

• Resume headline
• Summary or objective
• Skills section
• Work experience bullet points

Do this naturally.

Do not stuff keywords in random places.

The goal is to show that your real experience and skills match what they are asking for.

Example for a backend developer ad that mentions “REST APIs, PostgreSQL, AWS, microservices”:

• Headline: Backend Developer · 4+ years · REST APIs with Java, PostgreSQL, AWS
• Skills: list REST APIs, PostgreSQL, AWS in your technical skills
• Bullet: Built and maintained REST APIs in Java for a microservices architecture on AWS, handling 30k+ daily requests.

Now your resume is speaking the same language as the job description.

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3. Formatting choices that help both ATS and humans

You do not need a graphic CV to stand out.

For many tech roles, simple wins.

Basic rules for an ATS-friendly format:

• Use a standard file type: PDF is often fine, unless the job ad asks for Word
• Use clear section headings: Experience, Education, Skills, Projects, Certifications
• Use standard fonts: Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, or similar
• Use one or two font sizes for body text and headings
• Keep color use simple and high-contrast
• Avoid:
  • Text inside images
  • Complex tables
  • Headers and footers with important information
  • Icons instead of words for contact info

For dates and locations:

• Use a consistent format such as Mar 2021 – Aug 2024
• Write locations as City, Country

ATS tools and recruiters both benefit from this clear structure.

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4. One-page resume or two-page resume?

Length is a frequent question.

Simple guidelines:

• One page is best for:
  • Students and new grads
  • Candidates with under 8–10 years of experience
  • People making a clear career change with focused recent experience
• Two pages can work for:
  • Senior engineers, architects, tech leads
  • Managers and heads of department
  • Professionals with 10+ years of relevant experience

If you use two pages, make sure:

• Page one has your headline, summary, skills, and recent roles
• Page two holds older roles, extra projects, or training

Do not stretch to two pages just to add old or weak content.

A strong one-page resume stands out more than a long one with fluff.

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5. Using AI tools and resume scanners the smart way

AI tools can help you make a better resume.

They should support your work, not replace it.

Good uses of AI and online tools:

• Turning your bullets into clear, action-driven sentences
• Checking grammar and spelling
• Finding common keywords you missed from the job description
• Comparing your resume to a job ad and suggesting missing skills or phrases

Poor uses of AI:

• Asking it to “write my full resume” and pasting the result
  • These resumes often feel generic and do not match your real story
  • Recruiters can usually see this pattern

A better approach:

1. Draft your resume yourself based on your real experience.
2. Use AI tools to polish wording, check structure, and catch errors.
3. Review every suggestion so it still sounds like you and stays accurate.

If you use a platform like TieTalent, your profile already works a bit like an ATS-friendly resume.

You still want a CV that you can send directly to companies, but the same rules apply.

Once your core sections are solid, you can add “bonus” parts that give you an edge.

These are especially helpful for tech and digital roles in Europe and Switzerland where many candidates share the same degree and tools. Novorésumé

Think of these as proof of extra effort and curiosity.

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1. Certifications, licenses, and professional development

Short, relevant learning signals that you keep your skills current.

Good section titles:

• Certifications
• Training & Courses
• Professional development

What to include:

• Name of the certification or course
• Provider
• Year
• Optional: one short line of context if it is not obvious

Examples:

• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, Amazon Web Services, 2024
• Scrum Master Course, online, 2023
• Python for Data Analysis, 40-hour bootcamp, 2023

Place this section:

• Near Skills if the certificates are very relevant, or
• Under Education if you have several courses

Focus on current and job-related learning. Old or generic certificates can stay off the page.

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2. Projects, portfolio links, and GitHub

For candidates, projects are often what makes a resume stand out. They show how you think and build.

Add a section called:

• Projects
• Selected projects
• Portfolio

For each project, list:

• Name of the project
• 1 line of what it does
• 1–2 bullets with your contribution and results
• Link if public (GitHub, live site, Behance, etc.)

Examples:

• Expense Tracker Web App
  • Built a React and Node.js web app to track monthly spending for personal use.
  • Implemented login, category filters, and charts, with 50+ active users among friends and classmates.
• Marketing Dashboard
  • Created a Google Data Studio dashboard that pulls data from Google Analytics and ad platforms.
  • Cut manual reporting time by 4 hours per week for a small sales team.

Place this section above Experience if you are a student or career changer.

Otherwise, place it below Experience but still on the first page if possible.

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3. Awards and recognition

Awards show that others have noticed your work. Even small things can help. Novorésumé

Section title ideas:

• Awards & recognition
• Honors

For each item, include:

• Name of the award
• Organization
• Year
• 1 short line of context if needed

Examples:

• Best Bachelor Thesis Award, University of Geneva, 2023
• Employee of the Quarter, IT team, mid-sized fintech, 2022
• Hackathon winner, 1st place out of 20 teams, local coding event, 2024

Keep this section tight. Aim for 3–5 lines total, not a full story.

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4. Volunteering, leadership, and community involvement

Volunteer experience can be powerful, especially if you:

• Have limited paid experience
• Are changing careers
• Have gaps you want to explain productively Resume.org

You can:

• Add relevant volunteer work into Experience and mark it as “Volunteer”
• Or create a separate section called Volunteer experience or Community involvement

Format each entry like a job:

• Organization, city, country
• Your role, with “Volunteer” in the title
• Dates
• 2–3 bullets with actions and results

Examples:

• Volunteer Web Developer, Local NGO, Lausanne
  • Built and maintained a simple WordPress site, improving sign-up conversion by an estimated 15%.
• Event Volunteer, Tech Meetup Group, Berlin
  • Helped organize monthly meetups with 60–100 attendees, managing check-in and feedback forms.

Volunteer roles can show leadership, teamwork, communication, and initiative. Those are all skills employers value.

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5. Hobbies and interests

Hobbies and interests are optional. They rarely decide an offer, but they can:

• Humanize your profile
• Show culture fit
• Spark small talk in interviews Resume Mentor

Use this section only if:

• You have enough space
• Your interests add something positive or relevant

Good examples for tech and digital roles:

• Running and local 10k races
• Contributing to open-source projects
• Photography and light photo editing
• Language learning (German B1, Italian A2)

Simple rules:

• Place hobbies at the bottom of the CV
• Use 3–5 short items on one line
• Avoid political, highly sensitive, or controversial activities

If space is tight, skip hobbies. Prioritize projects, experience, and skills first.

You can still stand out even if you have no formal work experience.

The trick is to show evidence of skills and initiative from other places: studies, projects, internships, student jobs, and volunteering.

This section answers a key long-tail question:

What to put on a resume to stand out with no experience, especially as a student or career changer in Europe or Switzerland?

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1. Best resume structure with little or no experience

If you are a student, new grad, or career changer, use this order:

1. Contact information
2. Resume headline
3. Objective or short summary
4. Skills
5. Projects
6. Internships and student jobs
7. Volunteer experience / activities
8. Education
9. Certifications or courses (optional but useful)

This layout moves your skills and projects higher, because they show your potential faster than sparse work history.

Sample structure for a student CV

• Name + headline
  • Computer Science Student · Java, Python, and basic web development
• Objective
  • 2–3 lines on what you can do now and what type of role you seek
• Skills
  • Programming languages, tools, and soft skills from your studies and projects
• Projects
  • 2–4 key projects with concrete outcomes
• Internships / part-time jobs
  • Any role where you used relevant skills, even if the title is not “tech”
• Volunteer work / activities
  • Student clubs, hackathons, competitions, leadership roles
• Education
  • Degree, university, city, expected graduation date
• Certifications / online courses
  • Short, focused courses in tech, data, or digital topics

For a career changer, you can keep a similar structure but put your most recent professional role above projects, and use the bullets to show transferable skills.

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2. Turning coursework and projects into strong bullet points

If you have little experience, projects carry a lot of weight.

They can answer “how to make your resume stand out as a student” more than your grades alone.

Use the same bullet formula as in work experience:

Action verb + what you did + result

Examples for tech students:

• Developed a Java web app in a 4 person team, implementing login, user profiles, and basic admin features for a course project.
• Built a Python script that cleaned and analyzed 50k+ rows of data, producing charts used in a final presentation.
• Created a small React single-page app for tracking tasks, used by 10 classmates during the semester.

Examples for digital / business students:

• Designed and ran a survey of 120 students for a marketing course, analyzing results in Excel and presenting insights to the class.
• Worked in a group to create a basic social media campaign concept for a local brand, including content examples and performance targets.

These are examples of resume bullet points that stand out because they show action and outcomes, not just “completed assignment”.

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3. Making internships, student jobs, and side work count

Many early-career candidates think their part-time jobs are “not relevant”.

They often are, once you focus on transferable skills.

Focus on tasks that show:

• Communication with customers or colleagues
• Responsibility for money, stock, or equipment
• Problem-solving and handling issues
• Reliability and time management

Examples:

Retail or hospitality job

• Weak: Worked at a supermarket on weekends.
• Better: Handled 50–80 customer transactions per shift, resolved basic complaints, and kept shelves stocked during busy hours.

Student assistant

• Weak: Helped professor with admin tasks.
• Better: Supported a professor by organizing course files, updating slides, and answering simple student questions by email.

Even simple work can show a strong work ethic, communication skills, and teamwork.

This helps recruiters see you as a safe hire for an entry-level tech or digital role.

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4. Using volunteering and activities to prove soft skills

If you ask “what to put on a resume to stand out with no experience,” volunteering is one of the most effective answers.

You can show:

• Leadership
• Initiative
• Organization
• Collaboration

Examples for students or early-career professionals:

• Event Organizer, University Coding Club
  • Planned 4 coding events per semester with 30–60 attendees, handling room booking, communication, and feedback forms.
• Volunteer, Local Charity
  • Helped run a donation drive that collected 300+ items, coordinating with 10 volunteers and local partners.

Format these entries just like jobs, with a role title, organization, dates, and clear bullet points.

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5. Aligning a “no experience” resume with the job description

Even with no experience, you still need to adapt your resume to the job description.

Practical steps:

1. Pick 1–3 roles you are targeting, such as:
   • Junior Frontend Developer
   • Junior Data Analyst
   • Marketing Intern
2. For each type of role, list the common skills employers ask for.
3. On your resume, highlight:
   • Coursework that matches those skills
   • Projects that use similar tools
   • Volunteer work where you used related soft skills

For example, if a Junior Data Analyst role asks for SQL, Excel, and dashboards:

• Skills: Excel, SQL basics, data visualization, Power BI (beginner)
• Project bullet:
  • Created an Excel dashboard for a course project, using formulas and charts to analyze survey data from 100+ responses.

You are still honest about your level, but you show direct relevance to the job.

Knowing what to put on a resume to stand out also means knowing what to remove.

There are a few things that make recruiters in Europe and Switzerland stop reading fast.

Research from Robert Half and other hiring experts keeps repeating the same warnings: sloppy layout, vague wording, too much personal information, and obsolete experience are major red flags. Robert Half

Here is what to cut.

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1. Typos, messy formatting, and walls of text

This is the first filter.

Common issues:

• Spelling mistakes
• Mixed fonts and font sizes
• Inconsistent bullet styles and date formats
• Huge paragraphs that are hard to scan

Recruiters see these as signs of poor attention to detail. In tech roles, that is often enough to move on to the next profile. Robert Half

Quick fixes:

• Use one main font and 1–2 sizes
• Keep bullets short, usually one or two lines
• Run a spellcheck and ask one other person to proofread
• Print your resume or export to PDF and look at it like a stranger would

Clean formatting does not guarantee an interview.

But messy formatting can quietly kill your chances.

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2. Vague phrases and empty buzzwords

Recruiters are tired of:

• “Responsible for…”
• “Involved in…”
• “Familiar with…”
• “Hard worker,” “team player,” “results driven” with no proof

Robert Half even suggests dropping buzzwords if you cannot back them up with achievements. Robert Half

Replace them with clear, specific bullets:

• Instead of Responsible for managing projects
  • Use Managed 3 concurrent software projects with budgets up to CHF 200k, delivering all on time.
• Instead of Team player with strong communication skills
  • Use Worked with a cross-functional team of 7 (product, design, engineering) to ship new features every 2 weeks.

If a phrase could be copied onto anyone’s CV, rewrite it.

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3. Too much personal data

In many tech and digital hiring processes, including extra personal information is seen as outdated or risky. Robert Half

You do not need to include:

• Full street address
• Date of birth
• Marital status or children
• Nationality, unless the job or visa situation makes it useful
• Photo, unless explicitly requested or very standard in that country and sector

Instead, keep your contact details focused on:

• Name
• City and country
• Email, phone
• LinkedIn and portfolio links

Let your skills and achievements carry the application, not personal details.

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4. Salary expectations and internal details

Do not add:

• Salary history
• Salary expectations
• Reasons for leaving each job
• Confidential internal data (like exact client lists if protected)

Guides from Robert Half say that writing salary expectations in your resume often creates a bad first impression. Robert Half

If a company wants your salary expectations, they will usually ask in the application form or during screening.

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5. Outdated or irrelevant experience and skills

You do not need to list every job you ever had.

Focus on roles and tasks that support the story you want to tell today.

Consider removing or shrinking:

• Very old jobs that are unrelated to your current field
• Technologies that are obsolete and no longer used
• A long list of tools you used once in a university lab and never since

You can still keep a very short “Earlier experience” line if needed, but the detail should stay on recent roles.

For skills, cut:

• Tools you cannot use confidently today
• Very generic items like “Internet”, “Microsoft Windows”, unless truly relevant

Your resume should look current to a 2025 hiring manager in Europe or Switzerland, especially for tech roles.

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6. Functional format that hides your timeline

There is a specific CV style that lists skills and duties at the top and hides dates at the bottom.

This “functional” format often worries recruiters, because it can hide gaps or short stays. Robert Half+1

For most candidates on TieTalent, a chronological or hybrid format works better:

• Clear job titles
• Companies and dates
• Bullet points with achievements
• Skills section that matches your experience

This structure helps both ATS and humans see your career path.

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7. Before and after: removing clutter

Here is a quick example of how cutting the wrong content can make your resume stronger.

Before

Software Engineer responsible for a wide variety of tasks including documentation, testing, and bug fixing. Hard worker and team player. Looking for a job with a good salary and flexible hours.

Problems:

• Vague (“wide variety of tasks”)
• Buzzwords without proof
• Mentions money in the profile
• No clear outcome

After

Software Engineer with 3 years of experience building and maintaining web applications in Java and React. Improved page load times by 25% on a key internal tool and fixed high-priority bugs within agreed SLAs. Looking to join a tech team where I can contribute to clean code, testing, and continuous improvement.

Now the same person looks more focused and professional, with measurable results and no red flags.

You do not need to rewrite your CV alone.

You can use AI as a smart assistant while still keeping your own story and judgment. If you want extra support that fits how hiring works, try our custom GPT, Resume AI 3.0.

With Resume AI 3.0 you can transform your CV and cover letter into polished, ATS-friendly, recruiter-ready documents, aligned with any role, with ease and far less guesswork.

You stay in control of your content.

Resume AI 3.0 helps you:

• Highlight the right keywords for each job
• Rewrite weak bullets into strong, impact-focused ones
• Keep your format clean and modern for employers
• Export results in .docx format so you can quickly edit and add final touches yourself

Use it as your last step before sending each application, especially for roles that matter most to you.

Looking for a job that matches your aspirations and skills? Join TieTalent today. Our platform matches IT and Digital Marketing professionals with companies that value what you bring to the table, including those seeking talents who know how to navigate modern hiring processes effectively.