ResumeForge FAQ

A1: A resume and cover letter builder that runs in your browser. You fill in your details on the left and the real pages appear on the right, laid out on A4 or US Letter exactly as they will print. It has eight templates, a red-pencil review that marks lines worth another look, a keyword match with a job ad, a first draft of a cover letter, and downloads as PDF, Word, plain text, Markdown and JSON Resume.

A2: Nothing. It is free, with no registration, no watermark and no limit on resumes, cover letters or downloads. Like every page on ZeroDataUpload, it is supported by advertising.

A3: Anyone applying for a job: students looking for a first role or an internship, people changing jobs or careers, and people coming back to work. Keep one version of your resume for each kind of job you apply for, each with its own cover letter and design.

A4: No. Open the page in any modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari or Opera) on a computer, tablet or phone. Your resumes are kept in that browser, so there is nothing to sign in to. A computer is the easiest place to write a resume; a phone works too, with the pages under the Preview tab.

A5: No. The pages, the review, the job match and every file are made in this browser, and nothing you type into the tool is sent to a server. The page itself loads the site's ads and analytics, as every page on the site does; the Privacy Policy explains those, and what you type is never part of them. The page title never changes to show your name.

A6: A new resume starts with Summary, Experience, Education, Skills and Languages. Add a section adds Projects, Certifications, Awards, Volunteering, Publications, Interests, References, or a Custom section with your own heading. Each section can be renamed, moved, hidden or deleted from its menu, the three dots.

A7: In a description, start a line with a dash (-) to make it a bullet; a line without one is a paragraph. Wrap words in two stars (**like this**) for bold or one star (*like this*) for italic, or use the buttons above the box. Pressing Enter at the end of a bullet starts the next bullet.

A8: Any way you like: Mar 2021, March 2021, 03/2021, 2021-03, 2021, or in Hindi, such as मार्च 2021. Under each entry a line shows how the date will print, in the format you choose under Design. A date ResumeForge cannot read is printed exactly as you typed it, and the line says so. Tick I work here now for a job you still hold.

A9: It opens eight groups of action verbs, such as Led, Built, Improved, Reduced and Negotiated. Click one and it goes at the start of the line you are on, replacing a weak opener such as Responsible for. Then finish the line with what changed because of your work.

A10: Click the eye button beside a section or an entry. It stays in the editor, crossed through, and is left off the pages and every download. Click the eye again to show it.

A11: Drag a section by its handle, the dots on its left, or focus the handle and press the up and down arrow keys. A section's menu also has Move up and Move down. Entries inside a section move with Move up and Move down in the entry's menu, and Sort newest first puts dated entries in order.

A12: It depends on where you apply. Photos are expected in India, much of Europe and the Gulf, and usually left off in the US, the UK and Canada. Add a photo, then drag and zoom it in the round or square frame. Only the cropped picture is kept, without the camera's hidden details such as the place it was taken. Untick Show on the resume to keep it for later.

A13: Applicant tracking systems, the software many companies use to sort applications, read a single column most reliably. Classic, Executive, Swiss, Timeline, Banner and Elegant are single-column and carry a shield. Sidebar and Compact use two columns and suit a resume you send by email. The Word file is always a single column, and Plain text is for forms that ask you to paste your resume.

A14: Yes. Pick one of ten colours or any colour of your own; a colour too light to read on white is darkened on the page. Choose a font for the headings and one for the text from sixteen common fonts. Text size, line spacing, the space between sections and the page margins each have a slider.

A15: ResumeForge offers the fonts installed on your computer or phone, so that the PDF looks the same as the screen. A font your device does not have is shown but cannot be chosen. On another device the list can differ.

A16: It tightens the design step by step until the resume fits: first the space between sections, then the line spacing, the margins and the text size, never below 8.75 pt. If it still does not fit at the smallest readable settings, it says so, and the best fix is to shorten a few older entries. Undo puts the design back.

A17: Yes. Under Design, Language of headings changes the section headings, the month names, the word for present and the phrases of the cover letter to Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian or Hindi. What you write yourself stays as you wrote it.

A18: Your contact details; a summary that is missing, too short or too long, or written with I and my; overused phrases such as team player; lines that start with a duty such as Responsible for or Helped with; jobs without a single number; bullets over about 38 words; the same opening word on three or more lines; missing or impossible dates; jobs not listed newest first; gaps of six months or more; your education; how many skills you list; the number of pages; and two-column templates.

A19: By fixed rules written in advance, the way an editor would read: no one reads your resume and nothing is sent anywhere. The rules help you spot lines worth another look, and you decide what to change. A note that does not fit your case can be left as it is.

A20: Each number matches a note in the Check view. Red marks are things to fix, amber ones suggestions to consider. Click a note to go to the line in the editor; the line is selected so you can retype it. Clicking a number on the page finds its note. The Marks button above the pages shows or hides the marks; they never print.

A21: Because a recruiter may ask about it. A gap is fine: study, family, health, travel or a change of career are all good reasons, and a line in your cover letter can explain it. The note is there so you are ready, not to say anything is wrong.

A22: Paste the full job ad under Check, Job match. ResumeForge picks out up to 24 key terms: two-word phrases such as design system, tools and abbreviations such as Figma or WCAG, and words the ad repeats. It leaves out common words and the company's name, then shows which terms your resume already uses and which it does not.

A23: It is the share of the ad's key terms that your resume uses, weighed by how much the ad stresses each one: a term the ad repeats, or a tool name, counts for more. Over 70% is a strong match and 45% a fair one. It is a guide to wording, not a score of you as a candidate.

A24: No. Add a term only where it is true for you. The plus button adds it to your Skills, but it reads better in a line that shows how you used it, such as Ran usability testing with 30 patients. Adding terms that are not true helps no one in the interview.

A25: Switch from Resume to Cover letter at the top. The letter takes your name, contact details and design from the resume, so the two match. Fill in who it is to, then write the letter, one paragraph per line, or start with Write a first draft.

A26: It builds four short paragraphs from your resume and the job under Job match: the role and the company, your years of experience and latest employer, your two strongest lines with numbers, and why you want this job, with the job's key terms you already have. It replaces what is in the letter, after asking, and Undo brings your text back.

A27: A gap the draft leaves for one specific thing about the team, the product or the mission that draws you to this company. Only you can write it, and it is what makes a letter read as written for them. The review reminds you while the brackets are still there.

A28: Choose Download, then PDF. The browser's print window opens: set the destination to Save as PDF, leave the margins at Default and the scale at 100, and turn on Background graphics if colours or the photo are missing. The PDF matches the pages on screen, its text can be selected and searched, and links stay clickable.

A29: Your resume or letter in a single column, with the headings, bullets, bold and italic, your fonts and colour, and clickable links, ready to edit in Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice. It has no photo and no two-column layout, which keeps it easy for job portals to read. It carries no author name and is set to remove personal information when you save it.

A30: When a job portal asks you to paste your resume into a box. Plain text keeps the order and the bullets without any layout; Copy as plain text puts it straight on the clipboard. Markdown is the same with simple marks for headings and bold.

A31: An open file format for resumes that other resume tools and websites read. Download JSON Resume to take your content elsewhere; a JSON Resume file from another tool can be imported here too. The design is not part of it; for that, use the backup file.

A32: Yes. In Your resumes, choose Import. Paste the text of your resume from Word, a PDF or LinkedIn and choose Sort into sections: ResumeForge finds the headings, your email, phone and profile links, and sorts the lines into entries by their dates and bullets. A JSON Resume file, a text or Markdown file, or a ResumeForge backup opens too. Check each section afterwards, especially the dates.

A33: In this browser's storage on this device, so it is there when you come back. That storage is not encrypted, and anyone who uses this browser can open it; nothing is kept on a server. Clearing the browser's site data removes it, so download a backup file now and then.

A34: Choose Download, then Backup file. It holds the resume, the cover letter, the design and the photo. On the other computer, open ResumeForge, choose Your resumes, Import, and pick the file.

A35: Open Your resumes and choose Delete everything. Every resume, letter, photo and setting that ResumeForge keeps in this browser is removed, and the rest of the site is not touched. A single resume can be deleted with the bin button beside it.