Pick a clean, professional template that highlights technical depth and projects. Use a reverse-chronological layout for steady career growth, or a hybrid layout if you need to foreground FPGA or IP blocks first. Keep the layout simple so ATS and hiring engineers can scan your experience quickly.
Keep length tight. One page suits early-career ASIC engineers. Two pages work if you have many tapeouts, patents, or leadership roles to list.
Use ATS-friendly fonts like Calibri, Arial, Georgia, or Garamond. Set body text to 10–12pt and headers to 14–16pt. Maintain consistent margins and line spacing so blocks of text do not crowd the page.
Show white space between sections. Use standard headings: Contact, Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Projects, and Publications or Patents if you have them. Use bullet lists for achievements and include metrics like frequency, area, yield, or timing improvements.
Avoid common mistakes. Don’t use heavy columns, images of diagrams, or complex tables that break ATS parsing. Don’t pick decorative fonts or bright colors that distract. Don’t cram every lab task; focus on outcomes and your role.
Name files clearly, like "Octavio_Dietrich_ASIC_Engineer.pdf". Export to PDF from a text editor to preserve layout. Finally, proof for typos and check that tool names like RTL, STA, LVS, and P&R appear consistently.