Choose a clean, professional template that shows technical skill and field work clearly. Use a reverse-chronological layout unless you have gaps or a major career shift; it makes your field roles easy to scan.
Keep your resume concise. One page suits early and mid-career geodesists. Use two pages only if you have long, directly relevant project history and publications.
Pick ATS-friendly fonts like Calibri, Arial, Georgia, or Garamond. Use 10-12pt for body text and 14-16pt for section headers.
Give each section breathing room. Use consistent margins and 1.0–1.15 line spacing to aid quick reading. White space helps reviewers and makes dense technical content feel lighter.
Use simple formatting over complex visuals. Tables, multi-column layouts, and images often break ATS parsing. Stick to bullet lists, bold headings, and simple separators.
Lead with clear section headings: Contact, Summary, Experience, Projects, Education, Skills, Certifications, Publications, and Field Work. Put geodetic software and instrumentation in the Skills and Projects sections.
Highlight measurable results, like survey accuracy improvements, network adjustments, or geoid model contributions. Use short bullet points and active verbs.
Avoid common mistakes. Don’t use non-standard fonts or heavy color. Don’t rely on graphics to show data. Don’t cram dense text without bullets. Keep dates and job titles aligned and consistent.