Structure that works
- 1Header with contact details and a link to a portfolio or GitHub if you have one.
- 2A two-to-three line summary focused on what you can do, not just what you want.
- 3Skills, grouped by category (e.g. 'SIEM & Logging', 'Networking', 'Scripting').
- 4Experience or projects, most relevant first, each with concrete outcomes.
- 5Education and certifications, including in-progress ones clearly marked as such.
Turn projects into experience
If you don't have paid security experience yet, home lab projects belong in an 'Experience' or 'Relevant Projects' section, not buried at the bottom. Describe them the same way you would a job: what you built, what you learned, and what the result was.
Before
"Built a home lab."
After
"Built a five-machine home lab with a SIEM ingesting Windows and firewall logs; configured detection rules for suspicious logon patterns and documented three simulated investigations."
Quantify carefully and honestly
Numbers help a resume stand out, but only use ones you can defend in an interview. 'Reduced false positives by 40%' should only appear if you can explain exactly how you measured that in a lab or real environment.
Wording that signals real skill
- Use active verbs: built, configured, investigated, documented, automated.
- Name specific tools you have actually used hands-on, not tools you have only read about.
- Avoid vague buzzwords like 'cyber-savvy' or 'security-minded' without evidence behind them.
Formatting tips
- Keep it to one page if you have under five years of relevant experience.
- Use a simple, ATS-friendly format: no tables, columns, or graphics that parsing software may mangle.
- Save as PDF unless an application specifically asks for another format.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Listing every tool you've ever opened once, rather than tools you can discuss confidently.
- Omitting projects because they weren't for an employer.
- Copying a job description's keywords without being able to back them up.