Resume Formatting

Yes, formatting, detail, and structure ABSOLUTELY matter when it comes to putting your resume. Your resume should tell a story of the industries you've worked in, the value you've created, and the tools you've mastered.

As a recruiter who reads dozens of resumes weekly, more often than not, candidates can leave out crucial details about how they have contributed to an organization.

Too many times, I have seen hiring teams and account managers reject candidates simply because the resume contains too little information and doesn’t speak to the problem the company is trying to solve.

For example, A company might want someone with cold-chain and reefer freight experience, but your resume doesn’t explicitly say that you’ve worked with and reads just a generic freight brokerage experience, account executive, or operations experience.

And yes…sometimes companies might even use a generic boilerplate job description that doesn’t even explicitly say they need THAT experience, because they simply don’t have the time to write an effective job posting.

So your best bet is to provide as much information about yourself as a candidate so you can CONTROL your narrative.

Your resume is your FIRST impression, so treat it as such.

Someone who has NEVER met you (and very likely someone who hasn’t done your job will be reading your resume.

Remember, there are dozens (if not 100s) of applicants potentially applying to 1 position across multiple roles in a singular company.

In an 8-hour day, filled with meetings and day-to-day tasks, a company has time to interview the best of the best candidates.

Use this as a clear, structured reference when formatting your resume to help you stand out from the rest.

• 1. Contact Information (Name, City/State, Email, Phone Number, and LinkedIn URL).

• 2. Executive Summary (3–5 concise bullet points or a short paragraph)

  • Include industries you’ve worked in (e.g., Logistics, SaaS, Freight Brokerage, Cold Chain).

  • Name-drop notable accounts or partners (if non-confidential use industry verticals like Food & Beverage, Aerospace, or Logistics & Supply Chain).

  • Emphasize quantifiable impact: revenue growth, client retention, cost savings.

  • Avoid clichés like “hardworking” or “team player.”

  • Example: “Senior Logistics Sales Executive with 8+ years in Full Truckload and LTL Freight, including Cold Chain and Reefer Freight. Managed accounts in food distribution, CPG, and healthcare sectors—some generating $1.5M+ annually. Known for increasing average client spend by 27% year-over-year. Deep understanding of routing, customer retention, and national carrier management.”

• 3. Sales or Performance Accomplishments

  Use bullet points here that spotlight your numbers and wins. (If you don’t know the exact numbers, a ballpark range can suffice. I know what you are probably thinking. “But people can lie about these numbers.” - Sure they can… but what doesn’t come out in the wash, will certainly come out in the rinse. It is your reputation on the line, and it is up to you if you want to operate in bad faith. Anything you write in your resume is up for discussion in an interview.

  Examples:

  • Grew book of business from $250K to $1.2M in under 12 months.

  • Hit 120 %+ of monthly sales goals 6 quarters in a row.

  • Averaged 80–100 calls/day, resulting in 15+ warm leads/week.

  • Increased customer retention from 60% to 85% within 6 months.

  • Presidents Club, etc…

• 4. Professional Experience

• Format (Remember, the more details you provide, the more relevant keywords that will make your resume attractive to recruiters and readable to ATS (applicant tracking system: this is the software your resume gets uploaded to ie. Workday, Workable, Greenhouse etc…)

  • Job Title

  • Company Name — City, State

  • Month/Year – Month/Year

  • Industry: [Logistics & Supply Chain | Freight Brokerage | SaaS | 3PL | etc.]

• Follow each role with 3–6 bullet points using the STAR method (You can even use this format in interviews to give your answers structure).

  SITUATION: What was the challenge or business context?

  TASK: What was your responsibility?

  ACTION: What did you do to solve the problem?

  RESULT: What were the measurable outcomes?

  Examples:

  “Inherited a dormant $400K Cold Chain client and reactivated the account via weekly routing check-ins and expedited reefer loads.” “Grew volume to 15+ shipments/week, increasing account value by 40%.” “Managed a team of 5 sales reps and created performance metrics, and grew the team to 10.”

  Include sales-specific context:

  Call volume, book of business value, load volume, margins, conversion rates, and types of freight.

  Include tools and platforms:

  Example: McLeod, Salesforce, HubSpot, DAT Load Board, Project44, etc.

5. Hard Skills (No fluff—focus on what you use, not who you are GET SPECIFIC)

• Sales Tools: Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoom Info

• Logistics Platforms: McLeod, Project44, EDI, FourKites

• Freight Expertise: Dry Van, Reefer, Drayage, LTL, FTL, Intermodal, Cold Chain

• Communication: High-volume B2B outreach (80+ calls/day), email cadences, quoting

6. Soft Skills – Avoid Them Without Context

• Instead of saying: "Strong communicator and problem solver"

• Do this: "Managed weekly updates with 20+ active clients, resolving route issues within 24 hours and reducing escalations by 30%"

7. Education, Certifications, & Military Experience

• Bachelor of Science – Supply Chain Management

• University of Memphis – Memphis, TN | 2015 – 2019

• Certifications: Certified Transportation Broker (CTB), TIA – 2022 OSHA 10-Hour Safety – 2023

• Military: U.S. Army Logistics Coordinator – 2010–2014 | Honorable Discharge

8. Language (If Applicable): Spanish – Professional Working Proficiency (Used with Mexican freight partners). Showing context of how you were speaking multiple languages in a business context shows value.

Final notes: When exporting your resume, a simple PDF or WORD document should suffice. Try to avoid overly designed resume templates (you might find them on Canva, or design them yourself in Photoshop of InDesign) because ATS systems sometimes can struggle reading them, and often don’t provide you enough space to write out your entire experience.

Content First, design second.

Don’t remake the wheel.

Sometimes, even a simple text editor and a bulleted list can do the job, too.