5 Google Docs Resume Templates (and How To Use Them)

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byAlyse MaguireUpdated3/29/2024FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmail

I remember the first time I had to write a resume. I was 16 and applying to a role at American Eagle (yes, I made a resume in high school; no, I did not need one to get an after-school job; yes, I was very extra). Having zero context for what one should look like, I took my older brother’s resume and copy-and-pasted my own experience into his template.

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Maybe that’s your go-to strategy: Find someone with a great resume and make it your own. I won’t deny it worked well for me—and I still use that same template to this day.

Once you perfect your resume, check out open jobs on The Muse to maximize your chances »

But if you’ve never made a resume and don’t have someone else’s to work off of, you may be in need of a template. We’ve collected eight of our favorite Google Docs resume templates that are fun and cheap (if not free!)—as well as some tips for using them to your advantage.

What makes a good resume template?

You want to pick one that’s visually appealing, easy to use, and allows you to include all the necessary resume sections. But you should also choose a resume template that can be easily “read” by an applicant tracking system (ATS).

ATSs are software that most employers use to store, file, and search candidate resumes to help them stay organized and find the applicants that meet the most qualifications. These programs are pretty advanced, but they’re far from perfect, and certain types of formatting may make it difficult or impossible for an ATS to accurately parse your resume.

To give yourself the best chance of getting to the next round of hiring, you want to make sure the Google Docs resume template you choose doesn’t include any of these formatting elements:

• Tables
• Text boxes
• Images, including photos (in the U.S.), logos, graphics, graphs, other visuals, or text contained in any of these elements
• Headers and footers
• Less common fonts
• Columns: ATSs are programmed to read left to right, so they’ll often read columns straight across rather than reading each column from top to bottom. If this doesn’t change the experience of reading your resume, columns may be OK.

Best built-in Google Docs resume templates

Want to make creating a resume in Google Docs super easy on yourself? Choose one of Google’s premade resume templates. If you’re on docs.google.com, just click on “Template gallery” near the top right of the page and scroll down to see your resume options. If you’re already in a Google Doc, you’ll want to click “File”> “New” > “From template gallery” to see all of your options.

While Google has five built-in templates, we only recommend three of them for getting through any ATS you might encounter.

1. Google Docs Coral resume template

Need something super simple? Look no further than this resume created right in Google Docs. With just a pop of color and clear direction as to what goes where and how to best organize your information, you can’t go wrong with this template. To make sure the ATS doesn’t get confused, you’ll want to just delete the “Hello” and “I’m” from the top of the page. Then it’s your choice whether you want your name in black or coral.

Cost: Free

2. Google Docs Spearmint resume template

What we like most about this resume template is that the skills section goes first, which makes it perfect for career changers.

Why, you ask? Listing your skills at the top allows you to emphasize what you bring to the table (a.k.a., your transferable skills), especially to a hiring manager who may not be able to tell how your past experiences apply to their job posting. (This resume format, where your skills are listed above your work history, is called the hybrid or combination resume.)

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If you’re using this template as a career changer, make sure to keep it relevant to the job you want. This may mean removing certain jobs and skills that don’t add to your qualifications for the role you’re applying for, and possibly renaming the “Experience” section, “Relevant Experience.”

And don’t forget to tailor your bullets to apply to the job’s requirements.

Cost: Free

3. Google Docs Modern Writer Modern Writer resume template

This is the third and final of Google’s default resume templates that we recommend. Like the “Spearmint” template above, the skills are at the top of the page, but remember that you can always tweak the order of a resume template to suit your situation (just copy and paste to move a section up or down if needed!).

Cost: Free

Other Google Docs resume templates

Here are a few more templates from around the internet that can be opened as Google Docs files.

4. The Muse’s Resume Template

Yes, we made a resume template on Google Docs! It’s free, easy to plug your own information into, and explains where everything should go and how, from what your bullets should look like to what skills you should list.

Just click “File” > “Make a copy” to create your own copy.

Cost: Free

5. Career Reload’s Mindy resume template

This Google doc template from Career Reload makes it easy for anyone reading your resume to spot the section they’re looking for. Just swap the outdated resume objective for a resume summary and you’re good to go.

Cost: Free

6. Career Reload’s Josh resume template

Here’s another option from Career Reload that uses white space to change up the visual look of your resume. This is a great choice if you’re earlier in your career or want to focus on just a few experiences—since the formatting makes for less text space overall.

You’ll notice that the section headings in this template are in columns, but this is an example of ATS-friendly columns—since reading the text from left to right still makes sense.

Cost: Free

7. ResuStudio’s Google Docs resume template

If you want to up your game (and are willing to pay a bit extra to do so), this template looks that extra level of sleek and professional without being too much for the hiring manager (or ATS) to parse through.

If you’re a bit further into your career, this template also has a two-page version. But make sure to remove the “References available upon request” bit from whichever version you use—it’s just wasting valuable space. When employers want your references, they know they can request them.

Cost: $9.26 (with frequent changes)

8. BestResumes’ Google Doc resume template

For a very reasonable price, this template gives you color, ATS-friendly design, and several ways to emphasize your most important qualifications. Plus with the purchase, you’ll also get a two-page template, a cover letter template, and a reference sheet template to match your resume design.

Cost: $5.96 (with frequent changes)

9. Any ATS-friendly resume template you’d like

None of these templates doing it for you? That’s OK—you’ve got options. Etsy has many more paid resume templates made by designers and you can search for ATS-compatible ones.

You can also use almost any Microsoft Word or other resume template you find in Google Docs with a few easy steps:

1. Download the template.
2. Go to docs.google.com and click the folder icon to open the file picker.
3. Choose “Upload” along the top of the box that appears and pick the file.
4. Save the file as a Google Doc.

Or if you’re already in a blank Google doc, click “File”>”Open” and follow steps three and four above.

Some formatting won’t translate well between programs, so be sure to double check that the template still looks good in Google Docs.

Bonus tips for using your Google Docs resume template

Not to sound too obvious, but using these templates is about more than just plugging your skills and experience in and calling it a day. You’ll need to follow a few steps:

1. Replace everything in the template with your own information, otherwise the hiring manager is going to wonder why it says “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” under your education. This means giving your resume several looks over, and then having a friend or two check it for errors, too.
2. Make the template your own, whatever that means for you. If you don’t like the color of the headings, change them. If you think your name is too big and it’s taking away space you could use for your bullet points, go ahead and decrease the font size. If you want to add your own section, whether for “Certifications” or “Projects” or some other category that’s relevant to the job description, feel free to convert an existing section you don’t need or otherwise tweak the template to fit it in. Templates are meant to be personalized, not followed to a T.
3. Focus on the content. Pretty resumes are great, but if what they say isn’t tailored to the job, thoroughly proofread, or at least somewhat interesting to read, you’re not going to land that interview. So make sure you’re writing stellar resume bullets and following these important resume tips.

How does all that sound? Great, now get out there and make your resume shine! Teenage Alyse would be so proud.

Regina Borsellino contributed writing, reporting, and/or advice to this article.