How to Convert Your CV to a US Resume

If you have a CV that works in London, Bengaluru, Dubai or Berlin, you already have most of the raw material for a US resume. What you do not have is the shape. The conversion is mostly subtraction and reframing, and it takes an afternoon if you work through it in order. This guide is the order.

It assumes you have read what the target looks like: the US resume format guide. If you need visa sponsorship, also read the guide for international candidates before you start, because it changes what goes in your header.

Step 1: Rename It and Resize It

Call the file a resume: Priya-Sharma-Resume.pdf, not Priya_CV_Final_v3.pdf. Change the page size to Letter (8.5 by 11 inches). If your document is in Word, that is Layout, Size, Letter. If you rebuild it in CVEdge from the US or Canada, Letter is already the default.

Step 2: Delete the Personal Fields

Remove, without exception: photograph, date of birth, age, gender, marital status, nationality, passport number, religion, father's or husband's name, full home address, and any "Personal Details" section that held them. Remove the declaration ("I hereby declare that the above information is true…"), the signature line and "Date and Place". Remove "References available on request" and any named referees. Remove salary history and expected salary.

Keep: your name, city and state (or city and country if you are abroad), phone, email, LinkedIn. That is the whole header.

Step 3: Cut to One Page

Under ten years of experience, one page. Over that, two at most. The cut is easier than it looks once the personal section, declaration and references are gone. Then: three to five bullets for your current and previous role, one or two for older roles, and a single line for anything more than fifteen years back. Drop the detailed project-by-project appendix that Indian and Gulf CVs often carry; it can be a separate document you send on request.

Step 4: Turn Duties Into Results

This is the biggest substantive change. A UK or Indian CV describes the role; a US resume describes what changed because you were in it. Rewrite each bullet as verb, specific work, measurable result.

Before: Handled end-to-end recruitment for the engineering vertical and coordinated with stakeholders.

After: Filled 64 engineering roles in FY2025 at a median 31 days to hire, down from 52, by moving screening to structured phone interviews.

Convert currency to US dollars at an approximate rate and say so: ₹40 crore becomes about $4.8M; AED 3.2M becomes about $870K. A number in a currency the recruiter cannot read is the same as no number. Where you genuinely have no metric, state scale: team size, budget, users, regions.

Step 5: Explain Employers and Titles

An American recruiter may not know Infosys from a ten-person agency, or that "Senior Executive" at an Indian firm is an early-career title. Add a descriptor after any employer that is not a household name in the US: Wipro (IT services, 230,000 employees), a Series B fintech in Dubai. Keep your official job title, because background checks will confirm it, but use the first bullet to state the scope in US terms: "Managed a team of 8 and a $1.2M budget" says more than any title.

Step 6: Rebuild Education

List the degree, major, institution, location and year. Drop 10th and 12th standard results, school names and percentages. Do not convert your percentage or CGPA to a US GPA yourself unless you know the official scale; either omit it or state the original ("First Class, 78%"). Write the degree name as it appears on the certificate and add an equivalence only where it is not obvious: Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech), Computer Science is understood; B.Com (equivalent to a US bachelor's degree in commerce) may need the note. A WES or similar credential evaluation is only needed if the employer asks.

Step 7: Rebuild the Skills Section

Tools, technologies, languages and certifications, grouped by category. No rating bars, no percentages, no "communication skills" or "team player". Keep it to what you could be interviewed on today. The skills that matter most should also appear inside your experience bullets, where an ATS gives them more weight.

Step 8: Fix Dates, Spelling and Phone

Dates as Month YYYY (Jun 2021 – Aug 2024). American spelling throughout: optimize, organization, analyze, program. Phone number with a country code if you are outside the US, +44 7700 900123, and an email at a mainstream provider. If you are abroad, put your real city and country in the header and add a line such as "Relocating to Seattle, WA in January 2027" only if it is true. Do not borrow a US address.

Step 9: Decide What to Say About Work Authorisation

US resumes usually say nothing about visa status; the application form asks. State it on the resume only when it removes friction: "US citizen" or "Green card holder, no sponsorship required" if you are applying from overseas, or "F-1 OPT, work-authorised through May 2027, STEM extension eligible" if you are a recent graduate. Never write that you need sponsorship in the header; answer that question honestly on the form. The international candidates guide covers the detail.

Step 10: Check That It Parses

Upload the finished PDF to the free ATS resume checker. It shows the fields a Workday or Greenhouse parser would extract, a score across six categories, and the specific bullets that still lack results. Fix anything that comes out garbled before you send it.

A Conversion Checklist

Letter size, one page (two if senior), file named as a resume
No photo, date of birth, nationality, marital status, address, declaration or references
Every bullet has a verb, specific work and a number or a stated scale
Currency in US dollars; employers explained; titles kept but scope stated
Education limited to degrees, no school marks
Skills grouped, no soft skills, no rating bars
Month YYYY dates, American spelling, country-coded phone
Authorisation stated only where it helps; answered honestly on the form
Parsed cleanly by an ATS checker

Templates That Parse Cleanly

Harvard Resume Template — the single-column academic-standard layout, and the most downloaded template on CVEdge. Set it to Letter and it is the safest US default.

Classic Resume Template — standard headings, no graphics, parses cleanly in Greenhouse, Workday, Lever and iCIMS.

Executive Resume Template — for senior candidates who need the summary and leadership scope to land before the role history.

Related Guides

Frequently asked questions

What is the biggest difference between a CV and a US resume?

Length and emphasis. A CV describes the role over two or more pages; a US resume describes measurable results in one page and omits every personal detail except contact information.

Should I convert my Indian CGPA to a US GPA?

Not by yourself. Scales differ by university and a self-converted GPA can be challenged in a background check. State the original mark or omit it; provide a formal evaluation only if the employer requests one.

Do I need a US address on my resume?

No. Use your real city and country. If you have a confirmed relocation date, state it in one line. A borrowed US address is discovered at the background check and reads as dishonest.

Should I keep my original CV?

Yes. Keep a master document with everything, then produce a one-page US resume and a two-page CV from it as needed. Applying across markets with the wrong document is one of the most common reasons strong candidates hear nothing back.

Next Step

Build the converted version in the free resume builder on a Letter-size template, then check it with the ATS checker before your first US application.

How to Convert Your CV to a US Resume (Step by Step)