Resume (sometimes spelled “resumé ” and pronounced “rez-oo-may”) is a document that tells an employer about your work history. The word is French for “summary,” so you can think about your resume as a professional summary of your skills and experiences.

Employers usually ask for job seekers to send them a resumé as part of applying for a role. The resume will be read by a resume parser (software the scans the text of the resume), a recruiter ( a person who decides which candidates will be considered for the role and which will be rejected), or a hiring manager (the person that this role will report to once it is filled). Your resumé should be formatted so that it’s as easy to read as possible.

In any case, the person (or software) reading the resume is trying to see how closely the information on the resumé matches the requirements that were called for in the job description. At this stage, they aren’t interested in knowing everything, and they don’t want to read anything that doesn’t relate to the job.

That’s why it’s critical that you write a customized resume for each job you apply for.

Oftentimes, job descriptions or company websites will explain how many pages they expect the resume to be, if you should include a cover letter or references, and other information the company’s hiring process requires. If this information is not listed, a one- or two-page resume is standard, and cover letters and references are optional (it’s okay to include them, but it probably isn’t necessary).