The top employers in North America receive millions of applications every year. Google alone gets over 3 million. JPMorgan processes hundreds of thousands. At that volume, your resume doesn’t get a careful read on the first pass. It gets scanned by software, ranked by keywords, and either forwarded to a recruiter or filtered out.
If you want to work at the companies everyone else is targeting, your resume needs to be built for their specific systems and expectations. This guide covers the real requirements at North America’s most competitive employers.
How Top Companies Screen Resumes
Every company on this list uses an Applicant Tracking System. The ATS parses your resume into structured data, matches it against the job description, and produces a ranking. Recruiters start at the top of that ranking and work down.
The differences between companies show up in which ATS they use, what keywords they prioritize, and what format preferences their recruiting teams have developed internally. A resume optimized for Google’s process won’t necessarily score well at Goldman Sachs, even if the content is identical.
For broader context on the North American job market, see our market entry guide.
FAANG and Big Tech
Google (Alphabet)
ATS: Google uses their own internal hiring system. External applications go through Google Careers, which feeds into their proprietary tools.
What they want: Google’s engineering hiring is famously focused on problem-solving ability over specific technologies. But your resume still needs to get you to the interview.
For software engineering, include programming languages (specific versions if relevant), system design experience, and the scale of systems you’ve worked on. Google cares about scale: millions of users, billions of requests, petabytes of data. If you’ve worked at scale, quantify it.
For non-engineering roles (sales, marketing, operations, people ops), Google looks for data-driven decision-making. Every accomplishment should have a metric attached.
Format: One page is strongly preferred for candidates with fewer than 10 years of experience. Two pages is acceptable for senior roles. Google’s recruiters have stated publicly that they prefer a clean, single-column layout with no graphics and no fancy formatting.
Google does not expect cover letters. Don’t send one unless the application specifically asks for it.
Apple
ATS: Apple uses Workday for their recruitment process.
What they want: Apple values secrecy and attention to detail. Your resume should reflect precision. Typos are a disqualifier. Vague claims are a disqualifier. Apple wants specific, verified accomplishments.
For hardware and engineering roles, include patents, publications and specific technical contributions. For retail roles, include customer satisfaction metrics, sales figures, and team leadership experience.
Apple’s design teams expect candidates to include a portfolio link. The resume itself should be clean but doesn’t need to demonstrate design skill (that’s what the portfolio is for).
Format: One to two pages. No photo. Apple follows US conventions strictly.
Amazon
ATS: Amazon uses their own internal system (Amazon Hire), which is tightly integrated with their Leadership Principles.
What they want: Amazon’s hiring revolves around their 16 Leadership Principles. If you’re serious about Amazon, study these principles and align your resume bullets to them.
“Customer Obsession” means including customer-facing metrics. “Bias for Action” means showing fast execution. “Dive Deep” means demonstrating analytical rigor. “Deliver Results” means quantified outcomes on every bullet.
Amazon’s recruiters look for the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result) in resume bullets. Structure your achievements this way and you’ll match their internal evaluation framework.
For technical roles, Amazon values AWS experience (they built it, after all). AWS certifications carry real weight here.
Format: Two pages maximum. Amazon’s internal hiring guidance explicitly allows two pages, even for junior roles. They want substance over brevity.
Meta (Facebook)
ATS: Meta uses Greenhouse.
What they want: Meta hiring focuses on technical skills for engineering, product sense for product management and impact for business roles.
For engineering, list your languages, frameworks and systems. Include contributions to open source projects if you have them. Meta values engineers who build at scale.
For product management, include metrics: user growth, engagement, revenue and the decisions that drove them.
For data science, include tools (Python, SQL, R), statistical methods and the business impact of your analytical work.
Format: One to two pages. Clean and simple. Meta doesn’t care about fancy formatting. They care about what you’ve built and what happened as a result.
Microsoft
ATS: Microsoft uses their own internal tools integrated with LinkedIn (which they own).
What they want: Microsoft values “growth mindset,” a cultural principle baked into their hiring process since Satya Nadella’s tenure as CEO. Your resume should show learning, adaptation and increasing responsibility over time.
For engineering roles, Azure experience is valued (similar to how Amazon values AWS). Include cloud certifications, programming languages and system architecture experience.
For business roles, Microsoft looks for enterprise sales experience, partnership development and industry expertise.
Format: One to two pages. Microsoft’s careers site and recruiter guidance align with standard US resume conventions. LinkedIn profile consistency matters here because Microsoft owns LinkedIn and their recruiters cross-reference profiles.
Big 4 Consulting Firms
McKinsey, BCG and Bain (MBB)
These aren’t technically the “Big 4” (that’s Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG), but MBB firms are the most selective consulting employers in North America.
ATS: McKinsey uses Workday. BCG uses Avature. Bain uses Workday.
What they want: MBB firms look for three things: academic excellence, leadership and measurable impact.
Academic credentials matter more here than anywhere else. Include your GPA if it’s above 3.5. Include your SAT/GMAT/GRE if it’s in the top decile. Include the name of your university (MBB firms have target school lists).
For experienced hires, include the scope and outcome of your most impactful projects. Consulting firms want to see that you can structure problems, lead teams and deliver measurable results.
Format: One page only. This is non-negotiable at MBB firms for anyone below the partner level. Every word needs to earn its place.
Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG
ATS: Deloitte and PwC use Workday. EY uses Oracle Taleo. KPMG uses SAP SuccessFactors.
What they want: The Big 4 hire across audit, tax, advisory, consulting and technology. Resume expectations vary by service line.
For audit and tax: CPA designation (or in progress), client portfolio details, industry specialization. For consulting: Project examples with methodology, scope and outcomes. Industry expertise. For technology: Technical certifications, implementation experience, client-facing delivery.
Big 4 firms value professional certifications heavily. CPA, CFA, PMP, CISA, CISSP. Include these prominently.
Format: One page for campus hires and candidates with fewer than 5 years of experience. Two pages for experienced hires. Big 4 recruiters process high volumes and value conciseness.
Wall Street and Finance
Goldman Sachs
ATS: Goldman uses their own internal recruitment system.
What they want: Goldman’s hiring is intensely academic-focused for entry-level and associate roles. GPA, university prestige and relevant internships dominate the screening criteria.
For experienced hires in investment banking, include deal experience with transaction values. “Advised on 3 M&A transactions totaling $4.2B” carries weight.
For technology roles (Goldman has invested heavily in engineering), include programming languages, system design experience and financial technology knowledge.
For sales and trading, include P&L responsibility, position sizing and market coverage.
Format: One page. Goldman expects extreme conciseness. Their analyst and associate resumes follow a rigid format: education at the top (for junior hires), followed by experience, followed by skills and interests.
Goldman’s recruiters have noted that they appreciate a brief “Interests” section at the bottom. It gives interviewers conversation starters. Keep it to one line: “Marathon running, jazz piano, Mandarin (conversational).”
JPMorgan Chase
ATS: JPMorgan uses Taleo.
What they want: Similar to Goldman but slightly broader. JPMorgan’s size (they’re the largest US bank by assets) means they hire across more functions: consumer banking, asset management, commercial banking, investment banking and technology.
For each division, tailor accordingly. Consumer banking values customer-facing metrics. Investment banking values deal experience. Technology values cloud, security and scale.
JPMorgan runs one of the largest campus hiring programs in finance. For entry-level roles, academic record, relevant coursework and internship experience are the primary factors.
Format: One page for entry-level. One to two pages for experienced hires. Taleo can struggle with complex formatting, so keep it clean.
Canadian Top Employers
RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC (Big 5 Banks)
Canada’s Big 5 banks are the largest private employers in the country.
ATS: Most use Workday or Taleo.
What they want: Canadian banking resumes follow similar conventions to US banking with a few differences. Bilingualism (English and French) is valued and sometimes required, especially for roles based in Quebec, Ottawa, or the federal government.
Canadian CPA designation is expected for accounting roles. CFA is valued for investment-facing positions.
Include your Canadian work authorization status if you’re an international applicant. Canadian employers are more explicit about asking for this than US employers.
Format: Two pages is standard for experienced hires in Canada. One page for new graduates. Canadian resume conventions closely mirror US conventions, with no photo, no personal details and reverse-chronological experience.
Shopify
ATS: Shopify uses Greenhouse.
What they want: Shopify is Canada’s largest tech company. They value builders. Your resume should show what you’ve created, launched, or shipped.
For engineering: programming languages, systems you’ve built and the scale of impact. Open source contributions are valued. For product and design: portfolio links, user-facing metrics and evidence of customer empathy. For business roles: growth metrics, partnership development and e-commerce industry knowledge.
Format: One to two pages. Modern tech resume conventions. No photo, no personal details, clean formatting.
Universal Patterns at Top Companies
Keywords
Every company on this list uses keyword matching in their ATS. Read the job description. Identify the technical skills, certifications and qualifications mentioned. Include those exact terms in your resume.
If the job says “machine learning,” don’t write “ML” and assume the system will match it. Use both: “Machine learning (ML).” If the job says “project management,” don’t write “PM.” Write it out.
Quantification
Without exception, every top company in North America expects quantified achievements. Revenue. Users. Team size. Budget. Timeline. Percentage improvement. If a bullet point doesn’t have a number, it should at least have a specific, measurable outcome.
Formatting
Single column. Standard fonts (Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman, Garamond). No graphics. No photos. No headers or footers (ATS systems skip these). PDF or Word format.
One Page vs. Two Pages
- One page: MBB consulting, Goldman Sachs, entry-level at most companies, anyone with fewer than 5-7 years of experience
- Two pages: Amazon, experienced hires at most companies, candidates with 10+ years
When in doubt, one page is safer. No recruiter has ever rejected a candidate for having a resume that was too concise.
Cover Letters
Most top companies don’t require cover letters. Google, Amazon, Meta and Spotify don’t read them. Goldman Sachs and McKinsey don’t expect them for most roles. The Big 4 occasionally ask for them for specific roles.
Don’t write a cover letter unless the application specifically asks for one. Spend that time tailoring your resume instead.
1Template’s resume builder helps you create clean, ATS-compatible resumes that match the formatting expectations of North America’s top employers.
Common Mistakes When Applying to Top Companies
Sending the Same Resume Everywhere
A resume built for Google won’t perform the same way at Goldman Sachs. Google’s recruiters look for scale and technical depth. Goldman’s recruiters look for deal experience and academic credentials. Tailoring isn’t optional at this level. It’s the cost of entry.
Read the job description for each application. Mirror the language and priorities of that specific company. Yes, this takes more time. But one tailored application is worth more than ten generic ones at companies that receive millions of submissions.
Overdesigning the Document
Creative formatting impresses no one at these companies. Infographics, color blocks, custom icons and multi-column layouts all create ATS parsing problems. Worse, they signal that you prioritized appearance over substance.
Every company on this list processes resumes through automated systems first. Clean formatting gets parsed correctly. Fancy formatting gets garbled. The choice is obvious.
Ignoring the Company’s Culture Signals
Amazon talks about Leadership Principles. Microsoft talks about growth mindset. Google talks about data-driven decisions. These aren’t marketing slogans. They’re screening criteria.
If you can identify the cultural values a company emphasizes and reflect them naturally in your resume bullets, you’ll outperform candidates with similar experience who didn’t bother.
Closing Thoughts
The companies on this list are the most competitive employers on the continent. They’ve built their hiring processes to handle massive application volumes efficiently. Your resume is your entry ticket to that process.
Research the specific company. Match their format. Mirror their language. Quantify everything. Keep it clean. These aren’t optional best practices. They’re the minimum requirements for getting past the first screen at the companies everyone wants to work for.
