At the CLS we see résumés in all stages of development. If you’re just getting started, follow this sample résumé to develop your document. Above all, strive for non-fussy and consistent formatting. If you’ve got a résumé-in-progress, here are a few pro tips to polish the presentation of your résumé.
Know the Features of Your Word-processing Program
Whether the web-based version or the app, Word offers easy formatting features that will help your résumé look clean and professional. The advice here is based on working in Microsoft Word. Other word processing programs offer similar features.
Underline Your Section Headers from Margin to Margin
In Word, you can either use the borders feature to underline from margin to margin or directly under a heading type three hyphens and hit return.
Turn on Formatting Marks
Click the icon that looks like a paragraph return in your toolbar (called a pilcrow, ¶) to see hard and soft returns, tabs, and spaces as you type.
Use Alignment Tabs
A combination of tabs and spaces used to move something across the page requires eyeballing the placement rather than using the tools your program offers. Align information like dates for a position you’ve worked and the location by inserting a right tab that will automatically line up the end of the entry with your right margin.
Insert Appropriate Symbols
For résumés written in English, if you have an international symbol you wish to use, for example the accents in résumé, take the time to input these. Try “insert symbol” in the search menu of your program to discover the many symbols you can effortlessly add into your materials.
Distinguish among Hyphens, En-dashes, and Em-dashes Correctly
Hyphens indicate word breaks and the connections of words to one another. A first-year student might work at a for-profit company. Hyphenated phrases can be checked in the dictionary.
- En-dashes are longer than hyphens, traditionally the length of a lower-case letter n. They show the relationships between numbers. If you worked from August to December 2023 or from 2021 to 2023, use en-dashes with no spaces to illustrate your timeline: August–December 2023; 2021–2023).
- Em-dashes are twice the length of a hyphen, about the size of a lower-case m. They are typically considered more informal than—for example—a clause set off by commas. They do show that you’ve shifted direction and may be useful occasionally on a résumé. They could certainly come into play in a cover letter or email outreach.
- Word considers en-dashes and em-dashes special characters. There are a few ways to access them (to get an em-dash, try typing two hyphens, no spaces, and autocorrect will likely make an em-dash for you), but you can always default to “insert special character” to find them.
See the difference?
- Hyphen, for-profit company
- En-dash, May–June 2023
- Em-dash, What looked like smoke—it turned out—was a thick fog rolling in.
Proofread for Consistency
If your job title for one position is specifically formatted (italics, for example, or bold), make certain that each job title is treated the same way. Check that the bullets line up from top to bottom. Be sure your font choice and size(s) are consistently applied. Your ultimate goal is a document that is easy to read.
