Resume formatting basics: fonts, margins, spacing and a layout that reads well

Good formatting is mostly invisible. A reader takes in your history without noticing the layout, because nothing in it gets in the way. Bad formatting makes itself known: cramped text, jumping fonts, headings that blur into the body.

The aim is not to be fancy. It is to make the page easy on the eyes for someone who has many more to read, and clean for software that reads it.

Fonts

Choose one or two fonts and stay with them. A clear, common typeface in a plain weight is the safest choice for body text. Fonts that are widely installed are more likely to look the same for the reader as they do for you, especially if the file is a Word document.

For the body, a size of about ten to twelve points is comfortable for most typefaces. Smaller than that and the text begins to strain the reader, particularly on a phone screen, where a small font becomes smaller still. Your name can be larger, and headings a touch larger than the body.

Avoid decorative or handwriting fonts. They are harder to read, they can be misread by software, and they rarely add anything that the content does not already say.

Hierarchy

The page should have an order, so a reader's eye knows where to go. Three levels are enough:

1. Your name, the largest text.
2. Section headings such as Experience and Education, clearly different from body text, through size, weight or a small amount of color.
3. Body text, with job titles and company names slightly stronger than the descriptions beneath.

Keep the styles the same everywhere. If one job title is bold and the next is not, readers wonder whether the difference means something. Consistency is what makes a page look professional.

Margins and spacing

White space is not wasted space. It gives the eye a rest and marks where one idea ends and the next begins.

• Margins: around two to two and a half centimeters, or about an inch, are a good standard. Going much below that can look crowded and may cause trouble when printing.
• Line spacing: a little more than single spacing, enough that lines do not touch.
• Space between sections: more than the space between lines inside a section, so groups are visible.
• Space between jobs: a little more than between bullets, so each role stands apart.

If your resume only fits by shrinking all of these, it is too long. Cut content before you squeeze the layout.

Color

A small amount of color can help, for example for headings or a thin rule. Use it on one or two elements and keep it dark enough to read on white. Check that it still works in black and white, because many resumes are printed that way or viewed on a grayscale screen.

Do not use colored text for body copy, and do not put text on a colored background unless the contrast is very strong. A light color on white may look fine on your screen and disappear on someone else's.

Alignment and bullets

Align the body text to the left. Justified text can create uneven gaps between words that slow the eye. Keep dates in a consistent place, such as the right edge or in a line under the title, and use the same format for all of them.

Use simple round bullets. Fancy symbols can turn into stray characters when a program reads the file. Keep each bullet to one or two lines, and keep them aligned so wrapped lines tuck under the text, not under the bullet. For the wording inside bullets, see bullet points.

Dates

Choose one date style and use it throughout: "March 2023 to June 2025", "Mar 2023 to Jun 2025" or "2023 to 2025". Mixing styles looks careless and makes the timeline harder to follow. Use the same word or symbol between start and end dates each time, and write "Present" for a current role.

Mixed dates usually creep in when a resume has been added to over the years, one job at a time.

If you cannot find the months for an old job, use years only for every job instead. Mixing the two looks like something is being hidden.

Headings that software understands

Name your sections plainly: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Projects, Certifications. Clever names such as "My story" or "What I bring" read well to people and poorly to programs that look for standard labels. How software reads your resume goes further.

Check how it looks in other places

Open your final file on a phone, in a different viewer and, if you can, as a print preview. Look for lines that break in odd places, headings stranded at the bottom of a page and bullets that have changed shape. What you see on one screen may not be what the reader sees.

Then check the text underneath. Select everything, copy it and paste it into a plain text editor. If the text reads in the right order, a program will most likely read it correctly too.

Common formatting mistakes

• Using many fonts or sizes on one page
• Tiny text or very narrow margins to force a fit
• Text boxes and tables for the main content
• Pictures of text, such as a skills chart drawn as an image
• Inconsistent dates, bullets and spacing
• A first page crowded with decoration and a second page that is blank

Heavy design choices are covered in two-column and designed templates, and file types in PDF or Word.