CV Formatting and Tips

CV Formatting

A CV should feature a clean, distinctive appearance that attracts attention. The final product should be well organized, professional, and easy to read. Here’s a good place to start:

• Set margins at 1 inch.

• Choose 11- or 12-point for the size of your fonts.

• Your CV should be as long as you need to convey the relevant information about your qualifications, skills, and experiences. Don't reduce font size, decrease margins, or omit important information to shorten it.

• Limit your font types to one or two similar fonts (one for headings, the other for everything else. Use only conservative, common fonts.

• Ensure consistent style, size, and formatting of headings.

• Use bold, italics, capitalization, and bullets to organize your CV — but use sparingly.

• Spell-check your CV and review it for poor grammar. Ask someone to help you proofread.

• Write short, succinct sentences using active verbs and vivid, precise language.

CV Writing Tips:

● List everything in chronological order.

● Use action verbs to start each bullet point.

● Be consistent with punctuation.

● Be detailed: use numerical data whenever possible (i.e. “interviewed 40 volunteers” or “taught 35 students”).

● Use words like ‘anticipated’ if something has not happened yet definitely will happen (do not use it if you are hopeful something will happen but don’t know for sure).

● Do not list publications that have been submitted; only list them if they have been accepted, are in print, or have been published.

● Only list interests that show initiative, perseverance, or skill (i.e. sports, cooking, language fluency)