How consistent is your resume?

Have you ever come across a resume that's...a bit of a mess?

• Different fonts for different sections?

• Paragraphs here and bullets there?

• Indents that don't line up?

• Bold for some titles but italics for others?

• Big empty spaces on one page and squished text on another?

• Every third Word capitalized for Some reason?

• Know what I mean?

It doesn't make a great impression, does it?

Consistency throughout your resume is important the same way consistency throughout a business report is important. It's a reflection of your ability - and recruiters are assessing your ability at every stage of the application process.

It's very important to be consistent, which means if you do something in particular in one area, you do it in all other similar areas. Some things to think about:

• Be consistent with punctuation. For example, if you use periods at the end of bullet points, use them at the end of every bullet point.

• Be consistent with capitalization. If you're unsure what should be capitalized, do some research. Make sure you're following the same "rules" throughout.

• Be consistent with white space. If you have a 20-point space between different sections, use the same size between all sections. If you have a 12-point space between jobs, use the same between all jobs.

• Be consistent with font types. I almost always prefer using just one font on a resume, but sometimes two is fine. Just be consistent with where you're using the second one.

• Be consistent with font sizes. It's perfectly fine, and advisable, to use different font sizes for your name and headings - but be consistent. Don't use size 11 for one company name and 13 for another.

• Be consistent with bold, italics, underlining, UPPERCASE, and color.  If you use a certain text element for, say, job titles, then use it for all job titles.  

• Be consistent with bullet indents. If your bullets indent half an inch for one job, they should indent half an inch for all jobs.

• Be consistent with text alignment/justification. If you use "full justification" for one paragraph, use it for all paragraphs. If you align to the left, do it everywhere.

Remember, your resume is a reflection of your ability - it should look professional and makes a great impression at first glance.

Best of luck!