Resume Checklist

Overall Appearance

No spelling or grammar errors
Date ranges are right justified and include month and year
No graphics, artwork or pictures (unless industry-appropriate)
Personal pronouns (such as I, me, my, our) are omitted
Document is appropriate length (one page is standard for industry resumes; three to five pages is standard for federal/government resumes; three to 10 pages is standard for academic/scientific CVs)
References are not listed on the resume, rather references are compiled on a separate reference page

Font is easy to read
Font size is consistent throughout the document (only the header and/or section titles are larger)
Spacing between lines is consistent
Use of periods throughout the document is uniform
Sections are easy to differentiate between
Bold, underline, italics are used sparingly
Margins are no larger than 1” and no smaller than 0.5”

Name is bold and in a larger font at the top of the page
Phone number with an active voicemail set up is included
Professional email address is included
Full mailing address, just the city & state or omitting physical address are options
LinkedIn URL, portfolio URL or online project URL are included when appropriate

University degrees awarded (or anticipated) are listed in reverse chronological order and high school and college experiences that didn’t result in a degree are omitted
Expected graduation date is included (right justified)
When appropriate GPA is listed using 4.0 scale (only if it is 3.0 or higher)

Each experience section is consistent in formatting that includes work title, company or organization’s name, bullet points describing the responsibilities, date range right justified
Date ranges include month and year, not specific days of employment (May 2023, not May 15, 2025)
Sections could include but are not limited to: work experience, relevant work experience, internship experience, academic projects, leadership experience, campus involvement
Each bullet point starts with an action verb matching the tense of the date range (past experience = past tense verbs; present experience = present tense verbs)
Put emphasis on results, achievements and transferable skills and not exclusively the job responsibilities
Industry terminology and keywords from the job description are used when appropriate
Technical skills section is included, if applicable