Proofreading your resume: 12 tips

So, you’ve got your resume all tuned up to apply for your next job as a “certified pubic accountant”? Um … you might have overlooked the importance of proofreading your resume.

This guide will teach you:

A careful proofreading of your resume before sending it to an employer is absolutely mission-critical. Typos, misspellings, bad grammar or incorrect punctuation can all sink your chances of landing your next job.

A resume should usually be one page only — so exactly how many mistakes do you expect a hiring manager to tolerate in a single page? One is too many!

How do you proofread a resume?

Here are our top 12 tips to proofreading your resume so that you don’t miss anything important. (And again, it’s ALL important).

1. Reread it very slowly, word for word and line by line.

Resume proofreading, obviously, starts with rereading, but you need to do this slo-o-owly. Often when we read, our eyes absorb big chunks of text at once. But you need to slow down the process to look at each word one by one, and in fact each punctuation mark as well.

2. Use editing tools like spellcheck and Grammarly.

Using spellcheck is a no-brainer, and you can also use programs like Grammarly that both spot errors and suggest improvements in syntax. But neither of these is foolproof — you could write “lead” instead of the past tense “led,” and a spellcheck might never catch it.

3. Eliminate repeated words.

Many resumes are rife with repeated words that should be deleted. You don’t want to say you’re a “passionate” schoolteacher and then say you have a “passion” for early childhood education. You don’t need to use the word “skills” three times in your skills section. Many writers have certain go-to phrases that they tend to repeat unconsciously. Try doing a search for some of the major words in your resume, and you might be surprised how often you repeat them.

4. Eliminate clichés.

Resumes are often a minefield of clichés, in part because so many of us look at other people’s resumes as models for how to write our own. Phrases like “self-starter,” “team player,” “results-oriented” and “thinking outside the box” are a few tired examples — and how many resumes boast of “strong communication skills”? When writing a resume, the first words that come to mind may well be a cliché. Try to use original language that you’ve never read on any other resume.

5. Check for missing material.

A comprehensive guide like ResumesMadeHere’s “ How to write a resume ” will provide you with a good list of all the elements your resume needs to include, from the contact info in your header through the summary/profile, employment history , education and skills sections. As you carefully proofread all the text you already have, don’t forget to double-check for anything important you’re missing.

6. Read your resume out loud.

By reading your resume aloud, you involve your sense of hearing as you hear yourself read it. Not only can this tactic help catch repeated words, but it will also help you check for “flow.” This is an element of good writing in which one sentence transitions logically to the next, and the entire piece of writing reads like it was thoughtfully composed to go together.

7. Reread your resume tomorrow.

It’s always a good idea to “sleep on it” and return to your resume the next day with a fresh eye. If you spend hours writing and rewriting your resume in a single sitting, your mind tends to get tired and fall into a rut where you don’t spot problems. Come back the next day for a second look and you’ll often spot issues you missed the day before. In fact, if you reread your resume a week from now, or whenever you need it in the future, you are likely to spot even more improvements you can make.

8. Print out your resume and read it again.

Even though content will differ across people, industries, experience levels, there are a few general rules of thumb when listing education on your resume:

Always be honest. No matter what, never stretch the truth about education on your resume. It’s a small world, and it’s extremely easy for someone to verify your education when necessary.

If formal education isn’t the focus of your achievements, there are better ways than lying to demonstrate prove how education (and more importantly learning!) is woven into your professional life. If you have no education to list, beef up the special skills section to focus on soft and hard skills learned outside of the classroom. Don’t lose confidence about skipping education on your resume all together. If you are qualified for the job, it should come across in your experience, skills, and the overall presentation of your resume.

9. Read your resume on a different device.

Keep it clean and consistent. We’ll jump into this a bit more below. Overall, keep education on your resume short and sweet and pay close attention to the format and consistency. The right resume template can guide toward a clean design or you can use the examples below for inspiration.

10. Read your resume backwards.

Tailor your info. Always customize your resume for each job application — from the hobbies section to work description to the education on your resume. Though college degrees always make the cut, you don’t want to list that you’re trained as a chef if you’re applying for an office job.

11. Check for any formatting problems.

Note honors and awards. Education on a resume rarely includes long bullet points or descriptions like work experience, but you can include important honors societies, high GPAs, notable mentors, scholarships, or awards in this section.

Examples of education on your resume

Example #1: Standard

Example #2: including a partial degree

Example #3: moving the date

Example #4: mid-progress degree

Example #5: professional development

Recap writing about education on your resume

As tempting as it can be to write more about education on your resume, save the relevant details about your education for an interview. Resumes aim to say a lot with very little, especially the education section. Usually the name of the school and the program are enough to help hiring managers understand the significance of your education.

In just a few words education on your resume sums up the value your learnings and background will bring to job.