Book Review: The Elements of Style
Fun fact: In addition to loving to write, I love to read. Yes, the two indeed go hand in hand most of the time.
The Elements of Style is one of my favorite books, and while it’s categorized in the reference genre, it reads like poetry if you’re into correct word usage and overall stylistic writing.
Here are six key style elements as they pertain to résumé writing:
Clarity and Simplicity
Write your bullets clearly and avoid unnecessary word choices (especially jargon!). Be straightforward and simple so your reader can easily follow and understand what you’re saying. You don’t want to make it hard for them to get to know you and your experience.
Composition and Form
Organize your thoughts logically and coherently, and use headings, bulleted lists, and margins to your advantage! Keep your tabs and your punctuation consistent.
Grammar and Syntax
Proofread your words! Are you stuffing so many keywords into your bullets you’ve made them practically unreadable? Keep the same tense throughout (don’t start one bullet with “advanced,” another with “responsible for,” and yet another with “increasing.”).
Pro tip: don’t ever use “responsible for.”
Unity and Coherence
In your cover letter, stay on topic, and as we mentioned in the Great Cover Letter Debate, stay away from fluff words and keep a theme central to the role and how it aligns with your experience.
Emphasis and Conciseness
Speaking of fluff words, you want to keep your bullets thoughtfully concise (as I describe my tact). Eliminate unnecessary words and stick to “just the facts, ma’am!”
This also means you shouldn’t have résumé bullets stretching into three lines. Something in there needs to be cut, so do your best to streamline it to make it more readable to someone reviewing it.
Punctuation and Spelling
Where do you need an em dash? Or a comma? I don’t prefer to use semicolons because that means there are two thoughts in one bullet… separate ‘em!
Go through and proofread at least five times.
Put the document down for a few hours, then come back to review again. You’d be surprised how many résumés I see with common and easily picked-up spelling mistakes.
One final thought: When considering reviewing or refreshing your résumé, think twice about making it three pages (or a full two unless you have publications, presentations, and education to include). As Strunk said, “Vigorous writing is concise.”
If you’d like a thought partner to sift through all the formatting and style questions swirling in your mind, let’s get our heads together!
Here’s to you!
🥂 nicole:)
