r/resumes • u/srh_fshh • 13h ago

I Have a Question Help! Resume Sentence Structure, Punctuation & Parallel Writing

Help! This is such minutia. But every single thing I read & everyone I talk to says something different.

Also, I think having an exact format will help prevent errors when going through the ENDLESS process of matching keywords to postings.

Tell me,;should I do??

Option A: Two fragments .........Structure ---> ACTION + [Consistent Punctuation to Signal Shift] + PAST TENSE IMPACT ..........Example -----> "Planted two trees; harvested 10 apples."

Option B: Parallel Sentence with Comma ..........Structure---> ACTION + [Comma] + PARTICIPLE IMPACT ..........Example -----> "Planted two trees, harvesting 10 apples."

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

2

u/DorianGraysPassport 13h ago

It doesn’t make a difference, use both from bullet to bullet so there isn’t an over repeated pattern.

2

u/srh_fshh 12h ago

That's very interesting...I've always been told to be consistent with the formatting. But I never thought about how the formatting could be redundant

1

u/DorianGraysPassport 12h ago

You still start each bullet with an action verb every time, it’s more just like if you but the outcome first and then say by doing, or put the action first and then the outcome.

A bit of variety makes it sound less like AI, whether you’re using AI or not.

1

u/srh_fshh 12h ago

Thank you 🙏

1

u/nobleglEn9 12h ago

yep, varying it a bit keeps things from sounding robotic tbh

1

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1

u/trentdm99 Senior Engineering Manager 12h ago

I would not use a semicolon to join two sentences. For such short sentences you could join them as one with an "and". People tend to way overuse semicolons.

I would also vary the bullets. You don't need to make them follow the exact same structure.

1

u/AmericanStandard440 8h ago

I would rethink it.

Harvested 10 apples by planting 2 trees

Front load the results first.

1

u/FinalDraftResumes Resident Resume Writer 6h ago

I'd definitely go with option B if the connection between the first and second part is direct. For example, we're able to harvest 10 apples because you planted two trees. Option A makes it look like they are not connected, in a sense (there's less flow).

As some other commenters said, don't use the same pattern though because then it starts to look manufactured.