Common resume design mistakes – Page 2

It can. A design that is hard to read, or that software cannot process properly, makes it more likely your experience is overlooked, even if you are well qualified. A good design does not get you the job, but a poor one can get in the way.

Ways design can hurt:

• The reader cannot find your current role or key skills quickly.
• Text is too small or low contrast to read comfortably.
• Columns, images or text boxes scramble the text for software.
• Visible inconsistencies suggest a lack of care, which matters in detail-oriented roles.

The fix is rarely more design. A clean, consistent layout that puts your strongest content first is what helps.

Look at it in several different ways, because you get used to your own document and stop noticing problems. A short routine catches most issues.

Checks:

• Squint test: blur your eyes. Can you still see the sections and job entries clearly?
• Alignment check: run your eye down the left edge and the date column. Is everything straight?
• Consistency check: read only the dates, then only the job titles, then only the headings.
• Phone check: open the PDF on your phone. Is it readable when zoomed?
• Print check: print it in black and white.
• Copy check: paste all the text into a plain text editor. Is the order sensible?
• Fresh eyes: ask a friend to find your current role and top skill in a few seconds.

Fix what you find, then repeat the checks on the final PDF.

It is better to write languages as text with a clear level. Flags can be confusing, because one language is spoken in many countries and one country may have many languages. Icons and graphics may also be invisible to software.

Clear format:
"Languages: Arabic (native), English (fluent), Urdu (conversational)"

Tips:

• Use simple, widely understood levels such as native, fluent, professional working, intermediate and basic.
• If a recognised test result is relevant, add it briefly, for example "English (IELTS 7.5)".
• Keep the list in a normal text section.

This is easier to read and more accurate than flags, dots or bars.

Some white space is good, but large empty areas can make a resume look unfinished, especially for graduates and people with short careers. The aim is balance, not maximum content.

Ways to fill space usefully:

• Add relevant projects, internships, volunteer work or training.
• Expand key roles with one or two more achievement bullets.
• Add a Skills section grouped by type.
• Include certifications or relevant coursework.

Design adjustments:

• Choose a template with a slightly larger body font or more structured layout.
• Avoid stretching content with extra blank lines or huge headings, which looks artificial.

A shorter resume that is full of relevant content is better than a padded one. One well-filled page is fine.

Yes. Mixing styles such as "Work experience", "EDUCATION" and "Key Skills" looks inconsistent. Pick one style and apply it to every heading.

Common choices:

• Title case: "Work Experience", "Professional Training".
• All capitals: "WORK EXPERIENCE", "EDUCATION".
• Sentence case: "Work experience", "Professional training".

Apply the same rule to job titles and company names. For example, write every job title in title case. Also keep heading wording standard and simple, which helps both readers and applicant tracking systems recognise each section.

Either style is fine, as long as you are consistent. Some people end every bullet with a full stop; others use none. The mistake is mixing the two.

Choose one approach:

• No full stops: common for short, fragment-style bullets.
• Full stops: works well if bullets are complete sentences or contain two clauses.

Also be consistent with other small details:

• Starting every bullet with a capital letter.
• Using the same tense (past for previous roles, present for your current role).
• Using either numerals or words for numbers.

These details are small, but readers in detail-focused roles notice them.

Yes. Mixing "5,000", "5000", "five thousand" and "5K" makes a resume look less polished. Choose one approach and apply it throughout.

A common, clear style:

• Use numerals for figures: "12 staff", "3 branches", "40 suppliers".
• Use commas for thousands: "5,000 units".
• Write numbers as words only at the start of a sentence, or avoid starting with a number.
• Use the same style for dates, durations and percentages if you include them in examples.

Numerals stand out on the page and draw the eye to your achievements, so they are generally the better choice in bullets.

Example: "Processed 1,200 invoices a month with no late payments."

Usually because different lists have different indentation settings, or some bullets were copied from another document. The result is a ragged edge that looks careless.

To fix it:

• Select all bullet lists and apply the same list style.
• Set the same indent for the bullet symbol and the same hanging indent for the text.
• Make sure wrapped lines align with the text above, not with the bullet symbol.
• Remove manual spaces or tabs at the start of bullets.

In a resume builder, bullets are formatted by the template. If something looks off, check for extra spaces or pasted symbols at the start of the line.

Often, yes. A resume with ten or more tiny sections, each with one or two lines, looks fragmented and is harder to scan. Grouping related items creates a cleaner page.

Ways to combine:

• Merge "Awards" and "Achievements" into one section.
• Combine "Certifications" and "Professional Training".
• Put "Languages" and "Technical Skills" under a single "Skills" section with subheadings.
• Move one-line items, such as a hobby, into another section or remove them.

Aim for a handful of clear sections that match what employers expect: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, and one or two extras that genuinely add value.

Give each job a clear starting line and a little extra space before it. Readers should be able to see where one role ends and the next begins without reading the text.

Techniques:

• Make the job title bold.
• Put the company, location and dates on a consistent line under or beside the title.
• Add slightly more space before each new role than between bullets.
• Keep bullets indented under their role.

Avoid separating jobs with heavy lines or boxes; spacing and bold titles are usually enough. Check that the same pattern is used for every role, including older ones.

It can be, if the line becomes long and wraps awkwardly. One line works for short entries, but two lines are often clearer.

One-line example (works when short):
"Accountant | Al Noor Trading, Sharjah | 2021 – Present"

Two-line example (clearer for longer details):
"Senior Accountant
Al Noor Trading LLC, Sharjah, UAE | Jan 2021 – Present"

Whichever you choose, use the same structure for every role. Make sure dates sit in the same place each time, so the reader can scan your timeline quickly.

No. Watermarks and background images make text harder to read, can look unprofessional, increase file size, and may confuse software that reads the text. They often print poorly too.

If you added one to make the resume look distinctive, remove it and use a cleaner technique:

• A strong header with your name and title line.
• One accent colour for headings.
• Good spacing and alignment.

Also avoid adding a "Confidential" or "Copyright" watermark; it is not needed on a resume and can seem odd to employers.

Yes. Using different colours for different headings looks inconsistent and distracting. Choose one accent colour and apply it to all headings, and to your name if you like.

Also check:

• Lines or dividers use the same colour as headings, or a neutral grey.
• Body text is black or very dark grey everywhere.
• Links are not a different bright colour from the rest of the design.

Colour inconsistency often creeps in when text is copied between documents. Clear formatting and reapply your heading style to fix it in one go.

Yes. Text in all capitals is harder to read in anything longer than a few words, because word shapes become uniform. It can also come across as shouting.

Where capitals are acceptable:

• Your name, if you prefer.
• Short section headings, such as "EXPERIENCE".

Where to avoid them:

• Bullets, summaries and descriptions.
• Job titles and company names within entries, unless they are short and consistent.

If you inherited capitals from an old document, retype or convert the text to normal capitalisation. Many word processors have a "change case" option to help.

Often the template or document was set to a different paper size from the one used for printing or viewing, or a "keep together" setting pushed a whole section onto the next page. Sometimes a manual page break was left in.

Fixes:

• Check the page size matches where you are applying: A4 in most countries, US Letter in the US and Canada.
• Remove manual page breaks and extra blank lines.
• Let longer sections flow across pages naturally, keeping each job's title with at least its first bullets.

Export again and check the PDF. ResumeBuilder.ae lets you choose A4 or US Letter so the layout matches the paper.

Yes, if lines appear between every role, under every heading and around sections. Too many lines make the page look busy and boxed-in, and the structure becomes harder to see, not easier.

Better approach:

• Use white space as the main separator.
• If you want lines, use one thin line under each section heading only.
• Keep all lines the same thickness and colour.

Remove double lines, thick bars and full boxes around sections. A page with fewer lines usually looks calmer and more professional.

List the company once, then show each role underneath with its own dates and bullets. This shows progression clearly and avoids repeating the company details.

Example:
"Emirates Logistics Services, Dubai, UAE
Operations Manager | Mar 2023 – Present

• Bullet points for this role.

Operations Supervisor | Jan 2020 – Feb 2023

• Bullet points for this role."

Tips:

• Keep the same format for dates as elsewhere.
• Give the most recent role more bullets.
• Make the company name bold and the job titles slightly less prominent, or the reverse, but be consistent.

This is clearer than listing the same employer as separate, unconnected entries.

Copied text carries hidden formatting such as fonts, colours, spacing and bullet styles. The cleanest fix is to remove all formatting and reapply it consistently.

Steps:

• Paste text as plain text (many programs offer "paste without formatting").
• Or select everything and use "clear formatting".
• Reapply one style for headings, one for job titles and one for bullets.
• Remove extra spaces, tabs and blank lines.

If you use a resume builder, paste content into its fields; the template applies consistent formatting automatically. Importing an existing resume also works, but check each imported section for errors.

Usually, yes. Bolding many words in each bullet makes the text look noisy, and the reader cannot tell what truly matters. It can also look like an attempt to game keyword screening.

Better ways to highlight:

• Put the most important result at the start of the bullet.
• Use numbers, which naturally stand out.
• Keep bold for headings and job titles only.

If you want to draw attention to one key achievement per role, you could bold a short phrase in one bullet, but keep it rare and consistent. Most strong resumes use no bold inside bullets at all.

Replace the tabbed columns with a simple list or grouped lines. Tabbed or table-like columns often break when the file is opened in another program, imported into a system or viewed on a phone.

Clear alternatives:

• Grouped lines:

"Technical: AutoCAD, Revit, MS Project
Languages: English, Arabic, Hindi
Soft skills: Client communication, team leadership"

• A short bullet list, one skill group per bullet.

This takes about the same space, reads well everywhere and is easier for software to process.

Yes. Empty sections or headings with nothing under them look unfinished and suggest you missed something. Only include sections you have real content for.

Common leftovers:

• "Awards" with no awards listed.
• "Publications" or "Research" for non-academic roles.
• "References" with placeholder names.
• "Hobbies" with a single generic word.

Remove the heading or the section completely, or hide it if your tool allows. In most resume builders you can add or remove sections and reorder the rest, so you only show what supports your application.

They can be. When lines run the full width of a page in a small font, the eye struggles to find the start of the next line, and reading slows down. This often happens when margins are narrow and the font is small.

Fixes:

• Keep bullets short, so most fit on one or two lines.
• Use a comfortable font size, which reduces the number of words per line.
• Avoid shrinking margins to the minimum.

In a single-column layout at a normal font size, line length is usually fine. Problems appear when people try to fit too much on the page.

Yes. A resume should look like one document from top to bottom. Mixing styles, for example a modern header, a classic body and a section copied from another template, makes it look patched together.

Signs of mixed styles:

• Different heading treatments in different sections.
• Some sections in boxes, others not.
• One section in a different font or colour.

Fix it by choosing one template and moving all content into it. If you are using a builder, switch templates freely: your content stays the same and the whole resume takes on one consistent design.

It looks unbalanced, yes. A second page with only a few lines often makes the reader feel the resume could have been tighter. Either trim to one page or develop the content so page two is reasonably full.

To trim:

• Shorten older roles.
• Remove weaker bullets and minor sections.
• Combine small sections.

To fill:

• Add relevant achievements, projects or training you left out.

Avoid tricks like shrinking fonts or margins to the extreme to pull those few lines back onto page one. A modest edit to content is almost always the better solution.

The main culprits are elements that hide or reorder text. Applicant tracking systems differ, but these features commonly cause problems:

• Text in images, logos or icons instead of real text.
• Complex multi-column layouts, tables and text boxes.
• Important details placed only in page headers or footers.
• Unusual or creative section headings.
• Scanned or image-only PDFs.
• Unusual fonts or symbols that do not convert properly.

A simple single-column layout with standard headings, real text and common fonts avoids almost all of these issues. Then check your file by copying all the text into a plain text editor. ResumeBuilder.ae's ATS check gives an internal, rule-based estimate of structure and completeness; it is not an official employer score.