Tense, tone and writing style

Use past tense for jobs you have left and present tense for duties in your current job. This is the most common convention, and readers find it natural.

Examples:

• Previous job: "Managed a team of six warehouse staff."
• Current job: "Manage a team of six warehouse staff."

For finished achievements in your current job, past tense is correct even though you still work there: "Reduced stock errors by introducing weekly cycle counts." The task is ongoing, but that result is complete.

Whatever you choose, apply it the same way across the whole resume. Inconsistent tense is one of the most common style problems readers notice.

A quick check: read only the first word of every bullet from top to bottom. Each word in a past job should end in a past form such as "-ed", "led" or "built", and your current job should show present forms for ongoing work. Any verb that breaks the pattern is easy to spot this way.

Use the past tense for anything that is finished, even in your current role. Keep present tense for ongoing responsibilities.

A current role can mix both, as long as each bullet is logical:

• "Manage the accounts payable process for three subsidiaries." (ongoing)
• "Introduced electronic invoice approval, cutting paper use across the team." (finished)
• "Led the 2024 migration to a new ERP system." (finished)

A helpful order is ongoing responsibilities first, then completed achievements, or the other way round. Mixing tenses randomly from line to line looks careless, so group them. Readers will understand the difference between what you still do and what you have already achieved.

Usually no. Resumes are normally written in "implied first person": you leave out "I", "me" and "my", and start bullets with a verb. This saves space and is the style readers expect.

Example: write "Prepared monthly payroll for 200 employees", not "I prepared monthly payroll for 200 employees."

The summary can follow the same style: "Payroll specialist with seven years' experience in multinational firms." In some countries and sectors a short first-person summary is acceptable, such as "I am a payroll specialist with...", but do not mix both styles in one document. A cover letter, by contrast, is written in full first person.

Also avoid "my" and "me" inside bullets. "Supported my manager with reports" reads more cleanly as "Prepared weekly reports for the operations manager." Starting each bullet with a verb keeps the focus on your actions and gives every line the same clear shape.

You can, but it is less common and often sounds odd, because the reader knows you wrote it. A summary such as "Fatima is a results-driven marketer..." reads more like a website biography than a resume.

Better options:

• Implied first person: "Marketing manager with ten years in FMCG brands."
• Short first person, if it suits your country and sector: "I am a marketing manager with ten years in FMCG brands."

Third person does fit some documents, such as a speaker profile, conference biography or company website. Keep a separate version for those, and use the implied first-person style on your resume.

It means writing about yourself without the word "I". The reader understands that you are the subject, so each sentence or bullet starts with a verb or a description.

Examples:

• Full first person: "I trained 15 new cashiers."
• Implied first person: "Trained 15 new cashiers."
• Full first person summary: "I am a certified electrician with eight years of commercial experience."
• Implied first person summary: "Certified electrician with eight years of commercial experience."

This style is standard because it is short and direct. It also avoids starting every line with the same word, which makes resumes repetitive.

Start with your own action, then mention the team. Readers want to know what you did, so lead with your part.

Examples:

• Instead of "We launched a new app", write "Co-led a team of five that launched the company's first customer app."
• Instead of "We won the regional sales award", write "Contributed the largest share of new accounts to the team that won the regional sales award."

Useful verbs for shared work include "co-led", "contributed", "partnered with", "coordinated" and "supported". Be accurate about your role. If you were one member of a large project, say so honestly; employers often check details like this in interviews.

It is acceptable for current duties, but it is less common and weaker than a simple present-tense verb. "Manage" or "Managed" sounds more direct than "Managing".

Compare:

• "Managing supplier contracts for the Riyadh office."
• "Manage supplier contracts for the Riyadh office."

The main rule is consistency. If one job uses "-ing" bullets and another uses past tense, the resume looks unedited. Pick one form for current roles and one for past roles, and use it throughout. The "-ing" form works best inside a summary sentence, for example "experienced in managing supplier contracts".

Either style is fine; what matters is consistency. Some people end every bullet with a full stop, others end none.

Common practice:

• Short phrase bullets ("Microsoft Excel and Power BI") usually have no full stop.
• Sentence-like bullets ("Reduced invoice errors by introducing a two-step check.") can take one or not.
• If one bullet contains two sentences, use full stops on all bullets in that section.
• Do not end bullets with commas or semicolons; that style looks old-fashioned.

Decide once and apply it to the whole document, including your summary, experience and projects sections. Inconsistent punctuation is easy to fix and is one of the details careful readers notice.

Use short, sentence-like phrases without "I" for bullets, and short full sentences or a phrase-style paragraph for the summary. Long full sentences make a resume slow to read.

Example of a good bullet: "Handled 60 inbound calls a day, resolving most on the first call."

Avoid two extremes:

• Too long: "I was responsible for answering the phones and I would usually try to resolve the customer's problem during the first call."
• Too short: "Calls. Customer issues."

Your bullets should still be grammatical: a verb, an object and a detail or result. That structure reads clearly for native and non-native English readers.

Use the spelling most common where the job is based, and apply it consistently. British spelling ("organise", "colour", "programme", "licence") is usual in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India and many Gulf employers. American spelling ("organize", "color", "program", "license") is usual for US employers.

If you are unsure:

• Look at the job posting and the company website and follow their spelling.
• For international employers with no clear preference, either is fine if you are consistent.

Set your spell-checker to the matching variety, because it will otherwise "correct" words into the other spelling. Mixing both in one resume looks careless, even though neither is wrong.

Names are the exception. Keep official names exactly as written, such as a certificate called "Program Management Professional" or an employer whose name uses American spelling, even if the rest of your resume uses British spelling. Changing an official name can make it harder for employers to verify.

British spelling is a safe default for most UAE and Gulf employers, but follow the job posting if it clearly uses American spelling. Many organisations in the region use British-style English in official documents, while some American companies use US spelling.

A simple approach:

• Check the spelling used in the posting ("organisation" or "organization").
• Match it in your resume and cover letter.
• If the posting gives no clue, use British spelling and stay consistent.

Spelling choice is unlikely to decide your application on its own. Inconsistency, typos and wrong product names are far more noticeable than whether you write "colour" or "color".

Only if the employer clearly uses the other variety and you have time to change it carefully. For most applications, one consistent spelling is enough.

When it is worth switching:

• You are applying to a US company from outside the US, or to a UK company from the US.
• The posting repeatedly uses spelling that differs from yours in key terms, such as "program manager" versus "programme manager".

Keep separate saved versions so you do not mix the two. If you only change some words, the result is a mixed document, which looks worse than not changing anything. Always match the exact spelling of job titles and product names from the posting, even if your general spelling differs.

It is not a serious error, but it looks careless and is easy to fix. Readers who notice "organised" in one line and "organized" in another may wonder what else was not checked.

To fix it:

• Choose one variety.
• Set your spell-checker or word processor to that language variety.
• Search for common pairs: -ise/-ize, -our/-or, -re/-er (centre/center), licence/license, programme/program, travelled/traveled.

Leave names alone. Official names keep their own spelling, such as "World Health Organization" or a course called "Program Management Certificate", even if the rest of your resume uses British spelling.

Yes, for well-known abbreviations in your field, but spell out anything a general reader might not know. The first person to read your resume may be a recruiter, not a specialist.

Guidelines:

• Common abbreviations are fine: CV, HR, IT, MBA, CEO.
• Industry abbreviations should be spelled out once if they appear in the job posting in full: "Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)".
• Avoid company-internal abbreviations; outsiders will not know what "OPS-3 report" means.
• Avoid casual short forms like "mgmt", "dept" or "approx" in bullets.

Where the posting uses both a full term and its abbreviation, including both once helps readers and search tools find the term either way.

Write the full term followed by the acronym in brackets the first time, then use the acronym afterwards. Example: "Health, Safety and Environment (HSE)".

This helps because:

• Readers who do not know the acronym can understand it.
• Searches for either the full term or the short form can find it.

You can skip the full form for acronyms that are better known than their full names, such as "SQL", "PDF" or "MBA". Do not spell out the same acronym several times; once is enough. For certifications, use the official name as the awarding body writes it.

Use digits for most numbers, because they are easier to scan and save space. "Trained 12 new staff" is quicker to read than "Trained twelve new staff."

Common conventions:

• Digits for counts, amounts, sizes and time periods: "5 branches", "3 years".
• Words are acceptable for one to nine in a sentence-style summary if you prefer, but be consistent.
• Avoid starting a sentence with a digit in a summary; rephrase instead.
• Use the same format for large numbers throughout, such as "1,200" or "1.2 million".

Digits also make your results stand out visually, which is one reason they are standard in bullets.

Choose one clear format, such as "Mar 2021 – Jun 2024" or "03/2021 – 06/2024", and use it everywhere. Month and year are usual for jobs; year alone is common for education and older roles.

Tips:

• Spell out or abbreviate months the same way every time ("Jan", not sometimes "January").
• Use an en dash or hyphen with matching spaces.
• Use "Present" for current roles.
• Avoid day-level dates; they add clutter.
• Avoid number-only formats like "03/04/2021", which readers in different countries interpret differently.

Align dates in the same position for every entry so readers can scan your timeline quickly.

Professional and plain, not stiff or chatty. Write as you would in a clear work email to a senior colleague you respect.

Aim for:

• Simple, specific words: "reduced costs", not "effectuated cost diminution".
• No slang, jokes or emotional language.
• No exaggerated claims like "world-class" or "best in the industry".
• Direct sentences that start with what you did.

Some sectors, such as creative agencies or start-ups, accept a slightly warmer tone in the summary, but your experience bullets should still be clear and factual everywhere. When in doubt, choose clarity over personality.

Generally avoid them. Contractions make writing sound conversational, which suits emails and some cover letters but feels too casual in a resume.

In practice, resumes rarely need them anyway: bullets in implied first person do not use "I'm", and negative statements ("don't", "can't") are best avoided entirely. Write about what you did, not what you did not do.

Possessives are different and are fine, for example "five years' experience" or "the company's first online store". Make sure the apostrophe is in the right place, because errors here are common.

Let facts do the boasting. Specific results sound confident; self-praise sounds arrogant.

Compare:

• Arrogant: "Outstanding leader and the best salesperson in the region."
• Confident: "Ranked first of 14 regional sales executives in 2023."

Tips:

• Replace adjectives about yourself with evidence.
• Use plain verbs like "led", "built", "reduced" and "won".
• Avoid superlatives you cannot prove.
• Mention recognition from others, such as an award or promotion, rather than praising yourself.

Being modest is not required either. If you achieved something, state it clearly and accurately. That is not bragging; it is information the employer needs.

Mostly yes. Active voice shows that you did the work, while passive voice hides who acted and usually uses more words.

Compare:

• Passive: "A new filing system was introduced."
• Active: "Introduced a new filing system."
• Passive: "Was given responsibility for training."
• Active: "Trained new team members."

Passive voice is acceptable occasionally, for example "Promoted to Senior Analyst within 18 months", where the action was done to you and the fact itself is the point. If most bullets start with "was" or "were", rewrite them to begin with a strong verb.

Slightly. The basics stay the same in both: clear structure, accurate facts, no errors. What changes is how much personality you show, mainly in the summary.

For corporate, legal, finance and government roles:

• Neutral, precise language.
• No informal phrases or humour.

For creative, media, marketing or start-up roles:

• A more distinctive summary line is acceptable.
• Your voice can come through in word choice, as long as bullets stay factual.

Example creative summary: "Copywriter who turns technical products into stories people actually read." Even in creative fields, the experience section should still show results, not just style.

No. Translate internal terms into language any reader in your industry would understand. A recruiter at another company will not know your team names, system nicknames or project codes.

Examples:

• "Ran the Falcon programme" becomes "Led a company-wide customer-data clean-up project."
• "Owned the Q-board process" becomes "Managed the weekly quality review meeting for production."
• "Worked on BLU tickets" becomes "Resolved software support requests from business users."

Standard industry terms are different. Words like "accounts receivable", "root cause analysis" or "agile" are recognised across companies and are often what employers search for, so keep those.

Capitalise job titles when they appear as headings and official titles, but use lower case for general descriptions inside bullets. Capitalise proper names of software, certifications and organisations.

Examples:

• Heading: "Senior Accountant".
• Bullet: "Supervised two junior accountants."
• Bullet: "Prepared reports in Oracle Financials."
• Avoid: "Improved Customer Service and Team Communication."

Random capitals on ordinary words are common in resumes, especially when writers want to emphasise skills. They make text harder to read and look inconsistent. Use capitals only where grammar requires them.

Either works; pick one and use it for every heading. "WORK EXPERIENCE", "Work Experience" and "Work experience" are all acceptable if used consistently.

Practical points:

• Use standard heading words, such as "Work Experience", "Education" and "Skills", so readers and software recognise them.
• Avoid creative headings like "Where I've Been" for main sections.
• Keep headings short.

Your template usually sets the heading style for you, which helps consistency. If you add a custom section, follow the same pattern as the existing headings.