Some might wonder what the big deal is about punctuation. Surely, if you start your sentences with a capital letter and end them with a period, that's all you need to worry about, right?
Unfortunately, not.
The text in resumes is so packed with information that seemingly inconsequential missteps can distort your meaning. Or, worse — cause the hiring manager to pause in confusion.
That pause is bad news for you. It may make the recruiter see you as a less-than-attractive candidate and question your ability to communicate or pay attention to details, both necessary skills to have in today's workplace.
If you struggle to use punctuation correctly, you’re not alone. Even the most talented writers make punctuation errors. Do your best to pay attention to the rules for punctuation marks, but don’t hesitate to find someone skilled at recognizing mistakes to proofread for you. It’s better to ask for help than have an error in your document.
You may be unaware of the unique punctuation rules that apply to resume writing, especially when it comes to commas. Misplaced or omitted commas can dramatically change the meaning of your sentences. Read on to make sure you know how to use them correctly.
Note: This post is the first in my “Punctuation Perfection” series, written to help you get your resume into flawless shape. I’ll share common punctuation mistakes and the rules you should be following. From remembering your commas through formatting with pipe marks, adhering to these guidelines will improve your chances of getting an interview.
If you’d like to have all the punctuation rules right away, with examples from real resumes, purchase my e-book “Punctuation Perfection for an Error-free Resume: 20+ Rules You Might Be Breaking.” (Coming soon.)
What is a comma, anyway?
Many people (myself included) either forget necessary commas or use extra ones in their sentences. Thank goodness for spell check.
Commas are used to create a pause in a sentence, separate items in a list, or indicate the thousands place in a large number. Rules regarding commas abound, but these are the most common you’ll encounter in writing your resume. In this post, I’ll cover the serial, or Oxford, comma.
The serial comma
There’s a debate between those who advocate using a serial, or Oxford, comma (putting a comma before the final and in a series of words) and those who don't. The best practice for resumes is to use serial commas. These commas will make your career documents easier to understand.
This is especially true when you list a series of items where one or more of those items contain two pieces of information that may be grouped, such as sales and marketing or research and development.
Notice the difference between this statement:
Orchestrated restructure of specialized operations, sales and marketing and quality assurance teams.
And this much clearer one:
Orchestrated restructure of specialized operations, sales and marketing, and quality assurance teams.
Here’s another example of how omitting a serial comma can cause confusion:
Facilitate mock interviews, identify positions and tailor interview questions.
This may cause the reader to stumble. At first read, it may sound like the candidate is responsible for identifying a position and identifying someone who tailors clothes!
With the serial comma, this bullet point makes much more sense:
Facilitate mock interviews, identify positions, and tailor interview questions.
I recommend using serial commas in career documents, especially in resumes, so bullet points avoid ambiguity and read smoothly.
Exceptions to the Serial Comma
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. When a bullet point contains a series of items with commas, the serial commas are replaced by semicolons, like in this bullet point:
Promoted to regional manager of 12+ cities across the Midwest, including Chicago, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; Madison, Wisconsin; and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Another instance where you do not want to use a serial comma is between two nouns connected by an ampersand (&).
Incorrect:
Professional Training: Manufacturing Operations, Quality Assurance, Research, & Development
Correct:
Professional Training: Manufacturing Operations, Quality Assurance, and Research & Development
The corrected sentence added the word and before Research and removed the comma after Research.
There are many more rules about commas, and debate about some. Mistakes with commas are easy to make. Pay attention to your spellchecker to help you determine whether you’ve missed one or have one in a spot where it’s unnecessary.
I hope you found this week’s post on serial commas helpful for creating an error-free resume. Stay tuned for part two, where I discuss additional rules about commas you’ll definitely want to know.
P.S. If you don’t want to wait, get all the punctuation rules right away in my e-book “Punctuation Perfection for an Error-free Resume: 20+ Resume Rules You Might Be Breaking.” (Coming soon.)
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Kristin S. Johnson, CJSS, CCMC, COPNS, CG3C, CBBSC
Job Search Coach and Resume Writer
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