Make No Mistake: When to Use Capital Letters on Your Resume

In today’s modern digital world, very few job seekers have the opportunity to physically bring a resume to a potential employer. Gone are the days of being able to take advantage of that initial face-to-face interaction with a smile, a handshake, and a witty anecdote.

Instead, you upload your resume and hope like bloody heck that it will make it past a gatekeeper and into the hands of someone who is in a position to hire you. I am here to help. I can give you advice and tips to improve your resume and get past the gatekeeper. Contact me for help in making your resume stand out and be the best that it can be.

The truth is, you likely have about one minute of someone’s attention once your resume lands in front of them, so make it count. With all you have to think about as you craft your resume, don’t lose sight of the small details that matter. Little things like the proper use of punctuation and capital letters are critical in this 60-second window. Don’t miss out on a job opportunity just because YOU COULDN’T CAPITALIZE PROPERLY. (Like that. Don’t do that.)

We all spent time in school learning grammar and punctuation rules, practicing them until our bored-kid brains wanted to scream. We diligently paid attention to all of the correct places to use capital letters, and we got pretty good at it.

But now, we’re grown-ups, and we have to do things like write resumes, and somehow it feels like the rules have changed. How do you work with bullet points? What do you do with headings? How do you look professional and competent? Do all of the same capitalization standards still apply?

The English language and its rules are becoming more and more malleable in our digital world of social media and shorthand texting. But if you’re reading this, it’s unlikely you are a 14-year-old trying to boost their numbers of Instagram followers, so you really do need to follow some precedents and standard practices in your resume.

So, for our specific purposes here, let’s take some time to understand how and when to use capital letters in a resume. I’ll start with a tip that seems like common sense but... let me clarify that LOL and LMAO have no place in your resume, capitalized or not. I tell you this because I care. And because I’ve seen it happen.

The goal of your resume is to capture the reader’s attention enough that they want to interview you and, with luck, hire you. So it is critical that your resume is enticing, not distracting. With that in mind, here are several capitalization rules that will make your resume look polished and professional so the recruiter can focus on the content, not the errors.

Capitalize the First Word of a Sentence

This rule hasn’t changed since you were in grade school. When working with bullet points, go ahead and capitalize the first word of each point, even if it isn’t a complete sentence. In general, don’t put a period at the end of headings or bullet lists, but truth be told, you can find different schools of thought on that practice.

Capitalize Proper Nouns

Again, this one should ring a bell from your school years. Proper nouns are the names of specific people, places, and things and include the following:

• First, middle and last names of people

• Names of cities, states, and countries

• Names of universities and colleges

• Names of languages

• Names of corporations and brand names, such as specific software products

When the job title directly precedes their name, you should always capitalize their title. For example, “Director of Engineering, Jill Smith.” However, do not use a capital for a title when it is not followed by a name, like in this example, “I look forward to working with Jill Smith, director of engineering.” One caveat here: when including your current or previous job titles in list or bullet point format, go ahead and use capitals as in “Director of Engineering, 2008-20015”.

Capitalize the degrees you’ve earned and listed in the education section of your resume. Otherwise, do not capitalize your degree unless it is a proper noun such as English or French. Here is an example of each:

• The University of Oregon, BS in Economics

• I studied economics at the University of Oregon

Titles and headings are pretty straightforward. Capitalize words in your headings that are over three letters. Check out the usage of caps used in the headings of this article. Also, never use all caps. Just don’t. Unless you are typing an acronym, using all caps is the written equivalent of yelling at someone. And surely you do not want the person reading your resume to feel as if they are under verbal attack. Using all caps is also distracting, pulling the reader’s attention away from the critical information you need to share in your resume.

Your resume is not a term paper. It is not a scholarly article or an essay. If you are on a job search, It is a vitally important document. In that 60-second window when you have someone’s attention, you need every word to count, every bullet point to count. Get the details right.

Having a resume that is difficult to read due to capitalization mistakes is a quick way to take yourself out of the running for your dream job. Poor use of capital letters, either using too few or too many, is distracting to the reader, and a distracted reader is unlikely to call you in for an interview.

If you are ready to start or polish up your resume, Naff Branding is here to help. I am excited to be on your team. Career coaching and resume writing are my specialties. I will make sure you put your best digital foot forward in the online world of job hunting.