1. Inconsistency in fonts/ bullet points/ colours/ spacing
Most of the time, consistency is desirable. It proves how organised you are, your high attention to detail, and how you value the quality of your work. Times New Roman applied to one heading then Cambria applied to the next shows the opposite characteristics.
When you’re ready to design your CV, always come up with rules; they can look a little like this:
- All headings are Times New Roman, 13 pt., 1.5 spacing, navy blue colour
- All main content is Calibri, 11 pt., 1.0 spacing, black colour
- Spacing between sections is 11 pt., 2.0 spacing
- A light grey line, 1 pt. weight separates sections
Stick to these rules religiously. You will notice that your CV comes out looking great, even with the simplest design choices.
2. Unnecessarily wide spacing
In professional documents, narrow spacing looks best. A spacing of 1.5 can look clumsy, almost like you’re trying to fill a page. With the general rule being a shorter CV, it’s best to use a spacing of 1.15 or even 1.0 (especially for bulleted points). The trick is to design your spacing rules in such a way that sections don’t look squashed.
Sometimes, CVs become unnecessarily long because of very wide spacing. But, you can instantly tell when there isn’t much content in a CV. This makes the design look clumsy and unintentional. You want to make sure that when the recruiter holds your CV, they see the intent, focus, and high-quality result—all working to upsell you as a competent professional.
3. Monotonic layout
To make your CV more readable, make sure to highlight sections using heading fonts, bold text, spacing, lines, and so on. Use bullets for points to stand out. A CV created using default MS Word formatting looks monotonic and unimaginative.
Imagine that you’re the recruiter and you want to jump to specific sections of the CV. Which design choices would make this easier for you? What can make headings stand out? How can you separate sections?
Design isn’t always about making things pretty. I believe it should be functional—that colour or font you choose should make headings stand out, those lines you decide on should clearly separate sections, and those spacing rules should signify transitions.
To get all the important information, advice, and tips, check out The CV Design Guide PDF eBook or get the FREE Cheat Sheet.
See the 7 Common Mistakes to Avoid in your CV (Content)
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