This page covers the mechanics of work experience bullet points: tense, punctuation, order, length and layout. These are the details people get wrong without knowing it, and they are quick to fix once you know the conventions.
Tense
Use present tense for your current role and past tense for everything else. This is the most common mechanical error on CVs and it looks careless when it is inconsistent.
- Current role: Process supplier invoices and reconcile petty cash weekly.
- Previous roles: Processed supplier invoices and reconciled petty cash weekly.
Keep it consistent within each role. Switching tense inside a single job entry is more noticeable than either choice would be on its own.
Whether to Use I
Leave it out. CV bullets conventionally drop the subject, starting directly with the verb. Write Processed supplier invoices rather than I processed supplier invoices. It reads as standard, saves space and keeps the verb in the strongest position.
The same applies to the professional summary, where a short third-person or subjectless style is normal. Avoid switching between I and no subject across the document.
Punctuation
- End each bullet with a full stop, or end none of them, but do not mix the two.
- Do not use semicolons to join two ideas into one bullet; split it into two bullets instead.
- Avoid exclamation marks entirely.
- Use sentence case, not title case or capitals.
- Write numbers as numerals for quantities, which are easier to scan than words.
- Spell out an abbreviation the first time unless it is universally recognised.
Order Within Each Role
Bullets are not chronological within a job, and treating them as though they are wastes the strongest position. Order them by relevance to the advert you are answering, with the most relevant first.
A recruiter reads the first two bullets of your most recent role carefully and skims from there, so what sits in position one and two matters far more than what sits in position five. Reordering takes two minutes per application and is one of the highest-return changes available.
Length and Line Breaks
- One line per bullet is ideal, two is acceptable.
- Three lines usually means two bullets have been merged; split them.
- Four lines is a paragraph with a dot in front and will be skimmed.
- Avoid a bullet that wraps to leave one word alone on the second line, which looks untidy.
- Keep bullet lengths roughly even within a role, since one very long bullet among short ones draws the eye for the wrong reason.
Bullet Symbols and Layout
- Use a simple round or square bullet, not arrows, ticks, stars or emoji.
- Use one level of bullets, not sub-bullets, which parse badly and clutter the page.
- Keep consistent indentation across all roles.
- Leave a clear line between job entries so the reader can see where one ends.
- Do not use tables or text boxes to lay out bullets, since automated screening frequently misreads them.
Consistency Across the Document
Whatever you choose, apply it everywhere. Mixed conventions are the clearest signal of a CV assembled in pieces over several years, and they undercut any claim to attention to detail.
- Same date format throughout, such as March 2022 to June 2024.
- Same tense rule applied to every role.
- Same punctuation choice on every bullet.
- Same bullet symbol and indentation everywhere.
- Same heading style for every section.
- Same font and size throughout, with no leftover formatting from an old template.
A Quick Formatting Check
Before you send a CV, run these five checks. They take about three minutes and catch most of what makes a CV look unpolished.
- Is the current role in present tense and everything else in past tense?
- Do all bullets either end with a full stop or none of them do?
- Is every bullet one or two lines?
- Are the first two bullets of your most recent role the ones matching this advert?
- Is the date format identical everywhere?
Related Pages
For examples of the bullets themselves rather than their formatting, see CV Bullet Point Examples.
FAQs
What tense should CV bullet points be in?
Present tense for your current role, past tense for all previous roles. Keep it consistent within each entry, since switching tense inside one job is more noticeable than either choice on its own.
Should I use I in CV bullet points?
No. Drop the subject and start directly with the verb: Processed supplier invoices rather than I processed supplier invoices. It is the standard convention, saves space and puts the verb in the strongest position.
Do CV bullet points need full stops?
Either is acceptable, provided you are consistent. Use full stops on every bullet or on none. Mixing the two across a document is the version that looks careless.
How should I order bullets within a job?
By relevance to the advert, not chronologically. A recruiter reads the first two bullets properly and skims the rest, so the most relevant material should occupy positions one and two. Reorder for each application.
How long should a bullet point be?
One line ideally, two at most. Three lines usually means two bullets have been merged and should be split. Four lines is a paragraph and will be skimmed rather than read.