Pick a clean, professional template that highlights teaching, research, and publications. Use a reverse-chronological layout so your most recent roles and grants appear first.
Keep your resume short. One page works for early-career professors. Use two pages only if you have long lists of publications, grants, or leadership roles that matter to the search committee.
Use ATS-friendly fonts like Calibri, Arial, Georgia, or Garamond. Set body text to 10–12pt and headers to 14–16pt. Keep line spacing at 1.0–1.15 and leave margins of at least 0.5 inches.
Organize sections with clear headings: Contact, Academic Appointment, Education, Research, Teaching, Publications, Grants, Service, and Skills. Use consistent bullet styles and dates aligned to the right or left.
Avoid complex layouts with multiple columns or heavy graphics. Committees read resumes quickly. Simple formatting helps both human readers and ATS parse your file.
Common mistakes include dense blocks of text, inconsistent date formats, and long paragraphs for each role. Don’t use obscure fonts or bright colors. Don’t hide key metrics like courses taught or grant amounts.
Quantify your impact where possible. Note course enrollment sizes, grant totals, citation counts, and student supervision numbers. Put selected publications or a link to a full CV rather than listing every paper if space is tight.
Export your file as PDF unless the application asks for Word. Name the file clearly using YourName_GeometryProfessor_Year.pdf. Proofread for consistency in tense and punctuation.