Resume Margins
The white space borders around your resume content. Standard margins are 0.5 to 1 inch. Narrower margins increase content density; wider margins improve readability and give the page breathing room. Never go below 0.5 inches.
Resume margins are the blank space between your content and the edge of the page. They serve two purposes: making the document readable for humans and ensuring content isn't cut off when printed or displayed. **Standard margin range:** 0.5 to 1 inch on all sides. **1-inch margins**: Standard default in Word. Provides good white space and readability. Works well if your content fits naturally. **0.75-inch margins**: A good middle ground when you need a bit more space without cramping the page. **0.5-inch margins**: The minimum recommended. Anything tighter looks crowded and risks content being cut off by some printers and ATS display systems. **When people go below 0.5 inches:** Usually to squeeze a long resume onto fewer pages. The right solution is editing content, not narrowing margins. Tiny margins are immediately apparent to a human reviewer and signal poor editing judgment. **Top and bottom vs. left and right:** It's acceptable to set top/bottom margins slightly narrower than left/right. Many professional layouts use 0.5" top/bottom and 0.75" left/right for a clean look. **For two-column layouts:** The gutter (space between columns) should be at least 0.25 inches to prevent content from bleeding together visually.
Why it matters
Extreme margins — very narrow or very wide — signal poor formatting judgment. Very narrow margins make a document harder to read and can cause printing issues. Very wide margins on a resume with thin content signal that you don't have enough to fill a page.
Candidate tip
If you're trying to fit content onto one page and hitting margin limits, cut a bullet point from an older job before going below 0.5-inch margins — editing substance is always preferable to squeezing formatting.
Put this into practice with the candidate.so Resume Builder.
Learn more →Related terms
Resume Format
Resume & CVThe structural layout of your resume — chronological, functional, or combination. Format determines how your experience is organized and how easily an ATS can parse your information. Chronological is the default for most candidates.
Resume Length
Resume & CVHow long your resume should be — typically one page for candidates with under 10 years of experience, two pages for senior professionals. More pages signal poor editing, not more value. Academic CVs follow different rules.
Resume Font
Resume & CVThe typeface used in your resume. The best choices are clean, professional, and ATS-compatible: Calibri, Arial, Garamond, Helvetica, or Georgia. Fancy or decorative fonts reduce ATS compatibility and can look unprofessional.
ATS-Friendly Resume
Resume & CVA resume formatted so that ATS software can parse it correctly — clean layout, standard fonts, no graphics or text boxes, proper section headings. An ATS-friendly resume passes machine parsing without losing any content.