How Do You Spell Resume?

“Resume,” “résumé,” and even “resumé” are all supported by authoritative dictionaries and style guides, so you can pick the one that most appeals to you.

Here’s what some major dictionaries and style guides say about the proper way to spell “resume”:

• Merriam-Webster: prefers “résumé” and lists “resume” as a variant, with “resumé” listed as a less common spelling.
• American Heritage Dictionary: “résumé,” “resume,” and “resumé” are all equally acceptable.
• Associated Press: No accents on “resume” or any other words, except for people’s names (for example, Beyoncé).
• Chicago Manual of Style: Preserve accents from foreign words where possible (so “résumé”, which is the original French spelling).

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Should I spell resume with accents or not?

You can use any spelling of resume you want, as long as you:

1. are consistent when writing it in your own application materials, and
2. match the spelling that you see in a company’s job description.

However, be aware that accented characters can sometimes result in encoding bugs (e.g., ‘r?sum?’). We recommend using a PDF format to make sure the recipient sees your intended spelling regardless of which application or device they use to open the file.

We chose the accentless spelling of “resume” for our company name, Resume Genius, because most people spell it “resume” without the accents and we prefer to keep it simple.

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One of the best ways to make your resume is by filling out one of our free resume templates. All our templates are designed by experts and free to download for Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

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How to spell resume with accents

Because the English language rarely uses accents, there’s often some confusion about which accent to use on words like “resume.” Over time, English often simplifies loanwords from other languages by dropping original accents. For example, the Spanish cafetería became “cafeteria” and “café” is often written as “cafe.”

The correct accents to use on the e’s in the word “résumé” are called “acute” accents, which go diagonally from the bottom left to top right.

Here’s a list of the correct and incorrect ways of spelling resume to make things easier for you: